Dr Liz Truswell ‘One small tract of bushland in southwest WA and the fight for its preservation.’

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Thursday, 15 July 2021 - 12:30pm to 1:30pm

In this talk Liz will outline something of the flora she saw in region of Karri forest in 2018-2019, and describe the Augusta community’s ongoing attempts to preserve a tract of near-pristine bushland.

Abstract   The Southwest of Western Australia was declared a biodiversity hotspot in 2000.  It is a region with an exceptional concentration of endemic species but facing an ongoing loss of habitat. This hotspot - the Kwongan - stretches from Shark Bay in the north to Esperance in the southeast. Liz is currently most familiar with one very small part of it – the region of Karri Forest, on the south coast east of Cape Leeuwin, a botanically rich area threatened by a variety of human activities. However, the small community of Augusta is making a spirited attempt to conserve a tract of near-pristine bushland on its doorstep. In this talk Liz will outline something of the flora she saw during the late spring and early summers of 2018 and 2019, and describe the community’s ongoing attempts to preserve it.

Biography  Liz Truswell was born in Kalgoorlie but mostly grew up in Perth.  She is a geoscientist, a palynologist/palaeobotanist, holding a B.Sc from UWA and a PhD from Cambridge. During post-doctoral study in the USA she became involved with the early stages of the International Deep Sea Drilling Project, voyaging on the first cruise to drill a number of sea floor sites close to Antarctica. Returning to Australia she worked for what is now Geoscience Australia as a palaeontologist/environmental scientist before transferring to the ANU as a Visiting Fellow.  She has published papers on geological timescales, palaeoenvironments and aspects of the vegetation history of Australia and Antarctica. Her 2019 book deals with evidence for the early Antarctic icecap, the human history of early voyages in the Southern Ocean, and the nature and demise of the higher vegetation of Antarctica.  She was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 1985.

This talk will be held in the ANBG Theatrette.

Bookings are essential because of the COVID-19 guidelines related to the Thursday Talks and limited seating (tickets are free). Bookings will open on the Friday before the talk; they will close on the following Wednesday night or when seating limits are reached.

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- You have not been in a hotspot or prohibited area before attending Thursday Talks.
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Tickets are limited, please notify us if you are unable to come on 0437 298 711 or 0407 299 704.