Marjon lecturer invited to biodiversity and conservation symposium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Released: 11.07.19

Dr Gregory Borne recently visited the renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California, which specialises in scientific understanding of the oceans, atmosphere, Earth, and other planets for the benefit of society and the environment.

He was there for the Masters of Advanced Studies in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation Capstone Symposium. The purpose of the symposium was to enable students to present their research findings, exploring interdisciplinary solutions to complex marine conversation issues.

Greg is an expert in sustainability and a pioneer in the field of surfing and sustainability research. He was invited to attend the symposium in his role as a member of the committee supervising Masters student Cynthia Hsia, whose dissertation was entitled “Understanding Sustainability Behaviour: Leveraging Behavioural Decision Research to Drive Sustainable Actions in the Surf Community”.

Greg joined the influential members of Cynthia’s supervising committee including co-founder of Sustainable Surf, Kevin Whilden, and Dr Ayelet Gneezy, Associate Professor of Behavioural Sciences and Marketing at the Rady School of Management, UCSD.

Reflecting on the symposium, Greg said: “It was a fantastic event with students presenting their research findings in different fields all focused on biodiversity and ocean conservation. The calibre of the students and what they were able to achieve in one year was really quite phenomenal. It was a real privilege to represent Marjon and to be invited to be part of Cynthia’s committee, her work was really outstanding”.

He will incorporate the research insights gained at Scripps when teaching on the BA (Hons) Social Sciences at Plymouth Marjon University; a course in which sustainability is a central theme.

Greg continued: “There are so many areas that the relationship between sustainability and surfing unlock. The relationship between humanity and nature, sustainability,  behavioural change, politics, activism, business, culture, community,  globalisation and more. I am constantly looking to integrate my research into my teaching and to combine this with insights from other researchers and the students themselves to ensure they get a compelling and challenging learning experience’”.

Find out more about the BA (Hons) Social Sciences. We have limited places available to start this course in September 2019 which can be applied for through Clearing.