October Meeting Our speaker was Diana Prada, a PhD student at Murdoch University, whose current research focuses on the population genomics of microbats and the viruses they carry. She has expertise in applying molecular tools to conservation projects. Surprisingly, bats—which are the only nocturnal flying mammals—make up 20 per cent ...

September 2019 Meeting Our speaker was Nat Reisbeck-Brown, a spatial scientist who has been working on the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA). Nat walked us through some of the features of this database of nature observations, so that we can use it to find out more about our local areas ...

September: Main Club Excursion Ten of us joined excursion leaders, Ry Beaver and Tanya Marwood at this unique reserve east of Pingelly. Tutanning NR is a DBCA managed property with accommodation at the Percy Marshall field station. The habitat is Wandoo woodland, with some kwongan heathland and several large granite ...

JULY 2019 EXCURSION #2: To celebrate National Tree Day, six members of the WA Naturalists’ Club and seven Club visitors teamed up with the Friends of the Western Swamp Tortoise and the Chittering Landcare Group at a tree planting day at the Ellenbrook Nature Reserve. After a couple of hours ...

Our speaker was Simon Cherriman, a long-time member of the Nats’ Club (DRB Branch) and a former Serventy Memorial Prize-winning student. Wedge-tailed Eagles have been Simon’s passion since he was a child, when he would explore the bush by bike and make detailed notes on his sightings. His skill at ...

JULY meeting of Main Club Our speaker was Elaine Davison, a long-time member of our Club. Dr Davison is Adjunct Professor in the School of Molecular and Life Sciences at Curtin University and a research associate at the WA Herbarium. She has worked in South Australia and the UK and ...

MAY 20 – 24 On the first day, twenty of us met for a briefing by our leader Mike Gregson. We learned that Jonica Foss lived here until she was 13 years old. Her dad, John Currie, was Officer-in-Charge for 35 years and Jonica shared some interesting facts with us. ...

Our speaker was Hans Lambers, Professor of Plant Biology at the UWA School of Biological Sciences. Hans has worked in several European and Australian universities. His main interests are phosphorus nutrition in native plants, food crops and pasture plants, as well as mine-site rehabilitation. Hans began by reminding us that ...

Sixteen members and friends, mostly from the Meetup group, enjoyed a beautiful autumn day in Kings Park on April 7th. Rosser’s Banksia (Banksia rosserae) was in full bloom in the endangered garden. This arid land Banksia grows naturally south of Cue on Kirkalocka station, so it was a rare treat ...

The talk was given by Gemma Sharp, a member of a WA family which has been involved in western waters since pearling in the Kimberley in 1985. The company now runs whale watching tours throughout the year from Bremer Bay, Augusta and Fremantle. Species seen on the different tours are ...