Lectures

Volcanic eruptions in the deep submarine environment: Are the dynamics and products the same as on land?

The Royal Society of Tasmania invites all members and supporters to a lecture on 3 October 2021, at 3 pm by Associate Professor Rebecca Carey.

The lecture will be presented in person at the RST Lecture Room in TMAG (Hobart) and as a Zoom webinar.

If you wish to attend in person: Register using Eventbrite before Saturday 2 October using this link. The password is RST. Attendance in person is limited by current pandemic restrictions to 20.

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.

If you wish to attend via ZOOM: Follow this link to register for the Zoom webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Attendance is free for members of the Royal Society of Tasmania. Non-members are welcome and donations are appreciated through our website. Suggested donation $6; $4 for students and Friends of TMAG.

Volcanic eruptions on land are spectacular events for scientists and the public alike. Eruptions on the sea floor are probably no less spectacular, but they are rarely observed.

The lack of observational opportunity has severely hindered the scientific understanding of submarine volcanism. The deep-sea eruption of Havre submarine volcano north of New Zealand in 2012 was an exceptionally powerful event that produced a gigantic 400m² raft of floating pumice which alerted scientists to the eruption. Ship and robotic vehicle surveys of the volcano in 2015 provided an unprecedented dataset from which to discover the similarities and differences between eruptions and their products on land versus in deep submarine settings. Our team-based studies of this event have elucidated the special complications that arise for eruption into water versus air. Our insights can be used by science teams for future submarine eruptions.

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 is interested in volcanic processes and environments, geological hazards, and indigenous cultural narratives around volcanic events. She leads the volcanology group at the University of Tasmania which includes two postdoctoral researchers, five PhD students and other students at Honours and undergraduate levels. Her current projects range from microanalytical studies of products from single eruptions to volcanology, the geochemistry of hot-spot volcanoes offshore Australia and the role of mantle plume volcanism in tectonics, and field studies of ancient mineralised volcanic terrains in Australia.

View recording of the lecture by Dr Alessandro Silvano on September 5, 2021

The lecture on September 5, 2021, by Dr Alessandro Silvano, is now available on the RST YouTube channel. Read more about the lecture here.

Breathing New Life

The Royal Society of Tasmania, Northern Branch, invites you to a public lecture entitled “Breathing New Life” on Sunday October 24, 2021, at 1.30pm, by Tim Smallbon.

You may, if you wish, attend the lecture in person at the Meeting Room, QVMAG at Inveresk, Please register your intention to attend in person by calling Chris Beswick on 0417 330 118 or sending an email to apcachris@gmail.com.

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. General admission is $6.

Alternatively, you may 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.

Breathing New Life outlines the journey of the Cressy Research Station, founded in 1937 and becoming a Land Army training centre through the war, then a farmer training facility, and then a centre of excellence for Tasmanian agriculture. But what has become of the Cressy Research Station today, and can it be revitalized with a new breath of life and scientific purpose?

Tim Smallbon has enjoyed a career in Tasmanian agriculture spanning almost 40 years. Always having a passion for applied science, detail and technical skill led him to train as a seed and vegetable crop agronomist. Embracing the challenge of lifelong learning, he completed a Master’s degree by research within the last 5 years and was appointed Research Manager for Upper Murray Seeds to breathe new life into the Cressy Research Station.

Generously supported by

My Life in Slime

The Royal Society of Tasmania, Northern Branch, invites you to a public lecture entitled “My Life in Slime” on Sunday September 26, 2021, at 1.30pm, by Sarah Lloyd OAM.

You may, if you wish, attend the lecture in person at the Meeting Room, QVMAG at Inveresk, No prior registration or notification is necessary. Normal COVID rules will apply.

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. General admission is $6.

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

‘My Life in Slime’ will outline the life cycle of slime moulds (myxomycetes) and describe why the several completely different stages of development have confused scientists and naturalists for centuries. It will also describe the process of collecting and storing slime mould fruiting bodies and the difficulties identifying some of the 120 different species found so far in northern Tasmania.

Sarah Lloyd is a naturalist, writer and photographer who has written extensively about all aspects of Tasmania’s natural history, especially birds. Ten years after starting her study of slime moulds in the forest that surrounds her home, Sarah presented her work at a February 2020 conference in Costa Rica where participants were eager to learn about species found in Tasmania.

Generously supported by

East meets West

The Royal Society of Tasmania, Northern Branch, and the Geological Society of Tasmania, invite you to a public lecture entitled “East meets West: the Geological Development of Northern Tasmania” on Sunday September 12, 2021, at 1.30pm, by Associate Professor Sebastien Meffre.

You may, if you wish, attend the lecture in person at the Meeting Room, QVMAG at Inveresk, No prior registration or notification is necessary.

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

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

Western and eastern Tasmania not only have contrasting rainfall and vegetation, but also have dramatically different geology. Each of the two parts of the island formed in different places at different times and came together in the Tabberabberan Orogeny, 400 million years ago. This lecture explores the contrasting geological events that have shaped the island.

Associate Professor Meffre is the head of Earth Sciences at the University of Tasmania. His current research interests include improving techniques for dating rocks, analysing gold from ore deposits, investigating contamination in Tasmanian rivers, and understanding the plate tectonic processes that have shaped the SW Pacific, SE Australia, and SE Asia.

Generously supported by

View recording of the lecture by Dr Adam Abersteiner – August 2021

The lecture on August 1, 2021, by Dr Adam Abersteiner, is now available on the RST YouTube channel. Read more about the lecture here.