The Royal Societies of Australia has announced a major national conference on food security, to be held in Melbourne on Thursday 7 October 2026 and Friday 8 October.

Many changes swirling around us will influence food security and reshape our food systems. We will see cascading impacts from geopolitical shocks, climate and weather changes, biodiversity losses, demographic and technological changes. Here is your chance to gain a better understanding of the challenges we are facing, and to how things must change, so that we seize on opportunities rather than waiting to be overwhelmed by events beyond our control.

The conference program addresses some important questions:

• How should we change our food production systems?
• Is our reliance on international trading still a good idea?
• Are our laws and incentives still fit for purpose?
• What difference will demographic and technological changes make?
• Should we be changing how we deal with poverty and health issues?

Discussions will be led by expert speakers with the aim of finding a new framework for the future.  Food producers, agriculturalists, logistics experts, demographers, sociologists, researchers and government agencies will all be able to contribute. The aims include generating awareness of the changing world that provides the context for challenges to our food security and to our food systems, while highlighting the problems we will face from trying to continue with a business-as-usual approach, or from just making marginal changes within our existing policy framework.

The conference also aims to make a useful contribution into the Feeding Australia: A National Food Security Strategy deliberations, into the AgriFutures project Systems Thinking: how agriculture can drive national resilience and into decision making affecting inequality issues, the structure of the Australian economy and Australia’s international relations.

See the RSA website for further details and to register.

PAPERS ARE NOW INVITED FOR PROCEEDINGS 136

MANUSCRIPT NOTIONAL DEADLINE 1 JULY 2027.

Volume 135, the 2026 volume, is now being compiled and authors are now steered towards volume 136. Scholarly articles including research articles, short communications, historical reviews and opinion pieces will remain the mainstay of the Proceedings. The journal also publishes book reviews and obituaries. The Society welcomes abstracts of completed dissertations by recent students in the sciences from any Queensland university, especially honours and masters-by-coursework students whose work is unlikely to enter the peer-reviewed literature.

Intending authors are invited to contact the Editor by email: editor@royalsocietyqld.org.au. Please consult the 2026 Guide to Authors before submitting a paper.  Papers must conform to the (modified APA) style specified in the Guide. All articles are assigned a DOI reference number.

Please distribute the Call for Papers to colleagues and scientifically-minded friends.

Research Director of The Royal Society of Queensland, Dr Nelson Quinn, has announced the successful applicants for grants from Round 8 of the Society’s Research Fund.

Zijun Li (Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane) will be assessing the impact on our healthcare system and costs due to bushfire-related very small particles in the air in Queensland, an increasing problem if bushfires continue to increase. This knowledge can help inform targeted policies to mitigate the adverse effect of these particles.

Emily Smith (University of Queensland, Brisbane) is researching when, how and where ticks produce alpha-gal in their saliva, the cause of life-threatening allergic reactions to products of non-human mammals and some cancer treatment drugs, and of adverse effects on the cardio-vascular system. The prevalence of alpha-gal syndrome has been increasing, likely driven by rapid land use changes in peri-urban areas.

Ji Zhang (University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba) aims to develop an AI-enhanced data integration platform in collaboration with Indigenous communities to enhance preventative health measures for Indigenous communities on the Darling Downs.

Cecilia Villacorta-Rath (James Cook University, Townsville) is studying how to improve methods for aiding eradication efforts of invasive ant species, such as yellow crazy ants. More cost-effective and simpler ways of processing DNA collected from the environment will assist in determining the success of eradication efforts, particularly in remote areas.

Bridget Nolan (James Cook University, Townsville) will examine predator-prey dynamics involving great hammerhead sharks, the predators, and white spotted eagle rays and cowtail rays, the prey, in intertidal ecosystems. This research will provide knowledge necessary to formulate effective management strategies for intertidal flat habitats and the species that depend upon them.

Christina Birnbaum (University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba) aims to increase understanding of how knowledge of mycorrhizal fungal communities can facilitate the conservation and restoration of eucalypt forests, the most widely distributed forest ecosystems in Australia.

Viviana Gonzalez-Astudillo (University of Queensland, Gatton) is investigating the cause of skin and facial tumours in tree frogs from North Queensland. The work will contribute to ecosystem health monitoring and effective conservation strategies, as well as revealing the extent and role of toxicants and cancer-causing viruses in the environment.

Dr Quinn added that “There were more than 20 other worthy applicants that we could not support this time.” This number is a sad commentary on the state of funding of Australian science.

“The Research Fund is supported by donations. There are continuing calls for greater investment in research supporting our natural environment and how we interact with it.  Queensland has unique needs and many eager and talented researchers. We want to increase the numbers of researchers we can help. Donations are tax deductible.”

For more information about the Research Fund, see https://www.royalsocietyqld.org/research/