PUBLIC LECTURE: Lecturesaurus: Why is a duck a dinosaur?

Join us for a live dinosaur dissection with Curtin University’s Associate Professor Kate Trinajstic. Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops haven't walked the planet for 65 million years, but are dinosaurs all extinct? The 2010 Prime Minister’s prize winner will dissect a barbecue duck to show that avian dinosaurs are alive and well today, and discuss her own research on fossil fish. Kate is an ARC QEII fellow at the Department of Chemistry at Curtin University and an expert in vertebrate palaeontology and fossil fish. In 2005, she and her team discovered that fish living 380 million years ago in the Gogo Barrier Reef in the Kimberley Ranges actually gave birth to live young, with a preserved mother fish fossil showing an intact embryo and umbilical cord. In 2010 she was awarded the Malcolm McIntosh Award for Physical Science at the Prime Minister’s Science Prizes ceremony for her groundbreaking work on preserving fossilised fish.

This lecture is part of a series of public lectures in which local scientists will provide insight into some of the fascinating research in the world of palaeontology and extinct animals. The lecture series coincides with Scitech’s current feature exhibition Explore-a-saurus, and each lecture will include time before and after the lectures to step back in time and walk amongst the dinosaurs.

Time: Doors open 6.00pm, lecture 6.30-7.30pm Location: Lotterywest Science Theatre, Scitech Cost: $5 per person, or free to Scitrekker members. The fee includes time in Scitech’s Explore-a-saurus exhibition which will be open before and after the lecture (6pm-8pm). Bookings are essential by following the link.