Your contribution keeps this Society advancing knowledge. Providing the opportunity for scholars in many fields to publish their work in a yearly peer-reviewed journal (offered at a discounted price as part of the subscription fee), enables the Society to develop wonderful books like The Library at the End of the World and Charles Darwin in Hobart Town from The Royal Society Collection circa 1843, hold symposia like this year’s Winter Series coming up in July and monthly lectures, to name some of what we do. Here’s how to apply or renew membership. We strongly urge you to become apart of this long-lived, vibrant community of amazing and knowledgeable people. Come along to the next lectures in Hobart (free) and Launceston (small fee for non-members) and check it out. We welcome feedback.
Launceston Lecture Series – Prof Matt King – Continental Loss: The Quest for Antarctica’s Contribution to Sea Level Rise, 1.30 pm Sun Jun 25
For over 50 years scientists have been working to understand Antarctica’s contribution to sea level. For much of this time there has been disagreement about if this massive ice sheet is even growing or shrinking. In 2012, advances in data analysis and computer modelling resulted in the first reconciled estimate of change being achieved. This lecture will explain some of the major advances that led to this reconciled estimate, which revealed that Antarctica is increasingly contributing to sea-level rise.
Professor Matt King started focusing on Antarctica during his PhD at the University of Tasmania, where he quantified multi-decadal changes in the motion of a large floating Antarctic ice shelf using surveying data. After 11 years in north-east England, he returned to the University of Tasmania in 2012 as Australian Research Council Future Fellow and Professor of Polar Geodesy. In April 2015 the Royal Society (London) awarded him the Kavli Medal and Lecture for his work that contributed to the first reconciled estimate of Antarctica and Greenland’s contribution to sea-level change. He is currently President of The Royal Society of Tasmania.
Meeting Room, QVMAG at Inveresk
RSVP by Thu Jun 22: bookings@qvmag.tas.gov.au Small fee for non-members
Barry Brook “The Future of Humanity” interview on ABC 936 Hobart
Louisa Anne Meredith : Mercury newspaper, Page 24
Louisa Anne Meredith was a respected botanical artist. On Wed 31 May the Mercury, published on page 24, a page developed by the Royal Society of Tasmania on Tasmanian artist and naturalist Louisa Anne Meredith. This page features some of Meredith’s artwork from volumes contained in the Royal Society’s collection held in the Morris Miller library, University of Tasmania (Sandy Bay campus). Soon after publication, the page will be downloadable free of charge from the Mercury Newspapers in Education website. High quality reproductions of some of Meredith’s artwork can be viewed in the Hadley’s Gallery, Murray St in Hobart.
Winter Series: The Future of the World’s Oceans – free entry, all welcome – last one! 7 pm drinks, 7.30 pm lectures Wednesday Aug 2, Stanley Burbury Theatre, UTAS Sandy Bay
The Royal Society of Tasmania
Winter Lecture Series 2017
PROGRAM
SESSION 3 Wed Aug 2, 7.30 pm
Chair: Prof Jan McDonald
- Coral reefs in the Anthropocene: what does the future hold? – Distinguished
Professor Terry Hughes, Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
Coral reefs will still be alive and reasonably well in 100 years’ time, but only if we try a lot harder to secure their future. Over the coming centuries reefs will run the gauntlet of climate change, when rising temperatures will transform them into new configurations unlike anything previously experienced by humankind. Returning coral reefs to past configurations is no longer an option. Instead, the global challenge is to steer reefs into the future in a way that maintains them as functioning and sustainable ecosystems. This is a confronting message, but ultimately an optimistic one. The most important and difficult challenge is to achieve the COP21 Paris Agreement targets of 1.5-2C of global average warming, because business-as-usual emissions of greenhouse gasses will certainly destroy reefs as we know them.
Terry Hughes is the Director of the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, headquartered at James Cook University in Townsville. His research interests encompass the biology of coral reefs, their evolution and governance. A recurrent theme in his studies is the application of new scientific knowledge towards improving management of marine environments. Terry conducted widespread aerial surveys of the Great Barrier Reef in 2016 and 2017 to measure the extent and severity of back-to-back coral bleaching due to global warming.
- 2. Geoengineering the planet: can we, should we try to offset global climate change? – Prof Philip Boyd, UTas
Geoengineering is defined as a deliberate intervention in the Earth system of a nature and scale intended to counteract human-induced climate change and its impacts. Two distinct forms of climate intervention have been proposed: large scale removal and storage of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, or the reflection of a proportion of incoming solar radiation back into space. It has become clear from the recent COP21 Climate Agreement in Paris in late 2015, that in order to limit global temperature rise to no more than 2C, some form of ‘negative emissions’ will probably be required. In the absence of enough climate mitigation, could geoengineering help us to meet the COP21 targets to limit warming? In this presentation Philip Boyd will discuss both the benefits and challenges of intervening in Earth’s climate.
Professor Philip Boyd is an ARC Laureate Fellow at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in Hobart. He currently co-chairs the UN GESAMP Working Group 41 on marine geoengineering. Boyd has worked in the field of ocean biogeochemistry for over two decades, examining the role of iron enrichment in setting ocean productivity. He successfully co-ordinated two of the largest scientific ocean manipulation studies to date (large enough to be seen from space) which have provided indirect insights into marine geoengineering. Professor Boyd has also written widely on the scientific, socio-economic and geo-political aspects of geoengineering, including contributing to the UNESCO Guide to Policymakers on ocean iron fertilisation.
PREVIOUS SESSIONS:
SESSION 1 Wed July 5, 7.30pm
Chair: Prof Ian Allison AO AAM FAA
Future Seas: climate change and the world’s marine ecosystems – A/Prof Gretta Pecl, UTas
Our oceans are important for our culture, and are major sources of food production, recreation and employment with relevance at local, regional and international scales. However, our oceans are changing rapidly and understanding the implications of climate change and how we can best adapt to these is a major global challenge facing society. One of the most pervasive effects of climate change is a universal major redistribution of life on Earth – as the climate warms, plants and animals are shifting polewards. These changes are largest in our oceans, compared with on land, and are greatest where the ocean is warming the fastest. Around the Australian coast are several ‘marine hotspots’, areas of the ocean that are in the top 10% for rates of warming and are experiencing extensive changes in the structure and function of marine ecosystems. Gretta’s talk will highlight some of the climate-driven changes occurring in our oceans, around Tasmania, other parts of Australia, and in regions like Madagascar where there are serious implications for food security. She will finish with a citizen science example of how Australians can become involved in marine research and help us better understand the implications of climate change in our local seas.
Gretta Pecl is an Associate Professor of marine ecology with broad interdisciplinary research interests and a passion for science engagement and communication with the public. Much of her current research centres around understanding climate change impacts in marine systems, and how our marine industries and communities may best adapt to these changes. She developed and leads the very successful national citizen science project Redmap Australia, the Range Extension Database and mapping project, which invites fishers and divers around our coastline to help monitor changes in our seas. Gretta is also currently working with international colleagues on a Global Network of Marine Hotspots to facilitate learning and communication among the world’s most rapidly warming ocean regions. Associate Professor Pecl is a Fulbright Fellow, an ARC Future Fellow, a University of Tasmania ‘Rising Star’ and the Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries.
- Blue revolution: innovative food production for a sustainable future – Prof Stewart Frusher, UTas
With over 70% of the Earth’s surface covered by the oceans it is not surprising that attention is turning to the oceans to meet some of the challenges associated with an increasing population. The global blue (or ocean) economy is predicted to double to US$3 trillion by 2030 and is poised to undergo a profound transition. Part of this transition will be the development of offshore infrastructures that underpin multiple industries including food and energy. As we venture into this new arena, we have the opportunity to re-think how we currently ‘farm’ our oceans. The “green revolution” may provide lessons that can usefully be applied to ensure that the development of offshore marine production systems is sustainable, environmentally appropriate and socially acceptable. This presentation will also highlight where there could be opportunities for Tasmania.
Professor Stewart Frusher undertook his tertiary education at James Cook University in North Queensland after which he joined Australian Volunteers Abroad and worked on commercial and artisanal fisheries in Papua New Guinea. He subsequently worked at the Australian Institute of Marine Science in coastal ecosystems and aquaculture before coming to Hobart in 1992. Over the last couple of decades, he has led the Fisheries Program, Coasts and Estuaries Program and the Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation theme at the University of Tasmania. He is currently Director of the Centre for Marine Socioecology, which brings together researchers from the University of Tasmania, CSIRO and the Australian Antarctic Division across broad disciplines to focus on multiple use management of the marine domain.
SESSION 2 Wed July 19, 7.30 pm
Chair: The Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable Justice Alan Blow OAM
- Past oceans: an insight to future changes – Dr Taryn Noble, UTas
Oceans play an important role in global climate. So far 40% of the anthropogenic carbon and 90% of the heat released into the atmosphere since industrialisation has been absorbed by the Southern Ocean. As well as being an important region for the exchange of carbon dioxide and heat, the Southern Ocean acts as thermal barrier isolating the Antarctic ice sheet from the warmer tropics. Oceanographic measurements over the past few decades document significant changes in the characteristics of Antarctic Bottom Water, a key component of the global circulation system, which is becoming warmer and fresher. Understanding how ocean circulation has changed along the Antarctic margin is vital for understanding how the Antarctic ice sheet will respond to warming of the surrounding ocean. Marine archives, such as marine sediment cores, can provide a wealth of information about how the global ocean has changed from hundreds to thousands and millions of years ago. Past climate records can also provide analogues to the current climate warming. Dr Noble will discuss how we can reconstruct the role of oceans in regulating our planet’s past climate, and what lessons we are likely to learn for the future.
Dr Taryn Noble is a marine geochemist at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania. Taryn received her PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2012 on paleoceanography of the Southern Ocean. In 2016 she was awarded a SIEF John Stocker Postdoctoral Fellowship. Taryn’s research interests involve using marine sediment cores and seawater to study past ocean circulation and the role oceans play in climate. Her current research is focused on understanding the role of ocean circulation in melting the Antarctic ice shelves during the last deglaciation.
- The future of sea level: how fast, how much? – Prof Matt King, UTas
Antarctica, Greenland and the small glaciers around the globe are together losing hundreds of billions of tonnes of ice into the ocean each year. As the planet has warmed the oceans have expanded, and these factors have driven sea-level rise. But what does the future hold? How fast will sea level rise in the coming decades? The accurate answer to that question depends both on human influences on the climate and the uncertain role of the awakening giant of the vast Antarctic Ice Sheet. Future changes in Antarctica will not only have an important effect on the global average rate of sea-level rise but will also determine which regions of the globe will suffer the most drastic effects.
Professor Matt King completed a Bachelor of Surveying at the University of Tasmania before undertaking a PhD using surveying data to quantify changes in the motion of a large floating Antarctic ice shelf. He then moved to the UK where he researched applications of GPS positioning. Matt is Professor of Polar Geodesy and an ARC Future Fellow at the University of Tasmania where he works on observing and modelling the Antarctic Ice Sheet, sea-level change and the changing shape of Earth. Matt has travelled to both Antarctica and Greenland, and in 2015 the Royal Society (London) awarded him the Kavli Medal and Lecture for his work that contributed to the first reconciled estimate of Antarctica and Greenland’s contribution to sea-level change. Matt is President of the Royal Society of Tasmania.
The Future of Humanity – Professor Barry Brook – Free lecture, all welcome: Royal Society Room TMAG @8 pm Tuesday June 6
Humans have persisted in our modern evolved form for about two hundred millennia, and are now a dominant force of nature on planet Earth. But are we near the end, or closer to the beginning, of our span as a species? I will consider some forecasts of existential environmental threats facing humanity during the 21st century, and speculate on the possible long-term future of humanity if it reaches beyond this zone of immediate global risk.
Barry Brook, an ecologist and modeller, is an ARC Laureate Fellow and Professor of Environmental Sustainability at the University of Tasmania. He is a highly cited scientist, having published three books, over 300 refereed papers, and many popular articles. His awards include the 2006 Australian Academy of Science Fenner Medal and the 2010 Community Science Educator of the Year. His research focuses on the impacts of global change on biodiversity, ecological dynamics, forest ecology, paleoenvironments, energy, and simulation models.
The link to his research group’s website: http://ecological-dynamics.org
2016 Award winners
The R. M. Johnston Memorial Medal for 2016
Prof David Green FRS
Born and educated in Tasmania, David Green is internationally recognised as a leader in experimental igneous petrology. He held the Chair of Geology from 1977 to 1994 and was Director of the Research School of Earth Sciences at ANU from 1994 to 2001. Collaborating with A. E. Ringwood he brought research in the geo-sciences a major step forward by combining high-pressure and also high-temperature equipment with the electron microscope. Prof Green had insights based on new research that led to a major study (and paper) on the genesis of basaltic magmas. This alone has been cited and used for further work by others at least 1300 times.
David has been adept at selecting significant petrological observations and hypotheses and then devising experimental strategies to investigate further. The widest range of topics has flowed including – mineral assemblages of peridotites at high pressures; the reasons for compositional variability of basaltic magmas including the rôles of carbon and hydrogen; as well as the origins of and relationships among luna basalts, and the nature of the lunar interior.
Prof Green, throughout his career has built co-operative research teams applying complementary approaches to diverse problems related to the petrology and geochemistry of natural rocks. Since returning to Tasmania he has been instrumental in the establishment of institutions particularly the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies which has achieved international acclaim and influence. It is an honour for The Royal Society of Tasmania to offer acknowledgment to David Green’s scholarship with the R. M. Johnston Memorial Medal.
The Clive Lord Memorial Medal for 2016
Prof Henry Reynolds
Clive Lord had a deep interest in Tasmanian history including the place of the aboriginal identity. Henry Reynolds is a fitting person to be recognised by The Royal Society of Tasmania as he has a distinguished academic and personal background that unites these subjects. Indeed Henry has frequently researched and presented history from an Aboriginal perspective. Henry was educated in Tasmania, then a teacher in schools in Australia and England. He established the Australian History program at the Townsville University College where through meticulous research he initiated a focus on frontier conflict in Australia between settlers and indigenous people. This theme is of central importance to the history of Tasmania. In numerous academic articles and books, Prof Reynolds has explained the high level of violence and conflict involved in the colonisation of Australia, and the Aboriginal resistance as evidenced in numerous massacres of the indigenous people.
Henry was on friendly terms with Eddie Mabo and related his “chats” with Eddie in his writing. Later Henry encouraged Eddie to take the matter of land ownership to court. Henry has remained dedicated to justice and human rights. He was elected as a National ‘Living Treasure’ in 1998 – one of just 100! He has written the “History of Tasmania” which brings together the main themes in the island’s history and interprets them in an engaging and accessible way. His writing explores Tasmania’s uniqueness as an island, long isolated from the mainland of Australia. He documented the first extraordinary encounters between European explorers and Tasmanian Aborigines, conveying as far as possible the Tasmanians’ views of the strangers – including how they observed the white men! His research and writing has also considered the Black War of the 1820’s and the convict system and its legacy.
Prof Reynolds is no stranger to criticism from other historians and writers but is himself meticulous in basing his work on a vast resource of evidence readily available in archives and recorded during the actual ‘frontier’ times.
In his book ‘A History of Tasmania’ Prof Reynolds reminds us how the past lives on, and how this is especially so in Tasmania. Henry Reynolds has brought forward a compelling story for all of us and is a most fitting recipient of the 2016 Clive Lord Memorial Medal of The Royal Society of Tasmania.
The Royal Society of Tasmania Annual Doctoral Awards for 2016
In 2016 we had 26 quality nominations for these awards. Each nominee was worthy. The purpose of the awards is for the Society to offer external recognition to recent graduates who have shown genuine distinction and mature promise in their chosen field. Both awardees clearly show that strength at this stage of their career. The award winners were, in alphabetical order:
(a) Dr Aliaa Shallan
Aliaa’s first significant study was the first to demonstrate control over the size of fractures formed during dielectic breakdown of plastic. Her research has focused around developing a microfluidic device for drugs in fluids. A major segment of this centres around making nanochannels in microchips by dielectric breakdown – in effect a “lab on a chip” system. An electrokinetic trap has indeed been made and is the first non-sensor system to analyse drugs in body fluids. Dr Shallan’s work is recognised widely and being applied globally.
(b) Dr Jane Younger
Dr Younger’s research has made a significant contribution already to the field of Antarctic ecology, specifically with respect to how ice-dependent penguins and seals are likely to respond to climate change. In summary, Jane’s very practical work studied palaeological changes in populations of Antarctic ice-dependent predators and their environmental drivers. Her work also filled in gaps in scientific knowledge essential to the future of penguins and seals, for instance. The data sets produced by Jane are contributing dramatically both to the fields of ecology and evolution. In addition Dr Younger’s results, having been reported directly to the Australian Government, will contribute to this nation’s conservation and management policies for Antarctica.
Ephemeral Lisle: The Town that Disappeared – Mr Nigel Burch QVMAG Meeting Room 1.30 pm Sunday 28th May 2017
The Lisle rush of 1879 was the biggest gold rush ever seen in Tasmania. At the height of the boom Lisle was easily our third largest town. The alluvial gold was soon exhausted, however, and no reef was ever found. When small miners blocked the release of land to farmers, the town was doomed. We look at the history of the people and town, from the first prospector’s arrival in 1878, to when the last resident left in 1963.
Mr Nigel Burch, through a varied career, has always returned to his childhood love of mining. From trading mining shares in High School, to working as a gold and diamond dealer, to consulting on mining companies to Arthur Andersen, then the largest accountancy firm in the world. He has been a director of many listed and unlisted gold mining companies and was an adviser to the Bosnian Government on post-war reconstruction of their steel industry. In retirement, he has set out to document the astonishing and largely forgotten history of mining around the Tamar.
Admission: $6 General Public, $4 Friends of the Museum and Students
Free for members of The Royal Society of Tasmania
As these events are popular, RSVP is essential by Thursday 23rd February 2017:
Email bookings@qvmag.tas.gov.au or telephone 6323 3798
Outstanding Tasmanian Researchers Honoured
The Royal Society of Tasmania has announced its latest awards recognising outstanding achievements by Tasmanian researchers.
The prestigious R M Johnston Memorial Medal, established in 1920 and awarded to a scholar of great distinction, has been won by Prof David Green FRS. Born and educated in Tasmania, David Green is internationally recognised as a leader in experimental igneous petrology. It is an honour for The Royal Society of Tasmania to offer acknowledgment to David Green’s scholarship with this medal. He will deliver the R M Johnston Memorial Lecture on Tuesday 2 May in the Royal Society of Tasmania Room, TMAG Hobart, at 8 p.m. All interested people are warmly invited to attend.
The Clive Lord Memorial Medal, established in 1930, is awarded to a scholar distinguished for research in Tasmanian science or Tasmanian history. This has been won by Prof Henry Reynolds. Clive Lord had a deep interest in Tasmanian history including the place of the Aboriginal identity. Henry Reynolds is a fitting person to be recognised by The Royal Society of Tasmania as he has a distinguished academic and personal background that unites these subjects.
The RST Doctoral Awards offer external recognition to recent PhD graduates who have shown genuine distinction and mature promise in their chosen field. Warm congratulations go to Dr Aliaa Shallan and Dr Jane Younger. Dr Shallan’s research focused on the development of a microfluidic device for drugs in fluids. Her work is recognised widely and being applied globally. Dr Younger’s research has made a significant contribution to the field of Antarctic ecology, specifically with respect to how ice-dependent penguins and seals are likely to respond to climate change.
For more information on RST awards
“Get it Right. Trousers First Then Boots!” – What is Military Intelligence? Dr Nicholas Chantler QVMAG Meeting Room 1.30 pm Sunday 23 April 2017
“I’ve been asked to tell you what I’m going to talk about….and I guess you’ll know that after I’ve told you…well, I will have to shred you…feet-first into the shredder…it’s ok till you get to the lumpy bits, then it makes your eyes water…but since I have a bright light shining on me, I’ll tell you a little of what I’m going to talk about…. ok ok…..and by the way, real intelligence work is nothing like what I’ve just described….or relates to the photo! Ha!” This presentation includes the following topics and more: what intelligence is (Intelligence defined); the history of intelligence; intelligence organisations; how to become an intelligence officer and the selection process; the scope of intelligence; James Bond by Ian Fleming also Biggles by Captain W.E. Johns; scenarios to cause mayhem; and, “What really happened?”.
Dr Nicholas Chantler joined the Australian Regular Army in February 1981 as a Direct Entry Officer, into the Royal Australian Army Education Corps. His first posting was as a Physics Instructor at Army Apprentices School. He transferred to the Royal Australian Corps of Signals in 1985; then, after completing the three-month intelligence selection course, he became a Counterintelligence Officer in the Australian Intelligence Corps in 1987. Nicholas holds a doctorate on Computer Hackers and Criminal Psychology. He is a qualified teacher and clinical psychologist, specialising in clinical hypnosis. Nicholas was recognised for his work in 2010, being made a Member of The Order of Australia. He retired officially from the military in 2015, some 34 years since he enlisted in 1981.
Admission: $6 General Public, $4 Friends of the Museum and Students
Free for members of The Royal Society of Tasmania
As these events are popular, RSVP is essential by Thursday 23rd February 2017:
Email bookings@qvmag.tas.gov.au or telephone 6323 3798