A healthy planet recordings

Burning lessons from Country: ancient and new understanding of bushfires

To reduce the frequency and impact of bushfires, we need better understanding of their behaviour and how we can manage it. We can improve our understanding by studying wildfires, by conducting careful experiments, and by learning from Indigenous peoples who have long used fire to care for Country. Join two scientists exploring these approaches, live from the University’s Creswick campus – on Dja Dja Wurrung land – a centre for forest research since 1910 that now houses a world-class fire laboratory.

The science of beer and winemaking in a changing climate

Beer and wine were originally developed by trial and error, using living organisms to ferment grains and fruits – an ancient form of biotechnology. Explore how new scientific knowledge is improving process efficiency and product quality in modern brewing and winemaking, and discover how Australian winemakers are adapting to a changing climate.

Hunting weather history to prepare for the future

Do you keep a diary? Maybe you document what you did, how you felt, or even what the weather was like. Imagine if, in 200 years, someone used your diary to recreate the weather you experienced! In this masterclass we will explore the good, bad and ugly of Australia’s weather history, and explain how dusty old diaries (maybe like yours) can help us prepare for a hotter and more extreme future.

Sensational food science: BYO coriander seeds

Have you had a meal that looked great, but tasted horrible – or vice versa? Do you like the colour of raspberries? The smell of coffee? The taste of anchovies? The texture of porridge? The sizzle of sausages? What shapes our food experiences, memories, and preferences? Why are some food pairings fabulous and others foul? What is flavour and how do you measure smells? Bring a few coriander seeds for an experiment and expect answers… and some strange sensations.

Mapping the geology of Melbourne

Join Professor Mark Quigley to uncover how the earth under the City of Melbourne was shaped and how this impacts development today. Joining Professor Quigley is Michael Heath and Dr Michael Webster from Golder Associates.

Cretaceous polar life

Find out what types of forests and animals (dinosaurs!) existed over 100 million years ago in Victoria and how we know about these ancient polar ecosystems.

No longer just bones - Palaeontology in the 21st-century

What actually happens on a dig hunting for fossils, and what scientists do after they find them? Learn how ancient pollen preserved for millions of years can help reconstruct past climates and even help us understand what a daily menu may have looked like for dinosaurs.

Model citizens: How mathematicians are helping the planet

To avert catastrophic climate change and preserve our biodiversity, nations, industries, communities, and individuals must swiftly deploy a wide range of tactics and technologies. Our panel of mathematical eco-warriors will share how they are using the power of numbers and new powerful models to help protect life on Earth.

Growing an urban woody meadow

Discover a new approach to urban greening using Australian shrublands as a template. These “woody meadows” are low-cost and resilient naturalistic plantings of Australian shrubs to improve the appearance and function of low-maintenance landscapes

Can biology save our coral reefs?

Our coral reefs are in decline, with the increasing frequency, intensity and duration of mass-bleaching events during summer heatwaves a global catastrophe in the making.

How will we predict hazardous weather in the future

As demonstrated by the events of 2019 and 2020, Australia experiences a range of hazardous weather events, like storms, floods and fire weather, which have enormous societal and economic impacts. As our climate changes, many of these hazards will increase in frequency and/or intensity.

Dating Australia's oldest rock art

The 12,700-year-old painting of a kangaroo and the wasp nests that helped to date it. In this talk, Dr Helen Green will discuss the different scientific techniques being used to date Australia’s rock art and the importance of integrating traditional knowledges and western science.

On the origins of old growth

In this talk, Professor Patrick Baker will discuss the common features of old-growth forests, explore widely used conceptual models of old-growth forest development, and review the available empirical evidence on how old-growth forests around the world develop.

History repeating: How the past can help us prepare for a warmer future

What can extreme weather and climate events from the last 100, 100000 and 1 million years tell us about future climate change, and how we can respond? In this panel discussion featuring interdisciplinary researchers from across the new School of Geography, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, we will let the past tell us what to look for in the future.

Glow in the dark: Using fluorescence to observe DNA in a living cell

In this lecture, Dr Elizabeth Hinde will show how physics allows us to uncover, in real time, the spatial reorganisation of the DNA network that seems to serve as an epigenetic layer of control for gene expression.

Avoiding disaster: Can science protect us from bushfires?

Oh boy, here comes El Niño!

Don’t let the cute names fool you: El Niño (‘the little boy’) and La Niña (‘the little girl’) can have devastating impacts. These oscillating phases of a massive ocean-atmosphere interaction strongly influence Australia’s year-to-year climate variability, driving floods, droughts, and bushfires. How will global warming affect this?

Volcanoes: from distant ancestors to diamonds

What do diamonds in volcanoes tell us about deep, dark places? What can we learn about human evolution by studying volcanoes in Africa? Meet Dr Hayden Dalton! Hayden, a renowned geologist who has been traveling the depths of Africa will wow attendees with stories about how volcanoes can be used to constrain the timing of human evolution and how diamond-carrying volcanoes can reveal the secrets of the Earth’s interior.