Join us for the Melbourne edition of this year’s global March for Science event, hosted by the Royal Society of Victoria. Bring a picnic lunch and a poster to celebrate science with us, and join in a panel discussion that will challenge and inspire you to be a better advocate for science.

We’ve all seen examples of individuals, groups and governments ignoring or denying the best available science and making decisions that have put us all at greater risk of harm. Consider the anti-vaccination phenomenon, outcomes of government policies in the Murray-Darling basin, and the inadequacy of government policy and action on energy and climate change, and so on…

We can all do better than this!

We must continually improve our advocacy for science for the public good. This is a critical time as the federal election gives us all an opportunity to hold candidates to account for science, health, energy and environment policies, and especially our response to climate change.

The picnic, 12:30 to 4 pm will be on the grounds of the Royal Society of Victoria (or on the ground floor of the building in case of wet weather – limited space!). This will be free, but you will need to bring your own everything. There will be a poster competition with prizes to be awarded at about 3:30 pm. This is an opportunity to be creative *and* civil in your poster making. The panel discussion will be livecast for people outside attending the picnic, or anywhere.

The panel discussion will be 2:00 to 3:30 pm, followed by tea and biscuits, for a $5 fee. Our host is Mike Flattley, CEO of the Royal Society of Victoria.

Our Panellists:

• Dr Amy Edwards (Homeward Bound 3; Postdoctoral Research Officer, Ecology, Environment & Evolution, Latrobe University)
• Dr Anita Goh (Homeward Bound 3; Superstars of STEM 2019; Clinical Neuropsychologist and Research Fellow, National Ageing Research Institute Neuropsychiatry Unit, Royal Melbourne Hospital. Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age, The University of Melbourne)
• Dr Kudzai Kanhutu (Superstars of STEM 2019; Infectious diseases physician, Telehealth Clinical lead, Deputy Medical Information Officer, Royal Melbourne Hospital. University of Melbourne)
• Mr Simon Pampena (Math & Science Communicator, Comedian, Writer, Researcher, Presenter with Discovery International’s Outrageous Acts of Science, Australian Numeracy Ambassador 2009-2017)