The unassuming frontage along Blackburn Road in Clayton, Victoria, masks a hidden gem of Australian research infrastructure. Long gone is 1957’s iconic Clayton Metro Twin drive-in theatre. Today, the twin projectors have been replaced with a state-of-the-art light source a million times brighter than the Sun; a particle accelerator the size of a football field, the Australian Synchrotron.
Backyard beekeeping has become quite popular, supporting food production and promoting pro-environmental behaviour, meaning people are more likely to take care of the broader environment. But European honeybees can pose risks to wild pollinators in our cities. They are not a replacement for wild, native bees, which are essential for maintaining biodiversity in Australia’s urban ecosystems.
De-extinction is not simply about putting a carbon-copy of an 1800’s thylacine back into the Tasmanian ecosystem. The thylacine co-evolved within that ecosystem over many thousands of years, and its role remains intact. Returning the native apex predator to that environment has the potential to stabilise it, and even save other endangered marsupials.
This report and its recommendations from the Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) are released in the context of the EGCMA’s renewal of the Gippsland Lakes Ramsar Site Management Plan, which aims to revisit and reestablish a framework for the maintenance of the Lakes’ unique ecological characteristics through “the promotion of conservation and wise, sustainable use.”
I have extensive experience in leadership in Australian STEMM, including skills in governance and as a Board Director (most recently Vice President of Science and Technology Australia from 2021-2023 and Co-Chair of its Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion committee). I will bring my unique perspectives, expertise, networks, and energy to RSV.
