Products, projects and skills

Products, projects and skills – Members’ and sponsors’ services on offer

This page is reserved for private notices from members and sponsors with products, projects or skills to advertise. The Society is not responsible for the content of these notices and makes no warranty as to the suitability of the goods and services for an inquirer’s purposes. Clicking on many of the links below will take the inquirer away from the Society’s website.


Skills on offer – Employment sought

The following members in good standing have advised that they are available for employment as employees or contractors as indicated. Please contact the Society on rsocqld@gmail.com. A negotiated fee for a successful engagement is payable by commercial or government employers.

Electrical engineer

A qualified electrical engineer with postgraduate qualifications and some relevant work experience is seeking a graduate level position or higher.


Draft articles for critical review

A page has been set aside for draft reports and scholarly articles by members who would like critical input.


Spiders – Robert Whyte

Society member Robert Whyte has just signed off on the print-ready artwork for the third printing of his A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia, CSIRO Publishing 2017, with Greg Anderson co-author. Not expected to be a block buster, the first printing surprised everyone, even the publisher, when it sold out in under four weeks. “A second printing was rushed through the presses, the plates still warm from the first run”, reports Mr Whyte. This third printing in July 2018 contains about 50 updates, mostly taxonomical changes since 1 June 2018.

Inquirers could hardly read a higher recommendation than by Peter Smithers, Editor of the Royal Entomological Society journal Antenna, who writes:

“The authors’ enthusiasm and fascination with spiders is more than apparent, they excite and entice the reader to delve deeper into this arachnological box of delights …  a must have for any Australians with an interest in invertebrates as it offers an easily accessible introduction to spiders as a group and a user-friendly map to the biological labyrinth of Australian arachnology … it will also be of great interest to arachnologists globally…  a fascinating insight into spider diversity and is well worth buying just for the photographs … a revelation, a window into the astounding world of Australian spiders.”

The book starts with a short foreword by Tim Low, followed by an entertaining  preface and a general preamble covering elements of diversity, history, anatomy, biology and shortcuts to identifying spider groups. At 452 pages this is by far the most comprehensive book on Australian spiders ever published, with more than 1350 colour photographs covering 836 species and 381 genera in 78 spider families.

http://www.arachne.org.au Website for the book. Orders at Booko, best price, freight free https://booko.com.au/9780643107076/A-Field-Guide-to-Spiders-of-Australia . CSIRO Publishing http://www.publish.csiro.au/book/6899 . If you would like to receive copies signed by both authors, available for $50 each (including postage) email Rob Whyte with your address details. He will supply payment details by bank transfer or Paypal. Or call Rob 0409 055 325.

Download a flyer and order form here.


Australian land snails book – John Stanisic

Member Dr John Stanisic and co-authors have just released Volume 2 of a three-part catalogue of the land snails of Australia.

This 595-page volume in full colour covers 756 species from an area extending from western Queensland across to Western Australia, and north and south. There are more than 2000 colour images as well as descriptions, distribution maps, key localities and notes about habitat. Most species are illustrated in colour for the first time and 35 new genera are described.

The volume complements Volume 1 of 2010, Australian land snails Volume 1: A field guide to eastern Australian species.

Frank Köhler, Senior Research Scientist, Australian Museum, has written “Volume two of the field guide to Australian land snails brings to life some of Australia’s least known species in a kaleidoscope of shell, live animal and landscape images. This beautifully illustrated book is the long anticipated addition to volume one, and a sorely needed compilation of our knowledge of Australia’s invertebrate biodiversity, which is facing an uncertain future in the Anthropocene.”

Copies are available from the Australian Museum, Sydney.

Citation: Stanisic, J. et al. 2017. Australian land snails. Volume 2. A field guide to southern, central and western species. Bioculture Press: Mauritius.


Go Extinct! – science game

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Featured in Science magazine and created by Member Ariel Marcy, award-winning Go Extinct! is Go Fish evolved! You are a scientist competing to collect sets of closely related animals using an evolutionary tree. Evolutionary trees illustrate one of the most profound ideas in science: life is both mind-bogglingly diverse and also unified by common ancestors.

Fun for all humans aged 8 and up! Here’s how the game aligns with the Australian Science Standards. And click here for references.

Buy the game from Questacon’s on-line store.

Or print as many copies as you need for your classroom with the free Educator Edition.

 


Freshwater Resources of the Tropical North of Australia

A Hydrobiological Perspective

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A new book by Member Prof Dilwyn Griffiths presents an overview of the freshwater resources of the tropical north of Australia and the major developments they have supported, starting with the post World War II development. That period saw the construction of major water storages and water-related infrastructure, leading to more recent projects with increasing emphasis on sustainability and protection of the environment. The major emphasis is on recent work but earlier work is also described to provide an overview of how thinking on the exploitation and management of this precious resource has evolved.

Click here for an order form from Nova Publishers.


Climate Quilt

2016-ClimateChangeQuilt Member Dr Tanya Scharaschkin exhibited her “Climate Quilt” at the EcoSciences Precinct during Science Week 2016. She has supplied a slide show and printed interpretation.

 


Bridgette Davis: Cultural heritage

Bridgette Davis’s special interest is in cultural studies. “Science” for the Society’s purposes is defined broadly and embraces studies of pre-European cultural heritage, grounded as it is in studies of the natural landscape and the application of scientific method to historical records.

Bridgette has taken a special interest in historical records of early contact on the Sunshine Coast and has taken advantage of the availability of the records of the Society and the Philosophical Society back to 1859.


Sparke Helmore Lawyers – Sponsor

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Sparke Helmore Lawyers is a firm of more than 650 people working from eight offices across Australia, serving the needs of the insurance, government, financial services, technology, mining, construction and property sectors. Their expertise spans corporate and commercial to construction, workplace to insurance, IP to IPOs, mining to manufacturing, and property to procurement.

See the firm’s website for more information.

Sparke Helmore Lawyers has arranged tax deductibility for the Society’s Research Trust Fund and has drafted amendments to the constitution to facilitate Internet banking, both on a pro bono basis. The Society is grateful for the helpful service of the firm and attests to the courtesy and professionalism of its staff.


Avantix – Sponsor

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How do you get the most out of your big software investments?

With the proliferation of digital solutions and electronic processing, more and more companies are finding the transition from paper to digital is not as easy as it first seems. Avantix takes a holistic approach towards information processing, where knowledge trapped in paper form is merged with data from existing systems and operations, producing an accurate and complete data asset.

Gaining the ability to access information from the ‘too hard basket’ allows people to make decisions with confidence

Avantix takes pride in assisting companies through the processing of unstructured data from many disparate silos of information. Accessing data from several locations is often highly labour intensive. Reduce your risk, free up your resources and give your decision makers the timely information needed to advance your organisation.

Bring value to your upcoming information processing initiatives. Click on the Avantix website.