This morning I attended the launch of the University of Western Sydney Discovery Centre’s new exhibition called Connecting the Cumberland. UWS and Greening Australia, with the support of the Office of Environment and Heritage, have teamed up with Willmot Public School on a project that will increase understanding of Western Sydney’s Cumberland Plain. Students will develop materials focussing on plant, animal and human activities from Aboriginal times, through the early European settlement to modern-day life. They will explore the ecology of their local region and the many challenges facing this and future generations in helping to restore and live alongside nature. The exhibition will run for 3 months and is open to the public. Prof Roy Tasker also gave an entertaining talk this morning about the experiments being conducted at the UWS EucFACE experiment site (Free Air CO2 Experiment) which is designed to predict the effects of rapidly rising atmospheric carbon dioxide on Australia’s native forests. This experiment aims to predict decades in advance the effects of exposure to rising CO2 levels on native forests, animals, soils and grasses. Check out the website about EucFACE at http://www.uws.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/643371/HIE4017_Facility_Euc_Face_Flyer_V4a.pdf.