What's On at UWA

UWA’s Institute of Advanced Studies, Research Services and the Centre for Software Practice present the inaugural Inquiring Minds public lecture by Peter Quinn, Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, UWA and Director, International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR).

Professor Professor Quinn will review the current status of the international SKA effort following the announcement of the site decision in May this year that saw the project shared between Southern Africa and Australia/NZ. He will outline some of the amazing scientific and technological challenges and opportunities before us in WA as we ramp up to explore the Universe to a depth that will revolutionize our understanding of space and time.

A public lecture by Professor Chris Rapley CBE, Professor of Climate Science, University College London.

In this public lecture Professor Chris Rapley CBE will present a brief overview of the Earth system, and the evidence that human activities, especially our use of fossil fuel energy, are forcing change in the climate system at the global level. He will discuss the risks that this presents to humanity and the current mismatch between the nature and scale of actions that would mitigate climate change and those actually being taken. He will discuss the prospects for adaptation and remediation and also say a few words about communicating climate science, using the London Science Museum’s new “atmosphere” exhibition as an example.

Professor Rapley is visiting Australia as a guest of the UCL School of Energy and Resources, Australia, the university’s graduate school in Adelaide. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/australia/

This lecture is an Inspiring Australia initiative presented by the Institute of Advanced Studies at The University of Western Australia and Scitech.

Cost: Free, but seats are limited. RSVP to [email protected].

SPICE Events are designed to expose high school science teachers to exciting new science by increasing interaction between teachers and researchers at UWA. They provide the opportunity for teachers to engage in current research and learn new ideas for the classroom, and usually contain a range of activities including hands-on lab sessions, field trips or presentations showcasing cutting-edge research. We expect the heightened engagement and interaction between teachers and tertiary scientists to have a significant impact upon the enthusiasm of teachers for science.

See website for dates and further details.

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.

In this one off very special event for Perth, Nobel Laureate Professor Brian Schmidt will describe the discovery that won him and his team the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, and explain how astronomers have used observations to trace the Universe's history back more than 13 billion years, leading them to ponder the ultimate fate of the cosmos.

Where: Octagon Theatre, UWA When: Wednesday September 5th, 7pm (doors open 6:45pm) Cost: Free! Tickets: www.expandinguniverse.eventbrite.com

In 1998 two teams traced back the expansion of the Universe over billions of years and discovered that it was accelerating, a startling discovery that suggests that more than 70% of the cosmos is contained in a previously unknown form of matter, called Dark Energy. In 2011 Professor Brian Schmidt, leader of the High-Redshift Supernova Search Team, was named joint winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics. Brian and his team’s work on the expansion of the Universe fundamentally changed astrophysics – it opened up a whole new area of science and introduced the world to the concept of Dark Energy.

A public lecture by Professor Anne Dell CBE FRS FMedSci, Division of Molecular Biosciences, Imperial College, London.

Cells from all domains of life are shrouded in a sugar-rich layer called the glycocalyx. Acting as “identity tags”, polymers of sugars (called glycans) within the glycocalyx help to control the social and anti-social behaviour of cells. They do this by engaging with glycan-binding proteins (lectins) on other cells to mediate adhesive and signalling events. Such recognition is central to all cell-cell communication.

This talk will focus on how the powerful analytical technique of mass spectrometry can help solve mysteries involving sugar-recognition. In partnership with collaborators worldwide, Professor Dell seeks to determine the biological functions which follow from the intimate molecular interactions of glycans and their lectin partners. She will exemplify the mass spectrometric technologies with accounts of some of these collaborations.

She will address questions such as: How does a parasite camouflage itself against its host immune system? Why are developing foetuses not detected and rejected as “foreign” by their mothers? What are the molecules on the surface of the human egg that engage with the sperm when fertilisation is triggered?

How do pathogens such as the influenza virus specifically infect a target cell? How do defensive white blood cells circulating in the bloodstream know when and where to enter diseased tissues to fight infection? What are the biomedical consequences of mutations in glyco-genes?

Cost: Free. RSVP to [email protected] .

The TwinsUK Cohort is one of the most phenotyped and genotyped cohorts in the world. The cohort is a major international bioresource with much data openly. Professor Chris Hammond, who leads the eye studies at St Thomas’ Hospital, King’s College London where the cohort is based, will illustrate the successes and challenges of identifying genes and pathways involved in complex traits using these modern “omics” technologies. He will discuss his work on Glaucoma, using data from the TwinsUK resource. Glaucoma, the most common untreatable cause of blindness in the world, is an optic neuropathy which affects 10% of the population over the age of 80, and recent genetic studies have identified important pathways in optic nerve susceptibility to damage by raised intraocular pressure.

An 'Inquiring Minds' lecture by Ian McArthur, Winthrop Professor and Head, School of Physics, The University of Western Australia.

This lecture is now at capacity and no more reservations can be taken.

In this talk, S. Thiru, from Intelligent Systems for Medicine Laboratory (ISML), will discuss his research in reassembling robotics and the state of the art. His talk will address some key obstacles facing the realisation of such technology and its future implications. This open-ended talk will address some of the motivations for reassembling robotics and its relationship with artificial intelligence and the biological sciences.

UWA's Postgrad and Honours Expo provides an outstanding opportunity to explore the array of coursework and research programs we offer.

You will also have the chance to learn about admission requirements, scholarships and discuss your options with staff, honours and postgraduate students.

A series of information sessions detailing further postgraduate opportunities will also run alongside the Expo.

The ‘Industry Placement Scholarship’ program consists of a free five-day Residential Camp at UWA from the 3rd-7th December and five days of ‘Industry Placement’ in January, followed by the Reporting back Session on Friday evening the Friday 1st of February 2013.

This science scholarship connects tertiary-bound science students with primary industry scientists, university professionals and exciting career pathways. The Industry Placement forms a vital part of the PICSE scholarship program. It provides an opportunity for winning scholarship students to participate in the real world of research science in the primary industries.

The Industry Placement is organised to take place for one week in January, at a time that is convenient to the host organisation and the student. During this week, scholarship students work alongside research scientists to get a feel for what is happening at the cutting edge of science in the primary industries.

For more information, please contact Belinda Pope on 6488 1646.

Prof Charitha Pattiaratchi (UWA) WAIMOS Infrastructure in the Kimberley

West Australian Integrated Marine Observation System (WAIMOS) is a node of the Integrated Marine Observation System (IMOS) and with recent co-investment from the WA State Government, extended its deployment of infrastructure to the northern waters of Western Australia, including the Kimberley region. In this presentation, the current status of the instrumentation deployed and example data highlights will be presented. The IMOS infrastructure located in these regions includes continental shelf moorings (ADCP, thermistor and water quality loggers) and ocean glider transects for subsurface water properties; passive acoustic sensors for whale monitoring; AUV transects for benthic monitoring and, remotely sensed data products (SST and ocean colour). In the north-west the infrastructure is designed to monitor the influence of north-west shelf region on Leeuwin Current dynamics and the local continental shelf processes. Examples of different processes, identified using the data streams from the Kimberley region will be presented.

Mr Clay Bryce (WA Museum) The WA Museum Woodside Collection Projects (Kimberley): 2008-2015

The WA Museum has been accumulating data on Kimberley marine fauna since 1976. In 2008 the Museum’s Department of Aquatic Zoology decided to ascertain the current state of the region’s marine biodiversity knowledge. With help from Woodside Energy, it embarked on an ambitious program to mine Kimberley marine faunal data from Australian museums, as well as floral records from the WA Herbarium. This resulted in over 60,000 records equating to over 6000 marine species. Augmenting this historical approach is a series of contemporary rapid assessment surveys (2009 – 2014), from Cape Leveque to the WA/NT border, examining 8 faunal taxa and the marine flora. This talk will provide an overview of these marine biodiversity programs.

Glenn Johnson, is an audiologist (hearing specialist) with 20 years experience in clinical practice, consulting and teaching. He will share his fascination with ears, offering attendees a basic run down of ear anatomy with a focus on the amazing and largely unnoticed feats accomplished by the human hearing system. Afterwards participants will have the opportunity to peer inside their own ear canals and see what lurks within! Using a video otoscope we’ll project live video footage of one of your most intimate body parts onto the big screen.

Those who are excited by this “opportunity” (even in a morbid or squirmy sort of way) are encouraged to join the seminar at SymbioticA to find out about Glenn's work.

Dinosaurs ruled the planet for hundreds of millions of years. So what dramatic change occurred nearly 66 million years ago to cause their mass extinction? Perhaps the shower of dust from an asteroid impact blocked out the light from the sun. Perhaps volcano emissions resulted in a change in climate. There is much debate over these topics, and at this lecture, geochronologist Dr Fred Jourdan will guide us through the myths and facts. He will discuss evidence for such volcanoes and asteroid impacts, as well as studies of other mass extinctions, and show us how several factors probably contributed to the dinosaurs’ demise. Fred is a Senior Research Fellow at the John de Laeter Centre of Mass Spectrometry and Department of Applied Geology at Curtin University. He is also the Director of the Western Australian Argon Isotope Facility, dedicated to dating Earth processes using argon geochronolology. Fred uses chemistry to study large volcanic provinces and impact events, in order to discover their relationship with mass extinctions. 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.

Date: Monday 24 September Time: Doors open 6.00pm, lecture 6.30-7.30pm Location: Lotterywest Science Theatre, Scitech Cost: $5 per person, or free to Scitrekkers. The fee includes time in Scitech’s Explore-a-saurus exhibition which will be open before and after the lecture (6pm-8pm) Bookings recommended by following the link.

If theatre is conceit, can science really be performed or are playwrights and performance makers up to something else?

Vivienne Glance has recently returned from a writer's residency with The Arts Catalyst London and will share that experience with you as well as outline some of the writing techniques, provocations and dramaturgy behind successful science plays and performance works. She will also talk about her own works, Staring at the Sun, which had a reading in London in 2012, and The Cat in the Box, which performed to full houses at The Blue Room Theatre in WA this year.

Vivienne Glance is a writer and theatre practitioner with over 20 years experience. She also has a Bachelor of Science degree. Combining science and performance has been a focus of her theatre practice for many years, and she recently consolidated this through her PhD research.

For those students who have been selected to progress to the interview stage, interviews will be held in the first half of October 2012.

The ‘Industry Placement Scholarship’ program consists of a free five-day Residential Camp at UWA from the 3rd-7th December and five days of ‘Industry Placement’ in January, followed by the Reporting back Session on Friday evening the Friday 1st of February 2013.

This science scholarship connects tertiary-bound science students with primary industry scientists, university professionals and exciting career pathways. The Industry Placement forms a vital part of the PICSE scholarship program. It provides an opportunity for winning scholarship students to participate in the real world of research science in the primary industries.

The Industry Placement is organised to take place for one week in January, at a time that is convenient to the host organisation and the student. During this week, scholarship students work alongside research scientists to get a feel for what is happening at the cutting edge of science in the primary industries.

For more information, please contact Belinda Pope on 6488 1646. Speaker(s)

The reproductive biology of social insects, being the social bees, ants, wasps and termites is truly spectacular, as a number of characteristics reported are either absent or very rare in other species. For example, social insect queens are the world’s record holder for long-term sperm storage and some of them are capable to keep sperm alive for several decades. Furthermore males deliver an ejaculate to the female's sexual tract that consists of sperm and seminal fluid, the latter being also used as weaponry against competing males and to manipulate female reproductive behaviour. However the molecular details of sperm storage, long-term fertility or the chemical warfare between the sexes remain unknown. I provide an overview of ongoing research conducted at the University of Western Australia that uses state of the art molecular technologies as well as field based experiments to unveil some of the secrets of social insect reproduction.

Boris Baer, born in 1969 is an Evolutionary Biologist. He studied Biology at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. After fieldwork on primates in South America (French Guyana) he performed a PhD 1997-2000 at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology (ETH) in Zurich. He then moved as a Postdoctoral Fellow (2001-2004) to the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) and was invited as a Junior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin (Germany). He received a Queen Elizabeth II fellowship and a ARC Future Fellowship from the Australian Research Council, which allowed him to continue his research at the University of Western Australia in Perth. Since 2007 he is also an external collaborator of the Centre for Social Evolution based at Copenhagen University. Since 2008, he coordinates a newly initiated honeybee research group at the University of Western Australia, known as CIBER (The Centre for Integrative Bee Research, see www.ciber.science.uwa.edu.au). The main scientific interest of Boris Baer is the study of sexual reproduction in social insects, especially the way evolution has shaped some of these spectacular mating systems. He uses several social insect models systems for his work such as bumblebees, honeybees and leaf cuttings ants.

It is becoming popular to use biological forms and metaphors in engineering, architecture and design. There are also statements about the efficiency and novelty of biological design; with 20:20 hindsight we see ways in which “nature has done it all before and better than us” and we should “learn from nature”. The apparent efficiency and complexity of natural mechanisms has been used by “intelligent designers/creationists” to challenge evolutionary orthodoxy. Even Darwin struggled to explain the evolution of the eye. I will challenge these orthodoxies by presenting case studies of “unintelligent design”, biological inefficiencies and limitations. I will argue that much of modern medicine is actually about treating the results of developmental and evolutionary compromises and that evolutionary medicine should be a part of any modern medical curriculum. I will discuss how inaccuracies (usually referred to as “natural variation”) are key to evolution and natural selection. How, paradoxically, far from being perfectly adapted biological machines, we may actually be selected and designed to be imperfect.

Stuart Bunt studied Natural Philosophy at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford in the 70’s (anywhere else it would have been called Zoology) being tutored by the likes of Tinbergen, Desmond Morris and Richard Dawkins. A D.Phil in Developmental Neuroscience at the Schools of Anatomy and then Physiology at Oxford (On the role of mechanics in the development of connections between the eye and brain) and an MA (for simply being there) followed. Postdocs in Salt Lake City, and Seattle working on the mammalian visual system led to a Research Associate position in the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston there my research direction changed to spinal cord regeneration. After deportation I got a tenured position in The University of Dundee, Scotland. Following a sabbatical in UWA, I was asked to apply for a position when the school wanted to move into computer aided education and arrived in 1996. Since appointment I founded (with Neville Bruce) the digital histology lab, developed with much success by Geoff Meyer, the Image Analysis Centre (with Miranda Grounds and Sarah Dunlop) now part of Cell Central, and run by Guy Ben Ary; SymbioticA (with Oron Catts and Miranda Grounds) and the Medical Diagnostic Company Paradigm Diagnostics. My research areas are the interface between Art/Science and Engineering and, with Karol Miller’s group in bioengineering, the physical properties of brain and medical imaging. I am one of only three professorial Fellows in Teaching and Learning at UWA. I continue to investigate and mentor in new methods of teaching.

Full registration: $250 Concession: $150

SPECIAL DISCOUNT FOR UWA STAFF AND STUDENTS ONLY – REGISTER FOR $30. NUMBERS ARE LIMITED. ENTER DISCOUNT CODE 'CSYMPUWASS' WHEN REGISTERING.

Applications CLOSE 30th November for the Science Experience 2013. Current year 9 and 10 students apply on-line at the Science Experience website. Late applications will be accepted if a place is available. To check whether a program is fully booked at any time go to www.scienceexperience.com.au/when-where/wa

The Science Experience is a three day program of events for students about to enter Year 10 and Year 11. The program is held Tuesday 15th - Thursday 17th January 2013 and is designed to excite students about science and technology and introduce the students to the variety of career options in science and engineering, with the aim that more will choose to study and pursue a career in science.