Past Events › New South Wales

Murray-Darling Basin turmoil: past, present, and future Professor Richard Kingsford FRSN Professor of Environmental Science Director, Centre for Ecosystem Science, UNSW (Sydney) The Murray-Darling Basin is Australia's most developed river system, supporting extensive irrigation industries, pastoralists, traditional owner communities, fishers, tourism and ecosystems. More than a century of river development through the building of dams, development of floodplains, and diversion of water has had devastating impacts on ecosystem services and [...]

Extreme bushfires and the age of violent pyroconvection Professor Jason Sharples School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences UNSW (Canberra) Over the last few decades, Australia and other fire prone parts of the world have seen an apparent increase in the occurrence of large destructive bushfires, such as those experienced during the 2019/20 Black Summer. These fires defy suppression, consistently result in the loss of life and property, and further [...]

Ideas@theHouse: July 2021 Presented by Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor of NSW “Music as a Superfood: How music can help us live longer, sleep better, calm down, find flow, and feel happier” Greta J. Bradman Writer, broadcaster and psychologist About the talk: Greta Bradman will discuss how music can help us live longer, sleep better, calm down, find flow, and feel happier. The talk will include explorations of the [...]

The Intimate History of Evolution: The Huxleys 1825–1975 Professor Alison Bashford FRSN FAHA FRHistS FBA Laureate Professor of History UNSW (Sydney) For webinar registration and details...read more.  At Life Magazine’s 1947 photoshoot, Julian Huxley self-consciously arranged himself in front of a portrait of his grandfather, Thomas Henry Huxley. In the foreground, a well-known mid-twentieth century science writer, zoologist, conservationist—that generation’s David Attenborough. In the background, a mid-nineteenth century natural scientist – Darwin’s [...]

Our Energy Future: The Unrecognised Opportunity in Glasgow — In Two Acts Part 1: Context and Castles Part 2: Crushed Rocks Dr Saul Griffith FRSN including a conversation with Dr Adi Paterson FRSN This year, from 1–12 November 2021, Glasgow, Scotland will host the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. “Glasgow” is the current shorthand for this meeting — which [...]

Did the Aged Care Royal Commission provide a blueprint to fix Australia's aged care system? If not, what else needs to happen? Professor Kathy Eagar Director, Australian Health Services Research Institute University of Wollongong Summary:  We all are aware of the deficiencies that have been exposed by the Royal Commission into Aged Care. Since 1997, aged care has been managed by the Department of Health and it could be argued that it [...]