Events from 2014
Congratulations Martina and Natasha
4 November 2014
Inaugural Royal Society of Queensland Awards, North Queensland Festival of Life Sciences The Inaugural Royal Society of Queensland (RSQ) Awards were presented during the closing ceremony of the 11th North Queensland Festival of Life Sciences held in Townsville on the 4th November 2014. The Festival was the best attended event in its 11 year history with a record number of poster entries. The RSQ Awards were presented for the best posters in the fields of biomedical sciences and molecular and cell biology by the Dean of the College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences at James Cook University, Professor Peter Leggat, AM, who is a member of the Society. Professor Leggat introduced the Society as the new award sponsor during both the welcome for the Festival and the closing ceremony. The awards comprise a $100 prize and two years’ RSQ membership for each of the two recipients. The winners of the inaugural awards were:
- Martina Koeberl and her team for a poster entitled “Food allergen quantification – mass spectrometry as alternative to biologicals methods” (ref.1)
- Natasha Williams and her team for a poster entitled “The rat autoimmune valvulitis model: An animal model for investigating the pathogenesis of rheumatic heart disease” (ref. 2.)
Council later resolved to continue its sponsorship of the awards for a further four years, as a particular service to members in the north who cannot conveniently attend meetings in South East Queensland.
References
1. Koeberl M, Clarke D, Lopata A. “Food allergen quantification – mass spectrometry as alternative to biological methods”. Poster 4. North Queensland Festival of Life Sciences. Townsville, Australia. 4 November 2014.
2. Williams N, Rush C, Govan B, Sikder S, Ketheesan N. “The rat autoimmune valvulitis model: An animal model for investigating the pathogenesis of rheumatic heart disease”. Poster 12. North Queensland Festival of Life Sciences. Townsville, Australia. 4 November 2014.
Annual General Meeting
25 August 2014
Guest Speaker: Prof Suzanne Miller, CEO of Queensland Museum
Speaker: Dr Geoff Edwards, President on three drivers of anti-environmental, anti-science thinking
Congratulations Professor Bryden
2 June 2014
Emeritus Professor Michael BRYDEN of St Lucia has been honoured with the award of Member of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday honours list. Prof Bryden was President of the Society in 1976, Vice-President for four years between 1975 and 1983 and a Councillor for other years during that period.
The citation reads “For significant service to veterinary science, and to education, particularly in the field of animal anatomy, as an academic and researcher.” Prof Bryden’s specialty was marine mammals. We are delighted that he has received this honour. For further details of his achievements, see the Governor-General’s website.
Seminar on Research as Infrastructure – and Launch of new Research Fund
13 June 2014
Speakers: The Governor of Queensland Her Excellency The Honourable Ms Penelope Wensley AC, Chief Scientist of Queensland Dr Geoff Garrett, Research Director CSIRO Ms Anna Littleboy, President of Royal Society Dr Geoff Edwards, Convenor of Central Queensland Koala Volunteers Dr Alistair Melter, Grazier Mr Alan Lauder
Theme: Research as a form of infrastructure – research as an essential foundation of prudent policy and business decisions.
See Program, media release and the following presentations (more to be posted shortly):
Dr Geoff Edwards: Research as a Form of Infrastructure.
Dr Geoff Edwards: Policy Guidelines for the new Research Fund.
Mr Alan Lauder: Speech Notes and Geoff Edwards’ introduction.
Thanks to lawyers Sparke Helmore for their first-rate work in preparing the trust deed pro bono.
Tour of Society’s Library and Queensland Museum Library
2 April 2014
Guided by Queensland Museum Librarians: Kerry Cody (Manager), Meg Lloyd (indexed the collection when it was housed at QUT), Kathy Buckley (RSocQ Hon. Librarian)
Tour of Society’s Library and Queensland Museum Library. There are some 22,000 volumes in the Society’s library. Some casual photos of the tour:
Past President Paul Sattler browses some early reports. Paul is particularly interested in the diaries of the early explorers for their observations about the condition of the native vegetation.
Alisha Steward pores over the early records of the Society’s proceedings. We concluded that for all the advantage that modern electronic systems confer, the members of the Society in the late 1800s were more meticulous in their record-keeping!
A sample of the collection.