 All life comes from the sea, so access to the ocean is kind of a human right, and I think that that's in jeopardy. Climate change is obviously one of the world's biggest issues right now that affects everyone. 30% of the Great Barrier Reef is now dead, and I don't think that Australia or the world as a society has actually absorbed that. Griffith Centre for Coastal Management was established 20 years ago in a partnership with the local authority here on the Gold Coast to develop targeted research to assist with the management of the Gold Coast environment, both the beaches and here in the waterways. So our research covers a whole range of things related to water quality, beach erosion, economics of solutions, and even governance of the way in which we manage these problems. There's a direct impact of climate change in terms of heat waves on the ocean and how that affects coral reefs, and there's indirect effects from rising sea levels, more storm surges and coastal erosion. There are a matter of concern because here on the Gold Coast we're a highly developed community, and we need to make sure that our communities are more resilient to those changes. The research at Griffith University is to develop new ideas and solutions. We're certainly, I think, at the forefront of coastal adaptation, both in a modern urban setting like Gold Coast City, but also in a developing country setting. So on the Gold Coast we know that climate change will have an impact on our beaches, but for our neighbours in the Pacific climate change means that they might not eat that day. They still get about over 50%, maybe up to 70% of their protein, actually from marine sources. They're dealing with impacts such as erosion, inundation and extreme events already. In Vanna Watt we're working with the national government and the provincial government, and also the local communities, to help identify what the threats are to these ecosystems. The eco-adapt is a five-year research project that touches on a whole range of disciplines across Griffith University. It focuses on maintaining and strengthening health of ecosystems that naturally protect coastlines. We have a kind of mix of physical research and also social research. We do things like working with communities to understand what their values are. There's other field tasks that we have. We might be out in forests measuring trees and understanding forest densities. We also spend a lot of time on coral reefs measuring the structure of those coral reefs. If you look at these problems, these communities are faced through a climate change lens. You need input from every discipline. Every discipline has a role to play. The project takes a multi-disciplinary approach. With students from right across the university including journalism students, because they're the ones that are really going to get the message out there in the end. It really adds a different dimension and layer because we're not just talking about physical risks and impacts, but also how to communicate some of that. I was one of the 15 invited students to go to Vanuatu for Griffith's inaugural climate change communication tour. We went into the newsrooms and got to talk to some of the media workers there. You hear and see what is going on first hand. Even small islands have to think very carefully about their source of electricity. So we're involved in projects which have installed solar mini-powered systems at a village level. So by doing that you actually make them energy independent with clean energy. They don't need to buy expensive imported fossil fuel and they don't have any greenhouse gas emissions. We all are stewards of our environment. I think it's absolutely critical that all universities embed sustainability into their curriculum. That's really important and at Griffith that's a really strong focus. We want to make an impact for our broader community.