Meetings and Events

MEETINGS PROGRAMME

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 may also occur.

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.

Members will receive further details about meetings as each scheduled date approaches. These details will also be posted on our Humanitix events page as they become available.

RSSA Meeting Calendar 2025

January		Summer break
February		Summer break
March	13^th	RSSA Rooms
April	10^th	RSSA Rooms
May	8^th	RSSA Rooms
June	12^th	RSSA Rooms
July	10^th	RSSA Rooms
August	14^th	RSSA Rooms
September	tbc	Ralph Tate Memorial Lecture, University of Adelaide
September	11^th	RSSA Rooms
October	9^th	RSSA Rooms
November	13^th	AGM, RSSA Rooms
December		Summer break

PAST EVENTS

Past Event

Royal Society of SA AGM and Grant Recipient Presentations

As mentioned in previous emails, our last meeting for the year (to be held on Thursday the 14^th of November) will include our Annual General Meeting and a series of short presentations from the RSSA Small Grant Scheme 2023 recipients.

We would love to have you join us for the night to finalise the year for the RSSA and celebrate the work of Early-Career Researchers. Six grant recipients will be updating us on their progress, the details of their talks are below.

The meeting will begin at 6:00 pm in the Royal Society rooms and online, but we will simultaneously live-stream the meeting via Zoom for those not able to attend on the night.

To attend either in person, or online, please register (at no cost) for the event here: Tickets. The zoom link will be sent to you on registration. Please feel free to share this event with your institution or networks.

Ellen Martin (University of Adelaide)

Effects of locomotion on the skeletons of quadrupedal marsupials (quolls, bandicoots and bilbies)

An organism’s morphology (the size and shape of its body parts) typically evolves such that it has a form adapted to performing specific biological functions. In terms of locomotion, many of these functional adaptations manifest in the structure of the limbs; for example, the limbs of specialised runners tend to be long and light, whereas burrowing animals exhibit short, sturdy limbs. It is common for these related suites of adaptations to evolve in tandem, resulting in evolutionary ‘modules’ that are capable of changing relatively independently of the rest of the body. By measuring skeletal material from Australian museum collections, I aim to evaluate how differences in locomotor function and life history affect the coordinated evolution of limb bone adaptations in marsupials.

Kim Michael (Flinders University)

Short-term livestock grazing exclusion has no site-scale impact on an endangered lizard

Grasslands are among the most utilised habitat types for livestock production and the least protected ecosystems globally. Livestock grazing alters the abiotic and biotic features of a landscape and influences vegetation structure. In turn, these vegetation structural changes can adversely impact native animals that use these habitats, including reptiles. The endangered pygmy bluetongue lizard (Tiliqua adelaidensis) exclusively inhabits livestock grazed grasslands in South Australia. Using a Before/After Control/Impact design, we investigated the effects of short-term grazing exclusion on vegetation structure and lizard abundance across two sites with natural vegetation and climate variation. We found vegetation structure differed between the two sites in “before” and “after” data but did not detect any effect of grazing treatment. We detected a negative association of lizards with tussocks in “before” data and a negative association with bare ground in the “after” data at the more arid site, although there was no significant overall grazing exclusion effect on lizard abundance at either site. Our survey techniques at a site-scale may not have captured microhabitat-scale changes that could have influenced pygmy bluetongues responses. Adaptive management by landowners may include extending the rest period between planned grazes and this study indicates short-term and small spatial scale grazing exclusion will have non-significant effects on pygmy bluetongues. Sheep grazing management is an important component of pygmy bluetongue conservation and we recommend further research to incorporate multiple spatial scales over a longer time prior to applying landscape management actions.

Mollie-Rosae Slater-Baker (University of Adelaide)

The biodiversity and systematics of Australian mummy wasps

Braconidae is a highly diverse family of parasitoid wasps found worldwide. As parasitoids, these wasps require a host to complete their lifecycle. Often, this involves the larvae of the wasps feeding on a host insect while it is still alive! Though somewhat gruesome, this lifecycle means that many braconid wasps play important roles in regulating native insect populations, and they are also widely used for biological control of various insect pests in agriculture. My PhD research focuses on the subfamily Rogadinae, a diverse yet under-studied group of braconid wasps in Australia. Known as “mummy wasps”, these wasps have a unique biology in which they ‘mummify’ their caterpillar hosts. My project explores the diversity of these wasps using modern taxonomic and systematics methods, and provides important foundational information including identification resources, species descriptions, and distribution information. The creation of a DNA barcode reference library is a powerful and efficient way to increase the visibility of rogadine wasps in other research areas and provide a foundation for targeted taxonomic work towards better understanding the diversity of subfamily. My talk will present initial results of the DNA barcoding portion of my project, as well as future outlook for the project.

Phoebe McInerney (Flinders University)

Unique inner ear morphology in a lineage of extinct, giant birds, the Dromornithidae

Until around 45 to 50 thousand years ago, Australia was host to an unusual family of birds, the Dromornithidae. This family is represented by several giant and flightless species, characterised by their unusual skull morphology and especially robust hind-limbs. Recent research has revealed that the Dromornithidae possess several distinctive morphological adaptations for their ecological niche and are closely related to an ancient lineage of waterfowl which persists today in South America. However, many aspects of their sensory systems remain unknown. This includes their inner ears which have implications for hearing and locomotion. Funding from the RSSA supported the acquisition of uCT data from a range of taxa, allowing for non-destructive assessment of inner ear shape. Statistical tests revealed species of dromornithid to have unusual inner ear morphologies, but how this impacts inferences on their sense capabilities and interaction with the environment is more challenging to determine.

Tamika Nash-Hahn (University of Adelaide)

Same-same or different? Exploring growth rate disparities between the sexes in Australian snakes

Sexual dimorphism, characterised by physical differences between males and females, is commonly observed in snakes, often manifesting in variations in body size, head, and tail dimensions. Previous studies on Morelia spilota (carpet pythons) suggest that prey availability during juvenility influences long-term growth, but the relative impacts of environmental conditions versus sex on growth remain unclear. This study aimed to determine whether size differences during juvenility could be used as a non-invasive sexing method.

We reared 10 captive Morelia spilota from hatching to over two years, monitoring their length, mass, head, and tail growth while tracking their food intake. Contrary to expectations, our captive-bred snakes did not exhibit sexual dimorphism, which contrasts with the pronounced sexual dimorphism observed in wild populations. This finding suggests that the sexual dimorphism observed in the wild is likely driven by natural selection rather than inherent differences between the sexes.

Although our results did not support the potential for using growth patterns as a non-invasive sexing method, they provide insight into how environmental factors may obscure or influence sexual dimorphism. This research highlights the role of natural selection in shaping sexual dimorphism and suggests that comparing sexual dimorphism could serve moreso as an indicator of population health rather than a method for sex determination.

Tanapan Sukee (University of Melbourne)

Taxonomic studies of Macropoxyurids, a pinworm parasite of macropods from the South Australian Museum collection

Kangaroos and wallabies are hosts to one of most diverse range of gastrointestinal parasitic nematodes. Besides from exhibiting a high degree of molecular and morphological variation, these nematodes occur in complex communities within the hosts, which has attracted significant effort towards understanding their systematics and ecology. However, among these nematodes, research on the pinworms (family Oxyuridea) has been neglected, with only two species described from gray kangaroos including Macropoxyuris brevigularis and M. longigularis, while species found in other macropodid hosts are undescribed. This project aimed to revisit the taxonomy of Macropoxyuris, utilising the large number of specimens held in the South Australian Museum. Through the use of morphometric analyses and scanning electron microscopy, new morphotypes were identified. In addition, molecular differentiation were made between M. brevigularis and M. longigularis based on markers within the ribosomal subunits. The findings from this study addresses some of the taxonomic ambiguities surrounding Macropoxyuris and provides morphological and molecular data for future research

Past Event

Royal Society of South Australia October 2024 Meeting

Beauty and importance of kelps in coastal ecosystems

The Royal Society of South Australia would like to invite you to our October meeting and scientific presentation. Being so close to the end of the year, this is our last of the regular meetings (November will be a bit different), so if you have been planning on making a meeting but haven’t yet, this is your chance!

This month Dr Georgina Wood is presenting on her research which focuses on the beauty and importance of kelps in coastal ecosystems.

The meeting, held on Thursday the 10th of October, will begin at 6:30 pm, with nibble and refreshments as well as opportunities for pre-meeting discussions and networking beginning at 6:00 pm. A small donation to the RSSA is greatly appreciated to partake in this and support the continued provision of these pre-meeting treats.

This event will be held in-person in the Royal Society rooms, but we will simultaneously live-stream the meeting via Zoom for those not able to attend on the night.

To attend either in person, or online, you must register here. The zoom link will be sent to you on registration. Please feel free to share this event with your institution or networks.

If in-person tickets are sold out, please be aware that we are unable to admit more people than our room capacity. If online tickets are sold out, please contact [email protected] and we can supply the zoom link to you.

For more information on the location of the RSSA rooms, please visit https://www.rssa.org.au/contact/

Dr Georgina Wood

Abstract

George will share with us the beauty and importance of kelps in coastal ecosystems, and outline some of the largest problems that kelp forests around the world currently face. She will then provide some insight into how researchers at Flinders and elsewhere are taking genetic tools underwater to better understand kelp genetics, allowing them to build new populations where they have been lost, as well as develop guidelines for an emerging South Australian kelp aquaculture industry and enhance reef resilience into the future.

Bio

George Wood is an Early Career Australian Research Council Fellow at Flinders University and Adjunct Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia. Originally from Sydney, she has a predilection for temperate marine forests, and has conducted research spanning Australia’s Great Southern Reef and as far afield as Norway. George works at the frontier of ecology and evolutionary biology, has led several marine restoration projects in collaboration with industry and is passionate about developing and applying novel techniques to transform the way we understand and manage marine ecosystems under climate change. George is currently an editor of Restoration Ecology and a coordinator of the Green Gravel Action Group for kelp forest restoration.

Past Event

Royal Society of South Australia September 2024 Meeting

Treewilding: Our Past, Present and Future Relationship with Forests

It is now September and our next Royal Society Meeting is coming up on the Thursday the 12th.

For this meeting, we have Dr Jake Robinson coming to speak to us about his newly published book Treewilding in which he explores our deep and complex relationships with forests.

The meeting, held on Thursday the 12th of September will begin at 6:30 pm, with nibble and refreshments, as well as opportunities for pre-meeting discussions and networking beginning at 6:00 pm. A small donation to the RSSA is greatly appreciated to partake in this and support the continued provision of these pre-meeting treats.

This event will be held in-person in the Royal Society rooms, but we will simultaneously live-stream the meeting via Zoom for those not able to attend on the night.

To attend either in person, or online, you must register here. The zoom link will be sent to you on registration. Please feel free to share this event with your institution or networks.

For more information on the location of the RSSA rooms, please visit https://www.rssa.org.au/contact/

Dr Jake Robinson

Talk title

Treewilding: Our Past, Present and Future Relationship with Forests

Abstract

As we clear millions of hectares of forests globally, the challenge of restoring these precious ecosystems becomes ever more pressing. The stakes are high: a staggering 95% of Earth’s land could succumb to degradation by 2050. While the task might appear straightforward – simply plant millions of trees – the reality is far more perplexing. Haphazard tree-planting in unsuitable locations can wreak havoc on ecosystems and jeopardise the livelihoods of local communities.

The surge of interest in restoring forests has ushered in a wave of greenwashing, where deceptive environmental marketing and scientific mishaps undermine genuine efforts. Yet this new focus also brings forth a plethora of solutions and many rays of hope. Amidst such a complex landscape, cutting-edge science and Indigenous knowledge together can redefine our understanding in a way that not only helps regenerate nature but also allows human communities to thrive.

This original, topical and engaging book navigates the complex realm of forest restoration. It reveals how a nuanced approach is required – one that integrates the latest scientific advancements (for instance in microbial ecology, acoustic technology and epigenetics), Indigenous leadership and a holistic understanding of the interconnectedness of life within these vital ecosystems. Treewilding asks us to reflect on our relationship with trees and how we must see the woods (complex social and ecological systems) for the wood (timber) – a realisation that is perhaps the biggest ‘secret’ to restoring nature.

Bio

Dr Jake M. Robinson is a microbial and restoration ecologist, currently working at Flinders University. His new book Treewilding is all about restoring global forests and our relationship with them. He has published dozens of scientific articles on the environment-microbiome-health axis and restoration ecology and another popular book called Invisible Friends: How Microbes Shape Our Lives and the World Around Us. Visit Jake’s website for more information: www.jakemrobinson.com

Past Event

Royal Society of South Australia August 2024 Meeting

Collapse of South Australia’s Snapper fishery – what went wrong?

We are now almost in August which means that our next Royal Society meeting is coming up quick. In our next meeting we are diving deep into South Australian waters with our guest speaker Associate Professor Tony Fowler (SARDI/PIRSA) presenting on South Australia’s Snapper Fishery collapse.

The meeting, held on Thursday the 8th of August will begin at 6:30 pm, with nibble and refreshments, as well as opportunities for pre-meeting discussions and networking beginning at 6:00 pm. A small donation to the RSSA is greatly appreciated to partake in this and support the RSSA in continuing to provide these pre-meeting treats.

This event will be held in-person in the Royal Society rooms, but we will simultaneously live-stream the meeting via Zoom for those not able to attend on the night.

To attend either in person, or online, you must register here. The zoom link will be sent to you on registration. Please feel free to share this event with your institution or networks.

For more information on the location of the RSSA rooms, please visit https://www.rssa.org.au/contact/

Associate Professor Tony Fowler

Talk title: Collapse of South Australia’s Snapper fishery – what went wrong?

Abstract: Snapper (Chrysophrys auratus) is an important teleost fish species in Australia that supports significant fisheries across a broad range. Declines in national catches over the past decade led to Snapper becoming the focus of one of Australia’s most significant fishery management issues. The recent declines primarily relate to a downturn in catches from South Australia’s fisheries. In 2019, this culminated in the drastic action of extensive closures to Snapper fishing being imposed in South Australia. This talk addresses the question as to why the biomass of several populations of this large, iconic, visible, and valuable species of fish could decline so quickly to an extent that such significant management action was required. Addressing this question is essential to the remedial process of recovery before fisheries can be reopened. Three objectives are addressed. First, the historic development of the fishery is considered, to place the modern fishery in a broad historical context. The second objective considers the general population biology of Snapper in the south-eastern geographic region of Australia, identifying the influences that drive the population dynamics. The third objective describes the specific trends in population dynamics and demographic processes as they occurred during the 2000s, when the biomass declined and led to the fishery closures.

Bio: Throughout his career as a fish biologist and fishery scientist, Associate Professor Tony Fowler has made significant contributions across the broad scientific fields of fish ecology, evolution, and fisheries science. Tony started his research career focussing on the ecology of coral reef fishes on the Great Barrier Reef and now works as a Research Scientist with SARDI Aquatic Sciences in South Australia where he focusses on the population biology and dynamics of fish such as King George Whiting, Southern Garfish and Snapper. He is recognised as an authority on these primary finfish fishery species, with his research fundamentally underpinning their management. Tony was resultantly inducted into the Australian Society for Fish Biology’s Hall of Fame in 2021.

Past Event

Royal Society of South Australia July 2024 Meeting

Koalas - A life in trees

Please join us on Thursday July 11th to hear our speaker Associate Professor Danielle Clode (Flinders University) presenting on Koakas.

Please note that the talk will start at 6:30 pm but nibbles and refreshments will be available from 6:00 pm, with opportunities for pre-meeting discussions and networking. A small donation to the RSSA is greatly appreciated to partake in this and support the RSSA in continuing to provide these pre-meeting treats.

This event will be held in-person in the Royal Society rooms, but we will simultaneously live-stream the meeting via Zoom for those not able to attend on the night.

To attend either in person, or online, you must register here. The zoom link will be sent to you on registration. Please feel free to share this event with your institution or networks.

For more information on the location of the RSSA rooms, please visit https://www.rssa.org.au/contact/

Associate Professor Danielle Clode

Talk title: Koalas – A life in trees

Abstract: Koalas are something of a paradox – simultaneously beloved internationally, our best studied marsupials and recipient of vast sums of conservation funding, and yet many aspects of their biology remain mysterious and popular knowledge of them is riddled with myths and errors. While koalas have been declared endangered in their core east coast habitats in New South Wales, Queensland and ACT, they struggle with overcrowding and overpopulation in Victoria and South Australia, including the largest and most abundant Australian population in Mayo (Adelaide Hills and Kangaroo Island). Danielle Clode’s latest book utilises a creative writing approach to explore and explain some of these paradoxes by synthesising research from across Australia and across disciplinary silos into a broad view of the past, present and future of koala populations.

Bio: Danielle Clode, Associate Professor at Flinders University, is an award-winning author of natural history books, essays, historical fiction, and best-selling children’s books. Danielle’s work covers a broad range of science and humanities topics with her work including biographies on pioneering female naturalists and the voyages of Australia’s early French explorers, with the latter having been screened as a documentary on SBS TV in both English and French. After studying psychology and politics at Adelaide University, Danielle completed a doctorate in zoology at Oxford University, before returning to Australia to pursue her work as a freelance author, researcher, editor, and teacher. Danielle’s experiences cover publishing across the primary to tertiary education sector as well as both the health and environment sectors through her research consulting work for both government and non-governmental agencies. Danielle’s most recent book, Koalas – A Life in Trees, was published by Black Inc. and features a deep dive into the current research on Koalas and their complex relationship with humans.

Past Event

Royal Society of South Australia June 2024 Meeting

South Australian Museum Collections and Research, their significance and future.

You are invited to the Royal Society of South Australia meeting and scientific presentation for June 2024. Join us on Thursday June 13th to join our invited speakers for a night on South Australian Museum Collections and Research, their significance and future.

This month the RSSA is hosting three guest speakers, Catherine Kemper (South Australian Museum), Mark Hutchinson (South Australian Museum), and Allan Pring (University of Adelaide, Flinders University).

Their broad collective knowledge and years of experience mean these researchers are highly qualified to present on the topic of South Australian Museum collections and research. There will be an opening for questions and discussions at the end.

Please note that the talk will start at 6:30 pm but nibbles, refreshments and networking are between 6:00 – 6:30 pm. Pre-talk nibbles and refreshments available by small donation.

We will hold this as an in-person event in our Society rooms, but we will simultaneously live-stream the meeting via Zoom for those not in attendance or for interested non-members.

To attend either in person, or online, you MUST REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE. The zoom link will be sent to you on registration. Please feel free to share this event with your institution or networks.

For more information on the location of the RSSA rooms, please visit https://www.rssa.org.au/contact/

Speaker Bios

Catherine Kemper

Cath Kemper has spent many years dedicated to research initially on the biology of small mammals and, later, cetaceans. The areas of focus include the biology of pygmy right whales, taxonomy of bottlenose dolphins, human interactions with marine mammals, and toxic contaminant levels in marine mammals, to name a few. Cath has extensive experience with the South Australian Museum in her role as Curator, then Senior Researcher, of mammals, working predominantly in the museum’s world-renowned marine mammal research collections and with the Dolphin Trauma Group.

Mark Hutchinson

Mark Hutchinson’s long career in herpetology, broadly spans the research areas of reptile diversity, taxonomy, and evolution, conservation and distribution of endangered reptiles in South Australia, skeletal anatomy and function, and reptile fossil history. Mark has led and contributed to numerous books and research papers and explored, in the pursuit of reptiles, the far-reaching areas of Australia. Before retirement, Mark was Curator of Herpetology at the South Australian Museum for 29 years.

Allan Pring

In his research role as Minerologist and later, Curator of Minerals, for the South Australian Museum, Allan Pring undertook a wide range of studies on minerals, particularly on sulfide minerals, with a focus on topics such as mineral formation by hydrothermal processes and the development of technologies to study such processes. Allan also held affiliated and adjunct positions with all three South Australian Universities and won many accolades for his work.

Past Event

Royal Society of South Australia May 2024 Meeting

Molecular biology and citizen science solves mysteries of monotreme biology and inspires conservation and biomedical research.

You are invited to the Royal Society of South Australia meeting and scientific presentation for May 2024. Join us Thursday May 9th to hear our speaker Professor Frank Grützner (affiliations) presenting on solving the mysteries of monotreme biology using molecular biology and citizen science.

Please note that the talk will start at 6:30 pm but nibbles, refreshments and networking are between 6:00 – 6:30 pm. Pre-talk nibbles and refreshments available by small donation.

We will hold this as an in-person event in our Society rooms, but we will simultaneously live-stream the meeting via Zoom for those not in attendance or for interested non-members.

To attend either in person, or online, you MUST REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE. The zoom link will be sent to you on registration. Please feel free to share this event with your institution or networks.

For more information on the location of the RSSA rooms, please visit https://www.rssa.org.au/contact/

Talk title: Molecular biology and citizen science solves mysteries of monotreme biology and inspires conservation and biomedical research.

Abstract: Monotremes or egg-laying mammals diverged more than 180 million years ago and represent the oldest surviving mammalian lineage. The evolutionary position and extraordinary biology of monotreme mammals has captivated researchers and the general public for centuries but research has been hampered by limited availability of material and data. Opportunistic sampling, community participation and international collaborations provided exciting opportunities to investigate fundamental aspects of monotreme biology. I will discuss new research into monotreme reproduction, diet and digestive biology. In addition to understanding fundamental biology of these iconic Australian mammals, this work has changed our understanding of mammalian evolution and provided unexpected avenues for translation into conservation and biomedical research.

Bio: In 2001, Professor Frank Grützner received his PhD from the Max Plank Insititute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin. Following this, he moved to the Australian National University and then the University of Adelaide to take on the role of Head of research and group leader at the School of Biological Sciences. Frank has specialised in the field of comparative genome biology with publications in leading international journals, ARC research fellowships, and several awards for his work. He has been instrumental in establishing monotremes as a key species for comparative genomics an mammalian evolution research, and developing an award-winning community-based research project on echidna conservation and research (EchidnaCSI).

Professor Frank Grützner’s current research areas include:

Sex chromosome evolution and function in mammals
Sex determination in monotremes
Evolution and function of genes involved in metabolic control
Evolution of non coding RNAs in reproduction
Application and development of molecular tools, citizen science to aid monotreme field biology, conservation and captive breeding
Investigating participation and diversity in citizen science

Past Event

Royal Society of South Australia April 2024 Meeting

Mathew Flinders: Romantic Scientist

You are invited to the Royal Society of South Australia meeting and scientific presentation for April 2024. Join us on Thursday April 11th to hear our speaker Gillian Dooley (Flinders University) presenting on Matthew Flinders.

Please note that the talk will start at 6:30 pm but nibbles, refreshments and networking are between 6:00 – 6:30 pm. Pre-talk nibbles and refreshments available by small donation.

We will hold this as an in-person event in our Society rooms, but we will simultaneously live-stream the meeting via Zoom for those not in attendance or for interested non-members.

To attend either in person, or online, you MUST REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE. The zoom link will be sent to you on registration. Please feel free to share this event with your institution or networks.

For more information on the location of the RSSA rooms, please visit https://www.rssa.org.au/contact/

Abstract: Matthew Flinders never wrote an autobiography, but he often reflected on his life in his published work, his letters and his journals. He wrote to understand his place in the history of exploration and navigation; he wrote to justify his actions and decisions; he wrote to express his frustrations; and sometimes he imagined an alternative life. His ‘Biographical Tribute to the Memory of Trim’ was the story not only of his cat but also of himself. In this talk Dr Gillian Dooley will explore the way this young explorer and scientist used words to discover himself and reveal himself to the world.

Bio: Gillian Dooley, Honorary Associate Professor of English Literature and PhD graduate in English, retired from Flinders University Library in May 2017 after working as a Special Collections Librarian and Publishing Support Librarian. Gillian was the founding general editor of the Flinders Humanities Research Centre’s electronic journal Transnational Literature and co-edited Writers in Conversation. With numerous monographs, scholarly editions, journal articles, and book chapters published, her research spans authors such as J.M. Coetzee and Jane Austen to the famous explorer, Matthew Flinders. Amongst her many keynotes and public lectures, Gillian’s enthusiasm for music and literature has led to her organisation of, and participation in, performances of related themes. In 2023, she was a visiting fellow at Edinburgh University’s Institute of Advanced Studies in the Humanities. Recently, Gillian has been working on her book She Played and Sang: Jane Austen and Music, as well as continuing to contribute as a book reviewer for various publishers.

Past Event

Royal Society of South Australia March 2024 Meeting

Australia’s key role in our understanding of songbird evolution

You are invited to the first Royal Society of South Australia meeting and scientific presentation for 2024. Come perch on a chair with us on Thursday March 14th with our speaker Dr Jacqueline Nguyen (Flinders University & Australian Museum) presenting on Australia’s key role in our understanding of songbird evolution.

Please note that the talk will start at 6:30 pm, but you can wet your beak over nibbles, refreshments and networking between 6:00 – 6:30 pm. Pre-talk nibbles and refreshments available by small donation.

We will hold this as an in-person event in our Society rooms, but we will simultaneously live-stream the meeting via Zoom for those not in attendance or for interested non-members.

To attend either in person, or online, you MUST REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE. The zoom link will be sent to you on registration. Please feel free to share this event with your institution or networks.

For more information on the location of the RSSA rooms, please visit https://www.rssa.org.au/contact/

Talk title: Australia’s key role in our understanding of songbird evolution

Abstract: Songbirds make up nearly 50% all living birds (over 5,000 species) and are found in almost every habitat and continent. In the last two decades, DNA studies have transformed our understanding of the bird tree of life, including the unexpected finding that almost half of the world’s birds can trace their origins back to an ancestor in what is now Australia. Despite the enormous diversity and ubiquity of songbirds today, there is still much to learn about their early fossil record and how they became so successful. In this seminar, I will give some examples of how the Australian fossil record can be used to understand the early history of songbirds and the evolutionary relationships among modern birds, including recent findings from studies of genomes.

Bio: Jackie is an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow at Flinders University and a Scientific Officer in Ornithology at the Australian Museum. She is also an Honorary Research Associate at the South Australian Museum. Jackie’s research interests include the systematics, morphology, and evolution of fossil and modern birds, especially Australian songbirds. She is interested in using a combination of fossils, morphology, and DNA to gain a better understanding of the evolutionary history of birds, both living and extinct.

Past Event

Royal Society of South Australia 2023 AGM and Scientific Presentations

Alternative respiration: the thermogenesis pathway that helps plants survive environmental hardship.

We are calling for our Annual General Meeting of the RSSA to be held on Thursday, 9th November 2023 6:00pm in person at the Royal Society rooms and by videoconference. Refreshments will be available from 5:30 pm.

The Agenda for the Annual General Meeting will include:

Minutes of the 2022 Annual General Meeting
Annual Report from the President
Audited Financial Reports for FY 2022/23
Appointment of Councillors

All members of the RSSA are welcome to attend the AGM in person or on line. Voting on resolutions is restricted to financial members only.

Members who are unable to attend are invited to complete a proxy form for voting on resolutions.

The AGM will be followed by presentations by RSSA Research Grant recipients and the presentation of the All Rounder award. Members and non members are invited to attend these research presentations and a program of talks will be distributed at a later date.

To attend either in person, or online, you MUST REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE:

The zoom link will be sent to you on registration. Please feel free to share this event with your institution or networks.

For more information on the location of the RSSA rooms, please visit https://www.rssa.org.au/contact/

Past Event

Royal Society of South Australia September 2023 Meeting

Alternative respiration: the thermogenesis pathway that helps plants survive environmental hardship.

You are invited to the Royal Society of South Australia September 2023 meeting and scientific presentation. We are very pleased to announce that our speaker for September is Dr Crystal Sweetman (Flinders University) who will be speaking on Alternative respiration: the thermogenesis pathway that helps plant survive environmental hardship.

Please note that the talk will start at 6:30 pm, but nibbles and networking will be 6:00 – 6:30 pm. The pre-talk nibbles are provided by small donation.

We will hold this as an “in-person” event in our Society rooms, but we will simultaneously live-stream the meeting via Zoom for those not in attendance or for interested non-members.

To attend either in person, or online, you MUST REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE:

The zoom link will be sent to you on registration. Please feel free to share this event with your institution or networks.

For more information on the location of the RSSA rooms, please visit https://www.rssa.org.au/contact/

Talk title: Alternative respiration: the thermogenesis pathway that helps plants survive environmental hardship.

Abstract: Food security continues to be one of the greatest challenges of the modern world, due to the combined effects of population growth, plateaus in crop productivity and increasing incidences of environmental anomalies associated with climate change. Dr Sweetman hopes to help, by identifying new mechanisms for improving plant health and productivity in response to these challenges. A promising target lies within a floral thermogenesis pathway – an “alternative respiration” pathway that seems to have been hi-jacked to help plants cope with oxidative stress during unfavourable growing conditions. This presentation will provide a journey from the discovery of alternative respiration in the 1950s, through the evolution of the pathway in plants and simple animals, and finally to the biotechnological significance of alternative respiration for future food security and sustainability.

Bio: Dr Sweetman is a plant stress expert, with an academic background in biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology. She obtained her PhD in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at Flinders University in 2012. Prior to her current role as a plant biotechnology lecturer and researcher at Flinders, Dr Sweetman held a post-doctoral position at The University of Adelaide. There, she was Chief Investigator on a Grape and Wine Research & Development Corporation (now Wine Australia) project investigating the loss of grape berry organic acids in a warming climate. Since her return to Flinders in 2014, Dr Sweetman has been working on oxidative stress response mechanisms in plants, as part of the Plant Molecular Physiology research group. For this work, she was honoured with the Jan Anderson Award for Early Career Researcher excellence from the Australian Society of Plant Scientists.

Past Event

Royal Society of South Australia August 2023 Meeting

Sea turtles and how they’ve evolved: a combined evidence approach

You are invited to the Royal Society of South Australia August 2023 meeting and scientific presentation. We are thrilled to have Dr Ray Chatterji, postdoctoral researcher with the IDER lab (Illuminating the Diversification of Evolutionary Radiations).

Please note that the talk will start at 6:30 pm, but nibbles and networking will be 6:00 – 6:30 pm. The pre-talk nibbles are provided by small donation.

We will hold this as an “in-person” event in our Society rooms, but we will simultaneously live-stream the meeting via Zoom for those not in attendance or for interested non-members.

To attend either in person, or online, you MUST REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE:

The zoom link will be sent to you on registration. Please feel free to share this event with your institution or networks.

For more information on the location of the RSSA rooms, please visit https://www.rssa.org.au/contact/

Talk title: Sea turtles and how they’ve evolved: a combined evidence approach

Sea turtle are an iconic group of reptiles, that are spread around the world and act as ambassadors of ocean conservation and diversity. They have a long fossil record, with many complete specimens representing over 100 million years of evolution. Despites this, how our modern assemblage of 7 species evolved and diversified is poorly known and much of the early evolution of sea turtles is shrouded in uncertainty. Over the last two decades new fossils, advances in analytic techniques, and a more detailed examination of their morphology has allowed us to better understand their evolution, and a more complete and unified image is emerging. By including more morphological data, a greater understanding of which features are convergent, and incorporating chronological data we have been able to tease apart key relationships within the sea turtle tree as well as potential timings of diversification. By using CT data and morphometric techniques we have also been able to attempt to answer how sea turtles have diversified by examining the possible mechanisms behind their evolution and the selection pressures shaping their diversity and success.

Bio:

Ray is an evolutionary biologist and morphologist. He earned his Bachelors, Honours and Doctorate degrees at the University of Adelaide, Australia. His PhD was focused on the evolution of sea turtles, in particular using skull morphology to investigate macroevolutionary patterns. He used a combination of Bayseian phylogenetics, geometric morphometrics, and comparative anatomy to uncover how sea turtle evolution was shaped by biogeographic patterns, dietary ecology, and ontogeny. Ray has joined the IDER lab to investigate the adaptive morphology of Anseriformes (ducks, geese, swans and screamers) and how their varying ecologies have affected the evolution of the group.

Past Event

Lines in the Sand: 200 years of Alfred Russel Wallace OM FRS

An event marking 200 years since the birth of Alfred Russel Wallace OM FRS, co-proposer of the theory of evolution by natural selection.

Join the Royal Society of South Australia and the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia for a scientific forum on the biogeography of Australia and Asia being held as part of National Science Week 2023. This jointly hosted forum will explore the theme and legacy of Alfred Russel Wallace who proposed a theory of evolution at the same time as Darwin and after whom the Wallace Line is named.

This year marks 200 years since the birth of Wallace.

Wallace proposed a theory of evolution at the same time as Darwin, but his contribution to the science of evolution remains less celebrated. The Wallace line is a boundary proposed in 1859 by Wallace to separate the biogeographical realms of SE Asia and Australia. To the west of the Line are found organisms related to Asiatic species; to the east, a mixture of species of Asian and Australian origins exist.

The event will be introduced by Leigh Radford OAM, RGSSA President. Speakers include Dr Kate Sanders and Dr James Nankivell from the University of Adelaide, Dr Kai Tea from the University of Sydney and Australian Museum Research Institute, and Dr Kevin Rowe from Museums Victoria. Each speaker will give a brief presentation followed by a panel discussion to which the audience will be invited to contribute.

The event starts at 6pm but will be preceded by light refreshments from 5:00 pm.

Past Event

Fossils and rocks, culture and communication

The Field Geology Club of South Australia, The Geological Society of Australia (SA Division) and the Royal Society of South Australia jointly present the 8th Ralph Tate Memorial Lecture.

Thursday 7th of September 2023 at 6.30 pm

Mawson Lecture Theatre
Department of Earth Sciences
University of Adelaide

Dr. Marissa Betts
University of New England

Abstract: Palaeontology is a lot more than dinosaurs, and fossils are a lot more than the remains of past life. Together, rocks and fossils tell remarkable stories about our Earth, how it has changed, and how lifeforms and ecosystems on its surface have evolved over billions of years. Palaeoscience and geoscience are fundamental topics—central to a sustainable future—but how do we make these topics better understood and accessible for everyone? How can we communicate the thrilling depths of geological time, disentangle geology from climate change, and provide better awareness of the inextricable relationship between geology, landscape and First Nation’s culture? This talk will touch on the speaker’s experience with these topics, particularly in the context of Hollywood films and documentary film-making as a medium for powerful and engaging science communication.

Bio: Marissa Betts is a geologist and palaeontologist at the University of New England in Armidale, working on the Cambrian Period (~538–485 million years ago). Her research in Australia, Antarctica, China and Mongolia unearths new fossil species, aims to track how the positions of continents have changed and continues to refine the geological timescale by dating and correlating key packages of rocks around the world. After completing her PhD at Macquarie University in 2016, Marissa started at UNE in 2017 on a Postdoctoral Fellowship and has since transitioned to Senior Lecturer in Earth Science, and is now a DECRA-funded Research Fellow. In 2023, she was appointed as Secretary of the International Subcommission on Cambrian Stratigraphy. She has been awarded the Geological Society of Australia’s A.H. Voisey Medal (NSW Division) and Walter Howchin Medal (SA Division), selected as a NSW Young Tall Poppy and an STA Superstar of STEM, and is a proud STEM Coach for the Curious Minds program. She is the host of the popular Sci-Flicks science film nights at the Belgrave Cinema in Armidale, and the companion Sci-Flicks podcast. In 2022, she directed and produced the award-winning film ROLA[STONE].

Members and visitors are warmly invited to attend.

The lecture will be preceded by a wine tasting, drinks and nibbles in the Alderman Room, Mawson building, commencing at 5.30 pm.

Past Event

Royal Society of South Australia
July 2023 Meeting

The Flinders Ranges World Heritage nomination and Ediacaran & Cambrian research.

ou are invited to the Royal Society of South Australia July 2023 meeting and scientific presentation. We are extremely pleased to announce that our July scientific presenter will be Associate Professor Diego Garcia-Bellido (UoA, SAM) speaking on Cambrian research and the World Heritage nomination for the Flinders Ranges.

Please note that the talk will start at 6:30 pm, but nibbles and networking will be 6:00 – 6:30 pm. The pre-talk nibbles are provided by small donation.

We will hold this as an “in-person” event in our Society rooms, but we will simultaneously live-stream the meeting via Zoom for those not in attendance or for interested non-members.

To attend either in person, or online, you MUST REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE:

The zoom link will be sent to you on registration. Please feel free to share this event with your institution or networks.

For more information on the location of the RSSA rooms, please visit https://www.rssa.org.au/contact/

Talk title: The Flinders Ranges World Heritage nomination and Ediacaran & Cambrian research

Abstract: The Flinders Ranges represents the only place left on the planet where a person can basically “walk” from 800 to 500 million years ago. It includes evidence of the two largest glaciations the world has seen, known as “Snowball Earth”, the base of the Ediacaran Geological period, the “Golden Spike”, the appearance of complex multicellular life: the Ediacara Biota, and the transition to the world we live today, with the “Cambrian explosion” and the unequivocal record of most animals groups we see in our modern oceans today. We will review Diego’s ongoing ARC and NASA-funded projects.

Bio: Diego was born, raised and studied in Spain, where he got his BSc in Zoology (1997) and PhD in Palaeontology (2002) from the Complutense University in Madrid. Diego settled in Australia in late 2012 but has previously carried out long research stays in Canada, US, UK and Germany. He studies the early evolution of animals after the Cambrian ‘explosion’: the rise of complex life on Earth, half a billion years ago. He excavated at the famous Burgess Shale Cambrian fossil locality in Canada between 1995 and 2000, and worked at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto for several years. In 2007 he joined the research team excavating the slightly older fossil site of Emu Bay Shale in Kangaroo Island. In the last 8 years he has also been working on the Ediacara Biota from the Flinders Ranges, with the goal of finding the links of these strange organisms with the Cambrian faunas. Diego has done palaeontological fieldwork from Morocco to Argentina, from Portugal to China, and even been privileged to visit Antarctica. He has taught for 12 years at the Complutense University and 10 years at the University of Adelaide. Diego has written more than 100 research papers (including 3 in the journal Nature), book chapters and popular articles, presented over 80 international conference communications, and has led research projects with around 4 million Australian dollars in funding from institutions like the Australian Research Council, NASA, the Spanish Ministry of Science and National Geographic Society.

Past Event

Royal Society of South Australia
June 2023 Meeting

South Australian Museum collection: an essential resource for the study and conservation of Australia’s marine mammals

You are invited to the Royal Society of South Australia June 2023 meeting and scientific presentation. We are very pleased to share that our speaker for June will be Dr Catherine Kemper, former mammal researcher at the South Australian Museum. The topic for the evening will be South Australian Museum collection: an essential resource for the study and conservation of Australia’s marine mammals. See below for more information.

Please note that the talk will start at 6:30 pm, but nibbles and networking will be 6:00 – 6:30 pm. The pre-talk nibbles are provided by small donation.

We will hold this as an “in-person” event in our Society rooms, but we will simultaneously live-stream the meeting via Zoom for those not in attendance or for interested non-members.

To attend either in person, or online, you MUST REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE:

The zoom link will be sent to you on registration. Please feel free to share this event with your institution or networks.

For more information on the location of the RSSA rooms, please visit https://www.rssa.org.au/contact/

Talk title: South Australian Museum collection: an essential resource for the study and conservation of Australia’s marine mammals

The SA Museum’s world-renown marine mammal collection numbers about 2500 specimens and 55 species. It is the largest and most comprehensive in Australia, including skeletons, organs, stomach contents, parasites, tissues for toxic contaminant and genetics studies, and images, collected primarily from stranded South Australian specimens. A sightings database of live animals numbering over 5000 records is also curated. Specimens date back to the late 1800s, with the majority collected since 1990. The unique preparation facility at Bolivar has been vital to the collection’s development. The specimens and data, which are researched by SA Museum, national and international scientists, enable studies of a broad range of fields that directly or indirectly contribute to conservation. Traditional research on taxonomy and systematics are undertaken but these are augmented with studies documenting the life history, distribution, biodiversity, causes of mortality (including unintentional and illegal killing) and disease outbreaks. This ‘whole animal biology’ is gathering popularity in scientific circles because it does not look at factors in isolation. To use this approach for large animals such as cetaceans and pinnipeds has been an enormous achievement involving many people over the last 35 years. In the presentation, examples will be presented on some of the research programmes conducted by SA Museum and associates and how these have contributed to conservation, knowledge and public awareness of marine mammals in SA. There is an urgent need to maintain the high standard of the marine mammal programme at the Museum.

Bio:

Catherine came to Australia in 1971, after completing her first degree at the University of British Columbia, Canada. She did a PhD at Macquarie University on a native rodent and has studied small mammals in Western Australia, New South Wales and Malaysia. She moved to Adelaide in 1983, when she became Curator of Mammals following the death of Peter Aitken.

The focus of Catherine’s research changed to marine mammals (especially whales and dolphins) shortly after her arrival at the South Australian Museum but she maintains an active interest in, and publishes on, terrestrial mammals. Her cetacean research is primarily focused on studying the carcasses that strand or wash up on the South Australian coast, although studies of live animals are also included in her repertoire. The marine mammal collection at the South Australian Museum is the largest and most comprehensive in Australia and one of the leading collections in the Southern Hemisphere. In collaboration with other researchers, Catherine has used museum specimens for many research projects, including bottlenose dolphin taxonomy, toxic contaminant levels and their effects on animal health, mortalities caused by human activities and life history of several species. She has had a long-standing interest in the pygmy right whale, a little-known Southern Hemisphere species that has been frequently recorded in South Australia. She has been very active in promoting the conservation of marine mammals in the State by investigating mortalities related to human interactions. A national marine mammal aging facility at the South Australian Museum was established by her and results from this contribute to the above programmes. Marine mammal research attracts much media and public interest and has been of great benefit to the Museum for over 40 years.

Catherine has held positions on several interstate committees, including the Australian Mammal Society. In 2015 she was awarded the Unsung Hero of South Australian Science for her contribution to mammalogy and conservation.

Past Event

Royal Society of South Australia
May 2023 Meeting

Microbiome-Inspired Green Infrastructure (MIGI): A roadmap for urban ecosystem health

You are invited to the Royal Society of South Australia May 2023 meeting and scientific presentation. We are very pleased to share that our speaker for May will be Dr Jake Robinson from Flinders University. Jake will be speaking on Microbiome-Inspired Green Infrastructure (MIGI): A roadmap for urban ecosystem health. See below for more information.

Please note that the talk will start at 6:30 pm, but nibbles and networking will be 6:00 – 6:30 pm.