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Resurrecting our Native Icons

Held on the 21st Mar 2023

at 6pm to
7:15pm

, Southern Tasmania; Online


Add to Calendar 2023-03-21 18:00:00 2023-03-21 19:15:00 Australia/Sydney Resurrecting our Native Icons Join our experts for a lively discussion about the benefits and risks of re-introducing Tasmania's extinct species. Sir Stanley Burbury Theatre, Dobson Road, Sandy Bay, Hobart
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Venue:

Sir Stanley Burbury Theatre, Dobson Road, Sandy Bay, Hobart

Summary:

Join our experts for a lively discussion about the benefits and risks of re-introducing Tasmania's extinct species.

Presenter(s):

  • Professor Greg Lehman, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Aboriginal Leadership, University of Tasmania 
  • Professor Barry Brook, Professor and Chair of Environmental Sustainability, ARC Australian Laureate Fellow, 2016-2021, University of Tasmania
  • Associate Professor Hannah Stark, Associate Professor of English in Humanities, University of Tasmania
  • Doctor Tristan Derham, Research Associate, ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage Policy Hub, University of Tasmania

Have you wondered what it would be like to encounter a Thylacine or Tasmanian Emu in the wild?

These iconic species were once abundant in Tasmania but have since vanished. Now, experts say we could bring them back. But is this a good idea? What are the potential benefits and risks? What would the ethical, cultural, and ecological implications be?

Join our experts for a lively discussion about the future of Tasmania's extinct icons.


Complimentary Refreshments

All are welcome to join us for complimentary refreshments from 5.30pm in the foyer. The  event will start at 6.00pm.


Attend online or in-person

Join this talk in-person, or online. Registrations are essential. To register for the in-person event, secure your spot through Eventbrite. To attend online, register via Zoom, and we'll email you details on how to join.


Professor Barry Brook
Barry Brook, a conservation ecologist and modeller, is Professor of Environmental Sustainability at the University of Tasmania (since 2014) and an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow. He previously held the Sir Hubert Wilkins Chair of Climate Change at the University of Adelaide. An ISI Highly Cited author, he has published three books, 390 refereed papers, three edited volumes, and regularly writes popular articles for the media. His awards include the 2006 Australian Academy of Science Fenner Medal, the 2010 Community Science Educator of the Year and the 2013 Scopus Researcher of the Year. His work focuses on the causes and consequences of extinction, analysis of energy systems, deep learning and artificial intelligence, and models of the synergies of human interactions with the biosphere. In his spare time he enjoys astrophotography, chickens, and looking after his Huon Valley bush block.


Professor Greg Lehman
Greg Lehman is a well-known Tasmanian art historian, curator, essayist and commentator on Indigenous identity and place. Descended from the Trawulwuy people of north east Tasmania, Greg has an intimate relationship with the island’s Indigenous culture and his creative works explore the impact of colonisation on Tasmania’s social fabric. Prior to his appointment as Pro Vice Chancellor, Aboriginal Leadership at the University of Tasmania in January 2020, Greg was a McKenzie Research Fellow at the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne.

Greg first graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of Science in 1984, majoring in Life Sciences and Geography. In 2012, Greg was awarded a Roberta Sykes Indigenous Education Scholarship to complete a Masters in the History of Art and Visual Cultures at Balliol College, University of Oxford, where he researched the work of colonial artist Benjamin Duterrau. He received the 2016 AAANZ award for ‘Best Art Writing by an Indigenous Australian for his essay Benjamin Duterrau: the Art of Conciliation. He completed his PhD at the University of Tasmania’s Academy of the Arts in 2017. Greg’s thesis, Regarding the Savage, explored the understanding of Aboriginal culture, history and identity through visual history.


Doctor Tristan Derham
Tristan guides the Education and Training functions of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Biodiversity and Heritage's public policy engagement team, encouraging academic policy engagement and investigating policy issues such as conservation translocations and rewilding. Tristan's research is focussed on conservation and restoration policies. He brings the methods and discoveries of ecology and environmental philosophy to bear on problems raised by contemporary conservation and restoration practices, including the restoration of wildness and autonomy in nature, the harming of animals for conservation outcomes, and the reinstitution of Indigenous cultural practices. Tristan has published research papers on rewilding, biological invasions, animal refugees, and the historical distribution of emus.


Associate Professor Hannah Stark

Associate Professor Hannah Stark is a critical and cultural theorist who utilises Humanities methodologies to address pressing social and political issues such as climate change and the extinction crisis. Recently she edited Extinction and Memorial Culture: Reckoning with Species Loss in the Anthropocene (Routledge 2023) and she is currently writing a book called Extinction in Public. She is the lead CI on ARC discovery project “Beyond Extinction: Reconstructing the Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) Archive”.




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