Inspiring Victoria

Platypus and the Changing Environment - What's Needed to Help Populations Thrive in Future?
2021-04-01 10:00 - 11:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Online, Australia
What do platypus like to eat and where do they prefer to live? These fascinating and iconic animals feed only in water. In this presentation two scientists who have studied them from different perspectives, will bust myths about platypuses being fussy feeders who require pristine habitat.
Learn how we can all contribute to making our rivers a better place for platypus. Dr Richard Marchant (Senior Curator, Entomology, Museums Victoria) and Dr Melody Serena (Conservation Biologist, Australian Platypus Conservancy) will discuss the factors vital to maintain healthy platypus populations, based on over 30 years research in Victoria and NSW. Followed by discussion and questions from the audience.
Presented as part of Neighbourhood Houses Victoria’s Climate Change and Environment Program.
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The Anthropocene: Where on Earth are we Going?
2021-04-08 19:00 - 20:30 | Online, Australia
Human pressures on the planet as a whole – the ‘Earth System’ – have now become so great that scientists have proposed that we have left the Holocene, the 11,700-year geologic epoch that has been humanity’s accommodating home, and have entered a new geologic epoch, the Anthropocene. Originally proposed by atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen, the Anthropocene is characterised by extremely rapid changes to the climate system driven primarily by human emissions of greenhouse gases and growing degradation of the planet’s biosphere, driven by a range of direct and indirect human pressures.
Where is the Anthropocene headed? The current trajectory of the Earth System is a rapid exit from the Holocene, accelerating towards a much hotter climate system and a degraded, ill-functioning biosphere. Perhaps most concerning is a possible ‘fork in the road’ beyond which lies ‘Hothouse Earth’. The key element of this trajectory is a ‘tipping cascade’, in which a series of interlinked tipping points – the melting of polar ice, the conversion of forest biomes to grasslands or savannas, changes in ocean and atmospheric circulation – take control of the trajectory of the Earth System and move it to a much hotter, biodiversity-impoverished, but stable state.
To avoid this possible tipping cascade requires fundamental changes to human societies. These changes include not only advances in technologies but also more fundamental changes in societal structures and core values. In essence, we must become stewards of the Earth System, based on transformed societies that focus on systems approaches to economies, a greater level of equity within societies, and a focus on restoration of a well-functioning biosphere. All of these changes are possible, but they will only occur if we develop a life-centric approach to our existence rather than a human-centric approach. Indigenous Australians have developed rich traditions and might show us the way forward to a much more life-centric society.
About the Speaker

Professor Will Steffen is an Earth System scientist. He is a Councillor on the publicly-funded Climate Council of Australia that delivers independent expert information about climate change, an Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University (ANU); Canberra, a Senior Fellow at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Sweden; and a Fellow at the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Stockholm. He is the chair of the jury for the Volvo Environment Prize; a member of the International Advisory Board for the Centre for Collective Action Research, Gothenburg University, Sweden; and a member of the Anthropocene Working Group of the Sub-committee on Quaternary Stratigraphy.
Streamed online as part of the Inspiring Victoria initiative in 2021.
From 1998 to mid-2004, Professor Steffen was Executive Director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, based in Stockholm. His research interests span a broad range within climate and Earth System science, with an emphasis on incorporation of human processes in Earth System modelling and analysis; and on sustainability and climate change.
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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2021 Midsumma Lecture Series - Queers in Science
2021-04-21 18:30 - 19:30 | Melbourne Museum, 11 Nicholson Street, Carlton, VIC, 3053, Australia
As part of the Midsumma Festival, QueersInScience is presenting a two-part lecture series displaying the amazing work of queer scientists in Australia. This year’s Series is being held in partnership with Melbourne Museum and the Royal Society of Victoria, supported by the Inspiring Victoria program. LGBTQIA+ experts will present four talks on timely scientific topics across two events.
Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic
Wednesday 21 April, 6.30pm–7.30pm
Talk 1: “A Retirement Postponed by a Virus”
Professor Michael J Toole
Pronouns: he/him
Adjunct Professor, School of Public Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia
Talk 2: “Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic”
Professor Deborah Williamson
Pronouns: she/her
Doherty Institute / Royal Melbourne Hospital / Melbourne University, Melbourne, Australia
Director of Microbiology, Lab Head, Dame Kate Campbell Fellow
Lecture 2: Ecology now
Wednesday 5 May, 6.30pm–7.30pm
Talk 1: “Sex in a changing world”
Professor Bob Wong
Pronouns: he/him
Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Head, Behavioural Ecology Research Group
Talk 2: “Ancestral biology and designing a connection to your traditional ecological knowledge”
Guy Ritani
Pronouns: they/them
Creative Director of PermaQueer, Queensland, Australia
There is the choice between an in-person experience attending the lectures at Melbourne Museum and afterwards have the opportunity to mingle with the speakers and audience members over some nibbles and drinks, or alternatively to enjoy our lecture from the comfort of your home using our online streaming option.
Prices: Museums Victoria Member $8 | Adult $12 | Concession $10 | Online webinar $5
If you require financial assistance to attend this event please contact QueersInScience via email.
FIND OUT MORE AND BUY TICKETS AT MUSEUMSVICTORIA.COM.AU

STEM and Society: SealSpotters
2021-05-12 18:00 - 19:00
Dr Rebecca McIntosh
Mr Ross Holmberg
Join Dr Rebecca McIntosh and Ross Holmberg from the Phillip Island Nature Parks team as they prepare to launch the annual SealSpotter Challenge, when citizen scientists around the globe jump online to count Australian fur seals and contribute to vital conservation research.
The SealSpotter program allows anyone with a computer to help with the management and protection of our oceans by counting seals in images captured with a UAV drone. The count enables scientists to analyse seal population and marine debris entanglement data faster and more accurately, leading to a greater understanding of the fur seal’s world and the threats they face.
Last year citizen scientists participated from every continent on the planet – including Antarctica! By offering a taste of what scientists in the field see and experience, Rebecca and Ross and the team at Phillip Island Nature Parks have started a movement, bringing the wider community along with them to affect necessary behavioural change and achieve their conservation goals.
How many seals will you find?

Streaming online via Facebook Live and the Victorian Parliament’s website.

This special series of online presentations explores the science and stories behind the game-changing work undertaken by Victoria’s scientific community. Our leading experts will talk about the work they’re doing to engage the community and affect meaningful change in their field of study and in our everyday lives. Presented by the Victorian Parliament, with the Royal Society of Victoria and Victorian Parliamentarians for STEM. A part of the Inspiring Victoria program.
Images courtesy of Phillip Island Nature Parks.

Why the World Needs Ecologists
2021-05-13 19:00 - 20:30
We are drowning in bad news. Two pages into the (1000pg) United Nations Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and you’ll be pleading for Tolstoy. Even David Attenborough is depressing these days.
Ecosystems collapse and species loss is being documented across the planet, with profound existential ramifications. Habitat degradation and loss remains the key driver of biodiversity loss, but climate change and invasive species promise to compound the damages we have wrought.
To save you days of morbid reading, Professor Brendan Wintle will provide a short and cheerful summary of the global extinction crisis, including Australia’s prominent and expanding role in species’ extirpation.
“To live without hope is to cease to live” (Dostoyevsky). So Brendan will celebrate the hopeful and crucial role that ecologists can play (and are playing) in co-designing and implementing solutions to the extinction crisis in partnership with private land conservation organisations, Indigenous land managers, developers, and governments. Science, civil society, business and policy makers can work constructively to bring the transformative change needed to ‘bend the curve’.
Brendan will give positive examples of some great collaborations that seek to keep our unique species, ecosystems and cultures intact, and will finish with a suite of practical measures that society and individuals can pursue to bring benefits to nature and people.
About the Speaker

Professor Brendan Wintle is the Director of the Threatened Species Recovery Hub, based at the University of Melbourne. He specializes in modelling and dealing with uncertainty in environmental decisions, and measuring cost-effectiveness of conservation programs.
He has served on Forest Stewardship Council reference committees, and various Commonwealth and State science advisory bodies including the Regional Sustainability Planning Advisory Committee, the Monitoring and Evaluation (MERI) advisory group, and the ‘Save the Tasmanian Devil’ Science Advisory Group.
Brendan completed a Forestry Degree in 1994 before working as a senior forest policy officer in the Queensland State Government. He completed his PhD in 2004 entitled “Characterizing and dealing with uncertainty in species distribution models” at the University of Melbourne. He won an Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship to work on the design of wildlife monitoring programs before taking up a position with the University of Melbourne’s School of Botany as a lecturer in Conservation Ecology.
He holds an ARC Future Fellowship: “Climate adaptation strategies for conserving biodiversity in rapidly changing landscapes”.
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. Presented with the support of the Inspiring Victoria program.
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Next-Gen Spatial Tech for Forest Management
2021-05-20 18:00 - 19:30
New spatial technologies – like remote sensing, global positioning systems, ground based sensors, monitoring and other ICT interventions – are set to revolutionise our understanding of our forests and improve our capacity to manage and sustain them. Join three proponents of these powerful new systems for environmental monitoring to learn more about their potential applications for the management of water resources, forest growth rates and bushfire risks, enabling our forest estates to adapt and persist through rapidly changing conditions.
Keynote:
The Democratisation of Remote Sensing
Professor Nicholas Coops
Canada Research Chair in Remote Sensing
Head pro tem, Department of Forest Resources Management, University of British Columbia
It’s hard to remember a time when we couldn’t experience our world through images produced by satellites and airplanes. These remote images have allowed us to see things as never before, to gain insight and shift perspective.
The technology has exploded in the past five years – it’s everywhere, with vast amounts of forestry data generated every day. Remote sensing – collecting imagery of the Earth’s surface – is cheaper and easier than ever before, and is revolutionizing the way we measure and monitor our forests. We can now see everything from a single leaf to the entire planet.
Professor Nicholas Coops is a researcher investigating innovative ways to use these technologies to help understand the process occurring within out forests and developing tools and methods to manage them sustainably. He is the most recent co-recipient of the Wallenberg Prize (the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for Forest Science) for his work on the 3-PG model; the other two co-recipients were Australian Dr Joe Landsberg and American Dr Richard Waring. This groundbreaking work in developing forest growth models is based on tree ecophysiology, further developed for large area application using geospatial forest analysis and remote sensing techniques. Nicholas completed his PhD at RMIT University.
Presentation:
New, Precise Positioning Technologies for CM Accuracy and Near Real Time Geostationary Satellite Monitoring of Bushfires
Professor Allison Kealy
Acting Chief Research Officer & Research Program Director
Advanced Satellite Systems, Sensors and Intelligence, SmartSat CRC
Professor, Geospatial Science, RMIT University
Allison’s presentation will cover three new technologies: first, the dedicated new Space Based Augmentation System (SBAS) that Australia is in the process of acquiring and its role in improving positioning accuracies to within 3- 5 cm; second, the operational introduction of Japan’s Himawari-8 geostationary remote sensing satellite in detecting and monitoring bushfires; and third, the AquaWatch IoT satellite sensor system for monitoring water usage.
Professor Allison Kealy is President and Fellow of the International Association of Geodesy, Commission 4 (Positioning and Applications) and co-chair of the International Federation of Surveying (FIG) Working Group 5.5 on Multi-Sensor Systems. Allison is a technical representative to the Institute of Navigation (US) and is the 2017 recipient of the US Institute of Navigation, Captain PVH Weems award for sustained contributions to advancing the art and science of navigation, and promoting and expanding the use of PNT among worldwide science and engineering communities. She is the most recent recipient of the Professional Eminence Award, Asia Pacific from the Spatial Industries Business Association – Geospatial Information and Technology Association (for Australia and New Zealand).
Presentation:
Situational Awareness for a Rapid Response: Enabling Early Detection of Natural Disasters Through Intelligent, Integrated Sensor Networks
Mr Rob Gell AM
Director, Attentis Pty Ltd
Director, ReThink Sustainability Pty Ltd
President, The Royal Society of Victoria
Among many roles, Rob is a Director of Attentis. This Australian company designs and manufactures intelligent multi-sensors that incorporate fire, flood and air composition detection with micro-climate weather, noise, vibration, ground movement and specialised sensing to deliver early notification of fire ignition, floods and airborne pathogens. Deployed across a regional network, these provide instant first responder notification, detailing the type of threat, location, images and live conditions to enable rapid investigation and the most effective deployment of resources, including aerial response and ground crews.
Rob’s expertise is as a geographer and a coastal geomorphologist, specialising in the environmental processes that continually shape our coastlines. Today he works as an environmental and communications consultant. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and an Inaugural Fellow of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand.
Chair:

Dr Peter Woodgate
Chair, SmartSat CRC
Our MC for the evening will be Dr Peter Woodgate, Chair of the SmartSat CRC, Chair of the Steering Committee for the 2030 Space and Spatial Industry Growth Roadmap, which is building a growth roadmap for both industries, and a member of the Australian Space Agency’s Space Industry Leaders Forum. Peter is also Chair of the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network. Peter served as CEO of the Australia and New Zealand Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRCSI) from June 2003 to December 2017 and has held senior positions with the Victorian Government and RMIT University.

Presented as a partnership between the Institute of Foresters of Australia, the Royal Society of Victoria and the Inspiring Victoria initiative.
Tickets are available below to participate in the webinar via Zoom and/or Eventbrite. RSV and IFA 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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Location, Location, Location: Immune Protection by Tissue-Resident T-Cells
2021-05-27 19:00 - 20:30 | Online, Australia
T cells are specialised immune cells that are central to the complex, adaptive immune response to infection and disease. T cells are “trained” to recognise specific fragments or components of viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens (e.g. a component of the influenza virus or tuberculosis bacterium).
During an infection, those T cells that recognise the infectious agent will be activated to respond – either killing infected cells or coordinating the attack. Following infection, a pool of memory T cells remains in the body to provide better and faster responses upon re-encountering the same pathogen because they are already trained to recognise it. Some memory T cells permanently reside in the site of infection where they are poised to mediate local immune responses should the pathogen come back. They are hence regarded as “tissue-resident memory T cells” and reside in tissues that are common sites of infection, including the skin, intestine and liver, where they elicit site-specific responses.
Join Professor Laura Mackay from the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, whose work has been instrumental in the discovery of these cells and their role, to learn about recent advances in understanding the biological functions of these cells and their critical role in providing protection against infection and cancer. Laura’s work offers new insights to treatment and opportunities for the development of novel immunotherapies.

About the Speaker
Professor Laura Mackay holds appointments at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity at the University of Melbourne and A*STAR in Singapore. She is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and Bill & Melinda Gates International Scholar, a University of Melbourne Dame Kate Campbell Fellow, a Sylvia & Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation Senior Medical Research Fellow, and an NHMRC Leadership Investigator. She is also the current President of The Federation of Immunological Societies of Asia-Oceania (FIMSA).
She is the recipient of Awards including The 2019 Prime Minister’s Prize for The Frank Fenner Life Scientist of the Year, The Gottschalk Medal (Australian Academy of Science), The Eureka Prize for Outstanding Early Career Researcher, The Woodward Medal in Science and Technology, The Michelson Prize for Human Immunology and The Victorian Young Tall Poppy Award.
For a number of years, Laura has been at the forefront of research on immunological memory, and how memory T cells protect the body against disease. Her work was instrumental in the discovery that a subset of immune cells called tissue-resident memory T cells are critical for the control of infection and cancer. The current focus of her Laboratory is on the molecular signals that govern tissue-resident memory T cell differentiation, with a view to harness these cells for the development of new immunotherapeutic strategies against disease.
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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Liveable Cities for All: Are We There Yet?
2021-06-10 19:00 - 20:30
For many years, Melbourne has dined out on being recognised by The Economist as “the most liveable city in the world;” and is now second to Vienna. While this global recognition is a source of great pride and an excellent marketing tool – is this measure of “liveable” fit for purpose, when considering the residents of Melbourne?
Drawing on almost a decade of research, Professor Billie Giles-Corti will consider:

What is a liveable city?
How are we measuring liveability?
Are we creating liveable cities in Australia for all?
If not, why not?

And perhaps most importantly, why our definition of and support for “liveability” is important if we are concerned about creating cities that facilitate healthy and sustainable lifestyles that support both individual and planetary health.
About the Speaker
Professor Billie Giles-Corti is a Distinguished Professor at RMIT University and Director of the Healthy Liveable Cities Research Group.

She is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Senior Principal Research Fellow and directs the Centre for Urban Research’s Healthy Liveable Cities Research Group at RMIT’s Centre for Urban Research. Prior to joining RMIT in 2017, she was a Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor at the University of Melbourne and Director of the McCaughey VicHealth Community Wellbeing Unit.
For over two decades, Billie and a multi-disciplinary research team have been studying the impact of the built environment on health and wellbeing. She currently leads an NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Healthy Liveable Communities established in 2014; which works closely with local, national and global policy-makers and practitioners. She is a Chief Investigator on the Australian Prevention Partnership Centre, responsible for working with sectors outside of health; and leads a National Liveability Study funded by TAPPC. She is also the Liveability Lead for The Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub, which is supported through funding from the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Programme and her team is currently mapping policy-relevant urban liveability indicators across all Australian capital cities.
Streamed online as part of the Inspiring Victoria initiative in 2021.
She has published over 300 articles, book chapters and reports, and by citations, is ranked in the top 1% of researchers in her field globally. She is an Honorary Fellow of both the Planning Institute of Australia and the Public Health Association, a Fulbright Scholar and in 2016, was awarded an NHMRC Elizabeth Blackburn Fellowship as the top ranked female fellow in public health in 2015. She is a member of the Victorian Office of the Government Architect Design Review Panel; and from 2003-2016 was a member of the Heart Foundation’s National Physical Activity Committee (Chair 2007-2009).
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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STEM and Society: The Anthropocene
2021-06-16 18:00 - 19:00
Human pressures on the planet as a whole – the ‘Earth System’ – have now become so great that scientists have proposed that we have now left the Holocene, the geologic epoch that has been humanity’s accommodating home for the last 11,700 years. It’s proposed we’ve entered a new geologic epoch, the Anthropocene, characterised by extremely rapid changes to the climate system and the biosphere, driven primarily by a range of direct and indirect human pressures.
Professor Will Steffen
Professor Brendan Wintle
To understand what these changes mean for nature, ecosystems, and the future of humanity, and what we can do about it, join Professor Will Steffen, an Earth System scientist and researcher at the Australian National University, and Professor Brendan Wintle, Director of the Threatened Species Recovery Hub based at the University of Melbourne.
Professor Steffen’s research focuses on the incorporation of human processes in Earth System modelling and analysis; and on sustainability and climate change. Professor Wintle specialises in decision support for threatened species conservation, ecological modelling and monitoring, and measuring the cost-effectiveness of conservation programs.
Will and Brendan will describe how we must become stewards of the Earth System to secure our prosperity and conserve our natural and cultural heritage, based on transformed societies, with a greater level of equity and a focus on the maintenance of a well-functioning biosphere.

Streaming online via Facebook Live and the Victorian Parliament’s website.

This special series of online presentations explores the science and stories behind the game-changing work undertaken by Victoria’s scientific community. Our leading experts will talk about the work they’re doing to engage the community and affect meaningful change in their field of study and in our everyday lives. Presented by the Victorian Parliament, with the Royal Society of Victoria and Victorian Parliamentarians for STEM. A part of the Inspiring Victoria program.

Coastal Resilience: How Landforms Cope with Changing Waves and Rising Seas
2021-06-24 18:30 - 20:00 | Royal Society of Victoria, 8 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, Vic, 3000, Australia
The 2021 Howitt Lecture
Presented in partnership with the Geological Society of Australia (Victoria Division).
Our coast is a dynamic system. As the protective boundary between the land and sea it absorbs the constant energy it receives from waves and tides and in doing so creates the landforms on which people recreate and build. The forms we see on the coast today are the result of each interaction waves have with the seabed, averaged over timescales of centuries to millennia.
To predict how the coast will look in a future dominated by climate change it is critical to understand the unique local conditions that have combined to give us the forms we see today. This talk will explore how some of Victoria’s iconic coasts have developed, from 90-mile Beach to Western Port and the 12 Apostles, and what their future may hold. There are no easy solutions, however by acknowledging the natural processes and especially sediment dynamics that shape the coast, we can plan a way forward.
About the Speaker:
Associate Professor David Kennedy is a coastal geomorphologist who specialises on the impacts of climate change, storms, tsunami and sea level rise on coastal landforms, particularly coral reefs and islands, rocky shorelines (cliffs and shore platforms) and estuaries. Surveying using total stations and remote sensing (eg. LiDAR) technologies are central to his research, which is combined with sedimentological and geochronological methodologies as well as real time measurement of wave and tidal processes.
Streamed online as part of the Inspiring Victoria initiative in 2021.
David’s research is based in the Pacific Islands and Australasia as well as in the Caribbean. He currently holds several elected positions chairing research working groups for the International Association of Geomorphologists and the International Quaternary Association. He co-leads the Victorian Coastal Monitoring Project, a multi-agency group commissioning citizen scientists to produce 3D models that precisely measure shoreline change, which was the recipient of the 2020 Eureka Prize for Innovation in Citizen Science. He is the Director of the University of Melbourne’s Office for Environmental Programs.
Tickets are available below to participate in the webinar via Zoom and/or Eventbrite: scroll down in the ticket window to see all ticket types, as you can also purchase an “add on” ticket to attend the lecture in person. Should COVID restrictions prevent us from proceeding, we will cheerfully refund your ticket and provide you with a link to join us via webinar instead. Alternatively, you can simply watch along via Facebook Live at the appointed time without buying a ticket.
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Decarbonising Energy: At the Tipping Point
2021-07-08 18:30 - 20:00 | Online, Australia
Australia installed more renewable generation in the last three years than in the thirty years prior. It seems that every week a new renewable energy record is smashed. Yet despite this, Australia has the highest per-capita greenhouse emissions of any advanced economy, we’re on track to miss our Paris Agreement commitments and we’re nowhere near achieving net zero.
How did we get here, and how can we turn it around?
About the Speaker
Simon Holmes à Court is one of Australia’s leading energy commentators and analysts. Based at the University of Melbourne, he is a senior adviser to the Climate and Energy College at the Energy Transition Hub and has developed the openNEM, an Open Platform for National Electricity Market Data.
Streamed online as part of the Inspiring Victoria initiative in 2021.
He has been a pioneering force in the Australian community power movement, both as the founding chair of Hepburn Wind, the country’s first community-owned wind farm, and founder of Embark Australia, a non-profit coalition helping communities share in the benefits of local renewable energy.
A joint presentation with the Victorian Chapter of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering.
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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STEM and Society: A Hard-Won Theory - Tectonic Plates in Victoria
2021-07-14 18:00 - 19:00 | Online, Australia
Dr William Birch AM
A/Professor Sandra McLaren
In a ‘post-truth’ society, fuelled by soundbites and status updates, opinions and personal theories are often presented with unwavering certainty but remain untested.
In this climate, it can be confusing when we hear from scientists reluctant to deal in absolutes, who instead engage in conversations about ‘degrees of certainty’. In the world of science, a ‘theory’ is the closest something may ever come to being ‘the truth’.
To understand what modern scientists can go through to arrive at an accepted theory, we’re taking a look at one of the major revelations of the past century: the theory of tectonic plates.
This theory describes how the enormous fragments of our planet’s shell move against, over and under one another at their boundaries to slowly change the shape and location of our continents and oceans.
Professor Andy Gleadow
Professor Peter Betts
In this special online discussion, you’ll meet four eminent Victorian geologists who, not so long ago, started out as university students to find themselves amid a global battle of contesting ideas. Hear about their experience as a fiercely held status-quo gave way to a hard-won new theory within the international scientific community.
Mr Jerome Holleman
Our panel of experts will be joined by teacher Jerome Holleman and his students from Northcote High School, who have been taking part in the Big History learning program that aims to connect knowledge across disciplines and challenge students to embrace science, think critically, solve problems and drive innovation.

Streaming online via Facebook Live and the Victorian Parliament’s website.

This special series of online presentations explores the science and stories behind the game-changing work undertaken by Victoria’s scientific community. Our leading experts will talk about the work they’re doing to engage the community and affect meaningful change in their field of study and in our everyday lives. Presented by the Victorian Parliament, with the Royal Society of Victoria and Victorian Parliamentarians for STEM. A part of the Inspiring Victoria program.

Indigenous Food and Agriculture
2021-08-13 18:30 - 19:45 | Online, Australia
Join us for a special webinar on Indigenous agriculture, where we’ll yarn about native foods and Indigenous farmers — everything from practising agriculture as a traditional custodian, growing bush foods and making sure they’re safe to eat, preparing amazing meals and getting Australian native foods to market!
About the Speakers
Uncle Dave Wandin is a member of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Aboriginal Corporation and chairperson on the board for the Wandoon Estate Aboriginal Corporation, which represents the Wurundjeri people, the Aboriginal owners of the historical property “Coranderrk” in the Yarra Valley. Coranderrk was set up as an Aboriginal Reserve in 1863 and was led by William Barak (who Wandin is a descendant of). The community had to fight hard to keep their land and community thriving, but in 1924 the property was forced to close, and in 1999, the Indigenous Land Corporation purchased 80 hectares of the property and gave ownership to the Wandoon Estate (Barak’s descendants). Coranderrk now operates as a farm for native bush foods and is set to open up as a training space and commercial kitchen.
Luke Williams is a proud Gumbaynggirr descendent who grew up in rural NSW. Luke is currently completing his PhD in the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences at RMIT University. In collaboration with the national food regulatory body, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), and working alongside Aboriginal businesses and organisations, his research provides insight into how newly formed regulatory frameworks for assessing the dietary safety of traditional food items can better consider the unique history, knowledge and culture held by First Nations people.
Kerrie Saunders is a Kamillaroi/Gomeroi woman from the northwest of NSW. What started out as a hobby for gardening and bush walks has turned into a passion for highlighting bush tucker in the local and surrounding areas of Moree. Kerrie now conducts regular bush tucker tours through her business, Yinarr-ma, where she identifies bush tucker and cooks yummy meals for guests.
Kerrie also works with the University of Sydney on the Indigenous Grasslands for Grain project in Narrabri, making flour and bread with native grains.
@gilbertjoshuam
Joshua Gilbert is a Worimi man, farmer and academic, who shares the narration of Indigenous identity through agricultural truths in light of modern contexts.
He is undertaking higher degree research at Charles Sturt University, is the Indigenous Co-Chair of Reconciliation NSW and was recently recognised within the world’s top 50 young gastronomers.

@karlie_moon_
A joint presentation by the ACT National Science Week Coordinating Committee and the Royal Society of Victoria.
Our MC: Gamilaraay astrophysicist Karlie Noon is passionate about Indigenous astronomical knowledge and was the first Indigenous woman to obtain a double degree in science and mathematics. Karlie recently commenced a PhD in astronomy at the Australian National University and is Sydney Observatory’s first Astronomy Ambassador.

Registration is 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 needing to register.
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Climate Notes @ Royal Botanical Gardens Victoria
2021-08-14 14:00 - 15:10 | Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Birdwood Avenue, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
Climate Notes by Anna McMichael and Louise Devenish is a multimedia installation that invites us to explore and communicate how we feel about climate change through music, letter writing and video. The work builds on collections of handwritten letters by leading science researchers from all over the world, as well as archives from the State Botanical Collection of Victoria.
This emotive exhibition features five new musical works by Australian composers exploring the emotional impacts of climate change and propels us to consider what it feels like to live through a time when climate change affects every aspect of our lives.
Visit the interactive video installation during National Science Week, contribute your own letter about climate change, or attend a live performance of the new compositions featuring highly acclaimed violinist Anna McMichael and contemporary percussionist Louise Devenish.
Installation:
Sat 14 – Sun 22 Aug
10am – 4pm
Free
Performances:
Sat 14 and Sun 15 Aug
2pm (approx. 70mins)
$10 per person

Eco-Dyeing 101 Workshop
2021-08-15 10:00 - 14:00 | 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 | 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 | 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.
