Anthony Whalen ‘CSIRO has a new building – what will this mean for Australia’s national biodiversity collections?’

Anthony, Director of the National Research Collections Australia CSIRO, will outline the careful planning for CSIRO and ANBG’s precious national collections of preserved plants, vertebrate and invertebrate animals and other organisms, and how new laboratories and technologies will contribute to new ways to biodiversity research.

Abstract
CSIRO is home to national collections made up of preserved plants, reptiles, birds, amphibians, fish, algae, tree seed, insects, and many other organisms. CSIRO’s botanical collections are a shared responsibility with the Australian National Botanic Gardens. In 2024, CSIRO completed construction of a new state-of-the-art building to accommodate many of these collections as part of a new collection’s precinct. This presentation will outline the careful planning that went into accommodating these precious national resources, what new laboratories and technologies have been included, and how these will contribute in new ways towards biodiversity research.

Biography 
In late 2023 Anthony became the Director of the National Research Collections Australia, with responsibility for managing CSIRO’s preserved biodiversity collections and research programs. Anthony is also Director of the Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research, which is a joint partnership between Parks Australia and CSIRO, centred around the Australian National Herbarium.
Anthony’s early career provided a background in biology, environmental science and as a working botanist in Sydney and Canberra. Since 2005, his work has been focused on developing and managing Australian Government policies, programs and data systems relating to Landcare, taxonomy, conservation, and policies relating to wildlife trade and heritage. He has also managed the Australian Biological Resources Study and was Acting Executive Director of the Australian National Botanic Gardens in 2022-23.

Booking Link: https://www.trybooking.com/CTFWP

Booking
Lunchtime talks are held at 12.30 pm every Thursday from February to November. Talks last for 1 hour. We welcome donations by gold coins, notes, or electronically. The Friends use donations received at each talk to support Gardens’ programs and development and we thank all those who have donated. 

Unless otherwise indicated, talks are held in the ANBG Theatrette.

It is a good idea to reserve a seat at the talks that you wish to attend; talks may be booked out very quickly.  Bookings can be made from about 30 days in advance until the night before the talk or until seating limits are reached. 

Booking Link: https://www.trybooking.com/CTFWP

The Friends of the ANBG thank the speakers who volunteer their time and talents to further the knowledge of all attending events in the Gardens. Many summaries or PowerPoint presentations of Thursday talks are available to Friends at the ANBG library. Please direct queries about the talks to the Thursday Talks Team: email talks@friendsanbg.org.au.