Royal Society of NSW News & Events

“Burnout — the hottest issue”

Professor Gordon Parker AO
Scientia Professor of Psychiatry
UNSW (Sydney)

Date: Thursday, 20 May, 6.30pm AEST
Venue: RSL Mittagong (face-to-face)
All are welcome. 

Summary:If constant stress has you feeling helpless, disillusioned and completely exhausted, you may be on the road to burnout. In this lecture, Professor Gordon Parker will discuss what you can do to regain your balance and feel hopeful and positive once again.

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose interest and motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place.

Burnout reduces productivity and saps your energy, leaving you feeling increasingly helpless, hopeless, cynical and resentful. Listen to this lecture by psychiatrist Professor Gordon Parker to hear all about the history of burnout, its key symptoms, who gets it, its causes and prevalence, what happens in the brain and most importantly…how to correct it.

Professor Gordon Parker AO is Scientia Professor of Psychiatry, UNSW, was Founder of the Black Dog Institute and its initial Executive Director, Head of the School of Psychiatry at UNSW, and Director of the Division of Psychiatry at Prince of Wales Hospital. His positions with the Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists include being Editor of its Journal. Positions with legal organisations include the NSW Guardianship Board and the NSW Administrative Appeals Tribunal. In 2004 he received a Citation Laureate as the Australian Scientist most highly cited in ‘Psychiatry/Psychology’. In 2018 he received the prestigious James Cook Medal from the Royal Society of New South Wales, and was recipient of the 2020Australian Mental Health Prize. His research has focussed on the mood disorders. He has published 23 books and over 1,000 scientific reports. His first of fiction was published in 1966 and his latest novel (“In Two Minds”) in 2017. In the 60’s, he wrote for The Mavis Bramston Show and OZ Magazine, was an ABC Science broadcaster, a book reviewer for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian, and in 2004 had a play (“Personality Games”) produced by La Mama in Melbourne. His autobiography “A Piece of My Mind: A Psychiatrist on the Couch” was published in 2012. His co-authored book on Burnout will be published on 1 July 2021.

“On readying our region for low emissions technology”

Dr Alan Finkel AO FTSE FAA
Former Chief Scientist of Australia

Date: Wednesday, 26 May 2021, 5.30pm AEST 
Venue: Newcastle Conservatorium of Music (cnr Auckland and Laman Streets, Newcastle) and Zoom live-streaming
Entry: No charge 
Registration: through Eventbrite is required for either attendance in person or attendance online
All are welcome. 

In Conversation with Dr Alan Finkel AO.

This presentation, from the University of Newcastle and the Royal Society of NSW, coincides with the visit by Dr Finkel to the University of Newcastle.  It includes a public address, and an in-depth interview which will allow his audience to understand and explore the vast opportunities available through low emissions or carbon neutral technologies. 

In particular he will share insights into the government and technology directions and how regional industries might respond, particularly in the context of the Hunter in which the University of Newcastle is leading research in clean hydrogen energy, the transition to zero emission mining of aluminum, iron ore and steel, renewable energy storage technology, and bio-sequestration in regional farming practices.

Dr Alan Finkel AO is one of Australia’s most distinguished scientific, engineering, and academic advisers and advocates for innovation in technology. In 2021 he completed his tenure as Australia’s Chief Scientist and has since been appointed Special Adviser to the Commonwealth Government on the research, development, transition, and application of low emissions technology.

He is noted for making the topics of science, engineering, technology, accessible and exciting to young people through his advice and contributions to the development of the nation’s modern STEM curriculum. 

“Murray-Darling Basin turmoil:
past, present, and future”

Professor Richard Kingsford FRSN

Professor of Environmental Science
Director, Centre for Ecosystem Science, UNSW (Sydney)

Date: Wednesday, 2 June 2021, 6.30pm AEST 
Venue:  Zoom Webinar. Click here for help in getting started with Zoom. 
Enquiries: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
Entry: No charge
All are welcome. 

 Summary:  To follow

Brief biography: To follow

“Society as an information processing system, and the influence of the media”

Dr Erik Aslaksen FRSN

Physicist, Engineer, and Author

Date: Wednesday, 7 July 2021, 6.30pm AEST 
Venue: To be advised
Enquiries: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
Entry: No charge
All are welcome. 

 Summary: We are concerned about our environment, and rightfully so: the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and threats to this environment from global warming, loss of biological diversity, and many other concerns. These are all concerns about our physical environment, much as an ice bear is concerned about the melting of the ice, or as the koala is concerned about the reduction of its habitat due to deforestation. We are also concerned about many aspects of our society, such as overpopulation, economic growth, inequality, poverty, healthcare, and pandemics; again, concerns about physical features.

In this talk Dr Erik Aslaksen will present a complementary view of our society — one peculiar to our species; a view of society as an information-processing system in which the physical aspects of society are both the results and the enablers of our mental processes. The system consists of individuals as processors and of the interactions between them in the form of information exchange, and as the processing capability and capacity of the individuals have not changed significantly over the last 10,000 years or so, the evolution of our society is, in this view, the evolution of this information exchange. This is an evolution characterised by the media involved and of the technology enabling them,  from the earliest cave art to the Internet. Correspondingly, our concerns for society change from the above concerns about physical features to concerns about the information exchange and the associated information technology — in particular, about the ability to use the technology to control the information flow. Two examples of this concern will be discussed; one being the increasing concentration of wealth in the West, and with it the ownership and control of the media by a small group of people; the other arising out of the fact that the world society has arrived at a unique point in its evolution, but with a great reluctance to talk about it.

Erik W. Aslaksen is an engineer and physicist, with over fifty years industrial experience, gained in the USA, Switzerland and Australia, and covering fields as diverse as microwave components, power electronics, quantum electronics, and telecommunications, and ranging from basic research to corporate management. He obtained a MSc (EE) from the Swiss Institute of Technology in 1962, and a PhD in theoretical physics from Lehigh University in 1968. Erik was a Director of Ewbank Preece Sinclair Knight from 1988 until 1993, a Principal of Sinclair Knight Merz from 1993 until 2003, and an Adjunct Professor at the UTS until 1995.

In recent years his main interest has been in the area of systems engineering, engineering management, philosophical aspects of engineering, and the interaction between technology and society, as well as the evolution of society. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW and of the International Council on Systems Engineering, a Charter Member of Omega Alpha, and is the author of eight books (one with W.R. Belcher), four book chapters, and more than eighty papers.

His most recent publications are:

• The Social Bond: How the interaction between individuals drives the evolution of society, Springer Nature, 2018
• The Stability of Society, Springer Nature, 2020
• Measures of Social Evolution, Springer Nature, 2021.

[email protected]

Presented by

Her Excellency the Honourable
Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor of NSW

“Music as a Superfood: How music can help us live longer, sleep better, calm down, find flow, and feel happier”

Greta J. Bradman
Writer, broadcaster and psychologist

Date: Thursday, 22 July 2021, 6.30pm AEST
Venue: Zoom webinar
Entry: No charge
Enquiries: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Society Members and Fellows, and members of the public are welcome

About the talk: Greta Bradman will discuss how music can help us live longer, sleep better, calm down, find flow, and feel happier. The talk will include explorations of the evidence base, plus some personal anecdotes.

About the speaker: Greta Bradman consults with public and private organisations across technology and creative industries on culture, works in private practice as a psychologist, presents Weekend Brunch and is the creator of “Music for Wellbeing” offerings on ABC Classic. She hosts concerts and conversations, and provides workshops around wellbeing, human values, and decision-making. She is the founder of pre-launch, values-based tech startup, Eiris Inc. She still sings from time-to-time. help you grow beyond the expectations you and others have previously put on you, into your own personal version of a fulfilling, brilliant life well-lived.

Formerly an artist for Universal Music (Decca Classics), she had four No.1 solo albums and has featured on others. She has sung with opera companies, symphony orchestras and ensembles around Australia and the Asia Pacific, through Europe, the UK, and US. She has produced her own tours, and has toured alongside colleagues from around the world.

Alongside fundraising strategy and implementation, Greta advises and actively participated in the key development of evidence-based initiatives and programs that have demonstratively supported wellbeing-related outcomes.

Greta is a Trustee of Arts Centre Melbourne and holds advisory board positions with: Arts Wellbeing Collective; Arts Centre Melbourne Foundation; The Alfred Foundation; and, the Australian Mental Health Prize. Greta is a member of the Federal Government’s Creative Industry Taskforce. She is currently completing her Senior Executive MBA at Melbourne Business School.

About [email protected]: In late 2019, Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor of New South Wales and Patron of the Royal Society of NSW, invited representatives of the Society to discuss how the Governor might open Government House to a series of public events based on important and/or influential ideas. Her Excellency’s proposal was that the Royal Society of NSW and other organisations might devise a series of lectures, to be held at Government House, and known as [email protected] on topics of our choice for an invited audience of our Members and Fellows, together with others to be invited by Her Excellency. This is the second in the [email protected] series, the first being held in May 2020.

“Power and Peril
of the Digital Age”

Date: Thursday, 4 November 2021
Venue: In person at Government House, Sydney and live streaming.

The Society is delighted that the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences will join the other four Learned Academies — Humanities, Science, Social Sciences, and Technology and Engineering — to stage the RSNSW and Learned Academies Forum this year.

Mark your calendars with the date, Thursday 4th November 2021.

Our Patron, Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor of New South Wales, will be our host at Government House in Sydney. In addition to the opportunity to attend in person, the Forum will be made available to a wider audience in NSW and beyond via live streaming.

In choosing “Power and Peril of the Digital Age” as the theme, our goal is to consider digitisation and the use of data framed around the future life of a child born on the day of the Forum, 4 November 2021. This child will be born into a world of increasingly complex digital systems that hold great value and vulnerability.

Starting with a technological framing, the Forum will explore several major aspects that will impact the journey of that child as we approach 2030 and beyond. We will explore aspects of technology, health, defence and security in a digital age, the changing nature of industry as the world and society evolves, and Australia’s future as a successful and safe democracy in the digital world.

“Big, bad fires in NSW”

Emerita Professor Mary O’Kane AC FRSN FTSE Hon FIEAust

Chair, NSW Independent Planning Commission

Date: Wednesday, 5 May 2021, 6.30pm AEST 
Venue: Zoom Webinar
Video presentation: YouTube video

 Summary:  As noted in the NSW Bushfire Inquiry, “The 2019-20 bush fire season was extreme, and extremely unusual. It showed us bush fires through forested regions on a scale that we have not seen in Australia in recorded history, and fire behaviour that took even experienced firefighters by surprise. The total tally of fire-generated thunderstorms in south-eastern Australia since the early 1980s increased from 60 at the end of 2018-19 to almost 90 at the end of the 2019-20 bush fire season – an increase of almost 50% in one bush fire season. Fire-generated thunderstorms are extremely dangerous phenomena that produce extreme winds, lightning, tornadoes and black hail.  The season showed us what damage megafires can do, and how dangerous they can be for communities and firefighters. And it is clear that we should expect fire seasons like 2019-20, or potentially worse, to happen again.”

This talk will examine the nature of the 2019-20 bushfires, why they were so extreme, and why they are likely to happen again.

Mary O’Kane is Chair of the NSW Independent Planning Commission, a company director, and Executive Chairman of O’Kane Associates, a company advising governments and the private sector on innovation, research, education and development. She was NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer from 2008-2018; Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide from 1996-2001 and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at Adelaide from 1994-1996. Before that, she was Dean of Information Sciences and Engineering at the University of Canberra.

Mary has served on several boards and committees in the public and private sectors, especially related to energy, engineering, ICT and research. She is currently Chair of the boards of Aurora Energy Pty Ltd and Sydney Health Partners. She also carries out reviews in a wide range of fields in many countries. She recently was one of the two leaders of NSW Bushfire Inquiry.

Professor O’Kane is a Companion of  the Order of Australia, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia, a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW and the recipient of the 2020 Royal Society of NSW Medal.  

“Particle radiation therapy and human space exploration: commonality in challenges and solutions”

Professor Anatoly Rosenfeld
University of Wollongong

Date: Thursday, 15 April, 6.30pm AEST
Venue: RSL Mittagong, Nattai/Joadja Rooms (face-to-face)
Entry: No charge
All are welcome. 

Summary: Particle therapy is advantageous for the treatment of solid tumours when compared with conventional therapy with electron and X-ray beams. This is due to highly localised energy deposition at the end of the ion range, known as the Bragg peak (BP), and the sharp dose fall-off at large penetration depth. Heavy ions have further advantages over protons and lighter ions in treating deep-seated, radio-resistant tumours by producing an increased radiobiological efficiency (RBE) in the stopping region at the BP while preserving the normal tissue surrounding the tumour. Our better understanding of radiobiology of heavy ions led recently to multi-ion therapy opening new horizons in better cancer treatment.

While heavy ion radiation is efficiently killing cancer, it is a major obstacle for human space exploration. This is due to the increased risk of cancer in astronauts through space radiation in comparison to the terrestrial radiation environment. Risk prediction in space radiation environments is challenging due to the mixed particle radiation field, especially of charged particles of high energy and charge (HZE) in galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and protons from solar particle events (SPE). It can be quantified in terms of probability for radiation exposure induced death (REID) from cancer.

Australia is on the way to taking a world-leading role in cancer treatment with radiation therapy including particle therapy. The same applies to space exploration. This is reflected in the building of the Australian Bragg Centre for Proton Therapy and Research in Adelaide and the planned National Particle Therapy and Research Center (NPTRC) with heavy ion and proton therapy facilities at Westmead Hospital in Sydney. The Australian Space Agency recently announced the Moon to Mars initiative which is a $150 million investment to grow the space industry and enhance international collaboration with ESA and NASA. It will partner with NASA in the Artemis human exploration program to the Moon and later to Mars.

This lecture will address innovations in cancer treatment with heavy ions, as well as challenges in space explorations for future Moon and Mars human missions. These human activities, cancer treatment and space exploration, while appearing completely unrelated, have a strong commonality in that they both rely on their ability to accurately monitor ion radiation fields. The Centre for Medical Radiation Physics at UOW is a world leader in the development of radiation sensors.

Professor Anatoly Rosenfeld was is a Founder and Director of Centre for Medical Radiation Physics (CMRP) at University of Wollongong which is a largest education and research multidisciplinary medical radiation physics centre in Asia-Pacific with 18 academics and postdocs, 20 adjunct fellows from hospitals and industry and more than 65 postgraduate students.
His scientific interest and expertise is in a field of radiation semiconductor sensors development and their applications for advanced medical radiation dosimetry and space radiation. Many radiation sensors developed at CMRP under his leadership were successfully implemented in practice of radiation oncology in Australia and overseas to improve confidence in cancer treatment with radiation.

Professor Rosenfeld served as Chair of International Solid State Dosimetry Organization (ISSDO) and Member of IEEE Radiation Instrumentation Steering Committee. He was elected General Chair of the IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium (NSS) and Medical Imaging Conference (MIC) 2018, which was held in Australia for the first time in that year and attracted nearly 2000 delegates and 70 industrial companies. Professor Rosenfeld has initiated particle therapy research in Australia and is a Member of National Particle Therapy Treatment and Research Centre Steering Committee. He is a member of the International Committee on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) Committee on a new microdosimetry report and a member of Space Medicine Committee of Australian Space Agency. He has published more than 400 peer review papers and hold 18 patents in a field of radiation detectors for medical and space applications with two his inventions have been commercialised.

[email protected]

Presented by

Her Excellency the Honourable
Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor of NSW

“Australia and the Dickens Boys”

Thomas Keneally AO DistFRSN

Date: Thursday, 15 April 2021, 6.00pm AEST
Venue: Zoom Webinar
Video Presentation: YouTube Video

Image credit: Tom Keneally in the Tom Keneally Centre at Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts. Photo by Helen White.

 About the talk: Australia was the British Hades where unpromising young men were sent to find the other half of their souls. In the curious second wave of transportees were the unsatisfactory sons of the gentry. We follow Plorn and his experiences in early Australia — Plorn being Edward Bulwer Lytton Dickens, scion of the well known Charles Dickens, who arrived in Melbourne in the late 1860s during the last years of his father’s life. What happened to Plorn and why? What is the importance of historical fiction and how is it written — at least, how and why is it written by Thomas Keneally?

About the speaker: Thomas Keneally AO DistFRSN was born in Sydney in 1935 to Irish parents. He became a prolific writer with a deep knowledge of and reverence for history, especially of the working class and people oppressed because of ethnic or class background. Two good examples are The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith, whose protagonist is an indigenous man, and Schindler’s Ark, about a hero of the Holocaust, a book that became the Oscar winning film, Schindler’s List. Nationally and internationally, Tom Keneally has become a most significant figure in Australian literature and culture. It is no wonder he has been named an Australian Living Treasure.

 With his first novel published in 1964, he now has a list of close to sixty novels and non-fiction works. Novels include The People’s Train, Daughters of Mars, Napoleon’s Last Island, and The Crimes of the Father. Tom’s love of history led to non-fiction titles including The Great Shame, Australians and The Commonwealth of Thieves as well as his most recent novel, The Dickens Boy and four convict-era mysteries, including The Soldier’s Curse and The Unmourned, with his daughter Margaret.

Literary prizes begin at home with the Miles Franklin Award and the Booker Prize. Internationally he has won the Los Angeles Times Prize, the Mondello International Prize, the Helmrich Award (US), the Trebbia International Prize (from the Czech and Slovak governments) and the University of California Gold Medal.

Tom has been made a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library, an Officer of the Order of Australia, a National Living Treasure, and is now the subject of a 55 cent Australian stamp! In 2014 he received an Irish Presidential Distinguished Service Award for his services to Irish culture worldwide. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW, Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Royal Society of Literature. He has honorary doctorates from Rollins College (US), Fairleigh Dickinson (US) and from the National University of Ireland, the University of Queensland, the Catholic University of Australia, the Western Sydney University, University of Technology Sydney, the University of New South Wales, the University of Wollongong and the University of South Australia. He has held academic posts at New York University and the University of California.

Tom lives with his wife, Judith, in Manly (Sydney) and is still writing.

About [email protected]: In late 2019, Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor of New South Wales and Patron of the Royal Society of NSW, invited representatives of the Society to discuss how the Governor might open Government House to a series of public events based on important and/or influential ideas. Her Excellency’s proposal was that the Royal Society of NSW and other organisations might devise a series of lectures, to be held at Government House, and known as [email protected] on topics of our choice for an invited audience of our Members and Fellows, together with others to be invited by Her Excellency. This is the second in the [email protected] series, the first being held in May 2020.

“From the HIV/AIDS epidemic to the COVID-19 pandemic, what have we learnt and what do we still need to learn?”

Dr Anthony S. Fauci
Director, US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Date: Wednesday, 14 April, 6.30pm AEST
Venue: Online via UNSW Centre for Ideas
Entry: No charge
Registration: through Eventbrite is required 
All are welcome 

 About this event 

Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating in the USA, Dr Anthony S. Fauci has remained a voice of authority and reason, bringing scientific evidence to the fore.

Throughout an extraordinary career as a scientist, a physician and a public servant, Dr Anthony S. Fauci has been an adviser to seven US presidents on HIV/AIDS, and domestic and global health issues. A key figure in the global response to HIV/AIDS, his experience of this epidemic has informed his career ever since.

As the world struggles to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Anthony S. Fauci sits down with Tegan Taylor, co-host of the ABC’s Coronacast, to discuss the past, the present and the future - from what we learned from the HIV/AIDS epidemic to what the ongoing impact of COVID-19 will be.

The inaugural David Cooper Lecture honours the legacy of the Kirby Institute’s Founding Director. Professor David Cooper AC, who passed away in 2018, was an internationally renowned scientist and HIV clinician, who laid the foundations for Australia’s ongoing global leadership in the fight against the global HIV epidemic.

This event is co-presented by the Kirby Institute, the UNSW Centre for Ideas and UNSW Medicine & Health.

Speakers

Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. is Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, where he oversees an extensive research portfolio focused on infectious and immune-mediated diseases. As the long-time chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation, Dr Fauci has made many seminal contributions in basic and clinical research and is one of the world’s most cited biomedical scientists. He was one of the principal architects of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program that has saved millions of lives throughout the developing world.

Tegan Taylor (Chairperson) is co-host of the ABC’s Coronacast, the multi-award-winning daily podcast about the coronavirus, and a health reporter in the ABC Science Unit, where she reports on topics from stem cells to fad diets and, yes, coronavirus. In 2020, Coronacast won a Walkley award and the Eureka Prize for Science Journalism. Tegan was previously a producer on the ABC's national digital newsdesk, where she curated the ABC News homepage and commissioned, wrote and edited news stories. Before that, she was a journalism lecturer at The University of Queensland and, long ago, a newspaper reporter at the Queensland Times in Ipswich.

About Professor David Cooper

David Cooper AC FRSN FAA FAHMS FRACP FRCP was an eminent Australian HIV/AIDS researcher, immunologist, Professor at the University of New South Wales, and Director of the Kirby Institute. He and Professor Ron Penny diagnosed the first case of HIV in Australia.  He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW and the winner of its most presigious award, the James Cook Medal, in 2016.  He passed away in March 2018 after a short illness.   

“Antarctica, this ain’t no mirage: the value of art in disseminating scientific information”

Lea Kannar-Lichtenberger
Contemporary Artist

Date: Wednesday, 7 April 2021, 6.00pm AEST (preceded by the Annual General Meeting)
Venue: Zoom Webinar
Video Presentation:YouTube Video

About this Event

In this talk Lea Kannar-Lichtenberger will explore just one of the islands she has investigated and, through her art, has raised awareness about the impact that our contemporary society is having on these often-idealised environments. Through the use of her time-based installations, photography and sculptures, along with her paintings and drawings, Lea works to make science more accessible to the community at large.

In January 2017 Lea travelled to Antarctica. This journey was unusual, not just because it was with a not-for-profit organisation, no room service or cabin attendants, but also as it was in many ways in the footsteps of the adventurer explorer. Her journey here resulted in artworks and exhibitions that have been seen across Australia in universities and art galleries, with her goal to bring the plight of the remote into the lives of the everyday person.

Lea Kannar-Lichtenberger is an Australian contemporary artist who disseminates her research and artistic vision, as an ‘artist at large’ by presenting her response and advocacy for environmental issues. Her investigations into evolution, contemporary society, and the impact of tourism on island environments has seen Lea do onsite examinations through immersive residencies or eco-tourism inquiries in; the South Shetland Islands specifically Deception Island (Antarctica) 2017, the Faroe Islands (The North Sea) 2015, the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) 2014, Lord Howe Island (NSW Australia) 2014 & 2015 and in 2021 an Artist at Sea residency with the Schmidt Ocean Institute. Lea creates artworks and installations that examine a window into the impact of the Anthropocene and contemporary consumerism on the viewed utopian destination. Lea has disseminated this research and her unique perspective through lectures, paper presentations and peer reviewed journals.

Lea Kannar-Lichtenberger has exhibited widely including solo exhibitions at Edith Cowan University Western Australia, and Griffith University, Queensland, and group exhibitions including Sculpture by the Sea (Sydney and Cottesloe), the Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing and the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize. Internationally her work has been shown at the Venice Summer Academy, Stunning Edge Exhibition Taiwan, the New York Hall of Science, Galway International Arts Festival Ireland, the SVA (the School of Visual Arts) at the Flatiron Building in Manhattan and the NYABF at the MOMA annexe PS1, New York.

Date: Wednesday, 7 April 2021, 6.00pm AEST
Venue: Zoom Webinar

This notice provides information about the:

• 154th Annual General Meeting and Council Elections
• 1292nd Ordinary General Meeting and Open Lecture

Annual General Meeting

Rule 4(c) of the Society's Rules requires that an Annual General Meeting (AGM) must be held in April of each year.

Business of the Annual General Meeting

The formal business of the Annual General Meeting, including the election of Council Members, will be conducted via an electronic ballot, in accordance with Rule 18.

Members, Fellows and Distinguished Fellows, who are financial in 2021, will receive an email from the Society's Returning Officer, via the electronic balloting company, Election Buddy. This email will include a unique ballot link that provides a random, secret access key for each voter. Voter anonymity is assured by ballot settings which ensure that voter choices cannot be linked to any voter.

The ballot will run from 18 March 12.00pm AEDT to 6 April 12.00pm AEST and will address:

• Procedural Business:
  • Confirmation of the Minutes of the 153^rd Annual General Meeting
  • Confirmation that the Annual Report of Council and the Financial Statements for 2020 be received (Link to be provided)
  • Confirmation of the proposed Auditors for 2021
• Election of Office-bearers and Council members, namely the:
  • President — from a field of two (2) candidates
  • Vice-President — from a field of two (2) candidates
  • Eight (8) Councillors — from a field of fourteen (14) candidates.

Please note that for each of the positions of Secretary, Treasurer, Librarian, and Webmaster, only a single nomination was received. Accordingly, these Office-bearers will be declared elected at the AGM without the need for a ballot.

The results of the ballot will be announced by the Returning Officer at the AGM on 7 April 2021 and will be posted on the website on the following day.

The Ordinary General Meeting will commence immediately following the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting.

Relevant Documents

The Agenda for this meeting and Minutes of the previous AGM are available on the Meetings page of this website.

The Annual Report from Council and Financial Statements for 2020 are available on the Governance page.

It is suggested that Members and Fellows read these documents in advance of the commencement of the ballot.

Election of Office-Bearers and Ordinary Members of Council

Listed below are the nominations for the incoming Council received by the Secretary by 5.00pm AEDT on Friday, 5 March 2021.

For the Council Election, there are candidates who are standing for more than one position. In such circumstances, Rule 16(e) states that when a person stands for election in several offices (President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Librarian, Webmaster, Councillor), that person shall be deemed elected to the first office considered for election in the order specified, if successful, and shall by deemed ineligible for subsequent offices.

In all cases, candidates have been invited to provide an optional statement outlining how their expertise and experience fits them for these roles and will benefit the Society. These statements are available through the links below and also are provided as information on the electronic ballot form.

Ordinary General Meeting 

The 1292^nd Ordinary General Meeting will follow the Annual General Meeting and includes a live, video-streamed Open Lecture.  

The Agenda for this meeting and Minutes of the previous OGM will be available on the Meetings page of this website.

“Antarctica, this ain’t no mirage:
the value of art in disseminating
scientific information”

Lea Kannar-Lichtenberger
Contemporary Artist

In this talk Lea Kannar-Lichtenberger will explore just one of the islands she has investigated and, through her art, has raised awareness about the impact that our contemporary society is having on these often-idealised environments. Through the use of her time-based installations, photography and sculptures, along with her paintings and drawings, Lea works to make science more accessible to the community at large.

In January 2017 Lea travelled to Antarctica. This journey was unusual, not just because it was with a not-for-profit organisation, no room service or cabin attendants, but also as it was in many ways in the footsteps of the adventurer explorer. Her journey here resulted in artworks and exhibitions that have been seen across Australia in universities and art galleries, with her goal to bring the plight of the remote into the lives of the everyday person.

Lea Kannar-Lichtenberger is an Australian contemporary artist who disseminates her research and artistic vision, as an ‘artist at large’ by presenting her response and advocacy for environmental issues. Her investigations into evolution, contemporary society, and the impact of tourism on island environments has seen Lea do onsite examinations through immersive residencies or eco-tourism inquiries in; the South Shetland Islands specifically Deception Island (Antarctica) 2017, the Faroe Islands (The North Sea) 2015, the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) 2014, Lord Howe Island (NSW Australia) 2014 & 2015 and in 2021 an Artist at Sea residency with the Schmidt Ocean Institute. Lea creates artworks and installations that examine a window into the impact of the Anthropocene and contemporary consumerism on the viewed utopian destination. Lea has disseminated this research and her unique perspective through lectures, paper presentations and peer reviewed journals.

Lea Kannar-Lichtenberger has exhibited widely including solo exhibitions at Edith Cowan University Western Australia, and Griffith University, Queensland, and group exhibitions including Sculpture by the Sea (Sydney and Cottesloe), the Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing and the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize. Internationally her work has been shown at the Venice Summer Academy, Stunning Edge Exhibition Taiwan, the New York Hall of Science, Galway International Arts Festival Ireland, the SVA (the School of Visual Arts) at the Flatiron Building in Manhattan and the NYABF at the MOMA annexe PS1, New York.

Notice of the 1st Annual General Meeting of the RSNSW Hunter Branch

Date: Wednesday, 31 March, 5.00pm AEDT
Venue: Collaborative Teal Room, X201, NUSpace, University of Newcastle (Hunter St) and via Zoom live-streaming
Entry: No charge
Only financial Members and Fellows of the RSNSW Hunter Branch are eligible to attend.

Notice is hereby given of the 2021 Annual General Meeting of the Hunter Branch of the Royal Society of NSW.

Due to social distancing restriction imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the capacity of the room is limited to 36 people.  For those unable to be accommodated, or to attend physically, access to the meeting will be provided via Zoom. 

An agenda for the meeting is available online.

Amongst the business of the meeting is the Election of the Branch Committee for 2021-2022.  Nomination forms and further information is available from the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

“Stewardship of Country:
From Past to Future – Australian Stewardship of Country”

Presented jointly by the
Royal Societies of Australia and
Inspiring Australia Victoria

Date: Wednesday, 24 March, 6.00–8.00pm AEDT
Venue: Live streaming on the RSA Facebook page
Enquiries: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
Entry: No charge for Facebook livestreaming.  Paid registration is required for participation as a Zoom panellist.
All are welcome

Stewardship of Country, presented by the Royal Societies of Australia and Inspiring Australia Victoria, is a series of three webinars that aim to generate a discussion of landscape and environmental stewardship bridging Indigenous, scientific, economic and social perspectives with supporting ideas for practical action and public good. This initiative represents a fruitful collaboration between the Royal Society of Victoria, the Royal Society of Queensland and the Royal Society of New South Wales with support from the CSIRO.

Stewardship describes a deep relationship between people and place. In modern Australia, it is increasingly proposed as the next step of transition for a culture emerging from its colonial, extractive relationship to the landscape. The transition to stewardship may require we reorganise around the unique characteristics of the country, undertake significant regeneration of damaged ecosystems and deprioritise constant economic growth in favour of an enduring sufficiency gathered from a prosperous and biologically diverse environment. This series poses a fundamental question – who are we becoming as Australians faced with an increasingly unpredictable and challenging future?

 Webinar 3: From Past to Future – Australian Stewardship of Country takes us to a broad view of the past to define our approach to the future. We range from the natural history of our continent's diverse landscapes and species, including the traditional approaches taken by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to support that diversity, to redefining our relationships with the living world to better rise to the challenges we must collectively face to secure our country's future.

This event will feature four presentations by:

• Dr Anne Poelina, Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council and University of Nore Dame (Keynote)
• Professor Kingsley Dixon, Curtin University
• Dr Michelle Maloney, Australian Earth Laws Alliance, Griffith University
• Mr Barney Foran, Charles Stuart University.

with panellists:

• Dr Mark Stafford Smith, CSIRO Honorary Fellow
• Ms Verity Morgan-Schmidt, Gheerulla Creek Consulting
• Dr Tyson Yunkaporta, Deakin University.

Stewardship of Country will be conducted online as a Zoom webinar. Each event will be livestreamed on the Societies Facebook page free of charge; paid registration is open to those who would like to submit questions and engage in the session as audience members.

“The general development of the Sydney Basin Coast and its recent history since the last ice age”

Dr Howard Brady

Date: Thursday, 18 March, 6.30pm AEDT
Venue: RSL Mittagong, Carrington Room (face-to-face)
Entry: No charge
All are welcome. 

Summary: In 2009/2010 Howard Brady examined reports prepared for the Shoalhaven City Council by the Snowy Mountains Engineering Consultants (SMEC). SMEC was asked to examine the effects of a 90cm sea-level rise on Shoalhaven area properties sited either on headland cliffs or on dune systems adjacent to beaches. His reports, very critical of the SMEC reports, were based on his own field work, on aerial photographs of the Shoalhaven Coast taken since WWII, and also on geological studies by scientists at New England University and the University of Wollongong. Dr Brady’s talk will cover the general development of the Sydney Basin Coast and its recent history since the last ice age.

Dr Howard Brady was involved in Antarctic geological research during 1974-1982 and he was also US Navy catholic chaplain to McMurdo and South Pole Stations for the 1974 and 1975 summer seasons. In 2011, Howard was awarded the Alumnus Scientist of the Year Award by Northern Illinois University for his geological contributions to Antarctic Research. Howard is a member of the Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences and an Emeritus Member of the Explorers Club of New York. Dr Brady has Diplomas in Philosophy and Theology, and two postgraduate degrees in Antarctic science. He is currently an accredited reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for its forthcoming report due in 2021.

“Stewardship of Country:
Resilience, regeneration and escaping the iron law of business-as-usual”

Presented jointly by the
Royal Societies of Australia and
Inspiring Australia Victoria

Date: Wednesday, 10 March, 6.00–8.00pm AEDT
Venue: Live streaming on the RSA Facebook page
Enquiries: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
Entry: No charge for Facebook livestreaming.  Paid registration is required for participation as a Zoom panellist.
All are welcome

Stewardship of Country, presented by the Royal Societies of Australia and Inspiring Australia Victoria, is a series of three webinars that aim to generate a discussion of landscape and environmental stewardship bridging Indigenous, scientific, economic and social perspectives with supporting ideas for practical action and public good. This initiative represents a fruitful collaboration between the Royal Society of Victoria, the Royal Society of Queensland and the Royal Society of New South Wales with support from the CSIRO.

Stewardship describes a deep relationship between people and place. In modern Australia, it is increasingly proposed as the next step of transition for a culture emerging from its colonial, extractive relationship to the landscape. The transition to stewardship may require we reorganise around the unique characteristics of the country, undertake significant regeneration of damaged ecosystems and deprioritise constant economic growth in favour of an enduring sufficiency gathered from a prosperous and biologically diverse environment. This series poses a fundamental question – who are we becoming as Australians faced with an increasingly unpredictable and challenging future?

 Webinar 2: Resilience, regeneration and escaping the iron law of business-as-usual focuses on untangling the knots in our system confounding beneficial change, from the fixed thinking enforced by our political culture to the slow-changing traditions of agricultural land management and business practices founded in European soils and ecosystems. We also look at how business, entrepreneurship and private property have an effective role to play in conserving and rebuilding ecosystems and biodiversity.

This event will feature four presentations by:

• Dr Nicholas Gruen, CEO, Lateral Economics (Keynote)
• Ms Carolyn Hall, The Mulloon Institute
• Ms Jody Brown, La Trobe Station
• Mr Nigel Sharp, Odonata.

with panellists:

• Dr Mark Stafford Smith, CSIRO Honorary Fellow
• Ms Verity Morgan-Schmidt, Gheerulla Creek Consulting
• Dr Tyson Yunkaporta, Deakin University.

Stewardship of Country will be conducted online as a Zoom webinar. Each event will be livestreamed on the Societies Facebook page free of charge; paid registration is open to those who would like to submit questions and engage in the session as audience members.

“What are the best options for growing Australia’s mental health through the COVID-19 recovery?”

Professor Ian Hickie AM FRSN FASSA FAHMS FRANZCP
Co-Director, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney

Date: Wednesday, 3 March, 6.30pm AEDT
Venue:Zoom webinar
Video Presentation: YouTube Video

Summary: The concept of building the ‘mental wealth’ of Australia, namely, the collective cognitive and emotional resources of our citizens, was increasingly being adopted nationally (and internationally) prior to the COVID19 pandemic (1). Although the range of public policy options, operative right across the life span, was being scoped, formal implementation had not proceeded. While Australia has been spared the worst direct physical health effects, and social disruption, associated with the pandemic, it would be a mistake to think that we do not still face many economic and social challenges that are likely to have major effects on our collective mental health and wellbeing.

Formal dynamic systems modelling (DSM) by our team at the Brain and Mind Centre of the University of Sydney (2, 3) has indicated not only the extent to which Australia’s mental health may be adversely impacted, but also which sets of economic, education, social and mental health policies may be most relevant in these very different circumstances. These are choices that need to be made urgently (and implemented) – like the variations in JobKeeper, JobSeeker and education funding. Whether those most at risk of bad mental health outcomes – namely, young people and women in casual work, are actually supported at this time, has major long-term ramifications.

By using formal simulations,and making the likely impacts of different choices more transparent (what works, what does harm, what is just ineffective), DSM offers a more empirically-based way of approaching this area of complex decision making.

1. Beddington, J., Cooper, C., Field, J. et al. The mental wealth of nations. Nature 455, 1057–1060 (2008).
2. Road to Recovery—Restoring Australia’s Mental Wealth
3. Road to Recovery, Part 2—Investing in Australia's Mental Wealth

 Professor Ian Hickie is Co-Director, Health and Policy, at The University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre. He is a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow (2013-2017 and 2018-22), having previously been one of the inaugural NHMRC Australian Fellows (2008-12). He was an inaugural Commissioner on Australia’s National Mental Health Commission (2012-18) overseeing enhanced accountability for mental health reform and suicide prevention. He is an internationally renowned researcher in clinical psychiatry, with particular reference to medical aspects of common mood disorders, depression and bipolar disorder. He is now focused on the development of real-time personalized and measurement-based care systems for use in partnership with young people and their families. These systems promote early intervention, use of new and emerging technologies and suicide prevention. In his role with the National Mental Health Commission, and his independent research, health system and advocacy roles, Professor Hickie has been at the forefront of the move to have mental health and suicide prevention integrated with other aspects of health care (notably chronic disease and ambulatory care management).

“Stewardship of Country:
The Common Ground –
A Convergence of Traditions”

Presented jointly by the
Royal Societies of Australia and
Inspiring Australia Victoria

Date: Wednesday, 24 February, 6.00–8.00pm AEDT
Video presentation: Facebook video

Stewardship of Country, presented by the Royal Societies of Australia and Inspiring Australia Victoria, is a series of three webinars that aim to generate a discussion of landscape and environmental stewardship bridging Indigenous, scientific, economic and social perspectives with supporting ideas for practical action and public good. This initiative represents a fruitful collaboration between the Royal Society of Victoria, the Royal Society of Queensland and the Royal Society of New South Wales with support from the CSIRO.

Stewardship describes a deep relationship between people and place. In modern Australia, it is increasingly proposed as the next step of transition for a culture emerging from its colonial, extractive relationship to the landscape. The transition to stewardship may require we reorganise around the unique characteristics of the country, undertake significant regeneration of damaged ecosystems and deprioritise constant economic growth in favour of an enduring sufficiency gathered from a prosperous and biologically diverse environment. This series poses a fundamental question – who are we becoming as Australians faced with an increasingly unpredictable and challenging future?

Webinar 1: The Common Ground — A Convergence of Traditions focuses on the convergence of knowledge traditions, acknowledging the capacity for traditional European farming practices to adapt, the remarkable advances in the ecological sciences based on European classification systems, and the complex Australian Indigenous knowledge systems developed and maintained over a truly astonishing stretch of time, offering a deep cultural understanding and relationships with "country" to help us determine our common future in Australia.

This event will feature four presentations by:

• Adjunct Associate Professor Mary Graham of The University of Queensland (Keynote)
• Professor Peter Bridgewater of the Australian National University, the University of Canberra and Beijing Forestry University
• Mr David Pollock of Wooleen Station
• Mr Justin O’Brien, Dr Chris Brady and Mr Peter Christopherson of Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation.

with panellists:

• Dr Mark Stafford Smith, CSIRO Honorary Fellow
• Ms Verity Morgan-Schmidt, Gheerulla Creek Consulting
• Dr Tyson Yunkaporta, Deakin University.

Stewardship of Country will be conducted online as a Zoom webinar. Each event will be livestreamed on the Societies Facebook page free of charge; paid registration is open to those who would like to submit questions and engage in the session as audience members.

“The five islands off Port Kembla — an historical and ecological study”

Dr Kevin Mills
Botanist and Ecologist

 Date: Thursday, 18 February, 6.30pm AEDT
Venue: RSL Mittagong, Carrington Room (face-to-face)
Entry: No charge
All are welcome. 

Summary: To follow.

Dr Kevin Mills is a botanist and ecologist and has lived in the Illawarra for over 40 years. He has studied the region’s rainforests for many years and is currently working on various projects in the region, including studies of all offshore islands on the South Coast, a review and field study of the ferns of the south coast, and various rare plant surveys. He has authored or co-authored several books on plants including Native Trees of Central Illawarra, Rainforests of the Illawarra District and Native trees of the NSW South Coast. He is continuing his rainforest studies here and on Norfolk Island, where he is a regular visitor and on which he has also written extensively. He is involved in the rehabilitation of habitat on the Five Islands Nature Reserve off Port Kembla and the regeneration of rainforest at the Minnamurra Rainforest Centre in Budderoo National Park. Kevin is also a long-time member of the South Coast Regional Advisory Committee for the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Role of Nuclear Technology

Ms Lenka Kollar 
Co-founder, Helixos

A joint meeting of the Australian Institute of Energy, the Australian Nuclear Association, the Sydney Division of Engineers Australia, and the Royal Society of NSW.

Date: Wednesday, 17 February 2021, 5.30 for 6.00pm
Venue: Engineers Australia, Mezzanine, 44 Market Street, Sydney (limit 30 persons); Webinar available
Entry: No charge
Registration: Online registration through Engineers Australia

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 interlinked goals designed to be a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all by 2030. The SDGs were set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and have been adopted and implemented by many countries around the world, including Australia.

This presentation will cover the progress and status of the SDGs, taking into account the health and economic crises of 2020, as well as, the contribution of nuclear technology and innovation to the SDGs. In addition, the audience will learn how individuals, businesses, and organisations can contribute to the SDGs.

Lenka Kollar is the co-founder of Helixos, a collective of people working on projects that contribute towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals and continue to make the world a better place for everyone. Prior to co-founding Helixos, Ms. Kollar was the Director of Strategy & External Relations at NuScale Power where she worked to bring small modular reactors to market in the US and around the world. Ms. Kollar also previously worked for the International Atomic Energy Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. She has a BS and MS in Nuclear Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from INSEAD.