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Michael-Shawn Fletcher

Associate Professor in Biogeography, University of Melbourne
I am a Biogeographer. That means I am interested in understanding the patterns in nature and the processes that have led to them. In this endeavour, I focus on time, guided by the notion that the past holds the key to understanding the future. More specifically, I am interested in the long-term interactions between humans, climate, disturbance (such as fire) and vegetation. My current work involves developing and integrating records of environmental change from across the Southern Hemisphere using the information stored in the bottom of lakes. This affords me a window in to time that stretches from yearly changes to changes that occur over thousands of years or longer. This information sheds light on changes in climate, vegetation dynamics, the role of humans in the landscape, the frequency and magnitude of wildfire and many other processes.

Climate Change Series

Our planet is burning in unexpected ways - here’s how we can protect people and nature

Sep 18, 2023 06:29 am UTC| Science Nature

People have been using fire for millennia. It is a vital part of many ecosystems and cultures. Yet human activities in the current era, sometimes called the Anthropocene, are reshaping patterns of fire across the...

Economy

Wall Street Surges as Bank Earnings Impress Amid Trade War Volatility

Wall Street ended the week on a strong note Friday, with major indexes posting sharp gains as big banks kicked off Q1 earnings season and investors digested a rollercoaster week dominated by U.S.-China trade tensions. The...

Argentina to Receive $32 Billion Boost from IMF and World Bank Amid Peso Reforms

Argentina is set to secure a major financial lifeline as the World Bank prepares to announce a $12 billion financing package, complementing the International Monetary Funds expected approval of a $20 billion loan deal,...

China Hits Back with 125% Tariffs as US Trade War Escalates

China escalated its trade war with the U.S. on Friday by raising tariffs on American imports to 125%, retaliating against President Donald Trumps move to hike duties on Chinese goods to 145%. This tit-for-tat intensifies...

Global Markets Rebound as Trump Eases Tariffs, TSX and Wall Street Surge

Canadas main stock index rebounded sharply Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trumps unexpected tariff rollback eased fears of a global trade war. The Toronto Stock Exchanges SP/TSX Composite Index surged 1,220 points,...

Trump Pauses Tariffs Amid Market Turmoil, Keeps Pressure on China

In a dramatic shift, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a temporary pause on sweeping new tariffs targeting dozens of countries, calming financial markets after days of turmoil. The move came less than 24 hours after...

Politics

Pennsylvania Man Charged for Online Threats Against Trump and ICE Agents

A Pennsylvania man has been federally charged for making online threats to assassinate President Donald Trump and immigration agents, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday. Shawn Monper, 32, of Butler,...

Mexico to Deliver Water to Texas Amid Treaty Dispute with U.S.

Mexico will begin an immediate water delivery to Texas farmers to ease tensions over a longstanding water treaty with the United States, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Friday. The move follows increasing pressure...

Trump Urges Congress to Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent

President Donald Trump has renewed calls for Congress to make daylight saving time (DST) permanent, urging lawmakers to end the long-standing practice of switching clocks twice a year. His comments follow a recent...

Judge Blocks Trump-Era Funding Freeze Over Maine’s Transgender Sports Policy

A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration unlawfully froze federal school lunch funding to Maine over the states refusal to ban transgender women from participating in womens sports. U.S. District Judge John...

Trump’s Ukraine Envoy Sparks Controversy with Pro-Russia Peace Proposal

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff has ignited backlash after proposing a Ukraine ceasefire plan that would grant Russia control over four eastern Ukrainian regionsLuhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. The proposal,...

Science

Kennedy Sets September Deadline to Uncover Autism Causes Amid Controversy

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a bold plan to identify the cause of autism by September 2025. Speaking at a cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump, Kennedy declared a global...

AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi Gets US Approval for Bladder Cancer Treatment

AstraZenecas drug Imfinzi (NASDAQ: AZN) has received U.S. approval to treat adult patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer, a significant advancement in cancer therapy. The approval allows Imfinzi to be used in...

Sanofi’s New Hemophilia Drug Qfitlia Gains FDA Approval with Breakthrough Bimonthly Dosing

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Qfitlia, a groundbreaking hemophilia treatment by French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi (NASDAQ: SNY). Designed for patients aged 12 and older with hemophilia A or B,...

FDA Vaccine Chief Peter Marks Resigns Amid Controversy Over Transparency

Peter Marks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) top vaccine official, has resigned after reportedly being forced out by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to The Wall Street Journal....

Museums have tons of data, and AI could make it more accessible − but standardizing and organizing it across fields won’t be easy

Ice cores in freezers, dinosaurs on display, fish in jars, birds in boxes, human remains and ancient artifacts from long gone civilizations that few people ever see museum collections are filled with all this and more....

Technology

Ireland Probes X Over Use of EU User Data for AI Training

Irelands Data Protection Commission (DPC) has launched an investigation into X, formerly known as Twitter, over its use of personal data from EU users to train its generative AI model, Grok. As the lead regulator for X...

Alphabet and Nvidia Back $32B AI Startup SSI Led by OpenAI Co-Founder

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) have invested in Safe Superintelligence (SSI), a fast-rising AI startup co-founded by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, according to a source familiar with the...

Amazon Delays Kuiper Satellite Launch Due to Weather Conditions

Amazons planned launch of its first 27 Kuiper internet satellites was postponed on Wednesday due to unfavorable weather, according to the launch provider, United Launch Alliance (ULA). Project Kuiper, Amazons ambitious...

Google Cuts Jobs in Android and Pixel Teams Amid AI Shift

Alphabets Google has laid off hundreds of employees in its Platforms and Devices division, which includes key products like the Android OS, Pixel smartphones, and the Chrome browser, according to a report by The...

US Senators Question Microsoft and Google Over AI Cloud Partnerships

Two Democratic U.S. senators are pressing Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) for transparency over their cloud computing partnerships with leading artificial intelligence firms. Senators Elizabeth Warren of...