Calendar of Meetings 2021

Wednesday,
3 February 

6.30pm AEDT

1290^th Ordinary General Meeting and Open Lecture:
2020 Jak Kelly Award and RSNSW Scholarship Winner Presentations

Venue: Zoom Webinar

Controlling how electrons move in silicon at the atomic scale
Mr Matthew Donnelly — Jak Kelly Award Winner
PhD Student, Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, UNSW (Sydney)

3D Printing for Microfluidics (TBC)
Mr Sajad Razavi Bazaz — RSNSW Scholarship Winner
PhD Student, School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney

Molecular mechanisms of inflammasome activation by enterotoxins of the foodborne pathogen Bacillus cereus
Mr Daniel Fox — RSNSW Scholarship Winner
PhD Student, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University

Improving the treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in refugees: The important role of emotion regulation
Ms Phillipa Specker — RSNSW Scholarship Winner
PhD Student, School of Psychology, UNSW (Sydney)

Wednesday,
3 March 

6.30pm AEDT

1291^st Ordinary General Meeting and Open Lecture

Venue: Zoom Webinar

What are the best options for growing Australia’s mental health through the COVID-19 recovery?
Professor Ian Hickie AM FRSN FASSA FAHMS
Co-Director (Health and Policy), Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney

Wednesday,
7 April

6.00pm AEST

154^th Annual General Meeting (6.00 pm)
1292^nd Ordinary General Meeting and Open Lecture (immediately following)

Venue: Zoom Webinar

Antarctica, this ain’t no mirage: The value of art in disseminating scientific information
Lea Kannar-Lichtenberger
Artist, exploring connections between science and art practice

Thursday,
15 April

6.00pm AEST

Ideas@theHouse: April 2021

Venue: Zoom Webinar

Australia and the Dickens Boys
Thomas Keneally AO DistFRSN

Wednesday,
5 May

6.30pm AEST

1293^rd Ordinary General Meeting and Open Lecture

Venue: Zoom Webinar

Big, bad fires in NSW
Emerita Professor Mary O’Kane AC FRSN FTSE HonFIEAust
Chair, Independent Planning Commission of NSW and former Chief Scientist and Engineer of NSW

Wednesday,
2 June

6.30pm AEST

1294^th Ordinary General Meeting and Open Lecture

Venue: Zoom Webinar

Murray-Darling Basin turmoil: past, present and future
Professor Richard Kingsford FRSN
Director, Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW (Sydney)

Wednesday,
7 July

6.30pm AEST

1295^th Ordinary General Meeting and Open Lecture

Venue: Zoom Webinar

Society as an information-processing system, and the influence of the media
Dr Erik Aslaksen FRSN
Physicist, Systems Engineer, and Author

Thursday,
22 July

6.00pm AEST

Ideas@theHouse: July 2021

Venue: Zoom Webinar

Music as a Superfood: How music can help us live longer, sleep better, calm down, find flow, and feel happier
Greta J, Bradman
Writer, broadcaster and psychologist

Wednesday
4 August 

6.30pm AEST

1296^th Ordinary General Meeting and Open Lecture

Venue: Zoom Webinar

An intimate history of evolution: From genesis to genetic with a scientific dynasty
Professor Alison Bashford FRSN FAHA FBA FRHistS
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UNSW (Sydney)

Tuesday
24 August 

Time TBA

2021 Clarke Lecture of the Royal Society of NSW 

Venue: Macquarie University (C122, 25 Wally Walk) and live streaming – POSTPONED

From bulldozers, pests, and pathogens to climate change and urban futures: the tough life of plants
Distinguished Professor Michelle Leishman 
Director, Smart Green Cities, Macquarie University

Wednesday,
1 September

6.30pm AEST

1297^th Ordinary General Meeeting and Open Lecture

Venue: Zoom Webinar

Taking humour and laughter seriously: Exploring the multi-disciplinary field of humour studies 
Dr Jessica Milner Davis FRSN
Honorary Associate, School of Literature, Art and Media, University of Sydney

Wednesday,
6 October

6.30pm AEDT

1298^th Ordinary General Meeting and Open Lecture

Venue: Zoom Webinar

Topic: Privacy and identity in an AI world 
Scientia Professor Toby Walsh FAA FACM FAAAS
School of Computer Science and Engineering, UNSW (Sydney)

Thur./Fri., 
4+5 Nov.

9.00am – 12.30pm AEDT

Royal Society of NSW and Learned Academies Annual Forum

Venue: Live Streaming and subsequent availability on YouTube

Topic: Power and Peril of the Digital Age

Wednesday
1 December

6.30pm AEDT

1299^th Ordinary General Meeting and Open Lecture

Venue: Zoom Webinar

Managing psychological distress in times of stress: handling the stress of COVID-19 and all that
Scientia Professor Richard Bryant AC FASSA FAA FAHMS — James Cook Medal Winner 2020
School of Psychology, UNSW (Sydney)

Tuesday,
26 May

Time: 5.30pm

Hunter Branch Meeting 2021-1 and Lecture
Jointly with the University of Newcastle as part of the Looking Ahead — In Conversation Series

Venue: University of Newcastle and Live Streaming

On readying our region for low emissions technology
Dr Alan Finkel AO FAA FTSE
Former Chief Scientist of Australia 

Wednesday
30 June

Time: 4.00pm for 5.00pm

Hunter Branch Meeting 2021-2 and Lecture

Venue: Noah’s on the Beach

Extreme bushfires and the age of violent pyroconvection
Professor Jason Sharples
Director, Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC
UNSW Canberra

Wednesday
25 August

Time: TBA

Hunter Branch Meeting 2021-3 and Lecture

Venue: to be advised

Royal Commission for Ageing and the care and welfare of the elderly
Professor Kathy Eagar
Director, Australian Health Services Research Institute
University of Wollongong

Wednesday
29 September

Time: TBA

Hunter Branch Meeting 2021-4 and Lecture

Venue: To be advised

Topic: To be advised
Mr Nathan Towney
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Strategy and Leadership)
University of Newcastle

Thursday,
18 February

Time: 6.30pm

Southern Highlands Branch Lecture 2021-1

Venue: RSL Mittagong, Carrington Room

The five islands off Port Kembla — a historical and ecological study
Dr Kevin Mills
Botanist and Ecologist 

Thursday,
18 March

Time: 6.30pm

Southern Highlands Branch Lecture 2021-2

Venue: RSL Mittagong, Carrington Room

The general development of the Sydney Basin Coast and its recent history since the last ice age
Dr Howard Brady

Thursday,
15 April

Time: 6.30pm

Southern Highlands Branch Lecture 2021-3

Venue: RSL Mittagong, Nattai/Joadja Room

Particle radiation therapy and human space exploration: commonality in challenges and solutions
Professor Anatoly Rosenfeld
University of Wollongong 

Thursday,
20 May

Time: 6.30pm

Southern Highlands Branch Lecture 2021-4

Venue: RSL  Mittagong

Burnout  — the hottest issue
Professor Gordon Parker AO
Scientia Professor of Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney

Thursday,
17 June

Time: 6.30pm

Southern Highlands Branch Lecture 2021-5

Venue: RSL Mittagong, Carrington Room

Reach for the Skies
Max La Galle
Materials science student, UNSW (Sydney) 

Thursday,
15 July

Time: 6.30pm

Southern Highlands Branch Lecture 2021-6

Venue: RSL Mittagong (CANCELLED due to the July Greater Sydney Lockdown)

Neutron scattering and the ANSTO WOMBAT project
Dr Helen Maynard-Casely
Instrument Scientist, ANSTO 

Thursday,
19 August

Time: 6.30pm

Southern Highlands Branch Lecture 2021-7

Venue: to be advised

Topic: Transgenerational Epigenetics
Alyson Ashe
  

Tuesday,
19 October

Time: 1.00pm

Western NSW Branch Meeting 2021-1

Venue: Zoom Webinar

With the Falling of Disk
Professor Stan Grant
Vice-Chancellor’s Chair of Australian-Indigenous Belonging
Charles Stuart University