Wen Family Chair in Conservation 2025 Lecture, with speaker Professor Ben Halpern, NCEAS, Santa Barbara

Last week, we had the honour of hosting Professor Ben Halpern, Director of the National Center for Ecosystem Analysis and Synthesis from the University of California – Santa Barbara. During his visit he gave a lecture as the 4th speaker in the Wen Family Chair in Conservation Public Lecture series Wen Giving. Hosted by the Wen Family Chair in Conservation Professor Jessica Meeuwig, Professor Halpern gave a fascinating and challenging lecture on the “Promise and Perils of the Blue Economy” to an engaged crowd who braved wintery rain and chose the lecture over the NRL State of Origin.

Professor Halpern also provided a master class at UWA’s Oceans Institute, to a range of post-graduate students and postdoctoral fellows on how to incorporate “synthesis” in their research.

We thank Wen Giving, Hawaiian, UWA Oceans Institute, Jock Clough Marine Foundation, Forrest Research Foundation and UWA SBS for making this lecture a reality.