Breaking News, Business, Financial and Economic News, World News from EconoTimes

Become a contributor

Bookmark Econotimes

Thu, Apr 25, 2024 09:03 PM All times are UTC

Follow Series

©Econometrics LLC . All Rights Reserved.

James Watson

Professor, The University of Queensland

James is a Professor at the University of Queensland and Director of Science and Research Initiative at the Wildlife Conservation Society. Before moving to the Science Initiative, James directed WCS’s climate change program, leading the planning and implementation of climate adaptation and REDD+ projects throughout WCS’s landscape, seascape, and species conservation programs. He currently serves on the leadership committee for the Science for Nature and People (SNAP) Initiative, the International Panel for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Data and Knowledge Task Force, and was chair of the IUCN’s climate change specialist group. James is the Director the Green Fire Science research group (www.greenfirescience.com) whose mission is to do applied research that is linked directly to the practice of conservation.

Brief CV
James is a graduate of the Australian Defence Force Academy and Royal Military College. He completed his doctorate at the Oxford University in 2004, where funded by a Rhodes Scholarship he explored the effects of habitat fragmentation on birds in Madagascar and Australia. Since then, he has worked as a post doctoral fellow at the University of California (San Diego) and the University of Queensland and as a senior campaigner for The Wilderness Society in Australia.

About the Wildlife Conservation Society
Founded in 1895, the WCS has the clear mission to save wildlife and wild places across the globe. Its story began in the early 1900s when it successfully helped the American bison recover on the Western Plains. Today, it protects many of the world’s iconic creatures, including gorillas in the Congo, tigers in India, wolverines in the Yellowstone Rockies, and ocean giants.

Since its founding, WCS has forged the power of its global conservation work and the management of its five parks in New York City to create the world’s most comprehensive conservation organization. It currently manages about 500 conservation projects in more than 60 countries, and educates millions of visitors at five institutions in New York City: the Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and Queens Zoo.

Most native bird species are losing their homes, even the ones you see every day

Oct 29, 2019 19:28 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Across parts of Australia, vast areas of native vegetation have been cleared and replaced by our cities, farms and infrastructure. When native vegetation is removed, the habitat and resources that it provides for native...

Environment laws have failed to tackle the extinction emergency. Here's the proof

Sep 10, 2019 20:37 pm UTC| Insights & Views Law

Threatened species habitat larger than the size of Tasmania has been destroyed since Australias environment laws were enacted, and 93% of this habitat loss was not referred to the federal government for scrutiny, our new...

Earth’s wilderness is vanishing, and just a handful of nations can save it

Nov 04, 2018 14:17 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Just 20 countries are home to 94% of the worlds remaining wilderness, excluding the high seas and Antarctica, according to our new global wilderness map, published today in Nature. A century ago, wilderness extended...

New map shows that only 13% of the oceans are still truly wild

Aug 01, 2018 13:58 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Just 13% of the worlds oceans are now free from intense human activities such as fishing, according to a new map of ocean wilderness areas. Our research, published in the journal Current Biology, shows that only 55...

Economy

What if the Reserve Bank itself has been feeding inflation? An economist explains

Heres something for the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia to ponder as it meets next month to set interest rates. It has pushed up rates on 13 occasions since it began its attempt to restrain inflation in May...

China’s new world order: looking for clues from Xi’s recent meetings with foreign leaders

There is broad consensus that Chinese foreign policy has become more assertive and more centralised in the decade since Xi Jinping has ascended to the top of Chinas leadership. This has also meant that Chinese foreign...

How India’s economy has fared under ten years of Narendra Modi

More than 960 million Indians will head to the polls in the worlds biggest election between April 19 and early June. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is seeking a third...

Will global oil supply be at risk if Iran and Israel pull the Middle East into war?

Tensions in the Middle East have escalated following Irans weekend missile and drone attacks on Israel, heightening concerns of a wider conflict. As with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, further conflict has the...

EU enlargement: What does the future hold?

To widen or to deepen. This has been one of the longstanding dilemmas throughout European Union (EU) history, and a perennial sticking point in the unending process of European integration. In its time, the UK...

Politics

Georgia is sliding towards autocracy after government moves to force through bill on ‘foreign agents’

Georgias ruling party attempted to pass a controversial bill on foreign agents in March 2023. The law would have required civil society groups and the media to register as being under foreign influence if they receive...

South Korean President Yoon faces foreign policy challenges after the National Assembly election

South Koreas parliamentary election of April 10, 2024, was widely seen as a referendum on President Yoon Suk Yeols first two years in office. That being the case, the nation collectively expressed its strong...

How will US foreign policy affect Joe Biden’s chances of re-election in November?

When big questions about American foreign policy collide with an election, its rarely good news for a sitting president. Like many leaders before him, US President Joe Biden has had some of these questions thrust on...

US Commerce Secretary Asserts Huawei Chip Lag, Affirms Export Control Success

In an interview on CBS News 60 Minutes, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo stated that the latest Huawei Mate 60 Pro phones chip remains significantly behind U.S. technology despite being the most advanced from China. She...

‘We have thousands of Modis’: the secret behind the BJP’s enduring success in India

Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis popularity has grown exponentially and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP...

Science

The rising flood of space junk is a risk to us on Earth – and governments are on the hook

A piece of space junk recently crashed through the roof and floor of a mans home in Florida. Nasa later confirmed that the object had come from unwanted hardware released from the international space station. The 700g,...

Peter Higgs was one of the greats of particle physics. He transformed what we know about the building blocks of the universe

Peter Higgs, who gave his name to the subatomic particle known as the Higgs boson, has died aged 94. He was always a modest man, especially when considering that he was one of the greats of particle physics the area of...

Could a telescope ever see the beginning of time? An astronomer explains

The James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST for short, is one of the most advanced telescopes ever built. Planning for JWST began over 25 years ago, and construction efforts spanned over a decade. It was launched into space on...

US media coverage of new science less likely to mention researchers with African and East Asian names

When one Chinese national recently petitioned the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to become a permanent resident, he thought his chances were pretty good. As an accomplished biologist, he figured that news...

If life exists on Jupiter’s moon Europa, scientists might soon be able to detect it

Europa is one of the largest of more than 90 moons in orbit around the planet Jupiter. It is also one of the best places to look for alien life. Often termed an ocean world by scientists, observations to date strongly...

Technology

Qualcomm Responds to Snapdragon X Elite Benchmark Cheating Claims

Qualcomm has responded to the serious allegations that it cheated on performance benchmarks for its Snapdragon X Elite and Plus chips, targeting competition with leading laptop processors. According to Toms Hardware,...

Bitcoin Surges Globally, Yen Hits Record Low Against Cryptocurrency

In a stunning financial shift, the Japanese yen has reached a 34-year low against Bitcoin, which also hit all-time highs in 14 countries, fueled by optimism surrounding new spot Bitcoin ETFs. Yen Hits 34-Year Low as...

Worldcoin Targets OpenAI Alliance, Faces Scrutiny Amid Regulatory Challenges

Worldcoin, a digital identification innovator, is eyeing a partnership with OpenAI despite facing regulatory scrutiny and data privacy concerns. The collaboration aims to bolster its technological advancements and market...

SHIB Community Ignites Burn Rate by 2,076% Following Major Announcement

The Shiba Inu community has dramatically increased the SHIB burn rate by 2,076% in response to a recent significant announcement, signaling a proactive shift in strategy. Shiba Inu Community Ramps Up Token Burns,...

Toyota Teams with Tencent, Nissan Joins Forces with Baidu in China AI Drive

The automakers announced on Thursday that Nissan will partner with Baidu and Toyota Motor of Japan will partner with Tencent of China. These cross-border alliances underscore the significance of artificial intelligence to...