Prof Andrew Watkinson gave the BES Lecture and challenged all present to make their work count.  From  his early career  he wanted to make a difference and showed that it took a long time to get there because of the way his science was communicated and possibly because he worked on an uncharismatic weedy annual species of grass.

Making the link between science and policy delivery is as, Andrew said, about delivering the message in a concise way. It is also about having the people you want to give the message to involved as much as possible from the beginning of a project. This is fine when the research project has defined goals from the beginning either because the researchers  have ‘sold’ their idea to a ‘customer’  (government, philanthropist or whatever) or because the ‘customer has asked for it in the first place.

For me a more difficult question is, what does a researcher do if they have a brainwave? The answer must be to have a network of people who can help get the message across to those who matter. The BES can help with this through its journals, its meetings and Public and Policy Committee.

Delivering conservation will become hugely troublesome as the governance for it becomes more and more devolved, especially if the devolved administrations decide to have their own priorities. I wonder how this will all work to deliver our European commitments to maintain species and habitats as well as clean water and maintain soils.

We as ecologists must work together  to address the ‘Grand Challenges’  that Andrew stated and we must get involved by answering the ‘five Ws and one H’ to make sure that we can make policy makers and society realise that the environment is a ‘must have’ for human welfare and is not just a ‘nice to have’ as public money becomes a limited resource.

Pete Carey PPC  Chair

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Andrew Watkinson: Making a difference: research with impact
09.15 Tuesday 7 September

We are excited that Professor Andrew Watkinson (Director of Living With Environmental Change) will deliver the BES Lecture at the 2010 BES Annual Meeting. Joining us in Leeds? Add your comments about Prof. Watkinson’s lecture to the blog, or via Twitter (#BES2010)