Clear-felling environmental expertise

Dr Perpetua Turner, University of Tasmania, NTEU Tasmanian Division Secretary

'This year’s pandemic, and the bushfires in January, have shown that our need for science has never been greater, and the payoff from our investment has never been more obvious than in this difficult year.'

These comments were made by the former Australian Chief Scientist, Prof. Alan Finkel on the back of a devastating summer of fires which started in June 2019 and continued through until March 2020. These fires saw eight million hectares of land in south-eastern Australia burnt, an area larger than Tasmania.

Increased frequency and intesity of bushfire, coronavirus, global warming and human induced climate change, drought and water resource pressure, biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse, pollution, food insecurity – these problems are real. We need investment in science because science is an effective solution to these problems now, and into the future.

For over 20 years I have practiced as an ecologist. In that time I have witnessed substantial, detrimental changes to our environment, changes that I would never have thought possible during my undergraduate years. As I stood on the shoreline of Stephenson Lagoon on Heard Island in 2003, I found it hard to fathom that had I been standing on that spot 56 years before, I would have been standing on a glacier.

I mapped vegetation in the Australian Alps in 1998; returning just months later I was greeted by a burnt landscape not adapted to burning. I thought that with the last most recent burn being in 1934 another gap of more than 64 years would facilitate regeneration. These landscapes have now been burnt 2-3 times in the last 20 years with fire regime changes occurring too fast for even our fire adapted flora to survive. These changes, within such short timeframes, demonstrate that there has never been a more pressing time for investment in science jobs to help generate practical solutions.

However, investment in science-based solutions appears to not have been in mind with the recent changes to course funding. The Coalition's Job-Ready Graduates Bill cut the student contribution for environmental studies from $9,698 to $7,700 a year. While any cut to student fees is welcome, the shortfall has not been covered by government contribution.

In one of the largest cuts to any university course, the recently passed Job-Ready Graduates Bill cut environmental courses by 29%, which translates to a decrease on current levels of $9,944 per year per student. With all the attention on bringing down student costs for STEM degrees, one of the largest funding cuts to any university course flew completely under the radar. Universities will receive almost $10,000 less funding for students in environmental related courses. This cut will lead to fewer graduates and much reduced quality and quantity of practical learning.

We are currently witnessing extraordinary pressures on ecosystems which are expected to intensify into the future. More than ever we not only need graduates with expertise in environmental studies, but graduates who come with a substantial increase on current levels of practical training and experience. These cuts to environmental studies courses could not have come at a worse time.

My profession – ecology – has practical learning as a fundamental component for gaining successful employment. I started my first ever post-undergraduate job before I had even finished my Honours degree, and repeated this pattern with my PhD, principally because I had practical learning in my coursework that made me job ready. Whilst cheaper student fees will mean it will be much easier for students to study environmental sciences, the gap in what the universities get and what it costs to deliver environmental courses will see the quality of education drop.

Encompassing biological and earth sciences, mathematics, chemistry, and management and planning, my degree in ecology facilitated my employment in various areas: vegetation mapping, remote sensing, Antarctic science, but for me most of all, forestry. I have worked for State and Commonwealth governments, not-for-profit groups, university, and private industry. I’ve worked on a broad range of environmental issues including how our flora and fauna adapt to climate change impacts, ensuring biodiversity conservation in forest production, monitoring bank erosion after hydro power high-energy waterflows, and how grazing by herbivores impacts biodiversity. My environmental studies degree made me ‘job ready’ for more diverse projects and roles than I ever thought possible.

While the aim was to improve science education, the environmental studies funding cuts have the potential to achieve the opposite. Prof. Iain Young, Dean of Science at the University of Sydney stated that 'Agriculture will be worse off by $3,500, environmental studies roughly $10,000 a year and science overall will be worse off by $4,759 per year per student.' And while universities may accommodate the funding cuts, adapting by drawing down one area in order to raise up another, this will place more pressure upon universities already under stress from declines in other areas (e.g. international students).

It’s not just scientists in agriculture who are concerned. Senior members of the Australian Council of Environmental Deans and Directors called the cuts ‘clear-felling environmental expertise’. The experts on clear-felling, the Institute of Foresters (IFA/AFG), have called the cuts 'short sighted'. If foresters are worried that the funding will see a shortfall in forestry education and investment into their sector, then we should be very worried too. Having worked with foresters for many years, I know that as students, foresters gain specialist environmental knowledge, and practical and theoretical training as students.

Lack of funding can translate to fewer university staff and decreased specialist training for students in areas such as fire management. Fewer graduates with specialist knowledge in fire will place pressure on industries such as forestry who are not only required to deliver high standards for environmental management, but also contribute substantially to the fire fighting effort. Coming out of a summer where we recorded our worst ever bushfire season is not the time to undervalue environmental expertise.

After a devastating fire season and with climate change meaning severe fire seasons will become more frequent, now is the time to invest in education focused on sustainable land management, climate change and natural disaster management.

Through a highly practical education in environmental studies, students learn how to protect biodiversity, water, resources, and human life. These funding cuts undervalue training and expertise and will produce a workforce that will struggle to keep pace with the environmental pressures faced by future generations. Our children deserve better. ◆