About our artwork for Science at the Shine Dome 2024

In celebration of Australian science and Science at the Shine Dome 2024, the Academy’s 70th anniversary montage image showcases scientific disciplines that impact us every day. It includes elements representing states and the ACT, with a nod to the 70-year history of the Australian Academy of Science. Represented in the lower right corner (left to right) are three key historical figures generated from portraits using AI: Sir Ian Potter (elected in 1978), a significant benefactor of Australian scientific institutions and Academy Fellow; Professor Dorothy Hill, the first female Fellow (1956) and first female Academy President (1970); and Professor Sir Mark Oliphant, the Academy’s founding President (1954).

Each of the following is represented by iconic buildings and emblems:

• ACT – the Shine Dome and Parliament House
• NSW – the Sydney Opera House and harbour
• QLD – the Great Barrier Reef
• SA – Sturt’s desert pea
• TAS – Tasmanian devil and Cradle Mountain
• VIC – the Melbourne Observatory
• WA – black swans and the kangaroo paw plant

The butterfly illustration was sourced from the Academy archives, ‘Australian Lepidoptera and their transformations’. Professor Mark Oliphant’s image is also from the Academy archives. Help make history with us by supporting the digitisation of our valuable and unique archives.

With thanks for the following images to:

• UNSW: M2 CubeSat image, featured in the Australia in Space Decadal Plan. This satellite was almost entirely designed and built in Australia in a collaboration between the Air Force, UNSW Canberra Space and a domestic supply chain of around 30 Australian companies.
• ANSTO: Scientists Dr Pauline Treble and Ms Carol Taros collecting water samples in the Jenolan caves, featured in the Women in STEM Decadal Plan.
• A. Chinn (copyright Commonwealth of Australia, (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority): Research scientist taking note of coral growth on Wheeler Reef, featured in the Reef Futures Roundtables Report.
• Biodiversity library (page/50449604): Image of the white flower, Illustrationes florae Novae Hollandiae, sive Icones generum quae in prodromo florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen descripsit Robertus Brown.
• Ian Potter Foundation: Sir Ian Potter’s portrait
• National Archives of Australia: Professor Dorothy Hill

The montage image was created by graphic designer Leah Albert for the Australian Academy of Science.

More about Science at the Shine Dome 2024

• Read the event highlights
• Watch the livestreams
• Read the event program (PDF 8mb)
• Visit the event website
• Follow the action on X (formerly Twitter): #ShineDome24 and Academy.