Feral Thoughts

RabbitScan month is here - do us a favour and go for a walk

Hopefully all Australian readers know that during May 2009 we are trying to get the community to help us map rabbits in Australia.  It's easy to do and its healthy. You might talk to the kids about the environment and you'll help researchers and pest animal managers down the track.

Go to RabbitScan.net.au to join in.

Prime Minister honours scientists

The Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd and the Minister for Innovation, Kim Carr, honoured scientists and science teachers at a spectacular event in the Great Hall of Parliament House last night.  I'm lucky enough to score an invitation to this terrific night each year and last night's was probably the best ever.

My three highlights from the night were:

• The passion for science evident from the Government.  The PM and Minister both gave excellent speeches, making it clear that they view innovation as one of the keys to Australia's future.  In the midst of the financial crisis, the PM was funny and entertaining as well as crystal clear that we must capture the imagination of young people about science. 
• John Curtin School of Medicine researcher Dr. Carola Vinuesa was an absolute inspiration.  A medical doctor from Spain who decided she could make more of a difference studying the mechanisms of disease rather than just treating them, she is the winner of the Science Minister's Prize for Life Scientist of the Year.  She's done brilliant work on the genetics of autoimmune diseases and had it published in Nature, established her own lab and team and had a couple of children in a remarkably short time.  I think the whole audience, like me, thought "oh great" when she said she was now an Australian citizen.
• Professor Ian Frazer's recognition as the Prime Minister's Prize for Science winner.  Although Ian Frazer has received many honours, it was great to see the recognition of the excellence of the science behind his work.  Professor Frazer's vaccines against the human papilloma virus are the world's first vaccines to prevent a cancer.  He told the audience that he tended to prefer the Courier Mail's caption next to his picture holding the vaccine "God's gift to women" than than the one in Cosmopolitan "the little prick that could save your life".

Other highlight's were Bernie Hobb's fantastic mastering of ceremonies, South Australia's capturing of three awards and (for me) seeing heroes of Australian science, especially previous winner Professor Frank Fenner.

https://grants.innovation.gov.au/SciencePrize/Pages/PrizeWinners.aspx

Darwin a must for vertebrate pest people

The 14th Australasian Vertebrate Pest Conference in Darwin 10-14 June 2008 will be a major event for pest animal scientists and managers.  The program of reviews and symposia will cover areas of interest and significant advances.  All conference events will be held in or around SkyCity Casino in Darwin, the capital of Australia's Northern Territory. 

To register, or find out more, go to http://www.abcon.biz/vertebrate.html

Photo courtesy of NT Tourism.

Managing Bird Damage - 20 September launch

Canberra

The Invasive animals CRC will be hosting a workshop and launch of a new book - Managing Bird Damage to Fruit and Horticultural Crops - on 20 September 2007.  The Minister for Conservation, Senator Eric Abetz, has kindly agreed to launch the book and will speak on a packed program.

John Tracey from NSW DPI (senior author of the book) will speak as will starling guru Dr. Ron Sinclair from South Australia, Brad Wells from Horticulture Australia and David Lowe from the NSW Wine Industry Association as well as a number of others.

The program is cohosted by the Bureau of Rural Sciences who produced the book, and is at 9.00 for 9.30 at the Theatrette of Parliament House.  Everyone is welcome, but you must register with diane.holloway@invasiveanimals.com on 02 6201 2887 for catering purposes.  It should be a very useful networking event for anyone with an interest in bird issues.

CRC Board meets in Brisbane

The Invasive Animals CRC's Board met in Brisbane on 15 August.  The evening before a number of Directors met Queensland-based CRC Participants and attended a seminar by Professor Rob Capon outlining progress on cane toad chemical ecology.

There were few decisions at the meeting that impact directly on Participants.  Directors reviewed the pre-audit annual accountants and examined the operational plan.  They conducted my annual performance review, looked at a range of participant relationship issues and planned for the coming AGM.  The Board examined review papers on intellectual property and the Terrestrial Program.

Directors formally welcomed the appointment of Andreas Glanznig as the CRC's Chief Operating Officer and looked forward to him commencing on 3 September.  Our Finance Manager, Susan Duson was appointed Company Secretary.  The Board congratulated Director Mark Lonsdale on his appointment as Chief of CSIRO's Division of Entomology, and former PAC CRC Director Ed McAlister AO on receiving an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Adelaide.

The next Board meeting will be a brief one ahead of the AGM in Canberra on 24 September and then the new Board will meet in Orange, NSW, on 14 November.

14th Australasian Vertebrate Pest Committee Conference

Darwin is the place to be in June 2008.  The Vertebrate Pest Committee hosts a conference every three years and Darwin is set to be a beauty.  The Organising Committee is calling for symposia topics, review proposals and suggestions for sessions now and will pull together a program that covers the gamete of invasive animal issues facing the region.  To find out more, go to http://www.abcon.biz/vertebrate.html