Call for nominations 2021:
The RM Johnston Medal, the MR Banks Medal and the Royal Society of Tasmania Medal

The Royal Society of Tasmania is the oldest scholarly society in Australia and New Zealand and its mission is the advancement of knowledge.

The RM Johnston Medal is intended to acknowledge a scholar of great distinction in any field within the Society’s purview. The awardee will deliver the “RM Johnston Memorial Lecture”.

The MR Banks Medal is awarded to an outstanding mid-career scholar in any field within the Society’s purview. The awardee will deliver the “MR Banks Lecture”.

The Royal Society of Tasmania Medal is reserved for a distinguished scholar who is also an active member of the Royal Society of Tasmania. The awardee will deliver “The Royal Society of Tasmania Lecture”.

Further conditions of these medals are:

• Nominations may be made by anyone although no self-nominations will be accepted.
• Nominations must be received by cob, August 31, 2021.

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

Guidelines for nominations are available at https://rst.org.au/awards/.

Jocelyn McPhie (Chair) on behalf of the RST Honours and Awards Committee, June 2021
Royal Society of Tasmania https://rst.org.au

The Royal Society of Tasmania congratulates long-standing member Dr John Paull, who was awarded an OAM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2021. Dr Paull received his award ‘For service to medicine, and to history’.

John’s career as a distinguished anaesthetist spanned more than four decades. In retirement, John delved more deeply into his second passion, history, unearthing the remarkable story of anaesthetist William Pugh, who was in Launceston when he provided the first anaesthetic for a surgery in Australia in 1847. John has published two books on the topic – notably “Not just an Anaesthetist: The remarkable life of Dr William Russ Pugh MD”.

Congratulations, John!

“More than a word. Reconciliation takes action.”

Find out more here about lectures, exhibitions and other events on during National Reconciliation Week.

On Monday, 15^th February, 2021, the Royal Society of Tasmania delivered its Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people, taking responsibility for the negative impacts of its past actions.

View the Apology.

Read a full account of the event here.

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Dear Royal Society Member

We appreciate your interest in the Royal Society of Tasmania during this difficult year.

If your membership expires at the end of 2020, we look forward to your renewal showing how much you value membership in our scientific community.

You can quickly renew in the online shop using your credit card. This method will also allow you to change your contact details (address or email) or name if either have changed.

New facility for automatic renewal

The Society now provides a brand new facility to allow your membership to be automatically renewed each year using credit card details you provide. You will need to download the renewal form to do this. You will find the Automatic Renewal box at the bottom of the form.

General Society email address change

The Society’s contact email address is now aligned with our web address. Please use admin@rst.org.au for all general email to the Society. For a simple message without attachments, you can use the Contact Us form in this website.

The Royal Society of Tasmania’s is honoured to have Professor Geoffrey Blainey AC launch its most recent publication “Australian Mineral Discoverers” at the University Club, Dobson Street, Sandy Bay, on December 15, 4.30 pm for 5 pm.

An absolute limit of 15 may attend the event in person (first come, first served). To attempt a registration click here.

You may find it more convenient to view the event online. Up to 400 places are available. Click here to request an online place.

Copies of the book may be purchased online at the Society’s online shop.

Learn more about the book here.

Published 1st December 2020
Editors: John Hill, Tony Hope, Ross Large, David Royle

To order a copy for delivery in Australia, use our online store.

For all international orders, use the Contact Us page in this website to let the Society know your requirements.

Mineral discoveries in the 1950 to 2010 period have been the backbone of wealth creation for all Australians and helped to maintain Australia’s economic position as the “Lucky Country”. However, discovery of buried minerals is an extremely complex science that requires knowledge, innovation, disciplined application of geological principles, teamwork, persistence and an ounce of luck.

In this book you will read 65 exciting and sometimes unbelievable stories of the life and achievements of a cross-section of Australian mineral explorers and educators who have advanced the science of discovery and contributed to the wealth of Australia for all Australians. Without these mineral discoveries, most in remote and inhospitable parts of Australia, many of us would not enjoy the high standards of living achieved in this country.

The stories told in these pages include the discovery of 150 mineral deposits, from the very largest (Olympic Dam of over 6 billion tonnes of copper, gold and uranium ore) to the smallest (the gold-rich Juno deposit in Tennant Creek). Collectively these mineral discoveries amount to many hundreds of billions of in-ground value, that have supported many mines, towns and communities in outback Australia for 50 years and beyond.

Nominations are now open for the RST annual doctoral awards. Two awards are made for excellence in research by recent PhD graduates in any field within the purview of the Society. The value of each award is $1,000 (AUD). Nominations will close on 15^th November, 2020. Click here for the guidelines to the awards.

The committee (AEC) has continued to work on two areas of activity in recent weeks, and regular interaction with Council is occurring given the importance of these activities to the Society.

First, the suggested wording for Acknowledgement of Country has been drafted and discussed with the Council, with variations proposed for the Papers and Proceedings and meetings.

Second, we have advanced the discussions with Council on the apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people, including planning for the apology event.

On Tuesday 22^nd September, the Council hosted an extraordinary meeting to discuss the wording of the apology. The Council agreed the wording pending confirmation of the preamble. This historic decision was a result of substantial work by several members of the AEC, particularly in fact-checking the text so that all mentions of “Society” or “Member” activities in the past are traceable to the Society’s minutes, correspondence or other historical documents. We will continue to update members as plans progress.

Prof Matt King, Chair of AEC