Lectures Archive

Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery: a catalyst for cultural activation

The Northern Branch of the Royal Society of Tasmania invites you to a public lecture at 1.30 pm on Sunday 27 November 2022 by Shane Fitzgerald, City of Launceston General Manager Creative Arts and Cultural Services, in the Meeting Room of QVMAG (Inveresk). Full COVID vaccination and the wearing of face masks are highly desirable.

Admission is free for members of the Royal Society of Tasmania. The charge is $4 for students, QVMAG Friends, TMAG Friends, and members of the Launceston Historical Society. For all others, admission is $6.

You may if you wish view the lecture remotely via ZOOM. In this case you must register in advance to ensure that you receive an email containing instructions for joining the webinar on the day of the talk. Click here to register for ZOOM.

Click here to view the latest flyer for the event and print if necessary.

How can QVMAG become a sustainable, dynamic and accessible cultural and economic driver for Launceston, the northern region and the state? Join Shane Fitzgerald as he discusses the recently released QVMAG Futures Plan and shares insight into this imaginative and bold vision for one of Launceston’s most treasured institutions.

Mr Fitzgerald holds a Masters in Visual Arts and several qualifications in Museum Studies. He has held leadership roles in museums and art galleries in Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales, most recently as head of Production at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney. He is a strong advocate for making culture accessible to all audiences.

Generously supported by

View a recording of the lecture by northern PhD candidates – August 2022

Rhys Tanton has been investigating the drying processes of Tasmanian Blackwood, Acacia melanoxylon (R.Br). His research has found correlation between environmental factors and discoloration; he aims to identify causes, and methods to minimize process induced discoloration.

Rhys is a second year PhD researcher at UTas with Dr Mark Dewsbury and Dr Kyra Wood. Prior to undertaking RHD studies Rhys had worked within town planning and computational Geographic information mapping within Australia and the United Kingdom. Rhys is following his passion to improve the recovery rates and sustainable us of plantation timber.

Freya Su investigates climate data and its current relevance for hygrothermal simulation. In the new climate era with more intense storms and longer periods of rainy weather, wind-driven rain is becoming more common. However, rain data is not currently included in most Australian hygrothermal analyses; ignoring it is no longer an option.

Freya is a PhD student in Mark Dewsbury’s architectural science lab at the University of Tasmania. Before embarking on her current studies, she assisted Mark in his lab and co-authored publications about condensation. In 2015, Freya founded Snug House Tasmania, conducting airtightness testing and energy efficiency assessments in a multi-disciplinary building design studio.

Jack Tan’s research explores retrofitting to improve existing Australian dwellings towards near net-zero goals, focusing on local and international Indoor Environmental Qualities standards and green rating tools. The research goal is to inform energy efficiency and health and wellbeing impacts on Tasmania’s pre-2004 timber housing.

Jack is in his second year PhD research at UTAS with Dr Mark Dewsbury and Dr Philippa Watson. He is a registered architect with the Board of Architects Singapore, the Design Director at UVEST architecture studio and a member of Singapore Institute of Architects (SMAP) committee with 25+ years’ experience in the private sectors.

View a recording of the lecture by Dr Peter McGoldrick – August 2022

Darwin was puzzled by the paucity of fossils in Precambrian rocks. Twelve years ago, a new occurrence of an enigmatic Precambrian macrofossil (Horodyskia – ‘string of beads’) was described from a quarry near Balfour. The first Horodyskia fossils were found in Montana, and the Tasmanian occurrence is now known to be of similar age. This talk will describe the Tasmanian Horodyskia discovery and geological (and historical) links between Tasmania and Montana. Some results from recent Balfour field work will be presented, emphasising the importance of the site for, perhaps, solving ‘Darwin’s dilemma’.

Peter McGoldrick is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in Earth Sciences/CODES at the University of Tasmania. He taught undergraduate earth science and led research teams investigating supergiant sediment-hosted zinc-lead and copper deposits found in Precambrian rocks in Australia and Zambia. He now helps lead the ‘FrOTHies’ research group at UTas.

Living with climate variability – the Tasmanian experience

The Northern Branch of the Royal Society of Tasmania invite you to a public lecture at 1.30 pm on Sunday 23 October 2022 by Dr Mike Pook, in the Meeting Room of QVMAG (Inveresk). Full COVID vaccination and the wearing of face masks are encouraged.

Admission is free for members of the Royal Society of Tasmania. The charge is $4 for students, QVMAG Friends, TMAG Friends, and members of the Launceston Historical Society. For all others, admission is $6.

Click here to view the latest flyer for the event and print if necessary.

The location of Tasmania exposes the island to climate influences from the tropics and subtropics to the north and the Southern Ocean and Antarctica to the south. This presentation will identify the dominant climate drivers in the region and interpret how their interactions contribute to climate variability in Tasmania on seasonal, interannual and longer timescales. The distinction between climate and weather will be discussed.

Mike Pook is an Honorary Fellow at CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere. He worked as a meteorologist in Australia and Papua New Guinea before becoming a senior forecaster in Hobart and spent a summer at Casey in Antarctica. After completing a PhD at the University of Tasmania he became an academic, science communicator and administrator at the Antarctic CRC until taking up a research scientist position with CSIRO. Mike was ABC Tasmania’s TV weather presenter for about 18 years.

Truth-telling and treaty as it relates to Tasmania now
Note new date and venue

NOTE DATE AND VENUE CHANGE

Sunday 4 December 2022, 3 pm, Stanley Burbury Lecture Theatre, University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay, Hobart

The Royal Society of Tasmania invites you to a lecture by Tasmanian Aboriginal leader, Rodney Gibbins.

If you have already registered for in-person or online attendance, there is no need to register for the new date.

If you wish to attend in person and have not yet registered, please register via Eventbrite before 3 pm Saturday 3 December.

If you wish to view the lecture remotely via Zoom, and have not yet registered, please register in advance. You will receive an email from Zoom containing instructions for joining the webinar. Click here to register for Zoom.

Admission is free.

Abstract

For 60,000+ years the palawa people had sovereignty across this land lutruwita. All of this changed with the arrival of the white man. The invasion radically changed us in very short period of time, our culture was interrupted, our language and freedoms taken from us. This has resulted in continuing contemptuous views and actions by successive governments that have rendered us almost voiceless and powerless in our own country.

We began the fight back in the early 1970’s. We developed our own political movements and rallied as a people. Five years ago the Uluru statement was released. It was a forerunner for states to develop their own policies towards treaty and truth telling.

In this lecture, I will outline the responses of successive governments to Aboriginal issues and consider the needs and ambitions of the Aboriginal community in the development of a treaty and the truth telling process.

About Rodney Gibbins

Rodney Gibbins is a palawa man born in Launceston. As a child, he experienced constant physical and racial harassment. This was the experience as well, of most, if not all, of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community and this harassment was a direct consequence of the subjugation by the broader white community towards the Aboriginal community. Rodney has been actively involved in Aboriginal politics since the early 1970s and served in both the state and Commonwealth governments as a Senior Aboriginal Program and Policy Officer for over 30 years. He is currently retired.

View a recording of the lectures by Dr Pratiksha Srivastava and Dr Rhondda Waterworth – August 2022

Dr Pratiksha Srivastava

Dr Pratiksha Srivastava is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain. She completed her PhD at the National Centre for Maritime Engineering and Hydrodynamics, Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania, Australia. Her research focus is on microbe-electrode interaction for the development of sustainable technologies. She has made a major contribution to the development of electrode-dependent anaerobic ammonium oxidation in constructed wetlands coupled with microbial electrochemical technology. This research gained considerable attention among scientists. Her sustainability research led to the prestigious Green Talent Award from the German Federal Ministry in 2017. She has also been awarded a Nuffic Fellowship, from the Netherlands, and many other competitive national and international grants. She has published more than 20 peer-reviewed articles.

“Electron exchange between living and non-living things for developing sustainability in the environment”

The energy for all life forms comes from the flow of electrons in energetically favourable pairings of oxidation and reduction reactions. Although most living organisms use soluble oxidants and reductants, some microbes can access solid-phase materials as electron-acceptors or donors via extracellular microbial electron transfer. A better understanding of extracellular microbial electron transfer can lead us to further technological applications such as an efficient wastewater treatment, electricity generation, bioelectronics, biochemical production, detoxification of harmful compounds, and biofuels generation for achieving sustainability in the environment.

Dr Rhondda Waterworth

Dr Rhondda Waterworth is an Australian lawyer and psychologist. She has 14 years’ experience working with families, teenagers and children, in government funded health services, and in private practice. She has spent at least five years working with dangerous offenders.

Rhondda completed a PhD in the Schools of Psychology and Social Sciences at the University of Tasmania in therapeutic jurisprudence and ways in which the courts and magistrates can be more effective therapeutically within courtrooms to prevent reoffending.

She is the author of several articles on magistrate interventions and the use of health and legal systems to intervene for offending behaviour for those with mental health problems, trauma. She has also published articles on opportunities and techniques for applying therapeutic jurisprudence in criminal courts. One of these has been incorporated into a handbook for magistrates.

Rhondda is currently resident in France and works in private practice as well as lecturing at the Catholic University of Lyon.

“The therapeutic potential of magistrates and court systems”

The complex interface between health and legal systems is constantly on display in courtrooms. Magistrate behaviour and courtroom interactions have the potential to significantly affect outcomes for offenders and the wider community. This influence is especially strong for offenders experiencing mental illness, social disadvantage, drug addiction, or other endemic social problems. Insightful courtcraft can transform magistrate roles so they become drivers for therapeutic change. This approach requires identifying desirable magistrate behaviours and incorporating those behaviours in magistrate training.

View a recording of the lecture by Assoc Prof Raj Eri – July 2022

Personalised medicine uses very specific and unique health information from an individual to make informed therapy choices. To that end, the latest advances in human genomics, microbiome analysis and other advanced biomarker tools will assist in individualising therapy. A/Prof Raj Eri will describe in detail with examples how such advanced research will shape personalised medicine.

Raj is a passionate scientist who leads a research team investigating gut diseases such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease and colorectal cancer. He has published over 125 peer-reviewed research papers, received research grants from NHMRC and multiple philanthropic sources, and has been commended by the Australian Government for excellence and innovation in teaching.

Bang, Fizzle, Pop: Case studies of the interactions between volcanoes and magma with the ocean

The Royal Society of Tasmania invites you to a lecture on Sunday 16 October 2022 by Associate Professor Rebecca Carey.

You may attend the lecture in person at the RST Lecture Room, TMAG, Hobart. If attending in person, please register before 2pm Saturday 15 October. Attendance is free for members of the Royal Society of Tasmania.

Non-members are welcome to attend and donations are appreciated at the door or through our website. Suggested donation $6; $4 for students and Friends of TMAG.

Alternatively, you may view the lecture remotely via Zoom. Click here to register for Zoom. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Volcanic eruptions are fascinating for scientists and the public alike. Visual observations of eruption on land have been central to the scientific understanding and development of various models used in hazard forecasting.

However, in a submarine setting the interaction between hot magma and seawater is hidden and therefore not well understood. Recent submarine eruptions like the Hunga Tonga eruption in 2022 are extraordinary and can be devastating. International scientific teams with innovative robotic technologies have responded to these events to characterise and further understand submarine eruptions. These well characterised events underpin step changes in our understanding of how magmas and volcanoes interact with the ocean. In this presentation, I will describe case studies of recent submarine eruptions and underwater exploration of the eruption products to highlight advances and remaining challenges in the study of underwater volcanoes.

Associate Professor Rebecca Carey is a former Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow, Tasmanian Tall Poppy Scientist of the Year, and the 2020 winner of the Australian Academy of Science Dorothy Hill Medal. Rebecca won the RST MR Banks Medal for an outstanding mid-career researchers in 2021. Rebecca is interested in volcanic processes and environments, geological hazards, and indigenous cultural narratives around volcanic events. Her research focuses on understanding volcanic eruptive histories, mechanisms and drivers of volcanic eruptions, explosive eruption plumes, submarine volcanoes and eruption dynamics, and volcanic hazards.

Inaugural Elvin Fist Lecture:
School Principals and School Law

The Royal Society of Tasmania, Northern Branch, invites you to a public lecture by Dr Allison Trimble at 1.30 pm on Sunday 25 September 2022 in the Meeting Room of QVMAG (Inveresk). Full COVID vaccination and the wearing of face masks are highly desirable for anyone attending in person.

Admission is free for members of the Royal Society of Tasmania. The charge is $4 for students, QVMAG Friends, TMAG Friends, and members of Launceston Historical Society. For all others, admission is $6.

Click here to view the latest flyer for the event and print if necessary.

How much legal knowledge do school principals have, and how accurate is it? This presentation is based on a PhD study conducted in Tasmania concerning the impact of legal issues on school principals and their schools. It examines the legal literacy of Tasmanian government, Catholic and Independent school principals and asks whether they should really become lawyers.

Allison is a researcher in the School of Education at the University of Tasmania, based in Launceston. She has qualified in both Law and Education and combines those professional interests in her research on Education Law. In 2018 Allison was awarded the Australia and New Zealand Education Law Association Anne Shorten Prize for her PhD thesis, Education Law, Schools and School Principals.

Elvin Fist has been associated with the Northern branch of the Royal Society of Tasmania in various roles since the 1960s when he became a regular attendee at meetings along with colleagues from the staff of the Launceston Teachers’ College and later the TCAE/TSIT. Elvin was Chairman of the branch in 1995. He continued to be active into the early years of this century. He was Acting Chair in 2006, moving to Secretary the next year continuing in that role until 2010.

It is appropriate in honouring Elvin Fist to name a lecture about Education after him. Elvin spent his professional life in a variety of settings across the State. The major part of his career was as a teacher-educator involved in leadership roles in the Launceston Teachers’ College and its successors, TCAE and TSIT, which later merged into the new University of Tasmania, Newnham campus.

Macquarie Island seabirds; their place in the food web

The Royal Society of Tasmania, in association with marine research group Beer Aquatic, invites you to an entertaining lecture by Dr Julie McInnes, on the lifestyles of Southern Ocean seabirds on Macquarie Island. Dr McInnes is an ecologist who specializes in subantarctic ecosystems, with a particular emphasis on seabirds and their diets.

Join us at the Hobart Brewing Company, at 16 Evans Street, Hobart on Thursday 25th August 2022, 6.30pm. No prior registration is required to attend, however as seating is limited, early arrival is recommended.

Dr Julie McInnes is the first female recipient of the esteemed RJL Hawke Postdoctoral Fellowship, awarded by the Australian Antarctic Division.

At Beer Aquatic, she will share her latest insights into the ecology of Southern Ocean seabirds – with a focus on work done on Macquarie Island – and talk about the innovative methods she uses to untangle the complicated food webs around these top-level predators. Julie has worked extensively on the ecology of Southern Ocean seabirds and mammals, with a focus on applied research to create better conservation and management outcomes.