Eco-Dyeing 101 Workshop
2021-08-15 10:00 - 14:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Alphington Community Centre, 2 Kelvin Road, Alphington, Victoria, 3078, Australia
Join the Alphington Community Centre in Science Week for a fabulous family workshop and learn how to use the plants in our neighbourhood to dye materials.
Local textile artist Rose Kulak will be teaching this workshop in our garden and out in The Shed. She’ll explain all the technical things, and then you’ll have a chance to have a go with a variety of plants and mediums. We’ll also share lunch and take a walk around the neighbourhood and into Darebin Parklands to explore plants that are suitable for dyeing.
You’ll take home your own hand dyed scarf (sure to make a lovely gift for yourself or someone you love), cotton samples and lots of new knowledge and skills.

Climate Change: Families for a Thriving Future @ Melbourne Museum
2021-08-15 16:00 - 17:00
Museums Victoria invites families to build their understanding of climate science as they work together to create a climate pledge for their family.

We are hearing more and more how climate change is affecting our Earth. But what does this really mean for humans and our natural environments, and is there anything we can do about it?
As part of National Science Week, Climate Change: Families for a thriving future provides an exciting opportunity for families to deepen their understanding of climate science and our changing world, as they discuss climate action and work together as a family to create a climate pledge.
The webinar will begin by unpacking the science behind why our climate is changing. Participants will engage with information from the latest reports as they learn about how climate change is specifically affecting us here in Victoria.
The second part of the program will invite families to work together to create a pledge of actions to help us all have a thriving future.

Suitable for families (recommended for children 8 and older)

Play, Sow, Make
2021-08-21 12:00 - 15:00 | Greenhills Neighbourhood House, Community Drive, Greensborough, Victoria, 3088, Australia
A Family Fun Day at Greenhills Neighbourhood House. Plant some seedlings, learn how to make pickles and play with our sustainable craft.

The Botanic Garden that Thought it Could Change the World
2021-08-21 13:00 - 14:00 | Online, Australia
Join acclaimed writer and climate activist Sophie Cunningham (author of Melbourne and City of Trees) in conversation with Clare Hart, Manager Horticulture, and Peter Symes, Curator Horticulture, about the Gardens’ Landscape Succession Strategy and the international Climate Change Alliance of Botanic Gardens. Collaboration between botanic gardens across the globe is essential in understanding how plants will grow and survive in a warming climate. Clare and Peter will discuss how the Climate Change Alliance was formed right here in Melbourne, and how botanic gardens can harness their expertise to share and exchange skills and information on a global platform.
This event will be livestreamed – details to come.
Presented by Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria as part of Inspiring Victoria’s ACCLIMATISE program for National Science Week, 14 – 22 August 2021.
This program has a COVIDSafe plan however it may be subject to changes in accordance with government restrictions.

The Future of Fungi
2021-08-21 15:00 - 16:00 | Online, Australia
Join Tom May, Principal Research Scientist (Mycology) in a discussion with writer and climate activist Sophie Cunningham (author of Melbourne and City of Trees) about the future of fungi. Fungi are megadiverse, estimated at several million species globally. Discover the role of fungi in ecosystems and how they will fare in future climates; and learn how fungi experts tackle the challenge of documenting the numerous “dark fungi”.
This event will be livestreamed – details to come.
Presented by Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria as part of Inspiring Victoria’s ACCLIMATISE program for National Science Week, 14 – 22 August 2021.
This program has a COVIDSafe plan however it may be subject to changes in accordance with government restrictions.

Collecting Insights: Environmental Adaptation in Victoria @ Parliament of Victoria
2021-08-22 14:00 - 15:00 | Online, Australia
The ACCLIMATISE Major Partner Special Event.
Sunday 22 August 2pm
What do our best-loved public science engagement institutions tell us about future environmental adaptation through their collections and research in Victoria? When you visit the Museum or Zoo or Botanical gardens, it can be a fascinating and fun day out, yet many don’t realise our public institutions are engine rooms of important environmental research. There is a diverse range of work happening behind the scenes to measure, understand, plan, and adapt for the future of biodiversity in Victoria.
Join us for our ACCLIMATISE special panel conversation, streamed live from the Legislative Council Chamber at Parliament House with a small invited live audience of families, to learn from the botanists, zoologists and collection managers leading this important work. Find out some of the ways they are planning to help our plants and animals adapt to our state’s warming, drying climate.
Professor Tim Entwisle, Director and Chief Executive, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Professor Tim Entwisle is Director and Chief Executive of Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. A highly respected scientist and scientific communicator with a broad interest in plants, science and gardens, he was director of Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust for eight years, and spent two years at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew before returning to Australia. His PhD from La Trobe University concerned the discovery and classification of a group of algae never studied before in this country. Tim is interested more generally in the seasonality of plants and algae and is the author of Sprinter and Sprummer: Australia’s Changing Seasons.

Dr Ken Walker, Senior Curator of Entomology, Museums Victoria. I am a senior curator in the entomology (insects and spiders) section. I have worked at Museums Victoria since 1981. My research interests are in native Australian bees (in particular the family Halictidae) and pollination syndromes (what bee pollinates what plant). I have actively promoted my entomological experiences through several museum exhibitions, biodiversity, biosecurity and citizen science websites and I have given talks to field naturalists groups throughout Victoria as well as Australian and overseas conferences. I have described over 150 new species of native bees, especially in the genera Homalictus and Lasioglossum and I have several species of Australian bees named after me.

Dr Sally Sherwen, Director of Wildlife Conservation and Science, Zoos Victoria. Dr Sally Sherwen is the Director of Wildlife Conservation and Science at Zoos Victoria. She manages the team that has a strategic focus across the zoos conservation and education programs, science and research programs, life sciences development (animal welfare, species planning, animal husbandry optimisation) and environmental sustainability. Sally’s background is in Animal Welfare Science and Human-Animal Relationships.

Kate Phillips, Senior Curator Science Exhibitions, Museums Victoria (Facilitator and Analyst). I develop content for exhibitions, public events and publications on topics relating to science, technology and society for audiences of different ages, interests and backgrounds. As a member of creative exhibition teams I am responsible for content development and public communication across whole gallery spaces, an entire exhibition or individual exhibits depending on the scope of the project. To create dynamic and relevant experiences we use a range of media – from physical interactives and interactive multimedia and games, to immersive environments, to push button models and heritage object displays.

Join the webinar live stream here
After live streaming, the conversation will be available on the Parliament of Victoria’s Youtube Channel

From Dump to Paradise: Saving the Eastern Barred Bandicoot from Extinction
2021-09-16 18:30 - 20:00
As of early 2021, around 100 endemic Australian species are listed as extinct by the federal government or the International Union for the Conservation of Nature – and that doesn’t count our invertebrates, which could bring the number closer to 1,000. With entire ecosystems at risk and Australia standing out as the continent with the highest rate of mammalian extinctions in the world since the colonisation by Europeans in 1788, there is much work to be done to save our species.
In 1988, the Eastern Barred Bandicoot Recovery Team was formed here in Victoria to respond to a continued population decline of the mainland population, sending this species dangerously close to extinction. One of the last places this bandicoot could be found in the wild was at the Hamilton tip; 33 years later, Eastern Barred Bandicoot populations now persist in several safe havens, including fenced sites and islands free of foxes, their biggest threat.
While much work remains to be done, the Eastern Barred Bandicoot is now well on the way to recovery, giving hope that, with persistence and dedication, government and non-government organisations working together, and effective community engagement, we can save these and other threatened species from extinction.
Join Threatened Species Biologist Dr Amy Coetsee, who will explore this long-term campaign to establish populations of the Eastern Barred Bandicoot in discrete locations across Victoria, and the important relationships that must be sustained with local communities to enable the success of this species’ recovery.
About the Speaker

Dr Amy Coetsee is a Threatened Species Biologist at Zoos Victoria, fighting the extinction of some of Victoria’s most endangered species. Amy has a strong background in conservation, research, government policy and science communication. Amy currently leads several projects, specialising in Eastern Barred Bandicoot recovery, where she has more than 16 years of experience.
Streamed online as part of the Inspiring Victoria initiative in 2021.
Amy is involved in all aspects of Eastern Barred Bandicoot conservation including planning, monitoring, research, threat mitigation and community engagement. In 2019, Amy was selected as an Australian Superstar of STEM and is a role model to many aspiring young scientists and conservation enthusiasts.
Dr Coetsee completed her PhD at the University of Melbourne on the reintroduction biology of Eastern Barred Bandicoots.
Tickets are available below to participate in the webinar via Zoom and/or Eventbrite. RSV Members are prompted to enter their promotional code to access a member’s ticket. Alternatively, you can watch along via Facebook Live at the appointed time without buying a ticket.
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Foodprint Melbourne: Building the Resilience of Melbourne’s Food System
2021-09-23 18:30 - 20:00 | Online, Australia
We tend to think of Melbourne and other cities in Australia as places that are food secure; nationally, we produce enough food to support 60,000,000 people, more than twice our population, in service of our role as a major exporter of primary goods and food products. Supermarket shelves are usually filled with food, all year around. But in the last 18 months we’ve seen images of sparsely-occupied shelves, crops being dug back into their fields and students queueing for food vouchers. The compounding crises of bushfire and pandemic have revealed some of the cracks in our food supply system, flaws that make our population vulnerable to scarcity.
Join Dr Rachel Carey, who will be exploring what we need to do to strengthen the resilience of Melbourne’s food system to future shocks and stresses, particularly those related to climate change and pandemic, seeking a more nuanced conversation about matching up available resources with the healthy, sustainable diets we want our population to be maintaining.
We can leverage the lessons from the pandemic to transform the way we manage our food system, through strengthening local and regional food supply chains; sustaining the productivity of fertile land on the urban fringe; building efficient, circular food economies to minimise waste; promoting resilient, sustainable production systems adapted to a changing climate, such as regenerative or agri-ecological approaches; building livelihoods through addressing insecure employment, low wages and poor working conditions in the food industry; and redesigning systems of food relief to ensure equitable, dignified access to healthy, sustainable, culturally-appropriate food during times of system stress.
About the Speaker
Dr Rachel Carey is a Lecturer in Food Systems at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, where her teaching and research focuses particularly on the governance of resilient and sustainable food systems.
Rachel leads the Foodprint Melbourne project, which is investigating the resilience of Melbourne’s food system to shocks and stresses and the role of Melbourne’s foodbowl in increasing the resilience of the city’s food supply. The project team is working with a wide range of stakeholders to plan interventions to increase the resilience and sustainability of the city’s food system. Project partners include the City of Melbourne, Resilient Melbourne, Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority, the Interface Councils and the Peri-Urban Group of Rural Councils. The project is funded by the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation.
One of Rachel’s key research interests is the resilience and sustainability of city food systems in the face of growing challenges from climate change, pandemic, population growth, urban sprawl and from declining supplies of natural resources, such as land, water and fossil fuels. Rachel’s research has also focused on analysis and development of food policies and the governance of ‘free range’ and other higher animal welfare labelling. She has a particular interest in integrated food policies and in cross-sector and collaborative approaches to developing food policy.
Streamed online as part of the Inspiring Victoria initiative in 2021.
Rachel has worked on food policies for the City of Melbourne and the City of Greater Geelong, and she is a member of the Melbourne Food Alliance. Rachel is a member of the Editorial Board of the journal Agriculture and Human Values. She has a PhD from the University of Manchester (UK) and a Masters degree in Food Policy from City University (UK).
Tickets are available below to participate in the webinar via Zoom and/or Eventbrite. Alternatively, you can watch along via Facebook Live at the appointed time without buying a ticket.
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Electronic Skin: Sensing the World Around and Within Us
2021-11-11 19:30 - 21:00
Stretchable and wearable electronics represent a new wave in devices which can bend, flex, and stretch with the human body. Researchers from Melbourne’s RMIT University have developed a prototype to mimic real human skin, with the aim to create a viable alternative to invasive skin grafts and conventional prosthetics.
Join Professor Madhu Bhaskaran, who leads the team working to transform conventional, hard electronics into soft, unbreakable products, thin enough to create “electronic skin.” These ground-breaking, electronic, prosthetic patches can adhere to the skin to mimic, measure and diagnose body functionality, and monitor the environment around, on, and within us. Their potential extends beyond improving the lives of people with prosthetic limbs and skin grafts to offer new tools for surgeons, astronauts and other professions requiring a precise “feel” without direct contact.
About the Speaker
Professor Madhu Bhaskaran is a multi-award winning electronics engineer and innovator. She was the 2014 recipient of the RSV’s Phillip Law Postdoctoral Award, and has since been recognised for her outstanding achievements with a slew of awards, including the 2018 Batterham Medal from the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and the 2020 Frederick White Medal from the Australian Academy of Science.
Professor Bhaskaran co-leads the Functional Materials and Microsystems Research Group at RMIT University, which she established at the outset of an ARC postdoctoral fellowship in 2010, and acts as Node Director and Chief Investigator for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems. Her work on electronic skin and wearable sensors has been patented, and her group now works collaboratively with multiple industry and design partners to commercialise the technology for healthcare and aged care.
Streamed online as part of the Inspiring Victoria initiative in 2021.
Madhu attained her Bachelor of Engineering at the PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore, India, before completing first her Master of Engineering then Doctor of Philosophy at RMIT University, Melbourne.
Tickets are available below to participate in the webinar via Zoom and/or Eventbrite. RSV Members are prompted to enter their promotional code to access a member’s ticket. Alternatively, you can watch along via Facebook Live at the appointed time without buying a ticket.
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Improving Drug Discovery: A Molecular Understanding of Cell Surface Receptors
2021-11-25 18:30 - 20:00
The human animal is multicellular – an organism comprised of trillions of smaller organisms. As with any complex organisation, each individual cell in our body must communicate with and respond effectively to the collective to keep our systems working. Our cells send and receive signals through the use of special proteins on their surfaces – receptors – that interact with the “extracellular matrix,” a network of specialised molecules that perform structural, biochemical and signalling functions between our bodies’ cells and systems.
The largest family of these cell-surface receptor proteins are called G Protein-Coupled Receptors, or GPCRs. GPCRs respond to extracellular stimuli such as hormones, neurotransmitters, peptides, metabolites and odours, while controlling a variety of physiological functions. Importantly, they have been found to have an excellent response as drug targets and are thus very useful in developing effective medicines to combat serious disease. Currently, GPCR targets are implicated in around 25% of all medicines approved by the USA’s Food and Drug Administration.
However, many hurdles remain to improving GPCR drug discovery, requiring an expanded, interdisciplinary approach to open the door to new therapies. Join Dr Christopher Draper-Joyce to explore new, proof-of-concept approaches that promise the development of safer and much improved options for GPCR therapeutics.
About the Speaker

Dr Christopher Draper-Joyce is an ARC DECRA Fellow with the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and a Lecturer on Drug Discovery with the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. He was previously a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, where he earlier completed his PhD on the biomolecular actions of the dopamine D2 receptor using pharmacological assays, molecular biology and biochemistry techniques.
Christopher’s postdoctoral work has extended his analytical and molecular pharmacology skillset into the field of structural biology, with a particular focus on solving and stabilising the GPCR-G protein complexes, to shed new light on molecular mechanisms of drug-receptor action. He has contributed to the pandemic effort with colleagues at the Florey, bringing the Institute’s collective skillset in protein engineering to bear on SARS-CoV-2, developing novel lead proteins that can bind to the S glycoprotein (Spike) of the virus, and may be useful as antiviral agents.
Dr Draper-Joyce’s efforts have been recognised with an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award and the Asia-Pacific Protein Association Young Scientist Award in 2020 and, in 2021, he is the recipient of the Royal Society of Victoria’s Phillip Law Postdoctoral Award in Category II: Biomedical and Health Sciences.
Streamed online as part of the Inspiring Victoria initiative in 2021.
Tickets are available below to participate in the webinar via Zoom and/or Eventbrite. Alternatively, you can watch along via Facebook Live at the appointed time without buying a ticket.
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Bioremediation: Restoring Contaminated Ecosystems, Naturally
2021-12-09 18:30 - 20:00
Nature-harnessing technologies are key to effectively and sustainably restoring contaminated ecosystems, using naturally occurring microorganisms to clean up contamination from oil and other organic pollutants in soils, groundwater and water bodies. The bioremediation process both destroys contaminants and restores an ecosystem’s microbiome.
But every local ecosystem is unique when it comes to microbiological communities, so new and innovative approaches are required for each contaminated site.
Understanding the factors that determine the stability and resilience of contaminated ecosystems, and the critical role of that system’s natural microbial community, remains one of the frontiers of environmental science. Join Professor Andy Ball to explore how environmental microbiology can be scaled up for impactful and commercially successful applications to contaminated sites all over our highly industrialised world.
About the Speaker
Professor Andrew Ball is the Director of the ARC Training Centre for the Transformation of Australia’s Biosolids Resource at RMIT University. With deep expertise in environmental microbiology and biotechnology, Professor Ball was, until recently, the Director of the Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Remediation (EnSuRe) at RMIT.
Andy has headed the Environmental Biotechnology Group, now based at RMIT University (previously based at Essex University and Flinders University), since 1995. He has brought a wealth of research and teaching expertise to Victoria at an international level, particularly in the fields of bioremediation, organic waste treatment, and the environmental fate of organic pollutants. His contributions to his field and to the research community in Victoria were recognised this year with the award of the Royal Society of Victoria’s Medal for Excellence in Scientific Research in Category I: Biological Sciences.
Streamed online as part of the Inspiring Victoria initiative in 2021.
Tickets are available below to participate in the webinar via Zoom and/or Eventbrite. Alternatively, you can watch along via Facebook Live at the appointed time without buying a ticket.
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Queers in Science: on Neurodiversity
2022-01-27 18:30 - 20:00
Join Queers in Science, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, and the Royal Society of Victoria for an online lecture on Neurodiversity. This lecture is presented as part of the Midsumma Festival and Inspiring Victoria.

We recognise that the brain of every individual is unique, meaning not everyone learns or thinks the same way. To reduce the stigma around neurodivergence and mental illness, we will explore not only the science behind it, featuring queer neuroscientists with expertise, but also have a panel discussion with neurodivergent individuals sharing their day-to-day experience.

Speakers
Dr Emma Burrows
Dr Emma Burrows leads a laboratory of enthusiastic people at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. Her team train mice to play games on touch-screens to learn about how genetic mutations linked to autism can change a mouse’s ability to learn and pay attention. Emma hopes a greater understanding of brain differences will help to mitigate challenges faced by some people on the autism spectrum.

Kate Huckstep
Kate Huckstep (they/them) is a queer PhD student at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, where they are currently researching Alcohol Use Disorder. They are fascinated by happens in the brain when people experience alcohol addiction and are passionate about finding new potential treatments for this debilitating yet highly stigmatised disease. Kate is also an avid science communicator, hosting both a regular science comedy podcast (Curiosity Killed the Rat), and a science radio show (Radio Sci-Lens) on the University of Melbourne’s student radio station.

Liam Leyden
Liam Leyden is currently completing his PhD at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. He is interested in investigating mechanisms of learning and memory by using cutting-edge microscopy techniques.

Panellists

Dr Sophia Frentz
Sophia has a PhD in Genetics and a large number of opinions on the intersections between science, technology, and society. Sophia is currently a Data Consultant at Eliiza and is based in Melbourne, Australia. They received one of Out for Australia’s 30 under 30 Awards in 2020 and are now a Non-Executive Director for this organisation.

Dr Daphne Cohen
Dr Daphne Cohen is an emergency physician-in-training, currently working in clinical forensic medicine. She is a published poet, bioethicist, aspiring novelist, and all-round overachiever.

Planetarium Nights
2022-08-05 19:30 - 22:00, 2022-08-12 19:30 - 22:00, 2022-08-19 19:30 - 22:00, 2022-08-26 19:30 - 22:00 | Scienceworks, 2 Booker Street, Spotswood, VIC, 3015, Australia
Join Scienceworks’ popular Planetarium Nights programs to explore rare and rarely seen events such as a total solar eclipse, supernovae, and gravitational waves. Astronomers have a strange relationship with the idea of ‘rare’; something we seldom see on Earth may be commonplace at a universal scale. Museums Victoria astronomer Dr Tanya Hill has carefully curated a special selection of rare (or maybe not-so-rare) astronomical events for the show Ticket to the Universe. Or go on a poetic journey into the rarely detected phenomena of gravitational waves with the full-dome feature show Particle/Wave.

Science on Show
2022-08-13 11:00 - 14:00, 2022-08-21 11:00 - 14:00 | Melbourne Museum, 11 Nicholson Street, Carlton, VIC, 3053, Australia
Museums Victoria has more than 17 million collection objects, and we’re bringing out some of our rarest and most fascinating samples and specimens at Melbourne Museum for Science on Show. This event will feature curators and scientists delivering pop-up talks on their research, rare artefacts, and the stories behind them, and one of the rarest dinosaur fossils in the world – the most complete Triceratops skeleton ever unearthed, on display for your palaeontological pleasure.

Snap, CT Scan, Model, Predict!
2022-08-17 18:00 - 19:15 | Melbourne Museum, 11 Nicholson Street, Carlton, VIC, 3053, Australia
Learn what new technology can reveal about rare reptiles and frogs!
For a deep dive into some fascinating science, come to our National Science Week edition of MV Lectures to hear about how cutting-edge technology is helping to detect and study rare species. Hear from the scientists on a bold new research project combining the fields of palaeontology, macro-ecology, computed tomography (CT scanning), taxonomy and genetics. They will illustrate how museum-based work with large, data-rich collections and new non-invasive techniques can reveal more than ever before and built an interactive, online space for collection access.

RARE @ Parliament of Victoria
2022-08-21 15:00 - 16:30
Champions of conservation and biodiversity will gather at Parliament House for this vital Science Week discussion about the extinction crisis facing thousands of Australia’s native species, and what we can do about it.
Our State’s remarkable botanical and zoological collections are carefully managed by Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria and Zoos Victoria, while Museums Victoria maintains significant collections related to the natural history of our region and the wider world. These familiar institutions do more than offer an interesting place for Victorians to visit – they are also engines of research and field work, helping the State of Victoria to future-proof the unique plants and animals of our region against bushfires, floods, the ongoing impacts from our spreading towns and cities, our intensive farming practices, and our changing climate.
Our public science institutions all care for the rare – through the Seed Bank maintained at the National Herbarium, through activating the amazing network of community botanic gardens across metropolitan and regional Victoria, through the tissue and DNA samples cryogenically stored by Museums Victoria in a BioBank to safeguard the genetic diversity of threatened species, and through the captive breeding programs for species on the brink of extinction, diligently nurtured back to population health by biologists and ecologists at Zoos Victoria.
Join us for this RARE panel conversation, streamed live from Parliament House, to learn from the botanists, zoologists and collection managers leading this important work. Find out some of the ways they are planning to help our plants and animals adapt and persist through the multiple challenges in our immediate future.
Presented in partnership with the Royal Society of Victoria, the Parliament of Victoria, and the Victorian Parliamentarians for STEM for National Science Week 2022.
