Call for Nominations for the 2024 RST Doctoral (PhD) Awards
Nominations for the annual RST Doctoral Awards open on 1 October 2024. Two awards are offered for recent PhD graduates who have made significant advances in the course of their doctoral research. The two Doctoral Awards are open for nominations from any discipline field.
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 2024.
Nomination guidelines are given at https://rst.org.au/guidelines-for-annual-doctoral-awards/.
Information on previous winners of the RST Doctoral Award is available at https://rst.org.au/awards/past-recipients/.
A flyer for the 2024 Doctoral awards is available via this link.
Richard Coleman, on behalf of the RST Honours and Awards Committee.
Vale Professor David Headley Green AM FAA FRS, 1936 – 2024
Professor David Green died on 6 September 2024 in Hobart. He was a long-term member of the RST and was awarded the RM Johnston Memorial Medal in 2016. Professor Green’s career in geology (igneous petrology) was truly remarkable for the breadth and significance of his research and achievements, especially his contributions to understanding the formation of magmas deep in the Earth through a radically innovative experimental approach.
Professor Green was born on 29 February 1936 (a leap year), in Launceston and awarded BSc Hons (1957) and MSc (1960) degrees by the University of Tasmania (UTAS), followed by a PhD at Cambridge University (1962). For the next fifteen years, he pursued an academic research career at The Australian National University (ANU), returning to the University of Tasmania in 1977 as Professor and Head of Geology. In 1994, he was appointed Director of the Research School of Earth Sciences at ANU, a position he held until retiring in 2001. Professor Green remained actively involved in research for another two decades in his Honorary capacity at both UTAS and ANU.
Professor Green’s achievements have been recognised by numerous national and international awards, including the most competitive and prestigious awards available to geologists: Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (AAS, 1967), FL Stillwell Medal of the Geological Society of Australia (1977), Mawson Medal of the AAS (1982), Honorary Foreign Fellow of the European Union of Geosciences (1985), Honorary Foreign Fellow of the Geological Society of America (1986), Jaeger Medal of the AAS (1990), Fellow of The Royal Society London (1991), Murchison Medal of the Geological Society of London (2000), Humboldt Research Prize of the Humboldt Foundation Germany (2001), Honorary Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of London (2001), Honorary Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (2001), Member of the Order of Australia (2006), and the International Gold Medal of the Geological Society of Japan (2007).
Professor Green served on numerous professional and government committees and advisory bodies, including the Australian Research Council, Australian Science and Technology Council, and the Geological Society of Australia. He held the position of Chief Science Adviser for the Federal Government and was the Chair of the National Greenhouse Scientific Advisory Committee.
In addition to a vast network of local, national and international professional colleagues and friends, Professor Green and his wife Helen Green had six children, seventeen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Professor Green’s scholarship, wisdom, curiosity and patience will be missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him.
Jocelyn McPhie
2 October 2024
The 2024 PhD Showcase
Join us for an exciting PhD Showcase, where emerging experts will present their research and innovative ideas. This event highlights the work of future leaders in academia, offering cutting-edge insights into a wide range of fields. All RST members, their guests, and the public are welcome.
Where: Geology Lecture Theatre, UTAS, Sandy Bay Campus on Sunday 6 October 2024.
Time: 3.30pm for pre-lecture drinks, 4pm for the lecture.
To assist with organization, please use this link to ensure a seat.
Our 2023 PhD medallist, Dr Tobias Stål will start proceedings and be followed by postdoctoral Antarctic scholar, Dr Katie Marx, discuss her current research projects.
Dr Tobias Stål – Deep Antarctica-Exploring Earth Under the Ice
Tobias Stål is a geophysicist with backgrounds in geology, art, and engineering. He is currently a research fellow at the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science at the University of Tasmania. He focuses on innovative approaches to understanding our planet using computational methods and information theory.
Artificial Intelligence for society and science – why should you care?
The Royal Society of Tasmania invites you to its September 2024 Public Lecture by guest speaker Dr Matthew Cracknell. All RST members, their guests, and the public are welcome.
Where: Geology Lecture Theatre, UTAS, Sandy Bay Campus on Sunday 1 September, 2024 for the talk.
Time: 3.30pm for pre-lecture drinks, 4pm for the lecture.
Join us for an enlightening journey into the world of Artificial Intelligence, where innovation meets possibility. As Artificial Intelligence (AI) rapidly transforms industries, from healthcare to finance, and even creative arts, understanding its potential is more critical than ever. This talk will explore how AI is reshaping our world, driving progress, and challenging us to think differently about the future. Dr Matthew Cracknell aims to shed light on the profound impact of AI on both society and the scientific community. As AI continues to advance at an unprecedented pace, understanding its implications becomes increasingly crucial.
Don’t miss this opportunity to dive into the cutting-edge of technology and discover the advancements and ethical considerations surrounding AI and our world. Click here to register.
Dr Matthew Cracknell is a Senior Lecturer in Geodata Analytics for the Discipline of Earth Sciences and the Centre for Ore Deposit and Earth Sciences (CODES) at UTas. Prior to his current position, he held many short-term research and teaching positions at CODES, the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (ACE CRC) and the School of Humanities, University of Tasmania. He also currently leads the CODES Research Program for Geophysics and computational geosciences.
Matthew received a BSc (Hons) in geophysics in 2009 and a PhD in Computational Geophysics in 2014, both from UTas. Before entering academia he was employed as a consultant geoscientist and GIS analyst for a variety of public and private bodies.
50 years of the Aboriginal movement in Lutruwita (Tasmania) and some reflections on the next 50 years
The Royal Society of Tasmania invites you to its August 2024 Public Lecture by guest speaker Heather Sculthorpe, CEO of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre. All RST members, their guests, and the public are welcome.
Where: Piyura kitina/Risdon Cove Aboriginal Land on Sunday 4 August, 2024 for the talk.
The event begins at 3.30pm with refreshments and an introduction to piyura kitina.
Risdon Cove Aboriginal Land.
The talk by Heather Sculthorpe, CEO of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, will begin at 4:00pm..
CEO of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre.
Heather Sculthorpe is the outgoing long-term CEO of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (TAC). She has an Arts degree and an Honours degree in Law from the University of Tasmania; a graduate Diploma of Environmental Management and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She has been involved in the campaigns of the TAC since the 1970s and has unique perspectives on the challenges facing the organisation and community today.
Nominations open for The Royal Society of Tasmania Medals on offer in 2024
The Louisa Anne Meredith Medal and The Peter Smith Medal
The Louisa Anne Meredith Medal is awarded every four years to a person who excels in the field of arts or humanities or both, with outstanding contributions evidenced by creative outputs. The medal honours Louisa Anne Meredith’s contributions to the areas of natural history art, scientific art, literature, history and to The Royal Society of Tasmania. The medal will be awarded in 2024 for the first time having been established by the Society in August 2023.
The awardee receives a medal and will be invited to deliver the “Louisa Anne Meredith Lecture”.
Louisa Anne Meredith (née Twamley) was a remarkable woman, a prolific artist, writer and social commentator. She was the first woman to be granted Honorary membership of The Royal Society of Tasmania in 1881. The RST has a large number of her sketches and watercolours in its Art Collection, as well as a number of her books in its Library.
Meredith contributed a great deal to the work of The Royal Society of Tasmania. Over several decades, she sent interesting specimens to the Royal Society Museum and presented beautiful and accurate watercolours of many specimens to the RST. These artworks were much admired at Society meetings as being ‘beautifully executed’. The Royal Society of Tasmania also purchased a number of her illustrations at the time.
Further details and nomination guidelines for the Louisa Anne Meredith medal are at this link.
The Peter Smith Medal is awarded biennially to an outstanding early career researcher in any field. The awardee 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 details and nomination guidelines for the Peter Smith medal are available at this link.
Nominations for these medals open on 30 June, 2024.
Further conditions of these medals are:
• Nominations may be made by anyone, although self-nominations are not accepted.
• Nominations must be received by cob on 31 August, 2024.
All nominations should be submitted by email as a single pdf file to the Honorary Secretary of the Society at admin@rst.org.au by the due date given above. Please give the name of the medal in the subject line.
Guidelines for medal nominations are available at https://rst.org.au/guide-for-medal-nominations/.
Information on the previous winners of the RST medals is available at https://rst.org.au/awards/past-recipients/.
View a recording of the lecture by John K Davidson – May 2024
The Earth was formed over four billion years ago and has evolved by three principal evolutions, Continental Drift as the ‘boats’, Plants and Animals as the ‘passengers’ that travelled through the Climatic Zones and evolved under the influence of glaciations.”
Most geologists assign the discovery of Continental Drift to Alfred Wegener in the early twentieth century, but the Minoans could ‘map’ the stars and sail from Crete to the mouths of the Nile River, 4,000 years ago.
The first mapped, movement of continents is seen in the reproduction of Eratosthenes’ of c.220BCE, followed by Ortelius’ 1596 map, then via geological and botanical advances and retreats until Professor S W Carey’s cartographically accurate map presented in Hobart in 1956, which put Continental Drift beyond doubt.
The major steps on this path from the Ancient Greeks to ‘get the Drift’ include a disproportionate number of visitors to Tasmania including the botanist Labillardiere in 1793, Charles Darwin the geologist in 1831, Joseph Dalton Hooker the botanist from 1839 and then ‘the locals’, the most recent being a lecture two months ago to the Royal Society by Dr Keith Corbett.
From this firmer historical basis, John will propose a pulsing Earth with a low but significant rate of expansion, contrary to the current paradigm of Plate Tectonics, an interpretation of Carey’s 1956, New Global Tectonics.
Lynne Uptin OAM FSBA
Congratulations to our RST member Lynne Uptin OAM who was awarded the 2024 Best Botanical Art Exhibit Award and a Gold Medal award for 2024 for her suite of works.
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in London is staging its annual Botanical Art and Photography Show from 14 June to 7 July 2024. The exhibition hosts exquisite botanical art and photography featuring a rich variety of subjects from medicinal desert flowers to ornamental bananas, and from images of forest slime moulds to urban street plants.
It showcases the work of 23 leading global botanical artists and 18 photographers, representing countries including the UK, Italy, Portugal, Romania, USA, South Africa, Taiwan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Japan and Australia. The exhibition is held at the Saatchi Gallery in London. Lynne’s works occupy the end wall of Gallery One and are the first works seen as you enter the exhibition.
All entries are reviewed by an expert judging panel during the pre-selection process, prior to the show opening in June, and are assessed on aesthetic appeal, scientific accuracy and technical skill. The judges noted that this exhibition contains the best quality of artworks ever received.
The Show contributes to a long legacy of botanical art collecting and display by the RHS, and complements the work of the RHS Lindley Collections, which holds more than 30,000 botanical paintings and heritage photographs. This prestigious exhibition is open only by invitation, sent to a select few of the best botanical artists in the world.
Lynne was Director of Arts Tasmania, the State’s arts funding body, for 20 years and was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in 2010 for services to arts administration, particularly in assisting Aboriginal culture.
Hear Lynne speaking about the award with ABC’s Ryk Goddard here.
Note 1: The image for this post is a detail from the artwork, The Genus Richea: A Relic of Gondwana, for which Lynne received the Best Botanical Art Exhibit Award.
Collaboration between The Royal Society Of Tasmania and Wagner Framemakers
A recent collaboration between the Royal Society of Tasmania and Wagner Framemakers has resulted in a carefully selected, limited print series exhibition, of many popular artworks from the Society’s Art Collection. The works have been framed in museum standard materials and are available for viewing and for sale now at Wagner’s new premises at 65 Argyle Street, Hobart. The gallery is open to view the works between 10am and 5pm weekdays with on-site parking.
The available works include prominent artists such as William Charles Piguenit, John Skinner Prout, Louisa Anne Meredith, Guillaume Simpkinson de Wesselow and Thomas Evans Chapman. For further information, consult the brochure using this link.
