The Royal Society of Tasmania, in conjunction with marine science presenters, Beer Aquatic, invite you to a lecture by Marine Biologist, Dr Peter Puskic, on Thursday 31 August 2023. The lecture will be held at the Hobart Brewing Company, 16 Evans Street, Hobart.

No prior registration is required to attend – just come along to a fun and informative presentation. Bar food and drinks available.

Admission is free, and everyone is welcome to attend.

The message-in-a-bottle is a longstanding romantic trope. But what message are we sending when that’s a plastic bottle, rotting its way into the ocean’s foodweb? Dr Peter Puskic, a marine biologist with expertise on the impacts of plastic pollution on marine wildlife, will guide us through the lifecycle of a bottle adrift at sea, from humble beginnings to the belly of seabirds, to remote tropical beaches and to its final resting place at the bottom of the ocean

Dr Peter Puskic is an interdisciplinary marine scientist with expertise in understanding the impacts of Anthropogenic stressors on environments, wildlife, and human communities. A highly experienced field biologist, he focuses mostly on marine wildlife physiology and population monitoring (turtles, seabirds, marine mammals), plastic monitoring and clean ups. He has conducted fieldwork in remote and challenging environments.

The lecture will centre around the debate about Aboriginal self-determination, giving Aboriginal people direct decision making as opposed to Aboriginal subordination (advising others to make decisions about us).

Michael Mansell is a Tasmanian Aboriginal leader who, as an activist and lawyer, has worked for social, political and legal changes to improve the lives and social standing of Tasmanian Aboriginal people.

Our guest speaker, Dr Shasta Henry was the previous Royal Society of Tasmania Student Councillor and science communicator for Melbourne based think-tank, Future Crunch.

Shasta gave us a future’s perspective that will explore the Adaptability Quotient, the new IQ, which is the trait that makes humans better than robots. AQ is the measure of how skilled individuals are in making intentional change in an environment that is evolving at speed. According to the Harvard Business Review, it is the new competitive advantage. 

Future Crunch are a team of unlike minds, a collection of different specialists, who are united by their mission to foster intelligent optimism. Future Crunch have shared their inspiring key-note presentations to the staff and boards of global banks, universities, software developers and community organisations to name just a few. Their fact-based talks highlight how humans fit into a future of exponentially expanding technologies, and how we are uniquely adapted to carry on thriving.

Shasta is a recent graduate from the University of Tasmania. She is an entomologist and science communicator. Her doctorate focused on the long-term impacts of fire on the invertebrates of the Wilderness World Heritage Area as well as insect taxonomy. As a communicator, Shasta has presented in a number of different forums around Australia, including speaking as a Young Tassie Scientist, on ABC radio and at the TEDx Hobart 2022 conference.

The Royal Society of Tasmania invites you to a lecture by senior member of the Tasmanian Palawa community, Kerry Sculthorpe, at 3pm on Sunday 30 July 2023. The lecture will be held at the Stanley Burbury Lecture Theatre, University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay, Hobart.

To attend in person, please register using this Eventbrite link. Eventbrite registrations close at 3pm on Saturday 29 July.

To view the livestream, please register using this Zoom link.

Admission is free, and everyone is welcome to attend.

The presentation will reflect on some of the key moments which preceded the Uluru Statement and offer insights into the wider context in which it was formulated. It will advance some ideas about what a Voice might look like and how it might operate. It will offer a personal view of the consequences of a ‘yes’ and a ‘no’ win in the referendum.

Kerry Sculthorpe is a senior member of the Palawa community. Her involvement in community affairs has spanned more than forty years. She has experience in policy and administration. Kerry has held elected and appointed positions at the community level and has been a strong advocate for Aboriginal rights. She is a former senior executive of the Australian Public Service and more recently has served on the government’s Voice co-design committee considering local and regional arrangements. In her retirement Kerry tries to get her opinions on Aboriginal issues published in the newspapers.