We look forward to welcoming you all to ACTRA’s 16^th Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) and Continuing Education Day taking place on 28-30 August at Canberra’s Rex Hotel. The theme of this year’s ASM is ‘Climatoxicology: Assessing Risk in a Time of Rapid Change’.

As highlighted in Australia’s 2021 State of the Environment Report, long-term changes in climate, including the increased frequency of extreme weather events, place pressure on many aspects of the biosphere.

We hope to bring together scientists, researchers, industry representatives, policymakers, consultants, and advocates to provide a forum for active discussion and learning; discussions will focus on the intricate relationship between climate change, human and environmental health. Conference presentations will tackle the challenges that climate change brings to human and environmental health risk assessment; and the need to become adaptable in our processes to enable consideration of our changing world.

The conference will aim to explore aspects such as the following.

• Consideration of changing environmental conditions in risk assessments for foods (and food supply), water, soil, and air.
• Impacts of climate on frequency and severity of public, occupational and environmental exposures.
• Climate change and changes in pesticide practices and impact on risk assessment.
• The interaction between climate change and antimicrobial resistance.
• Applying Indigenous knowledge for improved natural resource management in a changing and variable climate.

We hope you will join us and contribute to fruitful learning and discussion, meaningful connections, and an inspiring exchange of ideas.

Sincerely,

Tarah Hagen
ACTRA President

Lana Barbour and Rhian Cope
Conference Co-chairs