Dr Duane Hamacher

Senior Research Fellow, Monash University Indigenous Studies Centre

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people developed a number of practical ways to observe the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets to inform navigation, calendars, predict weather, and inform Law and social structure. This knowledge contains a significant scientific component, which is encoded in oral traditions and material culture.

This talk will explore the many ways in which Indigenous Australians encode scientific information in their traditions and some of the ways in which they pass this knowledge to successive generations.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Dr Duane Hamacher is an astronomer and Senior Research Fellow at the Monash University Indigenous Studies Centre. He specialises in Indigenous astronomical and geological knowledge in Australia and the Pacific.

THE NORTHERN STEM NETWORK:

This event is generously hosted by St Monica’s College in support of a new Northern STEM Network, to be convened by the new Whittlesea & Banyule-Nillumbik Tech Schools. These exciting new Schools bring 21st century learning to the network of local secondary schools, and also act as a “Science and Innovation Hub” for the Victorian Inspiring Australia program.

Proceeds from the evening will be directed to building an open and inclusive new community program for people of all ages and cultural backgrounds in Melbourne’s northern metropolitan region to engage with exciting new skills and emerging knowledge in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).