The Royal Society of Tasmania

The advancement of knowledge

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Update on the work of the Council’s Aboriginal Engagement Committee

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 22nd 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of “Society” or “Member” activities in the past are traceable to the Society’s minutes, correspondence or other historical documents.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

Butterfly Brilliance: The Lambkin-Knight Butterfly Collection

The Royal Society of Tasmania invites you to a public lecture by Trevor Lambkin, David Maynard and Simon Fearn.

Where: On your computer via Zoom
When: 1.30 pm Sunday 25th October 2020

To participate in this webinar, you must register in advance; click here to do that. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

To download a flyer for printing, click here.

A collection of around 12000 butterflies compiled by Trevor Lambkin and Ian Knight over the last 50 years has most generously been donated to QVMAG. Including many hundreds of species, some extremely rare and some that are now extinct, it is an important part of Australia’s national research infrastructure.

Hear from one of the donors, lepidopterist Trevor Lambkin about building the collection, and from QVMAG staff David Maynard (Senior Curator of Natural Sciences) and Simon Fearn (Museum Collections Officer) on its research potential and housing such a large collection.

Generously supported by  

Progress Toward an Apology

By Professor Matt King
Chair, RST Aboriginal Engagement Committee

The RST Aboriginal Engagement Committee (AEC) has continued to assist Council in working toward an apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people. The wording of the apology has received further attention from Council and it is expected to be finalised in the coming weeks.

We have had positive and constructive discussions with senior staff members of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) regarding their own apology. We are continuing discussions with the plan of offering paired apologies at a shared event. We will inform members further as details are agreed and finalised by TMAG and RST Council.

The AEC has also briefed the incoming members of Council regarding the history of the work of the AEC dating back to 2016 and, especially, the recent proposal that the RST enter into a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) or RAP-like arrangement. Council are currently considering this matter.

Finally, Professor Greg Lehman has stepped down from his role as Co-Chair of the AEC while remaining an active member. The AEC thanks Greg very much for his insight and co-leadership of the AEC and looks forward to ongoing partnership with him.

September 2020.

An account of Earth’s Middle Ages – Life and Resources

You are invited to a Zoom webinar presented by Dr Indrani Mukherjee at 3pm on October 4, 2020, in Hobart. 
 
Register in advance for this webinar using this link. 
 
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
 

Indrani’s PhD involved understanding pyrite trace element and sulphur isotope geochemistry of Proterozoic marine black shales using LA-ICP-MS and SHRIMP-SI techniques. The research focussed on nutrient-productivity cycles in past oceans and atmosphere-ocean redox state in the context of biological evolution in the Proterozoic era. Pyrite chemostratigraphy was also used for assessing mineralisation potential of black shales. This presentation will expand on the research foundations built over the course of Indrani’s PhD targeting both fundamental and applied aspects of geochemistry. The former involves advancing our knowledge of Precambrian atmosphere-ocean dynamics in shaping the course of early evolution. The latter involves utilisation of the geochemical data combined with statistical tools, for applications such as biogenicity tools, predictive modelling, and mineral exploration.

Our speaker, Dr Indrani Mukherjee, is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Geochemistry at CODES, University of Tasmania. She completed her PhD in 2018 from the University of Tasmania under the supervision of Professor Ross Large. Indrani acquired her B.Sc. (Honours) and M.Sc. in Geology degrees from the University of Delhi, India. She was awarded a RST Doctoral Award in 2019.

Indrani’s main focus has been on understanding pyrite trace element and sulphur isotope geochemistry in Precambrian marine black shales. Her research ties past geochemical conditions of the atmosphere-ocean system to evolution of early complex life and secular distribution of ore deposits through time. Indrani aims to apply the pyrite LA-ICP-MS technique towards developing a deep time model for evolution of complex life and devising vectors to SEDEX Zn-Pb and sedimentary Cu mineralisation.

Chemical Answers Now: protecting us and our environment

Where: On your computer via Zoom
When: 1.30 pm Sunday 27th September 2020

To participate in this webinar, you must register in advance; click here to do that. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Professor Breadmore is pioneering the development of portable and transportable technology to provide chemical information when and where the sample is collected. Applications include the detection of home-made explosives at airports, the continuous monitoring of nutrients in our rivers, and more recently, whether we can use these to detect viruses.

After public education in northern Tasmania, our speaker graduated from University of Tasmania with BSc (Hons); PhD; DSc. He has made a continued and sustained contribution towards miniaturized analytical technology for clinical, forensic, environmental and food applications at UTAS. He was one of three finalists in the Eureka Outstanding Young Researcher Award (2011), has been listed in the Analytical Scientist’s power list of the top 100 analytical chemists in the world (2014, 2017, 2019), and is the Director of the Australian Centre for Research on Separation Science.

Generously supported by  

Cyclic dynamics in Tasmanian high mountain treeless vegetation

Virtual lecture by Distinguished Professor Jamie Kirkpatrick, winner of the RST Clive Lord Medal 2019.

When: 3pm, Sunday, 6th September, 2020, by Zoom webinar.

To participate in this webinar, you must register in advance; click here to do that. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Tasmanian high mountain treeless vegetation is globally outstanding for its dominance by shrubs, hard-leaved graminoids and cushion plants, many of which are Cretaceous palaeoendemics. The highly maritime Tasmanian environment makes snow intermittent, exposing plants to fierce wintry winds and allowing mammals to graze all year round. The high mountain winds are associated with apparently cyclic succession in several situations, including bogs and fjaeldmark. Other apparently cyclic changes relate to the internal dynamics of ecosystems. Climate change has, so far, not affected the areas exhibiting these processes because of an interaction between stronger winds caused by climate change and environmental lapse rates. However, any marked ongoing warming at higher altitudes is likely to fossilise active processes. There is already some indication of such fossilisation in low altitude fjaeldmarks.

Our speaker Jamie Kirkpatrick AM is Distinguished Professor in Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Tasmania where he helps students learn about nature, researches its characteristics and conservation, and engages with wider society. He has supervised to graduation more than 70 higher degree students. He is most cited in the academic literature for his work on planning conservation reserves and on the socio-ecology of urban areas. He has also written, or contributed to, many publications that are accessible to a wider audience. These include several books with Peter Dombrovskis, and, most recently, his own book Art by Nature.

Working on Water: Celebrating women in marine science

The Royal Society of Tasmania
National Science Week 2020
Working on Water: Celebrating women in marine science

Saturday 15th August.

Aired on Edge Radio 99.3FM 2-4pm and released on the RST YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcast.

For National Science Week 2020, the Royal Society of Tasmania secured $2,000 in grant funding from the Tasmanian National Science Week committee for a project profiling four women in marine science. New RST Council member Niamh Chapman led the project in collaboration with the team she directs at That’s What I Call Science.

We are excited to produce local and national radio, podcast and video content from the interviews as well as worksheets on the topic for children. The featured guests were invited to demonstrate the diversity of opportunities for careers in marine science including in industry and research.

Featured guests include:

Claire Butler – Marine Solutions Tasmania. After completing an Honours degree in seaweed ecology, Claire held multiple research assistant jobs at research institutions. Her role in these positions was focused on making existing spatial data (e.g. habitat maps) available to the public for communication and use in scientific (and other) pursuits.

A/Prof Mary-Anne Lea from IMAS, UTAS. Dr Mary-Anne Lea is an Associate Professor at the Ecology and Biodiversity Centre at the Institute for Marine & Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania. She is interested in the way in which the environment and climate change affect the behaviour, distribution and life history of marine and polar vertebrates.

Mibu Fisher, CSIRO. Mibu is an early career marine ethnoecologist within the multi-use ecosystems tropical coastal group, in CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere, in Brisbane. She is an Aboriginal scientist with engagement skills for strengthening partnerships between First Nations communities and the research sector. Her specific interests are around Traditional Knowledge (science) and management practices being considered within modern day fisheries, coastal and conservation management.

Megan Hartog, CSIRO. Megan completed a degree in marine science at the Australian Maritime College. Her Honours project uncovered soft coral communities in the lower Tamar Estuary. Megan worked for several years in natural resource management, which included regular water quality monitoring in the Tamar. Megan then joined CSIRO Marine National Facility as a Voyage Operations Manager, where she is involved in organising research voyages on the blue-water research vessel, RV Investigator.

Worksheets (with answers here) include artwork from local artist Josh Pringle and sea country artwork by Brisbane-based Aboriginal artist Shara Delaney. Shara also provided a story to accompany the artwork based on Tasmanian marine life.

RST Northern Branch Science Week Forum: Breaking New Ground

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.

When: Sunday 23 August 2020 at 1:30 PM Launceston

Three University of Tasmania PhD Candidates will inform us about their research in a wide variety of topics – Diabesity, perfect bananas, and renewable energy from the sea.

Open this post to get instructions for participation. You will need to register in advance.

Click here to register in advance for this webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

“Diabesity”: a new opportunity for reducing the incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in the Obesity epidemic

Duyen Tran (PhD candidate, Pharmacy @University of Tasmania)

Duyen is a Pharmacy PhD candidate investigating the causes of insulin resistance in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Her project aims to determine whether the abnormal accumulation of toxic fats in skeletal muscles contributes to the elevation of glucose levels. Duyen’s findings will offer a novel prospective biomarker to predict the incidence of insulin resistance in the current “diabesity” (diabetes + obesity) epidemic.

A Bumpy Road to Perfect Fruits

Indika Fernando (PhD candidate, Australian Research Council (ARC) Training Centre for Innovative Horticultural Products @University of Tasmania)

Indika is attached to the Australian Research Council (ARC) Training Centre for Innovative Horticultural Products. His research is focused on understanding the compound forces that create fruit damage in the long road trip between the growing areas and markets, and an experimental approach to help industry deliver perfect bananas.

Tidal energy is coming to Tasmania

Christelle Auguste (PhD candidate, Australian Maritime College @University of Tasmania)

Christelle has a passion for renewable energy and the ocean. Her research at AMC focuses on how tidal turbines could influence sediment transport in highly energetic sites. She spent 17 days at sea to collect data northeast of Tasmania. The aim of her PhD is to assess the sediment dynamics at tidal energy sites in Australia and predict the environmental response to the extraction of energy.