Meetings programme
|
Schedule of upcoming meetings
|
|
The Society's meetings are open to Fellows, guests and members of the public.
Entry is free, but fellows and guests are reminded that if they wish to partake of refreshments before the meeting, there is a $4.00 charge to cover this. Meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month, March to November inclusive. Meeting commence at 6.30 pm and are preceded by wine and nibbles at 6.00 pm. An invited lecture is normally arranged for each meeting. For ordinary meetings, the reading of papers and the presentation of exhibits of scientific interest. These meetings are usually held in the Society's Rooms. Meetings are occasionally organised jointly with other kindred societies and may be held elsewhere. Occasional Symposia on topical issues are also organised by the Society. COVID 19 restrictions While social restrictions are in force, the Society is holding its meetings on line, currently using the Zoom application. To gain access to these meetings, please contact the Society through our email for the link to that particular meeting. |
Intended speaker list for this year .
July 2 - Cesca McInerney: NB date change. Dr. McInerney’s research focuses on reading isotopic signatures from the rock record to understand the influence of past climate changes on ancient ecosystems, particularly how plant communities and terrestrial biogeochemical cycles reacted to periods of global warming in the geologic past as a potential analogue to future climate change impacts. Specifically, she analyzes the stable isotopic composition of fossilized leaf waxes to reconstruct past climates and ecosystems. These leaf waxes are essentially molecular fossils that retain information for millions of years about the plants that made them and the environments they lived in. In order to interpret these ancient chemical signatures, Cesca also studies modern plants and soils as a means of calibrating the isotopic tools she applies to the geologic record. Aug 9th - Vera Weisbecker: Vera is studying the evolutionary story of today’s staggeringly diverse land vertebrates through the lens of developmental biology (“Evo-Devo”), meaning the search for developmental rules that shape vertebrate diversity. This research thrives on the huge diversity of mammals, all sorts of reptiles, and a swathe of weird and wonderful frogs that Australia has to offer. Sep 10th - Diego Garcia-Bellido: Diego’s main interest is the taxonomical diversity and functional morphology of the early metazoans generated during the so-called Cambrian "explosion" (some 540 million years ago), and the phylogenetic relationships among the major animal groups (phyla) that appeared with this unique event in the history of the biosphere. Oct 8th - Gunnar Keppel: Gunnar works in vegetation ecology, island biogeography and conservation biology, most recently focusing on drivers of diversity patterns, at the local scale (within meters) how environmental heterogeneity impacts microclimate and species distributions, regionally the role of refugia in facilitating the persistence of biodiversity and finally, the roles of climatic, biogeographic and topographic drivers in effecting patterns of biodiversity on large and global scales Nov 12 - Small research grants speakers Until the restrictions on gatherings is lifted, meeting will held on the Zoom platform. For the Zoom access and password for a meeting, contact us at roysocsa@gmail.com |