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Dr Peter Schalk ‘Biodiversity Science in the Future. Creating Order in the Acronym Soup of Organisations’ |
Thursday, 5 March 2020 - 12:30pm |
Peter is Deputy Director, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, The Netherlands and the Executive Secretary of Species 2000. He will discuss the Catalogue of Life, the world's most comprehensive and authoritative index of known animals, plants, fungi and micro-organisms, created in 2001 as a partnership between the global Species 2000 and the American Integrated Taxonomic Information System. This global index of species names and synonyms, now counting 1.9 million valid species, will further science and promote sensible measures in the context of climate change and biodiversity loss.
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Dr Rosemary Purdie ‘Simpson Desert Revisited – More Than Plants!' |
Thursday, 12 March 2020 - 12:30pm |
In July 2019 Rosemary, a plant ecologist, spent two weeks botanising on a camel-supported walk in Munga-Thirri National Park in the eastern Simpson Desert. She will talk about the landforms and associated plants and animals seen during the dry conditions, cultural artefacts in the area traversed, and what happens when you “just add water”.
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Dr Linda Broadhurst ‘Connecting Indigenous and Scientific Plant Names |
Thursday, 19 March 2020 - 12:30pm |
Linda, from CSIRO, will discuss a proposal to co-develop processes and practices with Indigenous communities to connect Indigenous and scientific plant names to improve the conservation and management of our Australian flora. The current approach to naming plants does not recognize Indigenous plant names and concepts, and fails to acknowledge the deep understanding of our biodiversity held by Indigenous Australians.
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Professor Adrian Gibbs ‘The History of the Potato and its Viruses’ |
Thursday, 26 March 2020 - 12:30pm |
Adrian is a virologist. Potatoes were part of the trans-Atlantic ‘Columbian Exchange’ of the 16-17th centuries. The details of the origin of the European potato have provided lively debates, however ‘molecular palaeontology’ is now sorting out possibilities, not only for the potato, but also its pathogens, especially potato virus Y. Adrian will discuss the latest findings.
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Dr Si-Chong Chen ‘Latitudinal Gradients in Seed Predation, Seed Defence and Seed Dispersal’ |
Thursday, 2 April 2020 - 12:30pm |
Si-Chong is an ecologist working on the macroecological patterns in seed ecology at the Millennium Seed Bank, Royal Botanic Gardens, Key, United Kingdom. Dr Chen’s research tests the hypothesis that seed predation and seed defence are more intense at lower latitudes, finding that both pre-dispersal seed defences and predation are more significant in more tropical climates at higher latitudes than previously expected.
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Dr Francisco Sánchez-Bayo ‘The Decline of the Entomofauna and its Drivers’ |
Thursday, 9 April 2020 - 12:30pm |
Francisco, from the Department of Environment and Energy, Canberra, works on the environmental impact and risk of chemical contaminant and ecology. He will discuss the serious and dramatic rates of decline worldwide in the biodiversity of insects. The main drivers are: habitat loss; pollution; biological factors; and climate change.
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Dr Anna Howe ‘Planting Democracy: Plantings, Places and People in the Parliamentary Triangle’ |
Thursday, 16 April 2020 - 12:30pm |
Anna, an urban geographer, has discovered on her many walks around the Parliamentary Triangle, how those who created this landscape have expressed our democracy and changing national identity. Now facing increasing and diverse demands, how will this centre of the nation continue to evolve?
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Dr Chris Cargill ‘The 3 R’s: Riccia, Riella and Research’ |
Thursday, 23 April 2020 - 12:30pm |
Chris, Curator of the Cryptogam Collections at the Australian National Herbarium, will talk about her latest research on the fascinating and beautiful thalloid liverwort Riccia. Chris will also discuss her collaborative projects with colleagues from Victoria to Valencia on the enigmatic, aquatic liverwort Riella and the halophytic Monocarpus sphaerocarpus.
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30 April, 12.30 pm David Taylor and Kevin Collins ‘The New Banksia Garden at the ANBG’ |
Thursday, 30 April 2020 - 12:30pm |
David Taylor, Curator of Living Collections, ANBG, and Kevin Collins, Banksia specialist from Western Australia, will talk about the new Banksia Garden at the ANBG. They will take you through some of the challenges, thinking, planning and collaboration that has gone into bringing this garden to reality and why all the efforts are worthwhile.
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Dr Haylee Weaver ‘Parasites of Australian Animals: Unseen Biodiversity’ |
Thursday, 7 May 2020 - 12:30pm |
Haylee, from the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, will talk on the fascinating biodiversity of parasites inhabiting some of Australia’s iconic (and lesser known) animals. The parasites of Australia are a vastly overlooked component of ecosystems, and our understanding of how they contribute to ecosystem function is still being investigated.
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