Presentation by Mr Peter Stevenson

Royal Society Room

Tuesday, 2nd March 2010 Commencing 8.00 pm until 10.00 pm

 

About the Speaker

Peter Stevenson qualified from Birmingham University in 1954 in Geology with emphasis on soil mechanics and engineering geophysics. He has had a very diverse career in the UK, on and in much of Africa, and in Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, and Qatar. He obtained a higher degree in groundwater hydrology, spent time at the University of London on Diamonds. He migrated to Tasmania and joined the Geological Survey of Tasmania as Senior Engineering Geologist, specialising in groundwater and slope stability work. He retired in 1988.

 

Brief Abstract of the Talk

The Beagle was in Tasmanian Waters for 22 days in 1836. Charles Darwin made his geological and other observations while it was anchored in Sulivan’s (sic) Cove from the 5-17 February. The other days the Beagle was at sea. World travel under sail was tedious and this talk uses the account given in the ship’s log which deals mainly with handling the sails, and navigational fixes, but gives no clue as to the thoughts of Captain FitzRoy, or of his later- to-become famous passenger, Charles Darwin. They are not mentioned. We must admire the surveying and scientific achievements accomplished under the demanding conditions at sea in the1830s.

Presentation by Dr Peter Donaldson

Royal Society Room

Wednesday, 17th February 2010 Commencing 8.00 pm until 10.00 pm

 

About the Speaker

Peter Donalddon, PhD, has a strong scientific background (chemistry) and now runs his own technology based company, Jupe Productions, in Bowral NSW. Peter is also a film producer, director, co-writer, presenter and cameraman!

 

Brief Abstract of the Talk

Joseph hooker had special connections with Tasmania. As botanist on the Ross Antarctic Expedition 1839-43 he visited Hobart. Later in 1860, while Assistant Director of Kew Gardens he published his celebrated ‘Flora of Tasmania’, based mainly on specimens sent to both him and his father. His father was the Director of Kew Gardens at that time. The specimens were collected by Ronald Campbell Gunn, R W Lawrence and other avid collectors in Van Diemens Land. Charles Darwin also had many dealings with Hooker senior. In late 2008 Peter Donaldson retraced Joseph Hooker’s 1848 expedition in remote eastern Nepal to make a documentary film. He and his crew drew out the character of this remarkable botanist who became the foremost champion of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Presentation by Prof Pat Quilty

CSIRO

Tuesday, 1st December 2009 Commencing 6.00pm until 10.00pm

Social Event Christmas Dinner

 

About the Speaker

Brief Abstract of the Talk

Abstract: A concise (even terse) summary but not too abstract; Vernal? Likely quoth the raven; The Frogs (for Margaret), Apology in advance; Athanasius. Was he really? And how was he that far ahead; And Dana? Amazing coincidences. Still relevant. Salt and the Q family; Amen and stet; Limited success with cryptic crosswords.

Presentation by Professor Peter Marshall

Royal Society Room

Tuesday, 3rd November 2009 Commencing 8.00pm until 10.00pm

 

About the Speaker

Professor Peter Marshall graduated in Mathematics from the University of Western Australia and then travelled to the UK and worked in Pilkington Glass’s Central Operational Research Department, while completing a post-graduate Diploma in Statistics and Operational Research at the University of Liverpool, UK. Peter returned to Australia, taught mathematics at Curtin University for some years, and then completed a PhD in manufacturing systems at Monash University. Peter then taught and researched in Information Systems at various Australian Universities including Monash, Curtin, Edith Cowan and Mt Eliza Business School. Peter has also held a number of business positions including that of Manufacturing Marketing Manager in General Electric Information Services, Melbourne and Management Information Systems Manager within the Amatil Group of companies. Currently, Peter holds the Woolworth’s Chair in Information Technology and Systems at the University of Tasmania.

 

Brief Abstract of the Talk

The nature of research and knowledge in Information Systems. The modes of research in Information Systems including a consideration of the two major research paradigms in Information Systems. The key topics or knowledge areas in Information Systems. The issues and challenges facing information systems practitioners, or why should we study information systems? The potential benefits of the discipline of information systems to business, government and the community at large.

Presentation by Professor John Dickie

Mt Pleasant, Cambridge

Saturday, 31st October 2009 Commencing 10.00 am until 12.30 pm

Lunch at Meadowbank (At own cost)

Presentation by Dr Andrew Cole

Royal Society Room

Tuesday, 6th October 2009 Commencing 8.00pm until 10.00pm

 

About the Speaker

Andrew was born in Brookhaven (suburban New York) in 1972 and spent his entire childhood there. He finished a Bachelor of Science degree in physics & astronomy at Yale University in 1994, where he wrote a senior thesis on the influence of rapid rotation on the evolution of stars. From there Andrew went on to the University of Wisconsin where he got his Ph.D. in astronomy in 1999, studying how the properties of red giant stars vary in galaxies smaller than the Milky Way– with particular focus on the chemical composition of stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite of the Milky Way that has about 5% of the mass of our galaxy. Afterwards Dr Cole worked on an infrared survey of the sky, and then used some of the largest telescopes in the world, the 8-metre Very Large Telescope in northern Chile, to make the first-ever measurements of the how the chemistry of dwarf galaxies like the Magellanic Clouds has changed over their lifetimes by measuring the calcium and iron abundances of stars aged between 1 and 13 billion years. In Andrews own words he “came to Tasmania in 2007 recognizing the longstanding Australian research strength in studies of the Magellanic Clouds, the chance to use the UTAS telescopes whenever and for whatever purpose I wanted, and to apply my stellar populations expertise to the statistics of searching for planets outside the Solar System.”

 

Brief Abstract of the Talk

There is a long history of astrophysical research in Tasmania, undertaken by scientists exploiting our unique location to attack some of the most challenging and important problems in contemporary astronomy. In both radio and optical astronomy, Tasmanian scientists continue to lead the way in new discoveries, supported by a new generation of telescopes and instrumentation. Dr Cole will discuss some of these programmes of discovery, including the search for earthlike planets orbiting distant stars, the quest for a deeper understanding of the Sun as a star, and clues to the origins, evolution, and interrelationships of the Milky Way and its satellite galaxies. These and other projects will be greatly advanced by the arrival of a new 1.3-metre, remotely-operable optical telescope in the southern midlands at Bisdee Tier.

Presentation by Dr Des Fitzgerald

Royal Society of Tasmania Room

Tuesday, 1st September 2009 Commencing 8.00pm until 10.00pm

Mathematician

 

About the Speaker

Des FitzGerald was educated at Frenchville and Ithaca Creek primary schools, and The Gap high school, all in Queensland. After a Science degree at the University of Queensland, he completed a PhD in algebra at Monash University. He taught secondary science and mathematics in Victoria and Queensland before taking a post at the TCAE in Launceston, which morphed into his current senior lectureship at the University of Tasmania. He researches in the algebra of partial symmetries and also collaborates as a statistician in research projects, mainly in the health and social sciences.

 

Brief Abstract of the Talk

I’ll try to identify what has changed in the mathematical sciences, and what has not, over the last 40-odd years. Then I’ll try to predict the directions that mathematics may take in coming decades, globally and locally. Finally I’ll consider how Australia (and Tasmania in particular) is positioned for these changes.

Presentation by Various Speakers

Stanley Burbury Theatre, UTAS

Tuesday, 18th August 2009 Commencing 8.00pm until 10.00pm

Winter Series

 

About the Speaker

Mark McKenzie (RARE Consulting), Dr Martin de Groot (CSIRO), Assoc Prof Graeme Wells (University of Tasmania)

 

Brief Abstract of the Talk

1. Alternatives to Oil for Transport. 2. Demand Side Management. 3. Socio Economic Aspects of Future Energy Needs.

Presentation by Dr Richard Herr

Royal Society Room

Tuesday, 4th August 2009 Commencing 8.00pm until 10.00pm

Political Scientist

 

About the Speaker

Professor Richard Herr taught at the University of Tasmania for more than thirty-five years and has held a variety of positions including Head of Department before he retired in July 2008. He is now an Honorary Research Associate in the School of Government. He currently holds adjunct professorial positions at the University of Fiji and at the Fiji Institute of Technology. He earned a PhD in Political Science from Duke University in the United States and, during his academic career, he has published extensively on aspects of South Pacific affairs. In addition to his academic work, Prof. Herr has an active parallel career in consultancy and community affairs. He has also undertaken 11 international consultancies for the regional organisations and governments of the South Pacific. He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal on the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2007 “for service to higher education in the field of political science, as a commentator on national and international political issues, and to the community.”

 

Brief Abstract of the Talk

Australia has played a central role in the regional system of the Pacific Islands since it promoted the formation of the South Pacific Commission in 1947. With the end of the Cold War in 1989 Canberra, along with many other donors, has attempted to include good governance reform as a part of their aid-related objectives. This aim intensified in the post-9/11 era of the so-called

Presentation by Various Speakers

Stanley Burbury Theatre, UTAS

Tuesday, 21st July 2009 Commencing 8.00pm until 10.00pm

Winter Series

 

About the Speaker

Dr Mike Connarty (Hydro Tasmania), Dr David Griffin (CSIRO), John Titchen (Roaring 40’s)

 

Brief Abstract of the Talk

1. Future Energy Options for Hydro Tasmania. 2. Ocean Power – Waves and Tides. 3. Wind Power in Tasmania