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 environmentHis Masters Thesis concerning offshore oil and gas rigs and their potential biodiversity benefitsThe complexities of decommissioning these rigs once they reach their end-of-lifeThe need to assess decommissioning considerations on a case-by-case basisTranslating knowledge about oil and gas rig marine ecology to renewable offshore structures such as windfarmsThomas’s PhD research identifies sites and species of cultural importance in the Recherche ArchipelagoThe benefits of a yarning approach for engaging with Indigenous Australians in researchThe western approach to science vs Indigenous knowledge systems and the importance of a paired approachThe unfortunate ‘publish or perish’ mentality in research and the need to make space for alternative knowledge systems and world viewsThe 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 methodologyTwo-eyed seeingKarparti 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.Please support our work and enable us to deliver more content by buying us a coffee.Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.