Thomas Tothill - From Oil Rigs To Reefs And Indigenous Knowledge Systems For Research

Thomas Tothill is a passionate environmental consultant, research technician and PhD candidate with Marine Futures Lab at the University of Western Australia. With a diverse background in marine and environmental sciences, Thomas is now undertaking his PhD where he is working in collaborative partnership with the Esperance Tjaltjraak Native Title Aboriginal Corporation, pairing indigenous cultural values and marine research to understand Sea Country in the Recherche Archipelago.

Thomas has previously studied the ecology and potential biodiversity benefits of offshore oil and gas platforms. Surprisingly some offshore platforms are amongst the most ecologically productive ecosystems and with more than 12,000 rigs worldwide, many soon reaching their end-of-life, there is a myriad of considerations for decommissioning these structures with minimal harm to the marine environment.

Here we have a fascinating discussion about both topics:

• Thomas’s background and his passion for research and the environment
• His Masters Thesis concerning offshore oil and gas rigs and their potential biodiversity benefits
• The complexities of decommissioning these rigs once they reach their end-of-life
• The need to assess decommissioning considerations on a case-by-case basis
• Translating knowledge about oil and gas rig marine ecology to renewable offshore structures such as windfarms
• Thomas’s PhD research identifies sites and species of cultural importance in the Recherche Archipelago
• The benefits of a yarning approach for engaging with Indigenous Australians in research
• The western approach to science vs Indigenous knowledge systems and the importance of a paired approach
• The unfortunate ‘publish or perish’ mentality in research and the need to make space for alternative knowledge systems and world views
• The importance of ongoing collaborative partnerships and cultural leadership models

 
If you’d like to take a deeper dive into some of the important topics covered by Thomas in this episode, here are some further resources recommended by Thom that complement our discussion:

• Offshore platforms as novel ecosystems (from the Marine Futures Lab):
• Yarning methodology
• Two-eyed seeing
• Karparti approach
•  Decolonising methodologies (with a strong Aotearoa perspective)

To view all the links to the websites and documents, visit the show notes on our website. Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast, leave us a review and share this episode with your friends and family.

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