Our People

Professor McPhie is a volcanologist and for most of her career (1990 to 2015), she held an academic position at the University of Tasmania. She conducted fundamental and applied research in volcanology, and taught volcanology and as well as other undergraduate geology units.

Since retiring from the university, she has been consulting to the minerals industry, providing technical advice and professional training in volcanology. She maintains an adjunct position with the University of Tasmania, continuing to supervise PhD students and to participate in research projects. She became a member of the RST in 2020.

Before setting sail for Tasmania from South Australia in 2009, Professor Michael Rowan was Pro Vice Chancellor of the Division of Education Arts and Social Sciences at UniSA – now part of the exciting new Adelaide University. He has a PhD in philosophy from the University of Adelaide, the other half of the new university, which followed a BA (hons) and Dip Ed from Flinders University.

Professor Rowan’s principal concerns in philosophy have been informal logic/critical thinking and philosophy of science, which he put to use as the foundations for a career in university senior management, and doing what he could as a public intellectual to promote the importance of education for all citizens, defending science and all scholarship from ideological attack and generally upholding the values on which a free, democratic and prosperous society must rest.

Dr Don Garden, OAM FFAHS FRHSV, is a former President of the Federation of Australian Historical Societies and of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, former Co-Chair of GLAM Peak Australia and a former member of the Australian Heritage Council. He is Honorary Secretary of the Royal Society of Tasmania, Honorary Secretary of the Amy Sherwin Fund, an Adjunct Professor at James Cook University, a life member of the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and of the Albany Historical Society, and a member of a number of other community history and heritage groups.

For many years Don taught History and Environmental History at the University of Melbourne. He has written seventeen books, a mixture of local and regional histories, biography, company history, an environmental history of Australia and the Pacific and a history of El Nino events in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.

Sonia is an accountant (FCPA) with a PhD in governance in not-for-profits. Although starting her university life in science, lifestyle choices led to an academic career in accounting.

She retired after 21 years in academia lecturing in accounting and corporate governance while also being Course Coordinator for Masters in Professional Accounting and Research Higher Degree Coordinator.

For the past 18 years Sonia has been Treasurer for a diverse range of not-for-profit boards from dancing groups, community legal centres, festival groups, wooden boats and the peak body for volunteering.

Julie Rimes has broad experience in school leadership roles having worked across all sectors and all levels of education, from primary level through to the tertiary sector. In recognition of her work in education she was elected to the Tasmanian Women’s Roll of Honour in 2015.

As a member of a number of state, national and international boards and committees in the education and disability spheres, Rimes brings to her role as Immediate Past President extensive experience in working in senior roles in leadership, management and policy.

Dr Liza Snow retired as Associate Professor in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Tasmania in 2014. Dr Snow’s research interests were in the molecular biology of carcinogenesis, the Tasmanian Devil facial tumour disease, and in biochemistry. Her PhD was in Biomedical Science from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Dr Snow has held positions of Associate Professor in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at Deakin University, and Assistant Professor at the City University of New York’s School of Medicine.

Neil MacKinnon was born into a farming family in Northern Tasmania, schooled in Launceston, is an Economics graduate of the University of Tasmania, and a Chartered Accountant. After working in Hobart, Neil took employment in the United Kingdom before embarking on a career in financial and general management as an employee and/or principal that took him to Iran, Seychelles, Hong Kong, U.S.A, Switzerland, Bahamas and mainland Australia. On return to Tasmania, Neil took up a series of short-term senior management positions in firms engaged in vegetable export, tourism and heritage conservation, rail transport, precision manufacturing, civil engineering and employer representation. Neil maintains active involvement with family farming activities.

Neil is now retired and active on community boards and committees. Neil’s maternal family were members of the Royal Society of Tasmania from its early days.

Dr Dawson is a physical oceanographer and postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in Nipaluna/Hobart. She has an interest in the large-scale circulation and dynamics of the Southern Ocean and Antarctic margins. Her research currently uses numerical models to investigate the drivers of recent Antarctic sea ice variability.

UTAS

Professor Haddad has a distinguished career in the area of development and application of methods for the separation of inorganic species. His work includes high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), its applications to foods, pharmaceuticals and trace metal analysis; ion chromatography (IC), including theory and applications to the minerals industry, environmental analysis, and instrument manufacture; capillary electrophoresis and capillary electrochromatography of inorganic species and low molecular weight acids and bases; spectrofluorometry, as applied to trace metal analysis using ternary complexes; the development of electrochemical detectors for liquid chromatography.

He has published more than 210 papers in international journals, made numerous plenary and keynote lecture presentations and is on the editorial board of ten major journals in analytical chemistry.

Mary Koolhof OAM is strongly committed to the work of the Royal Society of Tasmania in advancing knowledge and has been an active member of the Society since 2007. Mary was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the General Division for service to education in June 2025.

A graduate of the University of Tasmania with First Class Honours in Arts, Mary had wide experience as a teacher in Tasmanian schools including stints as Senior Education Officer and Senior Curriculum Officer for the Department of Education. Mary was an inaugural awardee of a Commonwealth Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowship and a recipient of several Goethe-Institut scholarships to study in Germany. She was awarded a Rotary Vocational Award for Excellence for her work with refugee students. Mary has finished a six-year term on the Tasmanian Social Sciences Human Research Ethics Committee.

To support vulnerable Tasmanian children, Mary became involved in initiatives of the Salvation Army as the commissioned author of nine children’s books published for the Safe From the Start and Communities for Children programs. The books tackle current issues facing young people such as family violence, peer pressure, cyberbullying and cyberstalking. The latest book to support children exposed to the drug ice was launched in February 2021.

Ross Large is a geologist recognised internationally for his research on the genesis of ore deposits and their relationships to evolution of life, mass extinction and mineral deposit cycles. With colleagues he demonstrated the close connection between selenium on the oceans and the succession of growth and extinction.

In 1989 he established the ARC Centre of Excellence for Ore Deposit Research and Exploration Science (CODES), which became one of the world’s most respected ore research centres and was notable for its close collaboration with the mining industry. For over 20 years Large was Professor of Economic Geology at the University of Tasmania.

Lorraine Polglase worked with government and non-government organisations developing programs for families with children from 1978-2006, including the establishment of the inaugural Good Beginnings in Hobart as part of a national strategy. She was a member of the Inaugural Children Commissioner’s Advisory Panel. From 2006-11 she lived in New Delhi as a volunteer with various organisations.

Lorraine joined Arts National Hobart in 2011 and has been a member since, including Chairman 2019-22. She was elected a member of the Arts National Council in early 2025.

She has been Secretary of the Fellowship of First Fleeters since 2024.

Tony, by profession a surveyor, is an adjunct senior researcher in the Department of Physics. He taught
Spatial Science at the University of Tasmania for 35 years before retiring in 2003. Completing a PhD in Physics in 1984, he became interested in the development of instrumentation for high precision
measurement in spatial science and astronomy, designing and making special equipment for these studies. This led to him becoming involved with various projects ranging from launching giant balloons carrying X-Ray telescopes in Central Australia and Brazil, to carrying out archaeological surveys in Greece. For the last 20 years he has played a major role with the establishment and continuing development of the Greenhill Observatory at Bisdee Tier, 70 km north of Hobart. In 2011 he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for his work in spatial science, astronomy and disability services.

Throughout his life Tony has had an interest in sculpture and the aesthetics of scientific and industrial machinery as works of art. Using this theme he has designed and constructed several sculptures and sundials situated here in Tasmania and Western Australia.  Tony is the College of Sciences and Engineering representative on the University of Tasmania Alumni Committee.

Roxanne has thirty-five years of experience in primary teaching across a range schools. For over fifteen of those years Roxanne taught gifted and talented students online through the Department of Education’s Centre for Extended Learning (now the Gifted Online program). Through this program Roxanne engaged with students across Tasmania. In 2007, Roxanne and a colleague jointly won the Microsoft 2007 Innovative Teacher Award for their “Cool Chemistry” project. The project involved the creation of a virtual classroom connecting two schools, two teachers and a practising chemist. Within this environment, children used a range of software to share and compare their inquiries.

Roxanne also has a keen interest in literacy through childhood reading and believes every student should have books in their hands whenever they want one – whether they are classics like Journey to the Centre of the Earth or the more modern stories of the 13-storey treehouse series. She won the Scholastic Literacy Champion Award in 2013. Roxanne retired from teaching in June 2018, but retains a strong interest in making Science teaching accessible to everyone.

Rob Valentine has a significant breadth of life experience having worked in the Tasmanian Public Service for a period of 42 years, mainly in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) disciplines of software development, systems analysis and design, IT strategic planning and contract management, covering public infrastructure development, public transport, community welfare and public health.

He served for 20 years as an elected member in Local Government, with nearly 13 of those as Lord Mayor of Hobart. His strong involvement with town planning earned him an Honorary Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia during this time.

On retirement from the State Service in 2012, not being a person to let the grass grow under his feet, Rob was elected for a total of 12 years to the Legislative Council as the Independent Member for Hobart, undertaking a number of important inquiries and chairing the Parliamentary Standing Committees on Public Works and also Integrity for a number of years.

Through these experiences, Rob has developed a keen interest in scientific endeavour and its importance to society in general. He has concluded that scientific rigour should be indispensable in many fields of endeavour, but sadly is often a casualty at the policy formulation level.

Greg Cooke is a PhD candidate in History at the University of Tasmania, where he previously completed a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours. A University Medallist and Class Valedictorian for 2025, Greg brings both academic distinction and real-world experience to his work. His current research explores how processed foods came to be regarded as health foods in Australia—a topic that sits at the intersection of culture, industry, and public perception.

Before entering academia, Greg worked as a professional chef for more than two decades, nurturing a lifelong fascination with food and its stories. He is passionate about food history and its power to, in his words, “make history fun again.”

After graduating from UTAS, Dr Sally Bryant worked as a wildlife scientist for over 30 years initially with the Tasmanian Government managing threatened species programs then as Science Manager with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy. Now as an environmental consultant, Sally’s work spans theoretical to applied conservation science specialising in threatened bird recovery and ecological monitoring.

Sally has authored and co-authored numerous books, chapters, journal papers, technical reports and popular articles on conservation issues including for the Royal Society. She is an Adjunct Lecturer at UTAS, on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Ecological Management & Restoration, and a Research Fellow with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy, but is perhaps best known for her popular ABC Radio wildlife talkback program which has been running fortnightly since 1999.

In 2023, Sally was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for her contribution to wildlife conservation and land protection.

Marley is a history and literature graduate of the University of Tasmania. She has travelled widely in Australia and overseas. She particularly enjoys visiting museums and galleries as one means of understanding the history of her various destinations through both national and local art. Books have been the central focus of her career, being employed for some years by the State Library of Tasmania and later she became the book-buyer with a particular interest in literature and history, for a Hobart bookshop.

While antiquarian books also played a part later in her career, history is her passion and it is in this field that Marley has been able to serve the Royal Society. She has completed numerous research projects for the Society and for her contribution, she was awarded Life Membership. She is currently a serving member on two Society committees and in 2019, Marley presented a lecture to the Royal Society of Tasmania during its 175 th  Anniversary celebrations entitled “Snapshots of the last 175 years”. Among others, her most recent presentation was in the old Oatlands Supreme Court in August 2025, to inform a major Royal Society print exhibition being held in the town.

Mr James Crotty is a distinguished Tasmanian solicitor with a longstanding commitment to community and cultural organisations. He serves as the Honorary Solicitor for the Royal Society of Tasmania, offering valued legal counsel and support.

Arts/Cultural Leadership and Arts Administration

• Director, Curatorial and Cultural Collections at University of Tasmania (March 2023 to present)
• Interim University Librarian, University of Tasmania (March 2024 – December 2024)
• Arts/Culture Work: CAUMAC Council for Australian Universities Museums and Collections, Co-Chair, August 2023+
• Facilitation Work: Future States – strategy facilitation, team and organisation development consultancy
• Facilitation Work: Mediation and conflict-resolution through the Resolution Institute
• Community: Advisory program panelist for TEDxHobart 2022

Neil MacKinnon was born into a farming family in Northern Tasmania, schooled in Launceston, is an Economics graduate of the University of Tasmania, and a Chartered Accountant. After working in Hobart, Neil took employment in the United Kingdom before embarking on a career in financial and general management as an employee and/or principal that took him to Iran, Seychelles, Hong Kong, U.S.A, Switzerland, Bahamas and mainland Australia. On return to Tasmania, Neil took up a series of short-term senior management positions in firms engaged in vegetable export, tourism and heritage conservation, rail transport, precision manufacturing, civil engineering and employer representation. Neil maintains active involvement with family farming activities.

Neil is now retired and active on community boards and committees. Neil’s maternal family were members of the Royal Society of Tasmania from its early days.

David Morris is an educator with wide experience in Tasmania in State schools, independent schools, in the TAFE sector and as a reference librarian in the State Library of Tasmania and the University of Tasmania.

David’s distinguished contribution and expertise to teacher librarianship and library services in Tasmania and at the national level was recognised in 2013 when he was awarded the esteemed Doreen Hopkins Medal by the Australian School Library Association. He is the Tasmanian representative on the national School Libraries Advisory Committee for the Australian Library and Information Association. Davis was State Chairman of the industry Focus Group for TasTAFE’s Library and Museum Studies courses. He is Vice-President of the Tasmanian Council of Churches and, until June 2013, was also Convener of the Tasmanian Council of Churches Commission for Christian Ministry in State Schools, which is co-responsible for the development and monitoring of Tasmanian Education Department guidelines for the conduct of chaplaincy in State schools and Christian religious education in State schools.

David currently sits on the Scholarship Committee of Worldview Centre for Intercultural Studies. He has a long-standing commitment to the promotion of knowledge in the community, and is currently Head of Library & Information Services at Scotch Oakburn College in Launceston.

Martin Renilson moved from Scotland to Tasmania in 1983 to work at the Australian Maritime College (AMC), where he established the Ship Hydrodynamics Centre in 1985, and the Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering in 1996, with the first naval architecture and then ocean engineering degrees at AMC.

In 2001 he moved to the UK to work at the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, (later QinetiQ) as Technical Manager, Maritime Platforms and Equipment. In 2007 he returned to Tasmania and conducted work for a range of clients in the maritime field. In 2011 he was appointed the inaugural Dean of Maritime Programs at the HCT in the UAE to develop tertiary level maritime education in the country. He returned to Tasmania in 2015, and was appointed Adjunct Professor at AMC/UTas.

Martin’s current interest is in submarine hydrodynamics, and he has given lectures on this in many countries. His book on the topic, published by Springer, is used by a number of universities worldwide.

Martin is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. He is currently Vice President for the Pacific Region, and Chair of the Tasmanian Section, in addition to being a past President of the Australian Division. He is also a Fellow of Engineers Australia.

Pippa was born and raised on a sheep property near Tenterfield in northern NSW.  She was schooled in Tenterfield and then in Sydney at Tara Anglican School for Girls.  She married a geologist and they moved seventeen times in fifteen years throughout Australia following the exploration commitments of her husband’s company.  With the schooling demands of their four children they settled in northern Sydney for some forty years.  During that time Pippa worked firstly teaching at the Northern Business College and then for thirty years as PA for a city based Chartered Accountant who was involved on the Boards of a number of well known non-public companies.  With her husband they moved to Tasmania in 2019 to be closer to their daughter.   At that time they became members of the Northern Branch of RST and a number of other local interests in Launceston.

After leaving the University of Tasmania with degrees in commerce and economics, Brian’s first employment was teaching in an upper secondary (matriculation) college. He was a foundation appointee to the TCAE’s School of Business in 1971, later merged with the University of Tasmania, retiring around the turn of the century. 

Over this period, as well as completing post-graduate studies at the University of Adelaide, he taught in Tasmanian and British universities in a variety of Economics, Quantitative Methods, and Finance disciplines.

Post-retirement activity included writing a major submission to a Productivity Commission enquiry into Tasmanian Shipping and Freight (TFES); assisting in the Tasmanian Forestry Industry settlement; preparing a submission for capital funding for establishing a manufactured timber industry in Tasmania. 

He has been a member of The Royal Society of Tasmania for over 30 years, during most of which he has been Treasurer of the Northern Branch.

Jordana, a local history librarian, is the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery librarian and archivist. She has had a long career in public libraries in both Victoria and Tasmania.

Dr Andrew Alexander is a general dentist based in Launceston, Tasmania, where he operates his private practice, Dr Alexander Dental Surgery, located at 261 Charles Street. He earned his Bachelor of Dental Science from the University of Queensland in 1976 and has since gained extensive experience in various dental settings, including school dental services, private practices, and hospital and community clinics in both Australia and the UK. Royal Society of Tasmania+6dentist.com.au+6dentist.com.au+6Royal Society of Tasmania

Beyond his dental practice, Dr Alexander is actively involved in the scientific community as a committee member of the Northern Branch of the Royal Society of Tasmania.

Melanie, an alumna of Durham University, has extensive experience in teaching in primary education in government, Catholic and independent school sectors both in Tasmania and England. Her interests are in Art, Literacy, Gymnastics and Dance, and Special Education. She was Play and Communication Therapist at Giant Steps Tasmania, a special school for children on the autism spectrum.

Melanie is the author of books on the paper craft of quilling, which she introduced into Tasmania in the 1980s through Adult Education courses state-wide and exhibiting for thirteen years at Rotary’s prestigious Deloraine Craft Fair.

Lynette Ross was born in 1954 and grew up in the South Island of New Zealand. She moved to Australia in her 20s and after living in various parts of the country settled in Tasmania where she undertook a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in History and Archaeology; the latter through the University of New England. Her Honours degree in History featured a thesis on convict death at Port Arthur which led to a re-interpretation of the Isle of the Dead.

Employment includes working as Heritage Officer at the Port Arthur Historic Site, research and other positions at UTAS, co-ordinator of operations at the historic Saumarez Homestead in NSW and operating as a private contractor. Her special interest is the history and archaeology of Australia’s colonial period.

Hobbies over the years have been horse riding, scuba diving, travel, subjects related to the past, reading and the natural world.

Lynette is retired and is busy completing writing projects related to the colonial period. Her history of Launceston’s Government Cottage is in press (2024). She also volunteers at QVMAG in Natural Sciences working on special projects.

Lynette joined the Royal Society of Tasmania in 2017 and the Northern Branch Management Committee the following year. She was a member of the Northern Branch’s centenary subcommittee, celebrated in 2021.

Dr Liza Snow retired as Associate Professor in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Tasmania in 2014. Dr Snow’s research interests were in the molecular biology of carcinogenesis, the Tasmanian Devil facial tumour disease, and in biochemistry. Her PhD was in Biomedical Science from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Dr Snow has held positions of Associate Professor in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at Deakin University, and Assistant Professor at the City University of New York’s School of Medicine.

Dr Lois Beckwith is the Assistant Secretary of the Northern Branch of the Royal Society of Tasmania. She holds multiple degrees including a PhD in health promotion and has worked across 110 countries in health policy and consulting. Now based in Golden Valley, she is also Tasmania Director for Days for Girls and President of the Lupus Association of Tasmania.

Director Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. More details to follow.

Professor McPhie is a volcanologist and for most of her career (1990 to 2015), she held an academic position at the University of Tasmania. She conducted fundamental and applied research in volcanology, and taught volcanology and as well as other undergraduate geology units.

Since retiring from the university, she has been consulting to the minerals industry, providing technical advice and professional training in volcanology. She maintains an adjunct position with the University of Tasmania, continuing to supervise PhD students and to participate in research projects. She became a member of the RST in 2020.

Mary Koolhof OAM is strongly committed to the work of the Royal Society of Tasmania in advancing knowledge and has been an active member of the Society since 2007. Mary was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the General Division for service to education in June 2025.

A graduate of the University of Tasmania with First Class Honours in Arts, Mary had wide experience as a teacher in Tasmanian schools including stints as Senior Education Officer and Senior Curriculum Officer for the Department of Education. Mary was an inaugural awardee of a Commonwealth Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowship and a recipient of several Goethe-Institut scholarships to study in Germany. She was awarded a Rotary Vocational Award for Excellence for her work with refugee students. Mary has finished a six-year term on the Tasmanian Social Sciences Human Research Ethics Committee.

To support vulnerable Tasmanian children, Mary became involved in initiatives of the Salvation Army as the commissioned author of nine children’s books published for the Safe From the Start and Communities for Children programs. The books tackle current issues facing young people such as family violence, peer pressure, cyberbullying and cyberstalking. The latest book to support children exposed to the drug ice was launched in February 2021.

David Morris is an educator with wide experience in Tasmania in State schools, independent schools, in the TAFE sector and as a reference librarian in the State Library of Tasmania and the University of Tasmania.

David’s distinguished contribution and expertise to teacher librarianship and library services in Tasmania and at the national level was recognised in 2013 when he was awarded the esteemed Doreen Hopkins Medal by the Australian School Library Association. He is the Tasmanian representative on the national School Libraries Advisory Committee for the Australian Library and Information Association. Davis was State Chairman of the industry Focus Group for TasTAFE’s Library and Museum Studies courses. He is Vice-President of the Tasmanian Council of Churches and, until June 2013, was also Convener of the Tasmanian Council of Churches Commission for Christian Ministry in State Schools, which is co-responsible for the development and monitoring of Tasmanian Education Department guidelines for the conduct of chaplaincy in State schools and Christian religious education in State schools.

David currently sits on the Scholarship Committee of Worldview Centre for Intercultural Studies. He has a long-standing commitment to the promotion of knowledge in the community, and is currently Head of Library & Information Services at Scotch Oakburn College in Launceston.

Lorraine Polglase worked with government and non-government organisations developing programs for families with children from 1978-2006, including the establishment of the inaugural Good Beginnings in Hobart as part of a national strategy. She was a member of the Inaugural Children Commissioner’s Advisory Panel. From 2006-11 she lived in New Delhi as a volunteer with various organisations.

Lorraine joined Arts National Hobart in 2011 and has been a member since, including Chairman 2019-22. She was elected a member of the Arts National Council in early 2025.

She has been Secretary of the Fellowship of First Fleeters since 2024.

Before setting sail for Tasmania from South Australia in 2009, Professor Michael Rowan was Pro Vice Chancellor of the Division of Education Arts and Social Sciences at UniSA – now part of the exciting new Adelaide University. He has a PhD in philosophy from the University of Adelaide, the other half of the new university, which followed a BA (hons) and Dip Ed from Flinders University.

Professor Rowan’s principal concerns in philosophy have been informal logic/critical thinking and philosophy of science, which he put to use as the foundations for a career in university senior management, and doing what he could as a public intellectual to promote the importance of education for all citizens, defending science and all scholarship from ideological attack and generally upholding the values on which a free, democratic and prosperous society must rest.

Rob Valentine has a significant breadth of life experience having worked in the Tasmanian Public Service for a period of 42 years, mainly in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) disciplines of software development, systems analysis and design, IT strategic planning and contract management, covering public infrastructure development, public transport, community welfare and public health.

He served for 20 years as an elected member in Local Government, with nearly 13 of those as Lord Mayor of Hobart. His strong involvement with town planning earned him an Honorary Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia during this time.

On retirement from the State Service in 2012, not being a person to let the grass grow under his feet, Rob was elected for a total of 12 years to the Legislative Council as the Independent Member for Hobart, undertaking a number of important inquiries and chairing the Parliamentary Standing Committees on Public Works and also Integrity for a number of years.

Through these experiences, Rob has developed a keen interest in scientific endeavour and its importance to society in general. He has concluded that scientific rigour should be indispensable in many fields of endeavour, but sadly is often a casualty at the policy formulation level.

Tony, by profession a surveyor, is an adjunct senior researcher in the Department of Physics. He taught
Spatial Science at the University of Tasmania for 35 years before retiring in 2003. Completing a PhD in Physics in 1984, he became interested in the development of instrumentation for high precision
measurement in spatial science and astronomy, designing and making special equipment for these studies. This led to him becoming involved with various projects ranging from launching giant balloons carrying X-Ray telescopes in Central Australia and Brazil, to carrying out archaeological surveys in Greece. For the last 20 years he has played a major role with the establishment and continuing development of the Greenhill Observatory at Bisdee Tier, 70 km north of Hobart. In 2011 he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for his work in spatial science, astronomy and disability services.

Throughout his life Tony has had an interest in sculpture and the aesthetics of scientific and industrial machinery as works of art. Using this theme he has designed and constructed several sculptures and sundials situated here in Tasmania and Western Australia.  Tony is the College of Sciences and Engineering representative on the University of Tasmania Alumni Committee.

Ross Large is a geologist recognised internationally for his research on the genesis of ore deposits and their relationships to evolution of life, mass extinction and mineral deposit cycles. With colleagues he demonstrated the close connection between selenium on the oceans and the succession of growth and extinction.

In 1989 he established the ARC Centre of Excellence for Ore Deposit Research and Exploration Science (CODES), which became one of the world’s most respected ore research centres and was notable for its close collaboration with the mining industry. For over 20 years Large was Professor of Economic Geology at the University of Tasmania.

Warwick is a third generation antique dealer, selling English Regency furniture & decorative arts, campaign furniture, clocks & early keyboard instruments, locally sourced. Items are chosen for originality, colour, patina & beauty. Warwick is a Commonwealth Government Approved valuer (Cultural Gifts Scheme) for Tasmanian art & decorative arts 1803-1939.

Julie Rimes has broad experience in school leadership roles having worked across all sectors and all levels of education, from primary level through to the tertiary sector. In recognition of her work in education she was elected to the Tasmanian Women’s Roll of Honour in 2015.

As a member of a number of state, national and international boards and committees in the education and disability spheres, Rimes brings to her role as Immediate Past President extensive experience in working in senior roles in leadership, management and policy.

Lynne Uptin’s diverse career in the arts began as an illustrator, followed by roles as co-owner of Australia’s largest studio pottery, a hot glass studio, and owner/director of two art galleries in Sydney. She moved to Tasmania in 1984, where she established Australia’s first professional practice course for artists at the Tasmanian School of Art. She later worked in the Tasmanian public service for 21 years, primarily as Director of Arts Tasmania.

Now a botanical artist, Lynne was awarded Best Art Exhibit and a Gold Medal at the 2024 Royal Horticultural Society Botanical Art Exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery, London. Her work is held in major collections, including the Lindley Library, London; the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery; and the Sydney Florilegium.

Mary Koolhof OAM is strongly committed to the work of the Royal Society of Tasmania in advancing knowledge and has been an active member of the Society since 2007. Mary was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the General Division for service to education in June 2025.

A graduate of the University of Tasmania with First Class Honours in Arts, Mary had wide experience as a teacher in Tasmanian schools including stints as Senior Education Officer and Senior Curriculum Officer for the Department of Education. Mary was an inaugural awardee of a Commonwealth Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowship and a recipient of several Goethe-Institut scholarships to study in Germany. She was awarded a Rotary Vocational Award for Excellence for her work with refugee students. Mary has finished a six-year term on the Tasmanian Social Sciences Human Research Ethics Committee.

To support vulnerable Tasmanian children, Mary became involved in initiatives of the Salvation Army as the commissioned author of nine children’s books published for the Safe From the Start and Communities for Children programs. The books tackle current issues facing young people such as family violence, peer pressure, cyberbullying and cyberstalking. The latest book to support children exposed to the drug ice was launched in February 2021.

John Carswell has worked as a mining geologist at mines and projects in most states of Australia and in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Introduced by his father to bushwalking and mountain climbing at a young age, John grew up and attended school in Queenstown, Tasmania.

John is the published author of Gravel and Mud: A Footy Tale of Tasmania’s Mountain men.

A veteran mountain climber, he has summitted each of Tasmania’s 158 ‘Abels’, the collective name for Tasmanian mountains which rise to over 1,100 metres. John is also a contributor to A World Apart: The Royal Society of Tasmania Art Collection from 1843.

Marley is a history and literature graduate of the University of Tasmania. She has travelled widely in Australia and overseas. She particularly enjoys visiting museums and galleries as one means of understanding the history of her various destinations through both national and local art. Books have been the central focus of her career, being employed for some years by the State Library of Tasmania and later she became the book-buyer with a particular interest in literature and history, for a Hobart bookshop.

While antiquarian books also played a part later in her career, history is her passion and it is in this field that Marley has been able to serve the Royal Society. She has completed numerous research projects for the Society and for her contribution, she was awarded Life Membership. She is currently a serving member on two Society committees and in 2019, Marley presented a lecture to the Royal Society of Tasmania during its 175 th  Anniversary celebrations entitled “Snapshots of the last 175 years”. Among others, her most recent presentation was in the old Oatlands Supreme Court in August 2025, to inform a major Royal Society print exhibition being held in the town.

Dr Deborah Kathleen Beswick OAM is a distinguished Tasmanian educator with over four decades of service in science education. She has taught at Elizabeth College, Cosgrove High School, and Glenora District High School. From 1990 to 2020, she led the Science and Computing Department at Elizabeth College, also teaching mathematics .govhouse.tas.gov.au+1Rotary Club of North Hobart+1

Dr Beswick has been instrumental in promoting science among students statewide. She coordinated the Tasmanian National Science Week from 2001 to 2020 , and directed the Tasmanian Science Talent Search, including its transition to an online format in 2020 .stat.org.au+2govhouse.tas.gov.au+2National Science Week+2stat.org.au

In recognition of her contributions, she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2022 Australia Day Honours for her service to education .rst.org.au+1Facebook+1

Dr Beswick is an active member of the Royal Society of Tasmania.

Her enduring commitment has significantly advanced science education and inspired countless students across Tasmania.

Mary Koolhof OAM is strongly committed to the work of the Royal Society of Tasmania in advancing knowledge and has been an active member of the Society since 2007. Mary was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the General Division for service to education in June 2025.

A graduate of the University of Tasmania with First Class Honours in Arts, Mary had wide experience as a teacher in Tasmanian schools including stints as Senior Education Officer and Senior Curriculum Officer for the Department of Education. Mary was an inaugural awardee of a Commonwealth Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowship and a recipient of several Goethe-Institut scholarships to study in Germany. She was awarded a Rotary Vocational Award for Excellence for her work with refugee students. Mary has finished a six-year term on the Tasmanian Social Sciences Human Research Ethics Committee.

To support vulnerable Tasmanian children, Mary became involved in initiatives of the Salvation Army as the commissioned author of nine children’s books published for the Safe From the Start and Communities for Children programs. The books tackle current issues facing young people such as family violence, peer pressure, cyberbullying and cyberstalking. The latest book to support children exposed to the drug ice was launched in February 2021.

David Morris is an educator with wide experience in Tasmania in State schools, independent schools, in the TAFE sector and as a reference librarian in the State Library of Tasmania and the University of Tasmania.

David’s distinguished contribution and expertise to teacher librarianship and library services in Tasmania and at the national level was recognised in 2013 when he was awarded the esteemed Doreen Hopkins Medal by the Australian School Library Association. He is the Tasmanian representative on the national School Libraries Advisory Committee for the Australian Library and Information Association. Davis was State Chairman of the industry Focus Group for TasTAFE’s Library and Museum Studies courses. He is Vice-President of the Tasmanian Council of Churches and, until June 2013, was also Convener of the Tasmanian Council of Churches Commission for Christian Ministry in State Schools, which is co-responsible for the development and monitoring of Tasmanian Education Department guidelines for the conduct of chaplaincy in State schools and Christian religious education in State schools.

David currently sits on the Scholarship Committee of Worldview Centre for Intercultural Studies. He has a long-standing commitment to the promotion of knowledge in the community, and is currently Head of Library & Information Services at Scotch Oakburn College in Launceston.

Julie Rimes has broad experience in school leadership roles having worked across all sectors and all levels of education, from primary level through to the tertiary sector. In recognition of her work in education she was elected to the Tasmanian Women’s Roll of Honour in 2015.

As a member of a number of state, national and international boards and committees in the education and disability spheres, Rimes brings to her role as Immediate Past President extensive experience in working in senior roles in leadership, management and policy.

Roxanne has thirty-five years of experience in primary teaching across a range schools. For over fifteen of those years Roxanne taught gifted and talented students online through the Department of Education’s Centre for Extended Learning (now the Gifted Online program). Through this program Roxanne engaged with students across Tasmania. In 2007, Roxanne and a colleague jointly won the Microsoft 2007 Innovative Teacher Award for their “Cool Chemistry” project. The project involved the creation of a virtual classroom connecting two schools, two teachers and a practising chemist. Within this environment, children used a range of software to share and compare their inquiries.

Roxanne also has a keen interest in literacy through childhood reading and believes every student should have books in their hands whenever they want one – whether they are classics like Journey to the Centre of the Earth or the more modern stories of the 13-storey treehouse series. She won the Scholastic Literacy Champion Award in 2013. Roxanne retired from teaching in June 2018, but retains a strong interest in making Science teaching accessible to everyone.

Julie Rimes has broad experience in school leadership roles having worked across all sectors and all levels of education, from primary level through to the tertiary sector. In recognition of her work in education she was elected to the Tasmanian Women’s Roll of Honour in 2015.

As a member of a number of state, national and international boards and committees in the education and disability spheres, Rimes brings to her role as Immediate Past President extensive experience in working in senior roles in leadership, management and policy.

Dr Dawson is a physical oceanographer and postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in Nipaluna/Hobart. She has an interest in the large-scale circulation and dynamics of the Southern Ocean and Antarctic margins. Her research currently uses numerical models to investigate the drivers of recent Antarctic sea ice variability.

UTAS

Ross Large is a geologist recognised internationally for his research on the genesis of ore deposits and their relationships to evolution of life, mass extinction and mineral deposit cycles. With colleagues he demonstrated the close connection between selenium on the oceans and the succession of growth and extinction.

In 1989 he established the ARC Centre of Excellence for Ore Deposit Research and Exploration Science (CODES), which became one of the world’s most respected ore research centres and was notable for its close collaboration with the mining industry. For over 20 years Large was Professor of Economic Geology at the University of Tasmania.

Lorraine Polglase worked with government and non-government organisations developing programs for families with children from 1978-2006, including the establishment of the inaugural Good Beginnings in Hobart as part of a national strategy. She was a member of the Inaugural Children Commissioner’s Advisory Panel. From 2006-11 she lived in New Delhi as a volunteer with various organisations.

Lorraine joined Arts National Hobart in 2011 and has been a member since, including Chairman 2019-22. She was elected a member of the Arts National Council in early 2025.

She has been Secretary of the Fellowship of First Fleeters since 2024.

Before setting sail for Tasmania from South Australia in 2009, Professor Michael Rowan was Pro Vice Chancellor of the Division of Education Arts and Social Sciences at UniSA – now part of the exciting new Adelaide University. He has a PhD in philosophy from the University of Adelaide, the other half of the new university, which followed a BA (hons) and Dip Ed from Flinders University.

Professor Rowan’s principal concerns in philosophy have been informal logic/critical thinking and philosophy of science, which he put to use as the foundations for a career in university senior management, and doing what he could as a public intellectual to promote the importance of education for all citizens, defending science and all scholarship from ideological attack and generally upholding the values on which a free, democratic and prosperous society must rest.

Tony, by profession a surveyor, is an adjunct senior researcher in the Department of Physics. He taught
Spatial Science at the University of Tasmania for 35 years before retiring in 2003. Completing a PhD in Physics in 1984, he became interested in the development of instrumentation for high precision
measurement in spatial science and astronomy, designing and making special equipment for these studies. This led to him becoming involved with various projects ranging from launching giant balloons carrying X-Ray telescopes in Central Australia and Brazil, to carrying out archaeological surveys in Greece. For the last 20 years he has played a major role with the establishment and continuing development of the Greenhill Observatory at Bisdee Tier, 70 km north of Hobart. In 2011 he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for his work in spatial science, astronomy and disability services.

Throughout his life Tony has had an interest in sculpture and the aesthetics of scientific and industrial machinery as works of art. Using this theme he has designed and constructed several sculptures and sundials situated here in Tasmania and Western Australia.  Tony is the College of Sciences and Engineering representative on the University of Tasmania Alumni Committee.

Greg Cooke is a PhD candidate in History at the University of Tasmania, where he previously completed a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours. A University Medallist and Class Valedictorian for 2025, Greg brings both academic distinction and real-world experience to his work. His current research explores how processed foods came to be regarded as health foods in Australia—a topic that sits at the intersection of culture, industry, and public perception.

Before entering academia, Greg worked as a professional chef for more than two decades, nurturing a lifelong fascination with food and its stories. He is passionate about food history and its power to, in his words, “make history fun again.”

Neil MacKinnon was born into a farming family in Northern Tasmania, schooled in Launceston, is an Economics graduate of the University of Tasmania, and a Chartered Accountant. After working in Hobart, Neil took employment in the United Kingdom before embarking on a career in financial and general management as an employee and/or principal that took him to Iran, Seychelles, Hong Kong, U.S.A, Switzerland, Bahamas and mainland Australia. On return to Tasmania, Neil took up a series of short-term senior management positions in firms engaged in vegetable export, tourism and heritage conservation, rail transport, precision manufacturing, civil engineering and employer representation. Neil maintains active involvement with family farming activities.

Neil is now retired and active on community boards and committees. Neil’s maternal family were members of the Royal Society of Tasmania from its early days.

Professor Haddad has a distinguished career in the area of development and application of methods for the separation of inorganic species. His work includes high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), its applications to foods, pharmaceuticals and trace metal analysis; ion chromatography (IC), including theory and applications to the minerals industry, environmental analysis, and instrument manufacture; capillary electrophoresis and capillary electrochromatography of inorganic species and low molecular weight acids and bases; spectrofluorometry, as applied to trace metal analysis using ternary complexes; the development of electrochemical detectors for liquid chromatography.

He has published more than 210 papers in international journals, made numerous plenary and keynote lecture presentations and is on the editorial board of ten major journals in analytical chemistry.

Ross Large is a geologist recognised internationally for his research on the genesis of ore deposits and their relationships to evolution of life, mass extinction and mineral deposit cycles. With colleagues he demonstrated the close connection between selenium on the oceans and the succession of growth and extinction.

In 1989 he established the ARC Centre of Excellence for Ore Deposit Research and Exploration Science (CODES), which became one of the world’s most respected ore research centres and was notable for its close collaboration with the mining industry. For over 20 years Large was Professor of Economic Geology at the University of Tasmania.

Julie Rimes has broad experience in school leadership roles having worked across all sectors and all levels of education, from primary level through to the tertiary sector. In recognition of her work in education she was elected to the Tasmanian Women’s Roll of Honour in 2015.

As a member of a number of state, national and international boards and committees in the education and disability spheres, Rimes brings to her role as Immediate Past President extensive experience in working in senior roles in leadership, management and policy.

Sonia is an accountant (FCPA) with a PhD in governance in not-for-profits. Although starting her university life in science, lifestyle choices led to an academic career in accounting.

She retired after 21 years in academia lecturing in accounting and corporate governance while also being Course Coordinator for Masters in Professional Accounting and Research Higher Degree Coordinator.

For the past 18 years Sonia has been Treasurer for a diverse range of not-for-profit boards from dancing groups, community legal centres, festival groups, wooden boats and the peak body for volunteering.

Dr Don Garden, OAM FFAHS FRHSV, is a former President of the Federation of Australian Historical Societies and of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, former Co-Chair of GLAM Peak Australia and a former member of the Australian Heritage Council. He is Honorary Secretary of the Royal Society of Tasmania, Honorary Secretary of the Amy Sherwin Fund, an Adjunct Professor at James Cook University, a life member of the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and of the Albany Historical Society, and a member of a number of other community history and heritage groups.

For many years Don taught History and Environmental History at the University of Melbourne. He has written seventeen books, a mixture of local and regional histories, biography, company history, an environmental history of Australia and the Pacific and a history of El Nino events in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.

Professor Richard Coleman is an Emeritus Professor at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) with over 40 years of experience as a researcher and academic in the Australian university sector. His research focuses on understanding the role of the oceans and cryosphere in the global climate system, employing a multi-disciplinary approach that combines geodesy, physical oceanography, and glaciology. Professor Coleman’s work aims to understand and predict the impacts of climate change, providing crucial insights to policymakers. A pioneer in the use of satellite altimeters in oceanography, he established Tasmania as home to the only Southern Hemisphere altimeter calibration/validation site.

He is also a dedicated educator, immensely proud of the contributions his students have made to the research community. Professor Coleman has more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has supervised 43 graduate student completions. He previously served as the Executive Director of IMAS and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Collaborations and Infrastructure) at the University of Tasmania, as well as Executive Director at the Australian Research Council (ARC).

UTAS

Professor Haddad has a distinguished career in the area of development and application of methods for the separation of inorganic species. His work includes high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), its applications to foods, pharmaceuticals and trace metal analysis; ion chromatography (IC), including theory and applications to the minerals industry, environmental analysis, and instrument manufacture; capillary electrophoresis and capillary electrochromatography of inorganic species and low molecular weight acids and bases; spectrofluorometry, as applied to trace metal analysis using ternary complexes; the development of electrochemical detectors for liquid chromatography.

He has published more than 210 papers in international journals, made numerous plenary and keynote lecture presentations and is on the editorial board of ten major journals in analytical chemistry.

Professor Hamish Maxwell-Stewart is a leading historian specializing in convict transportation and digital heritage. Currently, he serves as Professor of Heritage and Digital Humanities at the University of New England and is CEO of Digital History Tasmania. He is also an associate member of the Menzies Institute for Medical Research at the University of Tasmania.

Born in Nigeria and educated at the University of Edinburgh, Maxwell-Stewart moved to Tasmania in 1996. He held various academic positions at the University of Tasmania, including Associate Dean Research for the Faculty of Arts.

Maxwell-Stewart has authored over 100 publications and led significant digitization projects, including the imaging and linking of 2.5 million Tasmanian historical records. He has also curated major exhibitions, such as the “Lottery of Life” at Port Arthur and the 2023 Convict Memorial in Hobart.

His work integrates historical research with digital technologies, offering new insights into Australia’s convict past

Professor Jim Reid is an Emeritus Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Tasmania, specializing in plant molecular biology. His research has significantly advanced understanding of plant hormones and gene regulation, particularly in legumes and eucalypts.

He has provided scientific leadership in developing technologies to enhance eucalyptus plantation efficiency in Australia.

Professor Reid has held leadership roles in the Royal Society of Tasmania, including Chair of its Foundation Committee, and has been a trustee of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.

His contributions to science and education have been recognized with the Royal Society of Tasmania Medal and fellowship in the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

Professor Brian Yates is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Tasmania and a leading Australian computational chemist. He has held senior academic roles, including Executive Dean of the College of Sciences and Engineering, and served at the Australian Research Council. Known for his research in reaction mechanisms and catalysis, he’s also a nationally recognised advocate for science education and currently serves as Director of Strategic Communications for the Australian Council of Deans of Science.

Professor Jonathan Sprent is a world-leading Australian immunologist known for groundbreaking work on T cell biology and immune tolerance. He has held senior roles in the U.S. and Australia, currently leading research at the Garvan Institute. A Fellow of the Royal Society and recipient of the AAI Lifetime Achievement Award, his work has shaped modern immunology.

While his primary research base is the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, his involvement with the Royal Society of Tasmania reflects his broader commitment to advancing scientific knowledge across Australia.

Professor Jo Whittaker is a marine geoscientist based at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the University of Tasmania, where she is also a current ARC Future Fellow. Her research examines the evolution of ocean basins and continents through geological time, with a particular focus on Australia, Antarctica, the Southern Ocean, and the eastern Indian Ocean. She uses a combination of marine geophysical data, geological samples including ocean‑drilling archives, and modelling to understand how deep mantle processes interact with plate tectonics to shape the seafloor.

Jo’s more recent work has centred on the deep‑time evolution of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, linking tectonics with paleo‑oceanography and ice‑sheet development. This includes investigating the formation of the Antarctic continent, reconstructing changes in ocean gateways, and exploring how these processes influenced the development of currents, such as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, and the onset of Antarctic glaciation.

She has participated in numerous research voyages across Australian waters, the Southern Ocean, and offshore Antarctica, where she has collected the marine geophysical and geological datasets and samples that underpin much of my research. Support through ANZIC programs has been instrumental in enabling large-scale collaborative work that spans tectonics, oceanography, and Antarctic Earth science.

Roxanne has thirty-five years of experience in primary teaching across a range schools. For over fifteen of those years Roxanne taught gifted and talented students online through the Department of Education’s Centre for Extended Learning (now the Gifted Online program). Through this program Roxanne engaged with students across Tasmania. In 2007, Roxanne and a colleague jointly won the Microsoft 2007 Innovative Teacher Award for their “Cool Chemistry” project. The project involved the creation of a virtual classroom connecting two schools, two teachers and a practising chemist. Within this environment, children used a range of software to share and compare their inquiries.

Roxanne also has a keen interest in literacy through childhood reading and believes every student should have books in their hands whenever they want one – whether they are classics like Journey to the Centre of the Earth or the more modern stories of the 13-storey treehouse series. She won the Scholastic Literacy Champion Award in 2013. Roxanne retired from teaching in June 2018, but retains a strong interest in making Science teaching accessible to everyone.

Dr Liza Snow retired as Associate Professor in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Tasmania in 2014. Dr Snow’s research interests were in the molecular biology of carcinogenesis, the Tasmanian Devil facial tumour disease, and in biochemistry. Her PhD was in Biomedical Science from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Dr Snow has held positions of Associate Professor in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at Deakin University, and Assistant Professor at the City University of New York’s School of Medicine.

Dr John Thorne AM JP is a Tasmanian educator and humanitarian known for his leadership in Rotary International, where he co-founded Food Plant Solutions to combat global malnutrition. A past Director of Rotary International and Chair of the Tasmanian Order of Australia Association, he also serves on the Royal Society of Tasmania’s Foundation and Membership Committees.

Rob Valentine has a significant breadth of life experience having worked in the Tasmanian Public Service for a period of 42 years, mainly in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) disciplines of software development, systems analysis and design, IT strategic planning and contract management, covering public infrastructure development, public transport, community welfare and public health.

He served for 20 years as an elected member in Local Government, with nearly 13 of those as Lord Mayor of Hobart. His strong involvement with town planning earned him an Honorary Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia during this time.

On retirement from the State Service in 2012, not being a person to let the grass grow under his feet, Rob was elected for a total of 12 years to the Legislative Council as the Independent Member for Hobart, undertaking a number of important inquiries and chairing the Parliamentary Standing Committees on Public Works and also Integrity for a number of years.

Through these experiences, Rob has developed a keen interest in scientific endeavour and its importance to society in general. He has concluded that scientific rigour should be indispensable in many fields of endeavour, but sadly is often a casualty at the policy formulation level.

After graduating from UTAS, Dr Sally Bryant worked as a wildlife scientist for over 30 years initially with the Tasmanian Government managing threatened species programs then as Science Manager with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy. Now as an environmental consultant, Sally’s work spans theoretical to applied conservation science specialising in threatened bird recovery and ecological monitoring.

Sally has authored and co-authored numerous books, chapters, journal papers, technical reports and popular articles on conservation issues including for the Royal Society. She is an Adjunct Lecturer at UTAS, on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Ecological Management & Restoration, and a Research Fellow with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy, but is perhaps best known for her popular ABC Radio wildlife talkback program which has been running fortnightly since 1999.

In 2023, Sally was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for her contribution to wildlife conservation and land protection.

Dr Margaret Davies OAM is a distinguished Australian herpetologist renowned for her extensive research on frog taxonomy and ecology. Over her career, she described 35 new frog species, including one from Tasmania, and authored or co-authored more than 120 scientific publications.

Dr Davies earned her BSc from the University of Tasmania in 1966, followed by an MSc from the Australian National University and a PhD from the University of Adelaide, focusing on the genus Uperoleia. She served as an academic at the University of Adelaide for 30 years, receiving the Dean’s Certificate for Excellence in Teaching in 1996 .

After retiring in 2002, she returned to Tasmania, where she continues to contribute to the scientific community. She serves as the Honorary Editor of the Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania and is a member of the Society’s Publications Committee.

In recognition of her contributions to science, Dr Davies was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2014 and was inducted into the Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women in 2015.

John has been a passionate teacher for 40 years. He has taught Pre-Tertiary Modern History, Ancient History and Philosophy, at Fahan School and he has lectured on Antarctic History at the University of Tasmania’s Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies. John and a colleague developed the Polar Pathways Tour for the State Government and John has been a regular guide for these during the Antarctic Mid-Winter Festivals. John has worked in Antarctica as a guide/historian.

David Wilson is a Tasmanian geologist and long-serving member of the Royal Society of Tasmania (RST). He graduated with a BSc (Hons) in geology and geophysics from the University of Tasmania in 1978. His early career included 12 years as a geophysicist with Hydro Tasmania, conducting geological investigations across remote regions of the state.

Wilson joined the RST in 2014 and has since held several leadership roles. He served as Honorary Secretary from 2018 to 2020 and as Honorary Treasurer from 2020 to 2023. He has also contributed to multiple RST committees, including the Foundation, Aboriginal Engagement, and Style Guide Committees, supporting the Society’s mission to advance knowledge in Tasmania.

Bernard Pryor OAM is a dedicated Tasmanian horticulturist and long-serving member of the Royal Society of Tasmania (RST). He has made significant contributions to the Society as the editor and designer of its monthly newsletter, a key communication tool that keeps members informed and engaged. rst.org.au

In recognition of his service to horticulture and the community, Bernard was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2019.

Beyond his work with the RST, Bernard is an accomplished iris hybridizer, having registered numerous Louisiana iris cultivars, including ‘Let Freedom Ring’ and ‘Her Excellency Kate Warner’.

He also serves as the Membership Officer for the Friends of the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, contributing to the promotion and preservation of Tasmania’s botanical heritage.

Bernard’s diverse contributions reflect his commitment to horticulture, community engagement, and the advancement of knowledge in Tasmania.

Eddy Steenbergen is a Tasmanian IT professional and community volunteer known for his contributions to historical and genealogical societies. He serves as the Webmaster for the Royal Society of Tasmania, maintaining its online presence. Additionally, he has held various leadership roles in the Tasmanian Family History Society, including Vice President and Secretary, and manages the Hobart Branch’s Facebook page. Beyond these roles, Eddy contributes to local history discussions through his blog, the Glenorchy City Observer.

Sue McKerracher has had a long career in communications and management in the UK and around Australia. She moved to Tasmania a few years ago to work with libraries and state government and volunteers with the Royal Society of Tasmania as a publicity officer.

Before setting sail for Tasmania from South Australia in 2009, Professor Michael Rowan was Pro Vice Chancellor of the Division of Education Arts and Social Sciences at UniSA – now part of the exciting new Adelaide University. He has a PhD in philosophy from the University of Adelaide, the other half of the new university, which followed a BA (hons) and Dip Ed from Flinders University.

Professor Rowan’s principal concerns in philosophy have been informal logic/critical thinking and philosophy of science, which he put to use as the foundations for a career in university senior management, and doing what he could as a public intellectual to promote the importance of education for all citizens, defending science and all scholarship from ideological attack and generally upholding the values on which a free, democratic and prosperous society must rest.

Julie Rimes has broad experience in school leadership roles having worked across all sectors and all levels of education, from primary level through to the tertiary sector. In recognition of her work in education she was elected to the Tasmanian Women’s Roll of Honour in 2015.

As a member of a number of state, national and international boards and committees in the education and disability spheres, Rimes brings to her role as Immediate Past President extensive experience in working in senior roles in leadership, management and policy.

Professor McPhie is a volcanologist and for most of her career (1990 to 2015), she held an academic position at the University of Tasmania. She conducted fundamental and applied research in volcanology, and taught volcanology and as well as other undergraduate geology units.

Since retiring from the university, she has been consulting to the minerals industry, providing technical advice and professional training in volcanology. She maintains an adjunct position with the University of Tasmania, continuing to supervise PhD students and to participate in research projects. She became a member of the RST in 2020.

After graduating from UTAS, Dr Sally Bryant worked as a wildlife scientist for over 30 years initially with the Tasmanian Government managing threatened species programs then as Science Manager with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy. Now as an environmental consultant, Sally’s work spans theoretical to applied conservation science specialising in threatened bird recovery and ecological monitoring.

Sally has authored and co-authored numerous books, chapters, journal papers, technical reports and popular articles on conservation issues including for the Royal Society. She is an Adjunct Lecturer at UTAS, on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Ecological Management & Restoration, and a Research Fellow with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy, but is perhaps best known for her popular ABC Radio wildlife talkback program which has been running fortnightly since 1999.

In 2023, Sally was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for her contribution to wildlife conservation and land protection.

Marley is a history and literature graduate of the University of Tasmania. She has travelled widely in Australia and overseas. She particularly enjoys visiting museums and galleries as one means of understanding the history of her various destinations through both national and local art. Books have been the central focus of her career, being employed for some years by the State Library of Tasmania and later she became the book-buyer with a particular interest in literature and history, for a Hobart bookshop.

While antiquarian books also played a part later in her career, history is her passion and it is in this field that Marley has been able to serve the Royal Society. She has completed numerous research projects for the Society and for her contribution, she was awarded Life Membership. She is currently a serving member on two Society committees and in 2019, Marley presented a lecture to the Royal Society of Tasmania during its 175 th  Anniversary celebrations entitled “Snapshots of the last 175 years”. Among others, her most recent presentation was in the old Oatlands Supreme Court in August 2025, to inform a major Royal Society print exhibition being held in the town.

Before setting sail for Tasmania from South Australia in 2009, Professor Michael Rowan was Pro Vice Chancellor of the Division of Education Arts and Social Sciences at UniSA – now part of the exciting new Adelaide University. He has a PhD in philosophy from the University of Adelaide, the other half of the new university, which followed a BA (hons) and Dip Ed from Flinders University.

Professor Rowan’s principal concerns in philosophy have been informal logic/critical thinking and philosophy of science, which he put to use as the foundations for a career in university senior management, and doing what he could as a public intellectual to promote the importance of education for all citizens, defending science and all scholarship from ideological attack and generally upholding the values on which a free, democratic and prosperous society must rest.