The 2014 Academy speaker series Science stars of tomorrow began in February with a talk on cosmic magnetism by astronomer Professor Bryan Gaensler FAA. The talk, titled ‘Magnets in the sky’, kicked off the annual series, which showcases young scientists and coincides with the Academy’s 60th anniversary year.
Professor Gaensler is internationally recognised for his groundbreaking work on dying stars, interstellar magnets and cosmic explosions. He is an Australian Laureate Fellow at The University of Sydney and Director of the Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics.
The talk was well received by the 140 attendees. The new series includes more time for questions and interactive discussion than previous series.
The March speaker was mathematician Dr Judy-anne Osborn. Titled ‘Tipping the balance towards scientific thinking, via zombies and maths’, Dr Osborn discussed the innovative ways in which mathematical modelling can be used to explore multiple scenarios – even the outcomes of a zombie apocalypse. There were also 140 attendees at Dr Osborn’s talk.
Dr Osborn is a researcher and lecturer in mathematics at the University of Newcastle, with a PhD from The University of Melbourne, where she joined the ARC Centre of Excellence for Mathematics and Statistics of Complex Systems.
Both talks were livestreamed and have been made available on the Academy’s YouTube channel.
The April presentation will be by Professor Mark Kendall, who will discuss his research on the nanopatch ‒ a needle-free vaccine delivery device. Tickets are available online at the Australian Academy of Science website. Fellows should use the discount code provided. Please contact the events team if you have any queries.
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