AMplify - Conversations at the Australian Museum

Australian Museum CEO and Executive Director Kim McKay in conversation with Paul Flemons, Manager of Digital Collections and Citizen Science at the Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI).

Paul has been instrumental in building the AM’s reputation as a world leader in biodiversity informatics and initiated the award winning DigiVol program.

"The collections that are many hundreds of years old we are now being able to make available not just to the local people who can get into the museum, but to people all around the world who do research on particular taxonomic groups, particular animal groups. Everyone has access to our collections once we make them digital."

Kim McKay talks with Paul Flemons about the highly commended DigiVol program created by the museum.

This week, another LIVE Trailblazers Talk, with Tim Flannery.

An evening with celebrated explorer, scientist, communicator and former Australian of the Year.

Dr Tim Flannery is arguably Australia’s best known scientist and agitator for action on climate change.

From 1984 to 1999, Tim was the Principal Mammal Research Scientist here at the Australian Museum. His work helped extend the Australian mammal fossil record by 80 million years, and his expeditions to remote areas of Papua New Guinea resulted in the discovery of 16 species and many subspecies of mammal, particularly tree kangaroos.

“The largest rat that we caught, an animal nearly a meter long and 2kg in weight, turned out to be unknown to science.”

“A great moment for me was I realised placing trust in those people, and going out with them, was hugely important. I really owe my career to, as I call them, the Professors from Melanesia, those old men and women who knew so much… sadly that generation is passing.”

After a stint as visiting chair of Australian studies at Harvard University and director of the South Australian Museum, Flannery wrote a defining work on climate change in 2003, The Weather Makers, and argued for drastic measures to address the rise in greenhouse gases.He was declared Australian of the Year in 2007, appointed chairman of the Federal Government's Australian Climate Commission in 2011 and then leader of its replacement body, the Climate Council, in 2013.

In 2016, he and a team of AM scientists will embark on yet another expedition to the Solomon Islands.

Join Tim for a fascinating evening as he shares highlights of his career and his responses to the recent UN Climate Change Conference in Paris.

Trailblazers Talks, presented by Australian Geographic, brings together Australia’s greatest living explorers for a series of inspirational events. The 21-weeks series will be held on Thursday evenings at the Australian Museum from 25 February – 14 July 2016.

Australian Museum CEO and Executive Director Kim McKay in conversation with Ichthyology Collection Manager Mark McGrouther at the Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI).

Mark started work at the Australian Museum in 1981 and over the next three decades he participated in over 30 expeditions within Australia and throughout the Pacific region.

"Sydney harbour is, well I like to describe it as a marine jewel. It really is extraordinary, there is nearly 600 species recored from the harbour. And when you compare that with the mediterranean, it has more species that the mediterranean more species that all north western Europe combined, so we are sitting on a fish mine… "

Listen as Kim McKay talks with Mark McGrouther about the impressive Ichthyology collection.

In this episode, Kim McKay discusses the Cockatoo Wingtag and Hollows as Homes citizen science projects with Ornithologist Dr Richard Major.

“By having many people taking part in this citizen science project, we hope to build up a good picture of what hollow availability is like, how much competition there is for hollows, and what we might need to do to look after this hollow resource. This data guides things like planting new trees, retention of particularly important trees, nest boxes, even cutting in hollows.” Dr Richard Major

In this episode, Kim McKay discusses the Cockatoo Wingtag and Hollows as Homes citizen science projects with Ornithologist Dr Richard Major.

Kim speaks further with Dr Jodi Rowley, whose research reveals the critical role amphibians play in our echo-systems and the unique ways frogs can be identified.

Kim McKay speaks with Creative Producer Keren Ruki about the significance of the Pacific Collections.