We acknowledge the Digital Life project and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions’ North West Shelf Flatback Turtle Conservation Program for creation of the 3D flatback turtle model. Main Club 1 September, 2023 We heard from two North West Shelf Flatback Turtle Conservation Program speakers. Tristan Simpson is their ...
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Grasstrees of southwestern Australia Main Club, 6 October 2023 Distinguished Prof Emeritus Byron Lamont is well known to our club for his botanical work and previous fascinating talks. This year, his work was recognised with a lifetime achievement award from the International Association of Fire Ecology. He will travel to ...
Read more →Main Club 9 September 2023 There was a crash of thunder as we started our walk, but luckily, the sun came out, and the twelve of us enjoyed our walk in this beautiful Wandoo woodland halfway along the Brookton Highway. It was led by John Cresp, a naturalist and member ...
Read more →YOUNG NATURALISTS with MAiN Club – 6 August 2023 The weather was ideal for this year’s beach sweep, but unfortunately, only two families turned up! There were piles of sea wrack on the beach – mainly seagrass – but the variety of finds was a little disappointing, and some things ...
Read more →Our speaker was Darren Hamley, a multi-award-winning science teacher, environmentalist and wildlife rehabilitator. Darren teaches science to children in the Gifted and Talented Program at Willetton Senior High School, where he can give them some exciting extension work. He has them doing “proper” research – that is, starting with the ...
Read more →On Friday evening, we set up three light traps, with one of the lights inside a small mesh pop-up tent and the other two in front of vertical white sheets. Strong winds on Saturday night did not bode well for the sheets, so we gathered all three lights inside the tent to create a brighter beacon. Many moths were drawn in during the night, alongside a few grasshoppers and even a Western Dung Beetle (Onthophagus ferox). Species observed on the traps were much the same across the two nights.
Read more →Main Club July 2023 Two presenters, Chelsea Payne from Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority (BGPA) and Dominic Castledine from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), talked about an important pest currently threatening trees in Perth suburbs. Our president, Basman Al-Jalely, also contributed since that is one of ...
Read more →Karina Knight, our speaker, worked for 36 years at the WA Herbarium and for the last 15 years as Collections Manager and Volunteer Coordinator there. Karina took an interest in myxomycetes (slime moulds) when volunteer Margaret Brims drew them to her attention, and in 2015 began pursuing this as a special interest.
Read more →Main Club 5 May 2023 Our speaker was David Knowles, a naturalist well known for his wildlife education service “Spineless Wonders”, which he took into schools across the southwest, teaching about macro-invertebrates for 22 years. Now David is a full-time ecological consultant and conducts biodiversity inventory surveys in nature reserves ...
Read more →Main Club April 2023 Our speaker was Dr Wei Xu, senior lecturer in Entomology at Murdoch University. His main research interests are insects relevant to agriculture and medicine. His PhD research project at the University of California, Davis, was on the olfactory proteins of moths and mosquitoes. He is interested ...
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