An event that might be of interest – posted by Jason Major for ICT Life Sciences

Dr J Craig Venter, genomics pioneer, will give the 2010 Graeme Clark Oration

The oration is presented annually to honour the pioneering work of Professor Graeme Clark in developing the multi-channel cochlear implant, or bionic ear.

Title: From Reading to Writing the Genetic Code.

Venue: Melbourne Convention Centre, 1 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf

Date: Wednesday 17 March

Time: 6pm – 7pm

The event is free to the public, however, registration is essential.

The Graeme Clark Oration will present the public with a unique opportunity to listen to one of the world’s most influential scientists, who was listed by the Financial Times as one of the 50 people who most shaped the last decade.

Register at www.ict4lifesciences.org.au http://www.ict4lifesciences.org.au/

The Oration is the initiative of the ICT for Life Sciences Forum – http://ict4lifesciences.org.au/ – which networks researchers from the life and physical sciences

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Put your astronomy in front of the world’s science journalists, astronomy decision-makers and the public.

I’m writing to invite you to nominate stories and people for inclusion in Stories of Australian Astronomy 2010. Advertising opportunities are also available.

We’re producing this magazine-style collection of short astronomy stories in collaboration with the International Year of Astronomy and the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

Stories of Australian Astronomy 2010 comes at a time when astronomy is in the ascendance in Australia with investments in the Australian SKA Pathfinder, the Anglo-Australian Observatory, Skymapper, and the Giant Magellan Telescope. In the next few years, we may even see Australia as the home of the two billion dollar Square Kilometre Array.

Thanks to financial support from the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research and the International Year of Astronomy in Australia, you do not have to pay to be included in Stories.

Stories of Australian Astronomy 2010 will include stories which:

· highlight Australia’s rich history of achievement in astronomy

· showcase the breadth of talent in Australia’s astronomy community including the new generation of PhDs and post-docs

· demonstrate the benefit of involving Australia in the world’s big astronomy projects

· reveal indigenous peoples’ and early explorers’ interpretations of the night sky

· explore the interface between astronomy and art.

Stories of Australian Astronomy 2010 will:

· put your research and researchers in front of over 1,000 journalists

· reach wide audiences through Australia’s embassies and consulates worldwide

· be distributed at the International SKA Forum in June in Holland and at other meetings of astronomy and SKA stakeholders and decision-makers

· be circulated widely in Australia’s professional and amateur astronomy communities

· serve as a source of material for Ministers and others talking about Australia’s achievements in astronomy

· reach wide audiences via other print and online channels.

Stories will also be published online at www.scienceinpublic.com/stories/astronomy/, adding to our growing portal of Australian science stories.

Limited advertising is also available.

For advertisers the publication offers a cost-effective way to demonstrate your participation in and/or support for Australian astronomy.

Stories of Australian Astronomy 2010 will be visually rich, featuring the images of astrophotographer David Malin (see http://www.davidmalin.com/) in addition to contributed images.

The publication is based on Science in Public’s Stories of Australian Science 2010. This is a 32-page publication that’s just been published. You can view it online at http://www.scienceinpublic.com/stories/science-2010/ or I can send you a sample copy.

How can you be involved?

You can nominate people or stories for inclusion in the storybook.

Our editorial team will select the best mix of stories. Your chances of inclusion will be boosted if you have striking print-quality photo to illustrate the story – preferably a jpg which is at least 1MB in size.

OR

If you wish to advertise, you can supply a print-resolution pdf advert ready-to-go:

· A ½ page advert is $1,400.

· A full page advert is $2,100.

· We can also design your advert for you. All prices are ex-GST.

We reserve the right to refuse stories or adverts that we feel don’t contribute to the overall promotion of Australian astronomy.

Scientists featured will receive ten copies of Stories.

Advertisers will receive 100 copies of Stories

Additional copies will be available for $3 each with a minimum order of 20 copies.

What is the deadline?

Please contact me by Friday 26 February with your ideas for stories.

Advertising bookings close Friday 14 March with final copy required by Friday 26 March.

Stories of Australian Astronomy 2010 will be published in May.

Need more information?

For more information call me or visit www.scienceinpublic.com.au/blog/storybook

There you can review Stories of Australian Science 2010 and see what kind of stories work best.

Kind regards,

Niall

_______________

Niall Byrne Science in Public 26 Railway Street South, Altona Vic 3018

ph +61 (3) 9398 1416 or 0417 131 977 niall@scienceinpublic.com.au

Full contact details at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/blog

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The NSW branch of the Australian Science Communicators announces its AGM:

Topic for discussion on the night is the Advent of the eBook Reader. Will it revolutionise science writing and publishing? Bring your Kindles, Bebooks, iPods etc for a Show and Tell, Whinge and Cringe session.

ALSO – discuss what you learnt at the national conference, and share it with those who didn’t get to Canberra.

The Inspiring Australia report (promising) Reframing Science (necessary), illogical debates (unavoidable), social networking (inevitable), Science for Mums (surprisingly successful), Evaluating Science Communication (hard, but necessary)….

…. Just a few of the thought provoking topics… Come and discuss!

SPECIAL GUEST! – National President, Dr Jesse Shore.

DATE: Monday 15th February TIME: 6.30 – 8 PM VENUE: Upstairs Balcony, rear Clarendon Hotel, 156 Devonshire St Surry Hills (5 mins walk from Central train station) One free drink per member, and light snack platter provided.

If you cannot attend please send your proxy ( e.g. To Jesse Shore, jesse@prismaticsciences.com)

========

Are you interested in Freelancing? Writing for magazines? Science Radio and TV? Climate Change? Social networking? Innovative uses of media? Design and presentation skills? … And any other facets of Science Communication?

If so then get involved in the ASC NSW committee to assist with creating an exciting year for our members. Looks great on the resume! (More details below)

Email Phil Dooley or the rest of the committee on ASCNSW@gmail.com if you would like to be involved.

AGENDA 1) Chair’s report 2) Treasurer’s report 3) Election of 2010 Chair 4) Election of committee members 5) AOB ======================================== For those of you thinking of getting involved, here is a quick run down on committee member duties:

– Our philosophy is many hands make light work – if you can help out on only one or two things for the year, get involved.

– We typically meet in person only two or three times a year. The rest of the pow-wows are teleconference or email.

– On each event we have one leader, and a helper or two, so no single person ends up doing everything, and you don’t have to be there for every event. We share around the duties of booking venues etc, answering queries, write ups etc. And of course this year there will be recording, editing, uploading etc duties too.

– Specific roles (duplicated if possible!): – Secretary: take minutes, post notices, ensure committee keeps to commitments – Treasurer: Look after financials, pay for events etc – Member officer: answer emails, keep in touch with members – National Rep: take part in national committee & branch co-ordinator telecons – General committee members: help out on two or three events per year – Chair: harrass rest of committee and make them do stuff (whilst actually doing as little as possible and taking the credit.)

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Dan Falk, a Canadian science writer, has won the American Institute of Physics’ prestigious Science Writing Award for a cover story in the Australian science magazine COSMOS.

Falk, a writer, broadcaster and author based in Toronto, won the 2009 trophy for his feature article “End of days: a universe in ruins”, which was published in COSMOS magazine in August 2008. Bringing to bear some of the latest research in astrophysics and cosmology, the article examines the long-term fate of our solar system, the universe, and life itself.

He spells out a distant future for our cosmic habitat, examining the long-term fate of our Solar System, the universe, and life itself. “End of Days” stares into a frozen, featureless cosmic void of the far, far future and asks whether the final apocalypse will arrive with a whimper or a bang. To some, the answer may appear even bleaker than could have been imagined – a universe destined to expand forever and doomed to drift into an endless eternal prison of cold and darkness.

The Institute said that what makes Falk’s story so compelling is not just his look into this looming abyss but his treatment of the creative human imagination that can conceive of it in the first place.

“[It] is quite impressive that with our finite hominid brains we have been able to peer so far ahead, with at least some degree of confidence,” Falk said. “It is also rather intriguing that the fate of the universe billions upon billions of years from now is actually clearer to us that the fate of our own civilisation just a few centuries ahead.”

It is the 35th award COSMOS has received in its remarkable five year history, adding to the 2009 Magazine of he Year crown taken at the Publishers Australia annual Bell Awards for Publishing Excellence, and the 2009 Earth Journalism Award at the United Nations climate change talks in Copenhagen.

The AIP award for Falk was among the three winning entries in the 2009 Science Communication Awards announced at a ceremony in Washington DC. The winning authors each win prizes of US$3,000, as well as engraved Windsor chairs and certificates of recognition.

“These outstanding science communicators have each improved the general public’s appreciation of physics, astronomy, and related sciences through their wonderfully creative endeavours,” says Catherine O’Riordan, American Institute of Physics Vice President, Physics Resources. “We are pleased to be able to recognise such excellent work.”

The other winners and their award-winning pieces are:

Producer/director David Dugan, a British filmmaker; and screenwriter Tom Shachtman, an author, filmmaker and educator, are the winners of the2009 AIP Science Communication Award in the Broadcast Category for their two-part NOVA documentary, Absolute Zero which was produced for the U.S. public broadcaster PBS by Windfall Films in London in collaboration with Meridian Productions in Washington DC. Absolute Zero was broadcast on PBS stations in 2008, the program takes the viewers on an extraordinary historical journey in which the secrets of cold are teased apart and mastered.

Cora Lee and Gilliam O’Reilly, writers based respectively in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada, have won the 2009 AIP Science Communication Award in the Children’s Category for their book The Great Number Rumble: A Story of Math in Surprising Places (Annick Press, 2007). The story focuses on math-loving Sam, who sets out to prove that life isn’t half as fun without mathematics by taking the reader through logical proof, introducing mathematician heroes, and wrestling with strange ideas such as never-ending numbers and dogs doing calculus.

The winning COSMOS story can be found at http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/features/print/2270/end-days-a-universe-ruins

*About COSMOS* COSMOS is Australia’s #1 science media brand: the country’s biggest-selling science magazine, highest-rating daily online science news site and weekly email newsletter. Published in Sydney and with a global outlook, it has taken out 35 awards in less than five years, including Magazine of the Year in 2009 and 2006 at Australia’s annual Bell Awards for Publishing Excellence. Its advisory board includes Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and it was founded by the successful Melbourne neuroscientist and entrepreneur, and now Chancellor of Monash University, Dr Alan Finkel.

*About the American Institute of Physics* The American Institute of Physics is a federation of 10 physical science societies representing more than 135,000 scientists, engineers, and educators and is one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific information in physics. The AIP Science Writing Awards aim to promote effective science communication in print and broadcast media in order to improve the general public’s appreciation of physics, astronomy, and allied science fields.

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(Brenton Honeyman, Manager, Science Communication & Strategic Partnerships at Questacon has announced the release of a new report.)

The resultant report “Inspiring Australia – A national strategy for engagement with the sciences” was launched yesterday by the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, at the opening session of the Australian Science Communicators National Conference in Canberra.

The report is available online at:

http://www.innovation.gov.au/inspiringaustralia

(or the full form of the address is:

http://www.innovation.gov.au/General/Corp-MC/Pages/InspiringAustralia.aspx)

The report recognises the extent and importance of science communication activities that currently engage communities across the country, and proposes a ‘national framework – local action’ approach to address the often fragmented nature of current initiatives.

In December 2009, Federal, State and Territory Innovation Ministers agreed to work together to develop a national approach to science communication. As a first step, a framework of principles for the funding of science communication is being developed.

************ Toss Gascoigne and Associates 56 Vasey Cres CAMPBELL ACT 2612

P. 02 6249 7400 M. 0408 704 442 E. director@tossgascoigne.com.au W. tossgascoigne.com.au Skype. tossgascoigne

ABN: 31 068 557 522 *************

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