Threatened Species Day - Symposium

TSD2018@Melbourne: Awareness, Activism and Action

On September 7, 1936 the last known thylacine died at the Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart. Eighty-two years on, this date is a national day of reflection on the plight of Australian threatened species, as well as a day to celebrate work in threatened species recovery.

The students and staff of The University of Melbourne are involved in a wide variety of activities relating to threatened species and biodiversity. TSD2018@Melbourne brings together a broad cross-section of voices and stories from the personal, professional and academic lives of people inside and outside the University.

Come along and hear about raising awareness of threatened species; the intersection of threatened species with Aboriginal culture and ecological knowledge; environmental activism to protect threatened habitat; the legal and social impact of corporate ecological damage; and the work of those involved in on the ground action and research in threatened species recovery.

To get involved with the Bob Brown Foundation in the Tarkine, join the 2018 BioBlitz. Or attend a Melbourne based Tarkine Action Group Meeting by contacting the Melbourne campaigner Emma Wasson.

Please find downloadable PDF's of each of the presentations below.

Session 1: Why was there a GIANT lobster on campus today?

• Terry Mulhern (Senior Lecturer, School of Biomedical Sciences): A lobster by any other name would taste as sweet
• Rosetta Thomas (palawa kani language Program, Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre): lutaralipina – the giant freshwater crayfish
• Emma Wasson (Melbourne Campaigner, Bob Brown Foundation): ‘Asta’ and the Tarkine/takayna campaign

Session 2: Think global, act local: biodiversity in Parkville and beyond

• Judith Alcorn (Waste Minimisation and Biodiversity Coordinator, Campus Sustainability): Parkville campus biodiversity plan
• Dan Parker (Master’s Candidate, Melbourne School of Design): Prosthetic habitats: designing nesting hollows for the Powerful Owl
• Fiona Haines (Professor, School of Social and Political Sciences): Corporate crime: ecological damage and social injustice
• Brendan Wintle (Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences): Melbourne’s urban threatened species
• Andrew Weeks (Senior Research Fellow, School of BioSciences and Bio21 Institute): Coming to the genetic rescue of our endangered marsupials