News – Page 12

View a recording of the lecture by Dr Allison Trimble – September 2022

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.

The Royal Society of Tasmania 2022 Christmas Dinner and Lecture

Thursday 8 December, 5.45 pm for 6 pm, Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, Sandy Bay

Members and guests are invited to join us for the annual Christmas Dinner ($70 per person) and Lecture. Please fill in and return the acceptance form (click here to download it) to [email protected] before 16 November.

The lecture, entitled “Fifty years in the law: A few chocolate frogs amongst the jelly”, will be given by Magistrate Chris Webster AM.

Magistrate Webster will give an overview of his career and discuss four high-profile cases in which he has been involved as a lawyer and magistrate.

About Magistrate Chris Webster AM

Chris Webster graduated from the University of Tasmania in 1974 and then practised as a barrister and solicitor until March 2006 when he was appointed a Magistrate. He is still a Magistrate.

Whilst a solicitor in private practice he held several government appointments including Hearing Commissioner of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Senior Member of Administrative Appeals Commission, Chairman of the Parole Board, and Member of the Medical Council of Tasmania.

He was President of the Law Society of Tasmania in 1994 and is involved in Rotary, Community Based Care and the Hobart Community Legal Service. Chris was President of the Association of Australian Magistrates until 2021 and is a Life Member of the Australian Judicial Officers Association.

In 2021, in recognition of his contribution to the Law and the Community, he became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).

View a recording of the lecture by Dr Mike Pook – October 2022

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 approximately 18 years from 1985 to the end of 2002.

Interested in the Royal Society of Tasmania Art Collection?

The Royal Society of Tasmania owns a large and valuable Art Collection of over 900 artworks. The majority of the collection was acquired by the Society at the end of the nineteenth century in a campaign to collect items reflecting Tasmanian cultural identity. The collection includes works from many famous convict and colonial artists such as Simpkinson de Wesselow, John Skinner Prout, Benjamin Duterrau, Owen Stanley, W.C. Pigeunit and Louisa Anne Meredith. The RST Art Collection is currently housed in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart. This collection is of national cultural significance, containing many rare and unique works.

This short video presents an interview with Prof Ross Large, Chair of the RST Art Committee. We extend very warm thanks to film maker Anthos Simon for producing this video.

More information about the RST Art Collection and its significance is available here.

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 Dr Rebecca Carey – October 2022

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.

2022 RST Doctoral Awards

Nominations will open for the annual RST Doctoral Awards on 1 October. Two awards are offered for recent PhD graduates who have made significant advances in the course of their doctoral research. The value of each award is $1,000 (AUD). Awardees may be invited to present a lecture to the Society.

Conditions of the Doctoral Awards

The awards shall be made to nominees who are no more than three years, or three years equivalent-full-time, after their PhD graduation.

The awards are intended to recognise significant advances based on the PhD research, as shown by published or in press peer-reviewed papers in national/international journals or equivalent outputs in fields where publications are not the norm.

The research should have been largely carried out in Tasmania or under the aegis of a Tasmanian-based organization.

Nominations may be made by anyone although no self-nominations will be accepted.

Nominations must be received before COB, 15 November 2022. Nomination guidelines can be found here and the flyer here.

Jocelyn McPhie, on behalf of the RST Honours and Awards Committee.

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.

RST Art Collection Fundraising Event at Government House

The Royal Society of Tasmania is proud of its role as the custodian of one of the most significant collections of colonial works on paper in Australia. It is also our responsibility to make sure that these works are repaired, conserved and finally exhibited, and this requires considerable funding. The Gala Fundraising event at Government House on Tuesday 6 September – our most significant fundraiser yet – drew much interest from a large group of those who appreciate the quality of the collection and are supportive of our efforts. A feature of the evening was a commissioned work “Echoes of Van Diemen’s Land” from composer Thomas Rimes which was written as a direct response to a selection of exceptional Tasmanian landscape paintings by Francis Simpkinson de Wesselow – 1819-1906.

We are pleased to provide a short film recording of the event and express our gratitude to film maker Anthos Simon for capturing the evening for us to enjoy and share more widely. Click below to start the video.

https://vimeo.com/752047844