The advancement of knowledge
After technical problems developed with registration for this webinar, it was necessary to change the meeting number. We apologise for the inconvenience, but if you registered before July 22, you will need to re-register using this new link [link removed]. Use the same link if you are registering for the first time.
If you have told anyone else about the webinar we would appreciate it if you could pass on this information.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Virtual lecture by Andrew Parsons
1.30 pm, Sunday, 26th July, 2020, by Zoom webinar, registration instructions below.
“Map Spam: (yet more of) Launceston Revealed”
The Annual QVMAG Staff Lecture by Andrew Parsons, Esq.
ONLINE WEBINAR – SUNDAY 26TH JULY AT 1.30 PM.
Royal Society members must register to attend this webinar.
After technical problems developed with registration for this webinar, it was necessary to change the meeting number. We apologise for the inconvenience, but if you registered before July 22, you will need to re-register using the link below. If you have told anyone else about the webinar we would appreciate it if you could pass on this information.
Click here to register [link removed].This will allow you to engage in the online Questions and Answers session following the lecture.
The lecture will be recorded.
Andrew’s talk will be image-rich and divided into four themes: (1) books and the film that inspired the creation of Launceston Revealed;
(2) a review of the book’s contents; (3) the images that didn’t make the cut and those that might be included in a possible future edition;
and (4) a call to arms: what viewers can do to help preserve Launceston’s spatial history.
Andrew Parsons has worked at the Australian Maritime College and the University of Tasmania libraries in both Launceston and Hobart,
and managed UTAS Library’s special and rare books’ collections in Hobart. As part of this role he served as Honorary Librarian to the
Royal Society of Tasmania. In 2013 he commenced as Library Coordinator with QVMAG, during which time the QVMAG Library’s
rare book collections have undergone significant development.
Andrew is the Honorary Librarian to the Northern Branch of the Royal Society of Tasmania.
Generously supported by
Virtual lecture by Professor Arko Lucieer, co-winner of the RST M.R. Banks Medal 2019
3 pm, Sunday, 2nd August, 2020, by Zoom webinar
“From Surface to Satellites – remote sensing from drones advances our understanding of plant biodiversity”
Click on the image for this post to find instructions on how to participate.
The Royal Society of Tasmania
M. R. Banks Lecture 2020
Professor Arko Lucieer, co-winner of the RST M.R. Banks Medal 2019.
2 August 2020 via Zoom webinar
To participate in this webinar, you must register in advance; click here [link removed] to do that. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Title: From Surface to Satellites – remote sensing from drones advances our understanding of plant biodiversity
Abstract
Biodiversity loss is recognised to pose one of the most serious threats to human well-being as biodiversity underpins ecosystem services, such as biomass production, carbon sequestration, and pollination. The scientific community has called for the development of essential biodiversity variables facilitating global observations from satellites. However, the resolution of satellite data is generally too coarse for direct measurement of biodiversity at the appropriate scales. While field surveys can provide direct observations, they are often expensive, time-consuming, and cover limited area. The disconnect between field-based and satellite monitoring has resulted in a scale gap that challenges our ability to assess biodiversity. This seminar showcases recent research efforts leveraging drone remote sensing to advance biodiversity assessment in Australian ecosystems and biodiversity hotspots.
Bio
Arko Lucieer is a Professor in Remote Sensing at the University of Tasmania, Australia. He leads the TerraLuma research group, focusing on the development and application of drones, sensor integration, and image processing techniques for environmental, agricultural, and high-precision aerial mapping applications. Arko teaches remote sensing and GIS at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He obtained his PhD degree in 2004 from the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation and Utrecht University in the Netherlands. His current focus is on remote sensing of vegetation and biodiversity with the use of sophisticated drone sensors to better understand the structure, distribution, and functioning of vegetation, and to bridge the observational scale gap between field samples and satellite observations.
Email: Arko.Lucieer@utas.edu.au
Dear Members,
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the office bearers and Council members have worked very hard to keep the Society thriving. We are offering a vibrant program of online lectures via Zoom webinar, and recordings of these can be viewed on our newly established YouTube channel here. We have an exciting project in the pipeline for National Science Week: RST Council member Niamh Chapman is heading up a team to record a series of podcasts for our YouTube channel. This is a great way to share fascinating science with the community, and another first for our Society.
Restrictions on room occupancy mean we are not yet able to hold in-person lectures in our lecture room, but the RST office is open on Wednesday mornings for phone or in-person enquiries and sales of merchandise.
A highlight of the RST year is the launch of the annual calendar, and the 2021 edition is particularly beautiful. We extend grateful thanks to Dr Margaret Davies OAM for her work in compiling this. The images of artworks by Simpkinson de Wesselow come from paintings held in the Royal Society of Tasmania collection on loan to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. The calendar features scenes of northern Tasmania in honour of the centenary of the Northern Branch of our Society, which will be celebrated next year.
We are continuing to do our utmost to fulfil the Society’s mission of ‘advancing knowledge.’ Papers are now being sought for our Papers and Proceedings – please consider contributing a paper, and encouraging your friends and colleagues to do likewise. Nominations are now open for the Peter Smith Medal – do you know an outstanding early career researcher you could nominate for this award? Bursaries to secondary students continue to be offered, and the Doctoral Awards will be advertised a little later in the year.
I extend very warm thanks to all the members who have supported our Society by renewing their membership during the pandemic, and we have been extremely pleased to welcome new members each month.
Please email me if you have any queries: royal.society@tmag.tas.gov.au
Yours sincerely,
Mary Koolhof
President
The Royal Society of Tasmania
by Professor Greg Lehman
Co-Chair, RST Aboriginal Engagement Committee
On Wednesday, 4 December 2019, the University of Tasmania became the first learned institution in Tasmania to offer a formal apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people.
Vice Chancellor, Professor Rufus Black, marked the day as one on which “… we reflect on the parts of our past we are not proud of …a moment for humility, truth-telling, pain and accountability.” Broadly welcomed by Aboriginal people and positively reflected on across Tasmanian media, the University’s apology was offered in response to over a century of disrespectful treatment of Aboriginal people by the academy. “For too long the histories we taught hid the true story of war and genocidal behaviour. For too long the wisdom of Aboriginal people was not thought worthy of our academy,” Prof Black said.
During 2019, the Royal Society of Tasmania has made substantial progress toward the development of its own Apology. Like the University of Tasmania, the Society was also involved in research and treatment of Aboriginal ancestral remains that is now recognised as disrespectful and has contributed to ongoing hurt being felt by today’s Aboriginal people. The development of the Society’s Apology has been a painstaking one, involving independent commissioned research and close examination of Society records to ensure that an accurate and objective assessment could be made of a range of activities that impacted on Aboriginal people. The Society’s approach has been to thoroughly account for the decisions and actions that it should take responsibility for and to better understand the context of those actions.
An Aboriginal Engagement Committee jointly chaired by Prof Matt King and Prof Greg Lehman worked under close direction of the RST Council to produce two discussion papers and reports to Members during 2019, outlining key issues considered by the Apology process, and identifying a number of recommended actions to accompany a formal Statement of Apology.
Following a special meeting of the Council on 19 December 2019, a draft Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people has now been produced. This was recently presented for confidential consideration by the Aboriginal Advisory Council of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, which is also developing its own apology. It was agreed that the RST and TMAG would work cooperatively to plan an event at which both institutions would present their respective statements. Similar consultation will also be held with the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery’s Aboriginal Reference Group to ensure that sensitive matters involved in the Apology are dealt with appropriately and respectfully. Further information will be provided to Members of the Society when the Apology is finalised and a date for its announcement is set.
Reproduced from the April, 2020 RST Newsletter.
Virtual lecture by Dr Eloise Foo, co-winner of the M.R. Banks Medal
3 pm, 21 June 2020 via Zoom webinar
“Dating in the dark – The underground world of beneficial plant-microbe relationships”
In this talk Dr Foo will take you on a journey into the wonderful world of plant-microbe symbioses.
Register in advance for this webinar using this link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_x0bK9gGNQPe8NWbSdX2JIA
The Royal Society of Tasmania
M.R. Banks Lecture 2020
Dr Eloise Foo, co-winner of the RST M.R. Banks Medal 2019
21 June 2020 via Zoom webinar
Title: Dating in the dark – The underground world of beneficial plant-microbe relationships
Abstract
Plants need nitrogen, which is abundant in the atmosphere; however, they can’t absorb it that way. This is why most gardeners and commercial growers add nitrogen fertiliser to their soils. I’m working on understanding how bacteria work with some plants to draw nitrogen out of the air and make it available to the plant. Importantly this very specialised plant–bacteria relationship shares similarities with another much more widespread plant–fungi association to access phosphate, another important nutrient for plant growth. By understanding both the differences and similarities, we hope to expand plant-bacterial associations into major crops.
In this talk Dr Foo will take you on a journey into the wonderful world of plant-microbe symbioses and reveal some of the key communication and control mechanisms plants use to make sure these relationships are happy ones!
Bio
Eloise completed her PhD in plant developmental genetics at the University of QLD in 2004 under the supervision of Prof Christine Beveridge (a UTAS alumna). She then moved to UTAS to work with Prof J Reid and A/Prof J Weller examining how light influences plant development. She was subsequently awarded two independent fellowships from the ARC at UTAS and during this time she established a new research area examining the role of plant hormones in plant-microbe symbioses. She has been chief investigator on two large ARC Discovery grants and is a member of the recently funded ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Success, an Australia-wide research group looking to harness the power of plants for improving agricultural and ecological outcomes. Eloise lectures in plant biology and genetics and leads a research group. She is an active member of Equity and Diversity activities at UTAS and takes a keen interest in mentoring. She is a member of the Australian Society of Plant Scientists and in 2018 was awarded the inaugural ASPS Jan Anderson Award for most outstanding mid-career female in plant science in Australia and NZ. Eloise is editor of several leading international plant journals.
Virtual presentations by three University of Tasmania PhD Candidates.
1.30 pm, Sunday, 23rd August, 2020, by Zoom webinar, contact details to follow later.
Three University of Tasmania PhD Candidates will inform us about their research in a Zoom Webinar
23rd August 2020 1.30 pm
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.
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.
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.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
Nominations close 31 August.
Nominations are now open for the Royal Society of Tasmania Peter Smith Medal. This medal is awarded biennially to an outstanding early career researcher in any field. The recipient receives a medal and will be invited to deliver “The Peter Smith Lecture” to the Society.
For the purpose of the medal, “early career” means within the first seven years since the award of a PhD, at the time of the nomination deadline. Extensions to the seven years post-PhD eligibility requirement will be offered to applicants whose career has been interrupted to accommodate carer responsibilities, illness or other circumstances.
Further conditions of the award are:
On the first page of the nomination, give (1) the name of the candidate, contact address and email, and (2) the name of the nominator, contact address and email.
On the second page, provide a concise description of the nominee’s achievements relevant to the Peter Smith Medal in language that is widely understood outside the nominee’s field of research. The nominee’s research or other scholarly contributions to science, history or other field of learning, industry or society should be clearly stated.
Provide the nominee’s curriculum vitae in full. Include the nominee’s education history, the date/s of receipt of degrees and a list of published works. The most significant publications should be highlighted (e.g. with an asterisk). For co-authored papers, provide a percentage estimate of the nominee’s contribution. The Honours, Medals and Awards Committee has limited ability to seek additional information and therefore depends entirely on the nomination submission.
All matters pertaining to the Society awards are confidential until the public announcement of the awards at the Society’s Annual General Meeting each year. Confidentiality must also be observed by both the nominator and nominee.
Please send nominations as a single Word or PDF file by email to the Secretary at admin@rst.org.au before COB, August 31. Please enter “Honours Committee” in the subject line of the email message.
Professor Jocelyn McPhie (Chair) on behalf of the RST Honours and Awards Committee
