The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and others in relation to alleged war crimes in Ukraine and is undertaking an ongoing investigation into the situation in Palestine, including in Gaza. Prof McCormack explains how the ICC has jurisdiction in Ukraine despite the fact that neither Russia nor Ukraine are States Parties to the Rome Statute and in Palestine, despite the fact that Israel is now a State Party. He discusses the likely role of the ICC in relation to the war in Ukraine and in Gaza including the prospects for bringing Vladimir Putin to trial in The Hague.

Tim McCormack is Professor of International Law at the University of Tasmania and the Special Adviser on War Crimes to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. He has held prestigious positions including as the Charles H Stockton Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island (2015–16) and James Barr Ames Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School (2016 and 2020).

The Royal Society of Tasmania invites you to a lecture by Emeritus Professor Gustaaf Hallegraeff on Sunday 5 May 2024, at the Geology Lecture Theatre, UTAS Sandy Bay.

All RST members, their guests, and the public are welcome. Admission is free. Please register in advance using this link.

Time: 3.30pm for pre-lecture refreshments, 4pm for the lecture.

Microbes are organisms that are too small to be seen by humans without using a microscope. This talk takes us on a voyage of discovery from the first cyanobacteria and algae that created an oxygen atmosphere, through protozoan malaria parasites that affected the human genome, to the fungi that delivered us antibiotics, beer and wine, and bacterial (cholera, pest) and viral diseases (smallpox, measles, influenza, COVID) that shaped human ‘civilisation’.

Most microbes are beneficial to us and almost certainly will outlive us. We need to rethink how using advanced molecular tools we now better understand so that we can live in symbiosis with them rather than be at war.

Gustaaf Hallegraeff is a Professor at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania. He has worked on a wide range of Harmful Algal Bloom issues including shellfish toxins, climate change, ship’s ballast water and fish-killing algae. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences and Engineering, winner of the 2004 Eureka Prize for Environmental Research, and 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Society for the Study of Harmful Algae.

“Resurrection man” is the 19th century term for a person who secretly exhumes bodies from the grave to trade or sell for personal gain. In the 1860s and 1870s, stealing remains from graves from Oyster Cove and Flinders Island was an important sideline business for the prominent Hobart lawyer Morton Allport. This illegal activity has not been publicly known in Tasmania despite having been well-documented in his business letterbooks and accessible to researchers for many decades in the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts established in 1972.

Cassandra Pybus is a distinguished historian, author of thirteen books and Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. She has been the recipient of several Australia Council Fellowships and a Federation of Australia Centenary Medal for outstanding contribution to literature. Between 2000 and 2013 she was Australian Research Council Professorial Fellow at both the University of Tasmania and the University of Sydney and has been Fulbright Professor at Georgetown University in Washington DC, Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Texas, and Leverhulme Visiting Professor at King’s College, London. Her current research interrogates the trade in First People’s skeletal remains for her forthcoming book A Very Secret Trade which is the last of a trilogy that interrogates the destruction of the First People of Tasmania, beginning with Community of Thieves, published in 1991, followed by Truganini in 2020 which won the National Biography Award.

Her Excellency the Honourable Barbara Baker AC, Governor of Tasmania, and Emeritus Professor Don Chalmers AO will host a Medal Presentation Ceremony at Government House on Monday, 22 April 2024 at 5.30 pm.

Winners of the 2023 RST medals and the 2023 Doctoral Award will be in attendance to receive their medals and award from Her Excellency.

All RST members and guests are welcome. The event is free but registration in advance is required. Please register via the Government House website as explained in the official invitation.

Registrations close on Wednesday 17 April.

RM Johnston Memorial Medal

This medal is intended for a scholar of great distinction in any field. In 2023, two RM Johnston Memorial Medals were awarded.

Emeritus Distinguished Professor Paul R Haddad FAA, FTSE has made outstanding and internationally acclaimed contributions to the field of analytical chemistry.

Emeritus Professor John A Church AO, FAA, FTSE is a world leader in research on sea level and climate and has significantly advanced the field of climate science.

MR Banks Medal

This medal is intended for a scholar of distinction in mid-career (8 to 15 years post PhD), in any field within the Society’s purview.

Associate Professor Alex Bissember is an emerging leader in research on chemical synthesis and catalysis, exploring the synthesis of valuable molecules.

RST Doctoral Award

This award honours Doctoral (PhD) graduates who have made significant advances during their doctoral research, in any field within the purview of the Society.

Dr Tobias Stål is a geophysicist focusing on understanding the deep and shallow structure and properties of the Antarctic continent using a novel multivariate analysis approach.

The Royal Society of Tasmania invites you to a lecture by Dr Keith Corbett OAM on Sunday 7 April 2024, at the Geology Lecture Theatre, UTAS, Sandy Bay.

All RST members, their guests, and the public are welcome. Admission is free. Please register in advance using this link.

Time: 3.30pm for pre-lecture refreshments, 4pm for the lecture.

Dive into the geological wonders of Tasmania with Dr Keith Corbett. A Tasmanian-born geologist, Dr. Corbett brings over 60 years of expertise to unravel the unique geological makeup of the island. Join us at the Geology Lecture Theatre for an enlightening exploration.

Keith Corbett, educated at the University of Tasmania, has spent most of his working life in the mountains of Tasmania. In a distinguished career of over 60 years as a field geologist Keith was awarded the WH Twelvetrees Medal for contributions to Tasmanian geology in 2010, and a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2023.

In this “Child of Gondwana” lecture Keith describes the geological makeup of Tasmania, explaining how the unique geology of the island state came to be created. Tasmania has a wonderful diversity of rocks and is a veritable textbook of geological time and Keith’s lecture will assist our understanding and appreciation of our deep history.

The Royal Society of Tasmania invites you to a lecture by Professor Cassandra Pybus on Thursday 7 March 2024, at the Royal Yacht of Tasmania, Marieville Esplanade, Sandy Bay.

The lecture will immediately follow the Annual General Meeting at 4.30 pm.

All RST members, their guests, and the public are welcome. Admission is free. Please register in advance using this link.

“Resurrection man” is the 19th century term for a person who secretly exhumes bodies from the grave to trade or sell for personal gain. In the 1860s and 1870s, stealing remains from graves from Oyster Cove and Flinders Island was an important sideline business for the prominent Hobart lawyer Morton Allport. This illegal activity has not been publicly known in Tasmania despite having been well-documented in his business letterbooks and accessible to researchers for many decades in the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts established in 1972.

Cassandra Pybus is a distinguished historian, author of thirteen books and Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. She has been the recipient of several Australia Council Fellowships and a Federation of Australia Centenary Medal for outstanding contribution to literature. Between 2000 and 2013 she was Australian Research Council Professorial Fellow at both the University of Tasmania and the University of Sydney and has been Fulbright Professor at Georgetown University in Washington DC, Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Texas, and Leverhulme Visiting Professor at King’s College, London. Her current research interrogates the trade in First People’s skeletal remains for her forthcoming book A Very Secret Trade which is the last of a trilogy that interrogates the destruction of the First People of Tasmania, beginning with Community of Thieves, published in 1991, followed by Truganini in 2020 which won the National Biography Award.