ANNUAL REPORT - Australian Academy of Science

Activities of regional groups
Fellows of the Academy in all states and territories,
including the ACT, may host events and meetings
to maintain contact not only with each other
but also Fellows of the other learned academies.
These events serve to raise public awareness of
the Academy and its activities and help raise the
Academy’s profile throughout Australia.
Australian Capital Territory
Chair: Professor John White
Society's 2009 Clay-Mahler Lecturer, in various
capitals including Canberra over two months from
late August.
Sponsored by the Academy’s Nuclear Matters
and Australian Research Reactor Taskforce, Dr Adi
Paterson, CEO of ANSTO, spoke on 21 August at a
public lecture at the Research School of Chemistry,
in collaboration with the Research Schools of
Engineering Sciences and of Physics, on Nuclear
futures and the role of ANSTO in Australia.
An invitation-only free seminar was held on 22
June, Bunnies on the brain: The love/hate relationship
between Australian science and Australia's worst pest,
led by Stephen Dando-Collins and Professor Tony
Peacock.
Academy Fellow Professor David Craig’s 90th
birthday was celebrated with a morning of
presentations of the latest research at the Australian
National University Research School of Chemistry on
16 December to interested members of the chemical
and physical science communities, past and present.
It was an enjoyable occasion.
Aspects of climate change, and of the Darwin
bicentenary, were two features of the Academy’s
ACT events in 2009. The public lectures in the series
Australia’s Renewable Energy Future and Water
Management Options for Urban and Rural Australia
provided regular opportunities for ACT Fellows to
meet throughout the year. The lecture series, and
other non-series lectures, were held in the Shine
Dome page 79.
Fellows and guests of the four learned academies
attended meetings of the Canberra Fellows Dining
Club for presentations and dinner on four occasions
in the reporting period. Professor Susanne von
Caemmerer FAA and Dr John Passioura FAA are
thanked for this. The 2009 program of lectures
featured a range of speakers: Dr Rosemary Purdie’s
Charles Darwin’s botany on 28 May; Dr Neil Byron’s
Affluence and the environment on 30 July; Professor
Martin Williams’ Living on the edge: Human response
to climate change on 24 September; and the
Christmas dinner was held on 3 December. The first
lecture of 2010, Exploring the universe, was given
by Professor Brian Schmidt FAA on 25 February. All
events were well attended and greatly appreciated.
Corresponding Member Professor Terry Tao gave
a series of lectures, as the Australian Mathematical
New South Wales
Chair: Professor Ian Dawes
The NSW regional group’s main function in 2009
was a joint dinner with the NSW branch of ATSE.
This year’s dinner was organised by ATSE at their
traditional location in North Sydney, which was
possibly less colourful than last year’s venue (the
Trust Suite at Sydney Cricket Ground), but well
attended by Fellows from both academies. The
guest speaker was Dr Fred Watson, who needed
no introduction to anyone with an interest in
astronomy. He gave a very entertaining and
PUBLIC AWARENESS AND OUTREACH
ANNUAL REPORT APRIL 2009–MARCH 2010 83