Episode 144: Dr Ed Butler (Independent environmental researcher) - Part 1
This episode features Craig's interview with Dr Ed Butler, who is a chemical oceanographer and environmental biogeochemist. Ed was formerly a scientist with government; 28 years with CSIRO at the Marine Laboratories in Hobart, followed by 7 years as Science Leader at the Arafura Timor Research Facility of the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) in Darwin. Now, as an independent researcher and doing volunteer work for the Environmental Defenders Office here in Hobart, he spends more time looking at the intersection of his knowledge of the environmental health of coastal and marine ecosystems with the development of environmental policy and ecosystem-based management. In this Part 1 we hear Ed talk of his pathway to a career in marine chemistry, through his undergraduate degree, Honours project, his PhD, and then 2 years as a postdoctoral fellow in the Marine Analytical Chemistry Standards Program at the Atlantic Research Laboratory in Halifax, Canada. We also hear Ed relate stories from his long career at CSIRO and his time in the tropics that followed, which included working alongside the First Nations people of Groote Island in surveys of the island's inshore and offshore marine environments. Part 2 of Ed's interview will feature as the next episode of Vibes Under The Sea.