Australia Day Honours:
The Royal Society of Tasmania congratulates two of its members whose service to the community has been recognised in the Australia Day Honours List 2018:
Prof Trevor McDougall AC
Prof. Trevor McDougall, FRS, has been appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for eminent service to science, and to education, particularly in the area of ocean thermodynamics, as an academic, and researcher, to furthering the understanding of climate science, and as a mentor of young scientists.
Chief Justice Alan Blow
Chief Justice Alan Blow has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to the judiciary and to the law, particularly as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Tasmania, to legal education and professional standards, and to the community.
TED talk: Nobel prize-winning biologist and Honorary member of the Society Elizabeth Blackburn
Elizabeth was made an Honorary member of the Society in 2011, during a stay in Hobart. Dr Blackburn formed long-term connections with the Society, speaking to members and informing them of her research into and the discovery of telomerase.
TED talk biography of Dr Blackburn
TED talk: The science of cells that never get old
TMAG exhibition: Balnhdhurr – A Lasting Impression – artists from the Yirrkala Print Space in the Buku – Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre, East Arnhem Land – until Mar 12, 2018
TMAG is very pleased to be presenting Balnhdhurr – A Lasting Impression from the 15th of December to the 12th of March 2018.
This touring exhibition explores the ancient craft of printmaking, featuring vibrant and historically significant works by Australian indigenous artists.
The exhibition features artists from the Yirrkala Print Space in the Buku – Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre, East Arnhem Land.
This exhibition reflects the dynamic nature of Yolgnu art and how printmaking provides another medium for passing on knowledge to the younger generation.
Argyle Gallery 4, TMAG City site.
2018 Mawson Medal and Lecture celebrates Professor King
Winner of the M. R. Banks Medal 2015, University of Tasmania, Glacier researcher Professor Matt King. Picture: Peter Mathew
Member of our Society and its President, Professor Matt King will give the Mawson Lecture to the Geological Society of Australia at their convention in 2018. We’ll keep you posted!
Professor King’s research achievements on sea level change have earned him this recognition from the Geological Society. Matt’s work looks at ice sheets in the north and south poles observing the melting changes as the Earth deforms, imparting information about the properties of the planet hundreds of kilometres below its surface: read the full article.
Those who wish to apply: Australian Academy of Science
2018 Northern branch lectures
FEBRUARY 25 Jim Palfreyman “2016 Glitch of the Vela Pulsar” – In a world first, the only ever pulsar glitch observed in action with a large radio telescope. Right here in Tasmania.
** ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 1.15 pm March 25 **
MARCH 25 Prof Pat Quilty “Highlights of Tasmania’s Antarctic Exploration – Scott (why Scott?) and others” – Tasmania has long been a major location for Antarctica explorers. Researching their history has revealed some eye-opening surprises.
APRIL 22 Prof Hamish Maxwell-Stewart “Height, Health and History in Victoria and Tasmania 1850-1920” – How human stature can be used to explore early life disadvantage.
MAY 27 Dr Alison Alexander “Jane Franklin – the Real Founder of the Royal Society of Tasmania?” – The woman who organised, dominated, persuaded and commanded the men around her to co-operate in forming a scientific society.
JUNE 24 Dr Karin Orth “Mega Volcanic Eruptions and the Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time.” – Can Earth’s own internal heat engine driving volcanism be the harbinger of mass extinction?
JULY 22 Dr Caitlyn Vertigan “Shoot. Catalogue. Eat: Interacting with Nature at a Tasmanian Penal Station” – The early history of the Port Arthur penal station (1830-77) was filled with scientific exploration that today might be considered somewhat outside the accepted scientific regime.
** SCIENCE WEEK: AUGUST 11-19 **
AUGUST 26 Assoc Prof Jonathan Binns “Why Does an Engineer Need a PhD?” – Real problems in industry, defence and sport tackled with research and innovation, in Tasmania, Australia and the World.
SEPTEMBER 23 Dr Patsy Cameron “Voices From the Other Side of the Colonial Frontier” – A story of the social, cultural and spiritual survival of a unique people who lived on the Bass Strait islands from 1810.
OCTOBER 28 TBA “Breaking New Ground” – PhD students from the University of Tasmania will be presenting synopses and answering questions about their current research and progress. Topics TBA.
** The Annual QVMAG Staff Lecture**
NOVEMBER 25 David Maynard “Tasmania’s Forgotten Emus” – Before the thylacine there were other less well-known extinctions, including the Tasmanian emu soon after European arrival.
NOMINATE NOW RST Doctoral Awards 2017 closing midnight Nov 30 2017
Nominations are kindly invited for the RST Doctoral Awards 2017.
Calling all researchers under 35 who have finished their PhD in the previous three years!
If you know someone who would be right for this award, please pass on.
Doctoral awards nomination form
Nominations close 30 Nov 2017 midnight.
BOOK NOW The RST Christmas lecture and dinner 2017
The President, Prof Matt King and all Council members warmly invite you, your family and friends to attend The Royal Society of Tasmania annual Christmas lecture and dinner.
This relaxed evening is one of the Society’s most popular events and we hope you can attend.
Emeritus Prof John Simons will speak to the topic of ‘Queen Victoria’s Hippopotamus’ at CSIRO’s Battery Point auditorium at 6 pm on Tuesday 5 December 2017, followed by a buffet Christmas dinner.
Tickets are $45 per person and available through trybooking:
https://www.trybooking.com/SMSS
In 1850 the Zoological Society of London acquired a hippopotamus. He was called Obaysch. He was the first hippopotamus to have been seen in Europe since Roman times and caused a sensation. This lecture will look at his life and at the various ways in which Victorians constructed the experience of seeing a hippopotamus in London.
Emeritus Professor John Simons lives in Taroona. He has worked in universities in the U.K., the USA and Australia and most recently was Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) at Macquarie University. He is the editor or author of some twenty academic books on a range of topics from medieval chivalric romance to the history of cricket via Andy Warhol. Over the last twenty years he has concentrated on the history of human-animal relationships and, especially, on exotic animals in Victorian England. He is also a published poet and has recently completed his first novel.
The menu for the dinner. A vegetarian meal is available on request, please contact royal.society@tmag.tas.gov.au:
If you have any queries, please contact us at royal.society@tmag.tas.gov.au or Wednesdays from 9.30 to 1.30 on 03 6165 7014.
LIVESTREAM Ghost Ships of the Arctic, Marc-Andre Bernier’s lecture about The exploration of Sir John Franklin’s HMS Erebus and HMS Terror
This lecture was given on Wed 11 Oct, 6 pm @Stanley Burbury Theatre, UTAS Sandy Bay campus to a packed audience so should be a good listen.
Nominations open for The Royal Society of Tasmania Medal! Closes 30 Sept midnight.
This medal is especially for ‘active’ members of the Society.
