2024 Otways Ecological Research Forum
All science needs to be collaborative. But in ecology, we take our lead from the ecosystems we study, where all components of the natural environment are interlinked and contribute to each other’s survival.
Panel 
Lizzie Corke OAM
Ecological research and conservation science are key to mitigating the biodiversity crisis that Australia is currently facing, and we’ll only do it by taking the whole community with us.
Our landscapes need Traditional Owners and biocultural knowledge-holders, our scientists and research communicators, public land managers and agencies, private land stewards, and community biophiles to be working together like never before. To do this, we need timely, accessible, and generous sharing of information. In the Otways, we’ve devised the perfect place to bring all the eco-activity together to be digested, discussed and celebrated. It’s the Otways Ecological Research Forum.
The 2024 Otways Ecological Research Forum took place on August 13 in Colac.
It was a gathering of close to 200 scientists, Traditional Owners, public and private land managers, and engaged community members all contributing to the health and resilience of our ecosystems in the broader Otway Ranges region.
The forum continues to provide a unique scientific collaboration and communication opportunity for individuals who share the same passion for these landscapes. And this year we were pleased to pair with National Science Week to reach further into the community and highlight this model of landscape-scale generosity and connection to the rest of the country.
If you weren’t able to make it, don’t worry, we’ve recorded all the presentations! Please check them out below. There’s a visionary project about how we adapt our management practices of forests for a changing climate that is a wonderful demonstration of collaboration. There’s also a fabulous panel discussion about biocultural landscapes, what this means and how it can operate in practice. As well as talks on current research surrounding threatened species and how feral pests respond to fire.
2024 Agenda: View the OERF 2024 Agenda
2024 Abstracts: View the Abstracts
2024 Recordings: View on YouTube
James Templeton 
Dr Kay Weltz 
Mark Le Pla 
Dr Jack Pascoe 
Dr Matt Swann 
Joey Chatfield
The Otways Ecological Research Forum was established in 2016 by the Conservation Ecology Centre, who were frustrated by the barriers to freely sharing ideas, energy and resources. Since then, it has grown considerably because it provides a unique scientific collaboration and communication opportunity for individuals who share the same passion for a landscape.
If you research fauna, flora or whole ecosystems of the Otways, if you’re a Traditional Owner with biocultural understandings of Western Vic landscapes, if your government agency manages Otways landscapes, if you’re a private landholder interested in land stewardship, or community member dedicated to assisting or championing local environmental causes, this event is for you!
The 2024 Otways Ecological Research Forum was supported by the Australian Government as part of National Science Week, Beacon Ecological, Cassinia Environmental, Wildlife Wonders, and the Colac-Otway Shire.
View past presentations of the Otways Ecological Research Forum (OERF):
