Category Archives: National

The Transit of Venus

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From Nick Lomb:

The transit of Venus on 6 June 2012 will be the last opportunity for all of us to see this rare and significant astronomical event. It is of special importance to Australians as James Cook’s first voyage that led to the colonisation of the country by the British was to observe the 1769 transit from Tahiti. Australia will be one of the best places from which to view the 2012 transit for it will be visible from beginning to end from most of the country.

To give people an appreciation of the long history behind transits of Venus, I have written a book, ‘Transit of Venus: 1631 to the present’ that is published by NewSouth Publishing in association with Powerhouse Publishing and is available from 1 November 2011. The book relates some of the adventurous journeys undertaken by astronomers to view past transits and explains why the astronomers regarded the transits of such great importance that they were willing to risk their lives to observe them. The book has numerous illustrations including some beautiful original illustrations of the 1874 transit from the archives of Sydney Observatory.

More information at http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/publications/publications_item.php?id=254 and at https://www.unswpress.com.au/isbn/9781742232690.htm.

Dr Nick Lomb

Phone: 03 9570 8418
Mobile: 0403 892 778
Email: nrl@bigpond.com

 

ASC Corporate Members

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The ASC now has five corporate members which is an increase on last year. I welcome the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), the Powerhouse Museum (NSW), Scitech (WA), the CSIRO Energy Group, and one other CSIRO group of communicators.

Each corporate member nominates 10 people as part of their membership group and designates one of these people as their voting delegate.

I will encourage our corporate members to talk about their particular science communication challenges. Grappling to explain a challenge may help to clarify it, and sharing it with the membership may provide useful feedback and insights into corporate science communication.

The corporate members bring new members to the ASC, which in turn offers value to all concerned. It’s great to have them on board and I look forward to hearing about their collective corporate thoughts.

Jesse Shore
National President

Timing is everything

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From Craig Macaulay, CSIRO:

Depending on where you source your news, the November 18 release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on weather extremes (http://ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/) attracted a mixed response in Australia.

This can be partly attributed to the leaking of a draft report earlier in the week, a pre-empting of the report outcomes based on documents held by the BBC but more particularly the timing of the release by the IPCC’s Chris Field at 1.30 pm in Kampala, Uganda – 9.30 pm on Friday evening AEST, a time convenient for US and European media but when most Australian newspapers had been put to bed.

Contributing through the CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship, Kathy McInnes was the only Special Report co-author on the ground in Australia and accessible. The other Australian co-authors, Neville Nicholls from Monash and John Handmer from RMIT, Melbourne, had been in Uganda and were en route back to Australia.

The full report can be found at – http://ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/ – and a separate assessment of the treatment can be found in The Conversation by former CMAR scientist Roger Jones – http://theconversation.edu.au/spinning-uncertainty-the-ipcc-extreme-weather-report-and-the-media-4402

 Extremes report key findings

For Australia, it is very likely that there has been an overall decrease in the number of cold days and nights and an overall increase in the number of warm days and nights,

There is low confidence that any observed long-term (i.e., 40 years or more) increases in tropical cyclone activity are robust, after accounting for past changes in observing capabilities.

It is likely that there has been an increase in extreme coastal high water related to trends in mean sea level in the late 20th century.

It is likely that anthropogenic influences have led to warming of extreme daily minimum and maximum temperatures on the global scale. There is medium confidence that anthropogenic influences have contributed to intensification of extreme precipitation on the global scale. It is likely that there has been an anthropogenic influence on increasing extreme sea levels via mean sea level contributions. There is low confidence in attribution of changes in tropical cyclone activity to anthropogenic influences.

It is virtually certain that increases in the frequency and magnitude of warm daily temperature extremes and decreases in cold extremes will occur through the 21st century and it is very likely that the length, frequency and/or intensity of warm spells, including heat waves, will continue to increase over most land areas.

IPCC terms | Virtually certain:  99-100% probability | Very likely:  90-100% probability | likely:  66-100% probability | About as likely as not:  33 to 66% probability | Unlikely:  0-33% probability | Very unlikely:  0-10% probability | Exceptionally unlikely:  0-1% probability

 

Official notice of Australian Science Communicators’ Annual General Meeting, Perth, WA

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30 November 2011
6:00 pmto9:30 pm

This is the official notice of the Australian Science Communicators’ Annual General Meeting, to be held in Perth, Western Australia, on 30 November 2011. The AGM is being hosted by the ASC WA Branch. The AGM will be followed by an interactive science quiz night hosted by compere extraordinaire David Ellyard.

 Date: Wednesday 30 November 2011
Time: 6.00pm-7.15pm (ASC AGM), 7.30pm – 9.30pm (Science Quiz Night)
Venue: Rosie O’Grady’s, Cnr James & Milligan St, Northbridge, WA
ASC members: free (Only currently financial ASC members are eligible to attend the AGM)
Non-members: $10
Non member students: $5

Registration: http://ascnationalagm2011.eventbrite.com

The ASC AGM will run from 6.00-7:15pm in the Cab Bar and is open to ASC voting members only. The quiz night for all registered participants will begin at 7:30pm sharp in the Cab Bar.

Seats are limited so registration is essential.  The seating is 6 people per table. To confirm the members of your table, please email asc.events.wa@gmail.com.

 

The AGM is an opportunity for members to hear about the year’s events at the national level, and also to have their say about what should happen in the year to come. It also includes reports from the President and Treasurer, and news of the upcoming national conference. Members also have the chance to elect a new National President. Proposed agenda items, notices of motion and presidential nominations must be received by Wednesday 23 November.

Note that notices of motion require a proposer and a seconder, and nominations for President need to be agreed by the nominee.

Members unable to attend the AGM in person are able to give proxies to other members attending the meeting, or alternatively, send them to Sarah Lau, National Secretary (slau@chemcentre.wa.gov.au) before 5.00pm AWST on Wednesday 30 November 2011.

Minutes from the ASC AGM 2010, Adelaide, SA

AGENDA (as of 9 November 2011)

1. Confirmation of members attending, apologies
2. Notification of proxies
3. Minutes of 2010 AGM
4. President’s report
5. Treasurer’s report
a) presentation of statement of accounts
b) determination of annual membership fee
c) determination of capitation to be returned to branches
d) determination of honoraria
e) appointment of auditor
f)  appointment of public officer
g) preview of 2011 budget
6. Election of 2012 ASC President
7. Motions to amend the Constitution
8. Any other business

Motion to change the ASC Constitution – for ASC AGM 2011

1. Motion to change the Constitution – Motion made by Jesse Shore and seconded by Rob Morrison. We propose the constitution is amended as follows:

 [The proposed change to the wording in the revised clause is underlined.]

[Definition from clause 2.9: “Association” means Australian Science Communicators Incorporated.]

Section 5.4 of the constitution – ‘BRANCHES’

Current wording:

5.4.2 Branches may have their own constitutions, but wherever any discrepancy exists, the Constitution of the Association shall prevail.

 Proposed new wording

5.4.2 Branches may have their own rules or constitutions, but wherever any discrepancy exists, the Constitution of the Association shall prevail.

Reason for proposed amendment:
This minor change in wording acknowledges that the ASC branches, which are unincorporated bodies, are more likely to have their own rules than constitutions.
We want the branches to be aware they have the right to have rules and to encourage them to adopt rules if they haven’t done so already. The new wording still allows for branches to have constitutions and makes it clear that whether they have rules or constitutions, the Constitution of the Association is the overriding document.

Scope editor update

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In July Sally Miles and Silvia Piviali took on the Scope editorship from Laura Miles. Both Sally and Silvia have young children and agreed to job-share the workload.

Despite best intentions Silvia found the workload of a new-born and other family commitments left her little time for Scope tasks. Silvia has wisely asked to step away from Scope for 6 months. Sally has agreed to carry on as our sole editor.

I thank Silvia for her work on Scope in recent months and look forward to Sally continuing to mould Scope with flair.

Jesse Shore
National President

National Science Week Feedback Event – Adelaide

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Do you want to have a say about National Science Week in South Australia? Do you have feedback or suggestions from this year or a great idea for 2012 and beyond? Are you keen to meet others involved in science-related outreach? You are invited to a Planning Session on Monday 31 October at RiAus (The Science Exchange, off Pirie St, City) from 1.00pm to 4.30pm.

Everyone is welcome to attend this session where we will be looking at ideas for the future direction of National Science Week in SA. These ideas will then be considered by our Coordinating Committee at a meeting in November, and a Strategic Plan set in place.

Some of the topics to be discussed include:

  • What does your organisation want to get out of National Science Week?
  • How can National Science Week be used to support and develop programs throughout the year?
  • What outcomes from National Science Week should we be measuring?
  • Who currently participates in National Science Week and how can we encourage more individuals and organisations to be involved?

Can’t attend in person? You can contribute to digital discussions by signing up to www.saffia.org and going to the dedicated National Science Week forum at:  http://www.saffia.org/index.php?/forum/13-national-science-week-2011-and-beyond/

If you can join us on the day, please RSVP to Rona: rona.sakko@csiro.au

Rona Sakko
On behalf of SA National Science Week Coordinating Committee

Note – National Science Week is planning for the 2012 National Science Week grant round to be open for applications from 7 to 28 November 2011.

ASC National Conference 2012 – update

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The conference will be at Sydney Masonic Centre from 27-29 February 2012. Here’s a quick overview on progress so far:

  • Opening keynote: Professor Ian Chubb, Australia’s Chief Scientist will open the conference and be the first plenary speaker.
  • Hail to the Chiefs: Several state Chief Scientists have accepted invitations to speak at the conference. We anticipate they will feature in a plenary and perhaps parallel sessions.
  • Nobel presence: In a special video interview made for the conference, Australia’s 2011 Nobel Prize winner for Physics, Professor Brian Schmidt, will talk about the role of science communication in his work both before and after being awarded the Nobel. Rod Lamberts and Sue Stocklmayer will be asking him the hard questions. This special session will include a broad discussion of the role of science communication for science prize winners. Brian will be speaking in Washington during our conference and was sorry that he couldn’t be in two places at once.
  • Program progress: The program committee is digesting the submissions from the recent call for session producers and their proposals.
  • Pre-conference kick-start: There have been discussions with key people about the pre-conference event. If all goes well it will be fun and thought-provoking, and be a great way to lead into the conference proper.
  • Research stream: Rod Lamberts has nine reviewers lined up to scrutinise submitted research papers. Some of them may help with a subsequent monograph of a selection of edited papers to be produced after the conference is over.
  • Website: The conference website has gone live. Have a look at http://2012conf.asc.asn.au/.
  • Lots of infrastructure is being set in place and there are a few hurdles to get over. Online registrations will be activated any day now.

Jesse Shore
National President

AGM in Perth, 30 November 2011

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The WA branch of the ASC has agreed to host this year’s National AGM in Perth. The official announcement will be posted soon. We keep the AGM short and to the point, yet provide opportunities for some lively discussion.

The AGM will be followed by David Ellyard presenting his Science Quiz. Around 100 people enjoyed this competitive challenge at last year’s end of year meeting in Adelaide.

Only financial members can attend the AGM and the quiz will be open to all.

See you in Perth in November.

Jesse Shore
National President

Learn the ropes – seeking an Assistant National Treasurer

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David Ellyard is our long serving and excellent National Treasurer. To preserve his corporate knowledge and to plan for the future we will be inviting members to express interest in becoming Assistant National Treasurer. David will teach you the ropes of our financial procedures and build your financial acumen. This will be a good professional development opportunity for the right person.

I will be issuing the invitation soon which will have a list of the duties of the treasurer and which tasks the assistant treasurer can expect to deal with.

Jesse Shore
National President