Tasmanian Australian 2018, Scott Rankin
Inclusive growth – creating new pathways out of deep poverty
by Scott Rankin, Tasmanian Australian of the Year for 2018
Date: 5 March 2019
Place: Central Gallery, TMAG, Dunn Place, Hobart
Time: 8.00 pm
The five Domains of Change which must be tackled together if we are to create sustained positive change in our communities, rather than spinning wheels, more welfare ghettos, and the dulling of potential amongst those in our communities who experience the effects of diminished opportunity. The For Profit sector and the Not For Profit sector must work together, bringing together shared values and practices.
Scott will call on examples of the work of Big hART a Cultural Justice organisation which began in Burnie 25 years ago and continues to expand nationally and internationally. Scott will also speak to themes in his recent Platform Paper “Cultural Justice and the Right to Thrive” (Currency Press) and from an unusual childhood growing up on a Chinese Junk.
Scott Rankin is a nationally renowned public speaker, cultural commentator and founder of Big hART – Australia’s leading arts for social change organisation (www.bighart.org). His theatre, documentary and television projects have won multiple awards. He was the 2018 Tasmanian Australian of the Year and Big hART won both the 2017 Telstra Business Awards Tasmanian Small Business and Charity of the Year.
Walking Backwards into the Future
2019 Northern Lecture Series
The Royal Society of Tasmania
INVITES YOU TO
Walking Backwards into the Future
– New Directions at QVMAG
A PUBLIC LECTURE BY
MRS TRACY PUKLOWSKI
where:Meeting Room, QVMAG at Inveresk
when: 1.30 pm, Sunday 24thFebruary 2019
admission: free for members of the Royal Society of Tasmania*
$6 general admission
$4 for students, QVMAG Friends, and members of Launceston Historical Society
*membership forms available at the door
Ka Mua, Ka Muriis a Māori proverb referring to “walking backwards into the future”. The past and future are intertwined, and nowhere is this more salient than in the work of museums.
Tracy Puklowski took up the position of City of Launceston Director of Creative Arts and Cultural Services in October 2018. She will take this notionas the basis for discussion on how QVMAG’s history forms a platform for her vision for its future.
Tracy has held a wide range of senior roles in the cultural heritage sector, including at the National Museum of New Zealand and the National Library of New Zealand. She has a long-standing interest in Australian art and museums,has an MA in Art History, a post-graduate Diploma in Museum Studies, and is a graduate of the prestigious Getty Museum Leadership Institute.
Generously supported by
Australia Day Honours 2019
Distinguished Professor Emeritus Ross Large, President of The Royal Society of Tasmania, has been honoured as an AO – Officer of the Order of Australia – “For distinguished service to education, and to scientific research, in the field of economic geology, and to professional societies.”
The Royal Society extends warmest congratulations to Ross on this acknowledgement of his outstanding work.
Speakers for the Dinosaur Symposium
Dinosaur “bling” at Lightning Ridge and dinosaur tracks in “Australia’s Jurassic Park” are just some of the fascinating subjects covered by internationally renowned speakers at our upcoming Dinosaur Symposium (23-24 March) hosted by the University of Tasmania.
Here is a sneak preview of the program –
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Savannasaurus is part of the sauropod family | Image credit: Travis R. Tischler and Australian Age of Dinosaurs, Museum of Natural History
Winton – home of the Big Dinosaur
Dr Stephen Poropat, from Swinburne University, will talk about the dinosaurs of the Winton Formation in Queensland. One recent discovery in Winton proved to be the most complete sauropod ever found in Australia.
Sauropods include among their ranks the largest terrestrial animals that ever lived: some were more than 30 metres long, others more than 13 metres tall, and still others tipped the scales at more than 50 tonnes.
The eventful Precambrian Era
Dr Indrani Mukherjee, from Earth Sciences at the University of Tasmania, will talk about life on very early Earth, the Precambrian Era. This period, spanning from 4500 million years ago to 540 million years ago, is known to record some of the most significant transitions and breakthroughs in the evolution of life. What shaped the course of evolution has always fascinated us. Whether it was the concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere and ocean, nutrients in the ocean, or supercontinent cycles, or a combination of all these factors, the question is being thoroughly investigated.
This talk focuses on some of the key biological events in the Precambrian, particularly between (3500 to 800 million years ago) and provides a geological explanation for the cause of these events. The talk ties the geochemical conditions of the ocean and the atmosphere with evolution and diversification of complex microscopic life that facilitated macroscopic life on Earth, including dinosaurs!
Dampier Peninsula: “Australia’s Jurassic Park”
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Goolarabooloo Law Boss Richard Hunter (left) and Steve Salisbury (right) alongside tracks of a small theropod (3D track model and trackmaker silhouette inset, right), near Walmadany, on the Dampier Peninsula, WA. Photo Damian Kelly.
Dr Steve Salisbury, from The Queensland University Dinosaur Laboratory, will talk about the discovery of spectacular dinosaur tracks in the Kimberley region of north Western Australia. An unprecedented 21 different types of dinosaur tracks have been identified on a 25-kilometre stretch of the Dampier Peninsula coastline dubbed ‘Australia’s Jurassic Park’.
According to Dr Salisbury, “The dinosaur track fauna of the Broome Sandstone is extremely significant, forming the primary record of non-avian dinosaurs in the western half the continent and providing our only glimpse of Australia’s dinosaur fauna during the first half of the Early Cretaceous Period”.
![](https://rst.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Opal-Dino.jpg)
The Right Lower Jaw of Weewarrasaurus Showcases the Rainbow Hues of Opal in the Fossil. Photograph by Robert A. Smith
Fiery dinosaur fossil at Lightning Ridge
Dr Phill Bell, from University of New England, will talk about the amazing opalized dinosaur bones unearthed at Lightning Ridge in NSW, including the recent discovery of the jaw bone of a small ornithopod. The dinosaur has been named Weewarrasaurus pobeni – a name that recognises the fossil’s unearthing in the Wee Warra opal field, and honours Mike Poben, an Adelaide-based opal buyer who donated the specimen for research.
Like all fossils from the Lightning Ridge opal mines, the lower jaw—the only piece of the animal recovered—is preserved in opal. Precious opal gives off a rainbow of colours, in this case shimmering green and blue. Lightning Ridge is the only place in the world where dinosaur bones are commonly replaced by precious opal.
![](https://rst.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Onychodus.jpg)
The exquisitely preserved 3D skull of Onychodus, a bony fish predator on the ancient Devonian reef of the Kimberley (Gogo site). Such fossils help us understand the evolution of vertebrates before the dinosaurs.
Evolution: Life on Earth
Professor John Long, from Flinders University, will give us the history of evolution of life on Earth, from single celled bacteria to fishes, then dinosaurs, birds and finally humans. He is an internationally acclaimed exceptional speaker and has led fossil digs all over the Earth. He is currently in Antarctica on a dig, but will be back in time for our symposium.
PaleoArt
2020 Lecture Calendar
The Royal Society of Tasmania
Hobart lecture program for 2019:
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MARCH 5 – Scott Rankin: Tasmanian Australian of the year for 2018.
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APRIL 2 – Dr Elizabeth Robinson: On educating young people in Tasmania today.
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MAY 7 – The Doctoral Award Winner Lecture
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JUNE 4 – Aboriginal language revitalisation: celebrating the 2019 International Year of Indigenous languages
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JULY 2 – Garry Bailey: Vision Zero: Road Safety in Tasmania
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AUGUST 6 – Marley Large: A glimpse into 175 years of the Royal Society of Tasmania’s Minutes.
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SEPTEMBER 3 – Dr Anita Hansen: The first 175 years of the Royal Society of Tasmania.
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OCTOBER 1 – Peter Smith Medal Winner, Dr Lucia McCullum: The Dish Redux – from the Apollo Mission to Earth surveying.
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NOVEMBER 5 – UTAS Postgraduates Lecture Evening.
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DECEMBER 3 – Dr Alison Alexander: “Governors’ Ladies: the wives and mistresses of Van Diemen’s Land governors“.
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The full program for the 2019 Launceston Lecture Series can be viewed HERE
Christmas Dinner and Lecture
The Royal Society of Tasmania’s 2018 Christmas dinner was held in the CSIRO dining room at Battery Point on Tuesday 4th of December.
The lecture and dinner were attended by Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Kate Warner AC, the Governor of Tasmania and Mr Richard Warner. The Governor is patron of the Royal Society of Tasmania and the Society has been really spoilt this year by the Governor’s support in both hosting and attending our events.
The Christmas lecture was delivered by Professor Rufus Black.
Rufus Black is the Vice Chancellor and President at the University of Tasmania. Previously, he was Master of Melbourne University’s Ormond College and an Enterprise Professor in the Department of Management and Marketing and a Principal Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Melbourne. Rufus’ private sector experience includes nine years as a partner at McKinsey and Company, serving clients in Australia and Asia, and as a Director for national law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth. His educational and social sector experience includes being the President of Museums Victoria, the Deputy Chancellor of Victoria University, the founding Chair of the Board of the Teach for Australia Board, a Director of the New York based Teach for All and a Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.
Rufus worked extensively for government at Federal and State levels. He was a Board Member of Innovation Science Australia, conducted the Black Review into the Department of Defence and the Prime Minister’s Independent Review of the Australian Intelligence Community and was the Strategic Advisor to the Secretary of Education in Victoria. Rufus holds degrees in law, politics, economics, ethics and theology from the University of Melbourne and Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.
Massive Dinosaur Picnic
Saturday 10 November. In the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens the Royal Society of Tasmania put on a dinosaur party, the likes of which have not been seen for about sixty-five million years. The crowds came from far and wide for this Jurassic celebration.
Thanks to everyone who made this great event a great event.
Photography by David Wilson
Book Launch – Poles Apart
Official Launch by the Governor of Tasmania on 6 November at TMAG
Poles Apart: Fascination, Fame and Folly, edited by Dr Anita Hansen and Dr Brita Hansen, was launched by Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Kate Warner AC at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. This is the second book created as part of the 175th Anniversary celebrations of The Royal Society of Tasmania.
The publication was produced using images from The Royal Society of Tasmania’s Rare Book collection and features articles composed by 19 international, interstate and Tasmanian scientists and historians. The book investigates and enlightens the reader as to the mysteries, deprivations, endurance and achievements of the heroes who took on the challenges of Arctic and Antarctic exploration.
Poles Apart can be ordered online
or via email to royal.society@tmag.tas.gov.au.
25 Nov. – Tasmania’s Forgotten Emus – David Maynard, at QVMAG
The November lecture for the Northern Branch of the Royal Society will take place on Sunday the 25th of November at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Inveresk, at 1.15 pm. The lecture by David Maynard entitled Tasmania’s Lost Emus will be preceeded by the northern launch of the latest Royal Society publication Poles Apart: Fascination, fame and folly.
The Royal Society of Tasmania – 2018 Launceston Lecture Series
Admission: $6 general public
$4 QVMAG Friends, members of Launceston Historical Society and students
Free for members of The Royal Society of Tasmania
Tasmania’s Lost Emus
David Maynard
Tasmania’s extinct emu is less well known than the iconic thylacine, yet just as deserving of recognition. Recent research has aged skeletal material, and DNA work has shed light on the relationships between populations. There are many theories as to why the emu became extinct so soon after European arrival in Tasmania. David Maynard will review the Tasmanian emu and current research results, and discuss the drivers for extinction.
David has been the curator of Natural Sciences at QVMAG for six years, and in that role he works to preserve a record of Northern Tasmania’s biodiversity. Prior to taking this position he was an academic at the Australian Maritime College and University of Tasmania where he specialized in fishing gear technology, by-catch reduction and marine biodiversity. The role of curator has allowed David to do something he enjoys – continuing to learn. He has a growing understanding of terrestrial rather than marine fauna, and is focusing on Northern Tasmania’s insect and spider diversity. He also looks into Tasmania’s past, trying to understand how Tasmania has changed over the last 50,000 years.
The presentation of this lecture is generously supported by
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