Martin Brocklehurst
Chair, Policy Working Group, European Citizen Science Association

This special event at Plenty Gorge, hosted by the new Banyule-Nillumbik and Whittlesea Tech Schools, will feature experts talking about how to monitor wildlife numbers using a range of methods, including collecting DNA samples from the environment that can tell us the range of animals that live there. We’ll also be hearing about their work and sharing the special knowledge they’ve attained through years of study and exploration.

The Let’s Torque Grand Final returns to the Royal Society of Victoria for another night of top quality presentations by the next generation of STEM communicators. Come along to learn from our finalists about some of the most exciting STEM solutions and mingle with members of the STEM communication community!

In large part, racism stems from the human brain’s tendency to engage in prejudice, a process that allows our brains to make judgments based on visual information in milliseconds. These preconceived opinions about other people are not based on reason or experience but on instinct — and they have a basis in neuroscience. But why does the brain do this? More importantly, can we use what we known about the neuroscience of prejudice to overcome this reaction, potentially developing methods to combat prejudice and end racism? Join Dr. Larry Sherman, a Professor of Neuroscience at the Oregon Health & Science University, who will explain how our brains react to people who are “different” and explore possible ways to overcome the automatic prejudice that contributes to racism in our society.

Let’s Torque and Sisters in Science are joining forces to deliver an exciting panel discussion on a topic that humans have puzzled over for centuries: space exploration. We’ll be asking what humans are doing in space currently, why we’re there, and what we might find. We’ll ponder the implications of humanity entering space and visiting other planets, and weigh up the pros and cons in an interactive dialogue.