WINTER 2022 Australian Museum magazine Burra: introducing the AM’s ofCelebratinglearningground -breakingandplayspace50 yearsAMMembers
2E xplore ISSN Explore,Winter1833-752X2022thenews and events magazine of the Australian Museum and Australian Museum Members, is published biannually. Copyright Unless otherwise credited, all text and images appearing in Explore are copyright © Australian Museum, 2022. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, you may not reproduce or copy any part of this publication without the written permission of the Australian Museum. Please contact the editor for further information. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the Museum. Editor Alice Gage Design Julie Stinson Production Jenny Hooker Printing Special T We welcome your feedback, comments and enquiries. Email the editor alice.gage@australian.museumat: Australian Museum 1 William Street Sydney NSW 2010 Open daily 10am-5pm 02 9320 6000 (switch) 02 9320 6225 (Members) Australian Museum Trust President David Armstrong Director & CEO Kim McKay AO Environmental responsibility Explore is printed on Revive, a 100% recycled paper. Coveraustralian.museumimage:Polarised light microscopy of the skin of an eel ( Anguilla sp.). Magnification: x28 at 10cm wide. Photo © Steve Lowry / Science Photo Library. Illustration by Jasmine Craciun, Barkindji and Malyangapa. Right: Glass Photo © Heathereels. Perry. The Australian Museum acknowledges the Gadigal people as the Custodians of the land on which the Museum stands. We pay our respect to Aboriginal Elders and recognise their continuous connection to Country. The Australian Museum is principally funded by the NSW Government in association with Create NSW.
54ContentsWhat’sonWelcome Kim McKay AO 6 Museum news 11 New acquisition: A rock that is 2.5 billion years old Ross Pogson 12 Introducing the AM’s Climate Solutions Centre Dr Jenny Newell and Dr Rebecca Huntley 16 T he ancestors of icons Professor Tim Flannery and Meagan Warwick 20 K ids’ feature: Burra 27 New acquisition: Aoao Mo e Lōtaki ‘a Lātūfuipeka Anaseini Ulakai 28 Future-proofing the koala Dr Matthew Lott, Dr Greta Frankham, Dr Mark Eldridge 30 Photo gallery: The making of Sharks 38 C elebrating 50 golden years of Australian Museum Members Vanessa Finney 41 New acquisition: A nest of new spider fossils Dr Patrick Smith 42 My Museum: Dr Val Attenbrow Interview with Dr Amy Way 44 A round the Museum 46 Tributes
Changing Climate Level 2 (located in Surviving Australia) Understand the causes and impacts of our most urgent discover solutions to turningchallenge anditaround.
Burra The AM’s learning and play spaceground-breakingis now open. Burra offers families an interactive experience where Western science and First Nations knowledge systems are brought together. Open now, Level What’s2 on
No. 1 William Level 4 Experience panoramic views across Hyde Park, Sydney Harbour and Kings Cross at the Australian Museum’s rooftop restaurant.
tour of objects
For more information on what’s happening at the australian.museumAM visit Aboriginal and Torres Strait this unique from the Australian Museum's led by a Saturdays & Sundays, & 1pm Science
will
Islander cultures on
Special events Waranara Tours Expand your understanding of
Opening September 2022
Featuring science shows, interactive workshops and much more, kids of all ages discover the world of science. in partnership with the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. 20 August Museum highlights First Nations Galleries Level UG Witness the history and diversity of the world’s oldest living cultures. Wild Planet Level UG Discover all sorts of amazing animal species from across the planet. 200 Treasures of Australian Museumthe Level G & Level 1 Explore some of the astounding objects, specimens and national treasures of the Museum Collection.Australian Dinosaurs Level 2 Get up close to a life-size model of Tyrannosaurus rex and see the AM’s incredible opalised fossil collection. Surviving Australia Level 2 Explore the secrets of Australia’s weird and wonderful wildlife including some of the giant prehistoric creatures that once roamed the Earth.
Billabong Waterhole Level 2 Recharge and refuel at our family- friendly kiosk.
Coming soon — Sharks See a life-size model of the long- extinct Helicoprion, call a Whale Shark to play in a 360-degree immersive experience and hold a giant Tiger Shark tooth in your hands at this new exhibition produced by the Australian Museum.
Coming soon — Minerals Visit the Australian Museum this summer to learn how minerals are made. Discover rare specimens including remnants of cosmic fireballs, rocks that glow in the dark and some of the oldest minerals on Earth.
Presented
Opening December 2022 4
First Nations guide. Wednesdays,
Community SaturdaysTrail
Sydney
exhibitions,
11.30am
5EXPLORE WINTER 2022
Since the last issue of Explore, the AM continues to be recognised for its world-leading science and ground-breaking exhibitions. This issue will provide a round-up of the recent awards we’ve received as well as awards we’ve given to others to recognise their achievements in the field. This has also been a significant year for me personally. In May, I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Wollongong. I am very honoured and humbled to have received this award and I feel empowered to do even more. It’s representative of all the people’s efforts I’ve worked with over the years, including AM staff. We thank all Members for your curiosity, enthusiasm and support. You help keep our doors open, advance our critical research, preserve our collection of 22 million objects and specimens, and provide opportunities for community and educational engagement. Happy Golden Anniversary, Members, and I look forward to seeing you at the AM soon. Kim McKay AO Director & CEO
Where science and culture intersect In this issue of Explore, we celebrate 50 golden years of Australian Museum Members. Since the start, Members have been at the very heart of the Museum, and we are thrilled to have welcomed more than 20,000 new Members to the AM family during our time hosting the Jurassic World by Brickman® exhibition. We’re inspired by your passion for the Museum and can’t wait to show you what’s coming next.
Welcome
This issue of Explore will take you behind the scenes and follow our teams as they create the upcoming homegrown blockbuster, Sharks (opening September), and the new permanent exhibition, Minerals (opening December). We’ll also give you a look inside Burra, our newly opened learning and play space. As the first of its kind in Australia, Burra brings to life the work of the Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI) and the AM First Nations team through fun learning spaces that transport students, children and adults on an immersive journey with Burra the Eel. Burra is the perfect example of how science and culture intersect at the AM.
In mid-March, a team of scientists from AMRI’s Ichthyology, Marine Invertebrates and Malacology departments made a visit to the wharf. Despite the amount of sediment in the water following heavy rain, we managed to collect plenty of samples.
Images: AMRI scientists, including Penny Berents, Mandy Reid and Steve Keable, collect specimens from Tathra Wharf’s submerged piles. Photos by Amanda Hay and Laetitia Gunton.
Importantly, we made contact with both amateur and professional citizen scientists who are focused on the ecology of the wharf’s fauna, including members of the Tathra Wharf Group. We presented a talk about our work to the group and other interested community members the beginnings of an association we hope to continue. Under the wharf and under the microscope
After 160 years of exposure to the open ocean, whims of the weather and the burrowing and boring activities of sponges, molluscs, crustaceans and worms, Tathra Wharf is soon to receive much-needed restoration work. In preparation, environmental consultants invited scientists from the Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI) to sample the fauna on and around the piles. We jumped at the opportunity. Any baseline data that can be gathered before the piles are replaced or cleaned will provide us with a snapshot of the area’s biodiversity that can be used to monitor change.
Dr Mandy Reid, Collection Manager, Malacology
Built into the tempestuous, rocky shoreline of Tathra, about 450 km south of Sydney, is the beloved, heritage-listed Tathra Wharf. Constructed in 1862 to serve as the export point for the district’s produce, the wharf’s submerged timber piles are today a wonderland for scuba divers and snorkellers with its waters home to fur seals, fairy penguins and abundant invertebrates and fishes.
Dr Penny Berents, Senior Fellow, Marine InvertebratesWe arealsoparticularly interested in documenting south coast fauna as climate change drives more species southward.
6
News
7EXPLORE WINTER 2022
News The return of Minerals Sophie Phillips, Conservator, Collection Care and Conservation
Mineral top: Rhodocrosite D.54714. Mineral middle: Amethyst D.60535. Mineral bottom: Chrysoprase D.43998. Photos by Sophie Phillips. 8
There are specimens in the collection that are so fragile, a gentle touch could damage the crystals, and others that are very rare and priceless, so the greatest care needs to be taken when handling them.
For the past few months, a steady stream of extraordinary mineral specimens have come through the doors of the conservation laboratory as we prepare for the installation of the new, permanent exhibition, Minerals
These captivating formations present a range of complex challenges for the collection care team dedicated to cleaning and preparing them for public display. The variations in form and colour are astounding, with specimens ranging from tiny gemstones to large crystal clusters, to meteorites which are deceptively heavy, no matter their size.
Left: Natural Science Conservator Sophie Phillips preparing a specimen of Fluorapophyllite-(K) with pectolite for display. From Prospect Quarry, NSW. Photo by Elizabeth Reed.
Minerals opens to the public in December 2022.
Each of the almost 2000 specimens going on display in Minerals must be examined to capture an accurate and detailed understanding of its current condition. The specimen is visually assessed, highresolution photographs are taken, and a condition assessment report is added to our database. This allows us to track its condition over time. All natural science specimens, both organic and inorganic, face risks from a range of factors including light, changes in temperature and relative humidity, physical forces such as vibration, and other chemicals and pollutants present in the atmosphere. Condition documentation is a crucial part of the risk mitigation strategies undertaken by the team to ensure these wondrous specimens can be seen and enjoyed by all for many years to come.
.
Since reopening to the public after a two-year break of major renovations and the pandemic, the Australian Museum has enjoyed praise from visitors and pundits alike.
On 17 June, the AM was announced as the overall National Winner of the 2022 Museums & Galleries National Awards (MAGNAs) for the ground- breaking exhibition, Unsettled Unsettled also took home the award for best temporary exhibition in its category. Along with the MAGNAs, the AM also won a Museums Australasia Multimedia and Publication Design Award (MAPDA) for the How we are Unsettled: unit of work and received a highly commended accolade for the Unsettled Digital Twin Experience. In April, the AM took home the Climate SmART Award at the Leading Cultural Destinations (LCD) annual awards in Berlin. The Museum was praised for “actively evolving to rise to the challenges of its time, both in the climate education services it provides and the sustainability commitments it has undertaken”.InNovember2021, Project Discover took home both the 2021 National Award for Public Architecture and the 2021 National Award for Heritage Architecture. In the same month, Unsettled won the Museums & Galleries of NSW IMAGinE Award for Exhibition Project, Large Museums, and the IMAGinE ACHAA Award for Excellence by an Aboriginal Curator (Director, First Nations, Laura McBride). Congratulations to all teams involved in these exceptional projects.
And in June, Amanda Farrar, Director, Public Affairs and Development at the AM, was recognised with the Public Service Medal (PSM) for outstanding public service to arts and culture in New South Wales. The award was announced in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2022. During Amanda’s 12 years in the public service, six of those at the AM and six working as an advisor to former NSW Premier Mike Baird, she has demonstrated exceptional leadership, dedication and determination.
9EXPLORE SUMMER 2022
Accolades for staff We are proud that the work of three members of the Australian Museum leadership team has recently been acknowledged with major awards.
Major awards celebrate the work of the AM
Top: Vice-Chancellor Patricia M Davidson, Kim McKay AO and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor Alex Frino. Photo supplied. Bottom: The team behind Unsettled receive their MAGNA award in Perth, June 2022. Photo supplied.
In 2021, Australian Museum Trustee, Jennifer Bott AO, was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters honoris causa from the University of New England, in recognition of her significant contribution to the arts. In early May 2022, AM Director and CEO Kim McKay AO was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Wollongong.
Imagine this: Future Now Alice Gage, Editor, ExploreOnNewsarainy day in May, I joined Dr Jenny Newell, the AM’s Curator of Climate Projects, and the touring exhibitions team on a visit to Modelcraft — an architectural model-making studio in the inner-Sydney suburb of St Peters. We were there to check out the construction of three models to be displayed in the AM’s new travelling exhibition, Future Now. Designed by Jenny in meticulous detail, there is one model described as a smart city; one about caring for Country and one that shows a green home.
Learn more at australian.museum/futurenow
The models are to scale and factually correct — the technology is shown as it would appear in the real world. Jenny noticed that the solar panels on the roof of one building need to be expanded to show how many would actually be required to power it. “They should go halfway down the roof,” she told Steve.Steveshowed Jenny the backyard of the model of a home. “This sounds weird,” she said, “But can we get some strawberries in the green wall inside the house? It’s a way to communicate the idea of growing food to children.” Steve happily agreed, but didn’t ask her exactly how many strawberries she would like. If he had, she surely would have had an answer.
Photo by Abram Powell.
They also show powerful, tried-and-true solutions to boost resilience – community gardens, shelters and the proliferation of bicycles. Tiny, 3D-printed people shovel compost and tend to water tanks.
10
Future Now is on tour throughout 2022 to Stockland Retail Town Centres in Burleigh Heads, Green Hills, Shellharbour and Wetherill Park. Stockland is the Major Partner of the exhibition.
The little worlds we look into are set in the near future, when temperatures have risen and extreme weather events are more frequent. But rather than dwell on the changes, the aim of the models is to show us a future we may not imagine on our own: one that is sustainable, healthy and achievable. Jenny tells me that visitors will leave the exhibition with a toolkit full of practical ideas to take home to help lower costs, protect biodiversity and reduce the severity of climate change. “Can we get a few more birds in the trees?” suggested Jenny to an amenable Steve Mosely, a director at Modelcraft. Pointing at the parklands in the city model, she continued, “they will return Thewith all of the green space.”intricatetableausshowcase
cutting-edge technology, such as buildings powered by algae and solar tiles (already happening); solar roads (in development); and electric aircraft (already in flight).
This extraordinary polished slab, measuring 2m by 1.5m and weighing 437kg, is part of the Archean Nimingarra Formation in the Pilbara, Western Australia. It shows us a dramatic change in the Earth’s past atmospheric and biological conditions, frozen in time in its dramatic layers: the oxygenation of the oceans.BandedIron Formation (BIF) is the name given to these finely striped and kink-folded, alternating layers of black iron oxide (hematite and magnetite) and microcrystalline silica (red and brown chert and golden-brown tiger eye). They used to be iron-rich and silicarich sediments on an ancient sea floor some 2.5 billion years ago. Their deposition resulted from a dramatic change in the Earth’s atmosphere, when the first micro-organisms that could produce oxygen by photosynthesis (cyanobacteria) greatly increased the oxygen content of oceans and the atmosphere. The iron and silicon from rock weathering and ocean floor volcanic hot springs dissolved in seawater. These became insoluble as the iron combined with the oxygen, and iron oxides and silica precipitated. This made iron and silica-rich sediments, which accumulated in alternating bands on the ocean floor. This cyclical process continued for nearly a billion years. Heat and pressure from the Earth’s movements dramatically folded and kinked these rocks. This acquisition was funded by a grant from the Patricia Porritt Collection Acquisition Fund and the Australian Museum Foundation. The BIF will be on display in the upcoming Minerals exhibition, due to open December 2022. Photos by Abram Powell.
EXPLORE WINTER 2022
A spectacular specimen has been acquired for the AM’s upcoming Minerals exhibition.
New aquisition
The geological story the rock tells and its striking appearance will offer visitors a window into the deep history of our planet.
A rock that is 2.5 billion years old Ross Pogson Collection Manager, Mineralogy & Petrology
11
CENTRESOLUTIONSCLIMATE Introducing the AM’s Climate Telling powerful stories of a positive future to inspire change. Dr Jenny Newell Curator, Climate Change Projects 12
What would you do if you had the opportunity to use the Australian Museum to reach out to hundreds of thousands of people to help them engage with climate change? Would you design an exhibition? Create a touring show? Devise digital interactives for students? Set up climate café conversations or programs about caring for Country and animal conservation? Would you carry out research into which communications might work best for different communities? Or would you — like us — decide to do it all?
All the nations that signed the original United Nations climate convention in 1994 and the Paris Agreement in 2015 committed not only to lower emissions but also to advance “Action for Climate Empowerment” through public education. Museums are ideally placed to advance this work, as trusted institutions, expert at conveying complex subjects in compelling ways to wide audiences.
13EXPLORE WINTER 2022
The smart city model in Future Now, touring Qld and NSW in 2022. Photo: Stockland.
The Australian Museum has been raising the visibility of climate change impacts and solutions for more than 14 years. Our exhibitions, programs and online resources have been helping people to understand the challenge of climate change and the importance of supporting biodiversity and caring more effectively for our environment.
Our objective is to respond to the challenge that a growing majority (now 75%) of Australians are concerned about climate change but many are unsure what to do about it.
Building on the Museum’s past successes, the CSC supports a key part of the Museum’s mission: ‘to transform the conversation around climate change.’
The Climate Solutions Centre (CSC) was announced on 2 June 2022 at the Australian Museum, on the occasion of the annual Talbot Oration, delivered this year by climate change strategist Dr Rebecca Huntley. The aim of the CSC is to communicate climate change impacts and solutions in the Australian context. We will collect and tell powerful local stories to inspire local change, and bring experts together to provide current, compelling insights into climate solutions.
Bush regeneration volunteers, from Conservation Volunteers Australia. Photo: CVA Media Library. “ Together, we will create climateexistingtoempoweringwithcommunicationspowerfulafocusonpeopleadvancethemanysolutionstochange.”
There are already existing solutions (technological, nature-based and community- based) but communication to the public about these solutions is meagre, so recognition is low. The CSC is based at the AM, with a team working collaboratively with social researchers, climate scientists, cultural experts, community advisors and visiting fellows, as well as with an advisory group of experts from many fields. Museum specialists are also involved, including the First Nations and Pasifika teams, scientists from the Australian Museum Research Institute, Exhibitions, Education, Public Programs, Digital, Design, and Marketing and Communications teams. Together, we will create powerful communications with a focus on empowering people to advance the many existing solutions to climate change. To kick the project off, the travelling exhibition Future Now begins its tour of Stockland shopping centres in Burleigh Heads, Queensland. This inspiring set of intricate dioramas depicts an achievable future that looks bright — using technology that already exists to run cities, homes and farms sustainably. Also launching is Mt Resilience: an interactive augmentedreality experience that reveals a detailed 3D model of a town designed to visualise climate and disaster preparedness. And we will continue to post articles on all things ‘climate solutions’ regularly on our website. Keep an eye out for CSC activities, share your thoughts and experiences, and remember that you are an important source of ideas and information. Talking to people in your own circle about your concerns and your excitement about the benefits that come from climate solutions is key for boosting the urgent climate action we need.
1414
The Australian Museum is a special place for myself and my children.
Dr Rebecca Huntley, Member of the Climate Solutions Centre Advisory Group, presenter of the 2022 AM Talbot Oration, social researcher and author
15EXPLORE WINTER 2022
1. The power of personal stories; 2. The best possible words and arguments; and 3. The power of images. The third point was the theme of my recent Talbot Oration at the Australian Museum. It is vitally important that the images we use to communicate about climate impacts and solutions are those that reflect our community — visions that represent who we are and who we want to be. Climate change is not an abstract and remote phenomenon — extreme heat and weather events, water shortages, threats to sacred First Nations land and harsh farming conditions are already affecting our lives. Museums of nature and culture like the Australian Museum have a fantastic opportunity to use their wealth of research on biodiversity and cultural relationships to nature to explain these issues to visitors. An example of this is representing the findings of the citizen science project FrogID. We can better encourage people to tune in and engage with understanding frogs and what is challenging them if we use an image of a child sitting at a frog pond, rather than an image of a frog killed in the recent east coast die-off. The reason for this is that, firstly, people respond to people, and secondly, people respond to positivity.Communications about our changing environment need to acknowledge the situation but show clearly that people are already taking action and that we are stronger together.
It is where I take them to make science come alive, to make the words they read in books at home and at school take shape. And so the Museum is the perfect place to present a vision of a positive future for our planet, one that highlights the real-world outcomes of science in action and the coming together of communities to address climate change. We just need to choose the right ways to communicate it to inspire action. Three powerful ways to achieve this are:
How natural history museums can help
What images or stories inspire you to take action on climate? Join the conversation at australian.museum/csc
Science 16
Professor Tim Flannery, AM Distinguished Visiting Fellow Meagan Warwick, AMRI Project and Communications Officer doing so, Flannery managed to start to answer some of his burning questions. The very earliest monotremes (about 130 million years ago) date from a time when south-eastern Australia was within the Antarctic circle. In the Early Cretaceous there was seasonal darkness (three months at least) and polar forests. “So, if you’re a tiny animal trying to find food in total darkness in a perpetually wet forest, it makes sense you would develop an electro-sensitive snout (which is what characterises the monotremes). We found evidence that this ‘mini monotreme’, that was around the size of a small mouse, had developed this incredible survival adaptation to search for insects in moss and snow in total darkness, in a high-latitude area. But think how restrictive this environment would have been — this helps explain why this animal didn’t migrate to other southern continents. That was the first thing we solved: why these monotremes were restricted to Australia and where they came from,” he said.
The ancestors of icons Monotremes are iconic Australasian species — as the only egg-laying mammals alive today, the platypus and echidna continue to fascinate us. But it’s not only their extraordinary adaptations that ignite our imaginations — the origins of their species have been a mystery for centuries. Where did they come from? Why do we only find them in Australia and New Guinea?Recently,a team of international scientists led by the Australian Museum’s Chief Scientist and Director of AMRI, Professor Kristofer Helgen, and Honorary Associate Professor Tim Flannery, have found answers to these long-standing questions. AM scientists, alongside those from Museums Victoria, Monash University, Swinburne University and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., examined every known significant monotreme fossil to chart their history and evolution. What they found is that monotremes are the last survivors of a diverse set of fossil species that once roamed the southern continents.“Theprojectreallycame about due to lockdown, but so many of these questions actually came to me in a dream!” said Professor Tim Flannery. "A few questions really fascinated me with the monotremes. Why are they restricted to Australia when they evolved at a time when the continents were joined — shouldn’t they be everywhere? Where are the echidnas in the fossil record? The oldest echidna fossils in the fossil record are less than two million years old,” he continued. One of the big discoveries that came out of the research was classifying the oldest and smallest known monotreme — Teinolophos trusleri. And in AM scientists have led an international team to piece together the family tree of the world’s sole monotremes the echidna and the platypus.
The unravelling of the echidna’s origin story was particularly tricky. Echidnas have few appearances on the fossil record, and the scientists hypothesised that they must have existed in an unknown habitat. It was Professor Helgen who put forward the idea that they could have evolved in New Guinea. Millions of years ago, there existed proto-New Guinea, a series of continental fragments, before it developed into a single giant island. During this period, this area had extremely shallow seas and it seems feasible that a land mass was joined to Australia. About 50 million years ago, these land masses separated, and a sub-sample of Australian fauna became isolated on
17EXPLORE WINTER 2022
“So, if you’re a tiny animal trying to find food in total darkness in a perpetually wet forest, it makes sense you would develop an electro-sensitive snout.”
18
Left: The oldest and smallest known monotreme Teinolophos trusleri. Illustration by Peter Schouten.
The team went on to discover the largest monotreme that ever lived: a gigantic echidna (about 30kg) from south-west Western Australia. “People have known about it for a long time, but no one had described or named the genus. We named the genus Murrayglossus after Dr Peter Murray, a palaeontologist based in Tasmania who has researched fossil echidnas for decades. His fundamental work helped us work out what this giant echidna was — and he was very happy with the news, it’s his favourite animal in the whole world!” Flannery said.
Previous page: Murrayglossus hacketti, the largest egg-laying mammal that ever lived: a gigantic extinct echidna from Western Australia for which a new genus was named. Illustration by Peter Schouten.
an island in what would become New Guinea. Imagine a platypus-type creature on a tropical island without many rivers but with ever-wet forest. This creature may leave the river systems and forage on the land, which is what the echidna did.“Weknow from echidna embryonic development that the echidna evolved from an animal that had a bill like a platypus, and we think they evolved on that island. We have evidence from around two million years ago that there was a big faunal interchange between that island in proto-New Guinea and Australia — so at that time, we think that Australian species went to that island and the echidna came back into Australia,” says Flannery.
Join Australian Museum experts on expeditions, in exhibitions and in the lab as they uncover the stories behind Australia's first museum. Listen now
Burra, the AM’s ground-breaking new learning space, is now open. Designed for children of all ages, Burra layers First Nations knowledge systems and Western science. With play spaces, education areas and interactive activities, Burra is a place for families and schools to gain a greater understanding of our world and how to care for it. Burra the Eel is our guide in this innovative space. Follow Burra as she travels from the Coral Sea all along the east coast of Australia learning lessons from Country, Elders and AM scientists.
20
Now open, Level 2. Free entry.
Kids’ section
Gadi
Don’t forget to colour me in!
One day, Burra the baby Eel swam along the coast looking for a place to rest. Burra had been travelling across the Ocean for a whole year and was so excited to have finally arrived! Poking her head up out of the water, Burra could see tall Gadira dancing in the breeze all along the shore. The old Gadira were telling each other stories about this Country and all the people, animals and plants who live here. Curious, Burra stopped to listen, because it is important to start a journey knowing the Country you are on. When the stories were finished, the Gadira and Burra had all grown a little bit taller! “I’m going to listen to more stories,” said Burra, setting off on a big learning journey, “and I will see how much these Trees and I have grown when I come back here!” (Grass Tree
) 21EXPLORE WINTER 2022
Dhurrung ( Estuary) In the Estuaries, Burra noticed that the water tasted funny! Salty Sea water and fresh River water was mixing in these places, bringing lots of food for everyone to share. The Grey Mangrove Tree who grew in these mixing places taught Burra how important it is to give as much as you take. “You give a breath and throw the Boomerang, then you take a breath and catch the Boomerang,” Mangrove explained, showing Burra his snorkel breathing roots and bendy boomerang elbows.
Ngadjung ( Freshwater)
As Burra grew bigger and bigger, she became curious to hear more stories and decided to keep swimming further along into the sweet freshwater Rivers. Burra listened to all the different voices and learned that many animals had different ways of speaking and listening.ThelittleFishing Bat showed Burra how he chirped and listened to the sounds bouncing off Trees, Water, Insects and Fish to find his way and his food. The Platypus showed Burra how she hunted underwater with her eyes, ears and nostrils closed. “If you can’t see, hear or smell, how do you find your way?” Burra asked Platypus. “It’s easy,” laughed Platypus, “I listen to the feelings Kids’ section Burra made friends with all the young animals who play and learn here together in big Estuary schools. But Burra noticed that all the children stayed away from the Bull Shark. “Everyone thinks I’m scary, because I protect the rules,” Bull Shark explained, “but it’s my job to make sure no one gets greedy so that there is enough for everyone.” Burra thought this was an important job and decided to be friends with Bull Shark. I get from animals, plants, and stones — they all have electrical signals that tickle my snout!”
Burra spent many years in the freshwater Rivers learning how to listen carefully to all the voices of Country and appreciate the ways of knowing that are different to her own.
22
23EXPLORE WINTER 2022
Burra grew big and strong with all the stories she had heard over the years until it was time to start travelling back to where she had come from. As Burra swam back down the Rivers and into the Estuaries, Nawira carrying First Nations Peoples floated along with her. Burra cruised along underneath Nawi, scratching her back on rough wood. “Hey that tickles!” laughed Nawi, “you’ve got bigger since we last saw you!” Nawi explained that they had been young Stringybark Trees when Burra had been a little Eel in the Estuaries many years ago. Other old friends were here, too — Burra met Bull Shark and all the Fish who had grown up in the Estuaries with her. They were all big now!
Burra noticed that everyone was sharing the Waters, hunting for a feed and raising their children together. They were all sharing and respecting each other, because they had learned that everyone is woven together. This made Burra smile. What other creatures share the water with Burra? Draw them in here. Nawi (Tied-Bark Canoe)
2. Cut around the outside lines and along the lines between the tentacles. Using the tip of a pen or pencil, make a hole for a pipe cleaner or split pin fastener. 3. Fold ‘GLUE’ tab under and glue it to the opposite side of the head.
4. Align the top holes and poke the pipe cleaner or split pin through to fasten the head.
5. Bend the legs out to stand your Octopus up!
PokeFoldCut a hole
1. Colour me in!
Make an Octopus 24
Reaching the coast, Burra looked out at the Ocean and felt nervous about the big journey ahead. Some Little Terns who had just arrived from across the Sea called Burra over to see their pretty nests in the sand. “You should travel with friends,” said the Little Terns, “that way you can look after each other like we do.” The small birds showed Burra how they protect their eggs from danger by squawking and flapping as a group. Draw another Little Tern friend for Burra.
25EXPLORE WINTER 2022
Ghadu (Salt water)
Burra looked around for who might travel across the Sea with her and spotted a beautiful Rockpool full of shells. Burra tried to pick one up to take with her, but the Snails and Crabs living inside yelped. “This rockpool and these shells are our homes!” they growled. “We want to stay here!” Burra learned that everyone has a responsibility to care for Country. That means sticking up for each other and working together while also respecting each other and only taking what is needed.
Moana | Wan Solwara (Ocean)
26
Burra learned that usually lots of animals use the Current to move from place to place, but recently things have been changing. “The water is getting warmer, so the Current moves too fast,” Whale explained. “Some animals are going too far south and others are not arriving in time to find food.”
Draw in Burra’s babies swimming out to sea. Dharawal language by Drew Longbottom and Jacob Morris Illustrations by Jasmine Craciun, Barkindji and Malyangapa We acknowledge all the Traditional Owners of the Burra stories. Burra was made possible with thanks to the NSW Government and a generous bequest from the estate of Patricia McDonald through the Australian Museum Foundation, as well as Donors and Partners acknowledged on page 47.
Soon, Burra had babies of her own and taught them all of the things she had learned so that they would grow up caring for Country too. Excited by the stories they heard, Burra’s children decided to go on their own learning journeys! Swimming out to Sea, the tiny new Eels headed once again for the place where the Gadira grow. Setting off into the Pacific Ocean, Burra swam and swam until she reached the enormous Current. “Come on in!” called the Humpback Whale, “the Current will carry you across the Sea!”
Burra felt very worried about this. She decided to talk to her Elders and family about what she could do to help. Leaving the Current, Burra swam towards the Pacific Islands where she had been born. There, she met with all her sisters, brothers, cousins, aunties and uncles. All of the different Eels had stories to tell about where they had been and what they had learned about caring for Country.
New acquisition 27EXPLORE WINTER 2022
Traditional craftsmanship is part of Tongan culture, vital in preserving and ensuring the art is passed on to generations to come.
Volunteer researcher, Pasifika Collections & Engagement
There are only two of the baskets in existence today, one in the possession of Her Royal Highness and the second now in the Australian Museum Collection. It was made by Mrs Ungatea Koloamatangi who is 83 years of age and one of the few women bestowed with the honour of designing and making Her Royal Highness’ traditional dancing attire. The Aoao Mo e Lōtaki ‘a Lātūfuipeka is one of the last treasures made by Ungatea around 15 years ago, woven especially for Her Royal Highness.
Aoao Mo e Lōtaki ‘a AnaseiniLātūfuipekaUlakai
The making of the kato maeakafa dates back as early as the 1700s. To make the kato maeakafa, fibres of the coconut husk are woven together with fine strips of coconut coir into a sennit, then strung together. It is then ornamented with varnished coconut shells. Baskets can take up to six months to complete. Traditionally, the finer, more intricate and unique the detail and construction, the more valuable the basket and the higher its rank.
The rule of simplicity and elegance is applied to anything being gifted to the Tongan Royal Family — compared to other baskets, the Aoao Mo e Lōtaki ‘a Lātūfuipeka is not extravagant, but the painstaking weaving process defines its value.
To mark her first visit to the Australian Museum in April, Her Royal Highness Princess Angelika Lātūfuipeka Halaevalu Mata’aho Napua Okalani Tuku’aho of Tonga donated a small basket, woven in the style used for chiefs. The basket is a type of kato teu (ceremonial basket) known as the kato maeakafa, meaning basket woven from coconut sennit. Her Royal Highness gave the kato maeakafa the name, Aoao Mo e Lōtaki ‘a Lātūfuipeka, meaning “woven and tied together for Lātūfuipeka”, in honour of Her Royal Highness’s endeavours as High Commissioner of Tonga to Australia. It is a great honour for Royals to name or bestow titles on things, making this object all the more meaningful for the Australian Museum Pasifika Collection.
Below: Kato teu (ceremonial basket), Tonga, acquired 2022. Photo by Abram Powell.
Collection Science
theFuture-proofingkoala28
Dr Matthew Lott, Dr Greta Frankham, Dr Mark Eldridge, Mammalogy
“We have demonstrated that the way state governments have divided management frameworks for koalas does not accurately reflect the distribution of genetic diversity among populations. Conservation frameworks now need to take these findings into account and focus on freeing movement of individuals (and the potentially critical genetic diversity that they represent) between previously interconnected regions,” Dr Lott says.
The results indicate that while all koalas belong to a single species, five distinct groups or population clusters currently exist across Australia. It is estimated that these population clusters first diverged approximately 430,000–300,000 years ago, during a major climatic shift in the middle-late Pleistocene and have since experienced alternating periods of connectivity and isolation as the Australian environment has continued to change over time.
Queensland and New South Wales — which are now listed as endangered — have experienced rapid and widespread declines due to disease, dog attacks and habitat loss caused by land clearing, urbanisation and climate change.
Australian Museum scientists are using genetics to build a pathway for the koala’s survival.
While some populations do appear to have adapted genetically to local climatic conditions, past climate change seems to have made large parts of their present range temporally uninhabitable for koalas. This suggests that protected areas of refuge for animals during unfavourable environmental conditions may have played a more important role in the survival of the koala through the cool-dry Pleistocene glacial cycles than genetic adaptation alone. This highlights the importance of conserving genetic diversity through protecting koala habitat to increase the resilience of threatened populations. Dr Lott believes the findings have a number of other important implications for koala conservation.
The koala ( Phascolarctos cinereus) is an instantly recognised and much-loved symbol of Australia.
Additionally, the dataset allowed the scientists to delve into the complex relationship that exists between climate and genetic diversity in koalas.
Photo by Annie Spratt.
While few other native species have enjoyed the same level of publicity as the koala, this attention has unfortunately not translated into effective speciesKoalamanagement.populationsin
The catastrophic ‘megafires’ of 2019-20, which burned over 10 million hectares and resulted in the deaths of up to 8000 koalas, represent a particularly stark example of the extreme environmental disturbances expected to increase due to climate change. However, another less obvious threat to the continued survival of the koala is the loss of genetic diversity. The loss of genetic diversity from small, fragmented populations has been shown to increase their risk of extinction due to both inbreeding, and a reduced ability to adapt to rapid environmental change. Therefore, the maintenance of genetic diversity by maintaining large, interconnected natural populations, or its augmentation through relocating animals, is critical for conserving threatened koala populations in the face of existing and emerging threats. Recently, a group of scientists led by researchers at the Australian Museum undertook the most comprehensive investigation of koala genetics to date. “We sequenced the protein coding gene regions, or ‘exons,’ of 259 koalas from 92 locations across the species’ geographic range,” Dr Matthew Lott said. “While there are a few studies which have analysed a larger number of samples, our collection locations span nearly the entire modern distribution of the koala. By using historical Museum specimens, we’ve also been able to fill in some gaps where it’s literally impossible to find koalas anymore, such as metropolitan Sydney,” he explained.
“Finally, we recommend that koala populations should be prioritised for conservation action based on the scale and severity of the threats that they face, rather than placing too much emphasis on their perceived value (e.g. because they are believed to contain specific genetic variation that will allow them to better adapt to climate change or other future threats). Our data indicates that the loss of koalas from any part of Queensland or NSW represents a potentially critical reduction of genetic diversity for the species. Put simply, there is no such thing as a low-priority koala!”
29EXPLORE WINTER 2022
Photo gallery 30
TheSharksmakingof
Opening in September, Sharks is an Australian Museum-produced blockbuster exhibition that will be like no other. Three years in the making and involving almost every Museum department, Sharks is an epic adventure into the depths to discover the diversity of these awesome creatures and the role we humans play in the ecological balance of our oceans.
Photos by Sam De Souza for CDM:Studio.
31EXPLORE WINTER 2022
Helicoprion Photo gallery 32
There are 11 to-scale shark models in the exhibition, from the 50cm-long Epaulette Shark to the 8m-long Whale Shark. The models were designed in minute detail. The smaller ones were then 3D-printed complete, the larger ones were printed in segments and connected around a metal skeleton, and the the very big models (Whale Shark and White Shark) were carved by robotic arms. Models by CDM:Studio. Shark cuvier White Shark carchariasCarcharodon
Galeocerdo
Tiger
Prickly Dogfish Oxynotus bruniensis
Digital modelling and printing
HammerheadScalloped Sphyrna lewini Epaulette Shark ocellatumHemiscyllium
33EXPLORE WINTER 2022
Above: Cold cast aluminium model of a shark’s denticles (tough scales), magnified 300x. A denticle is a placoid scale of a cartilaginous fish; they are tooth-like projections, and less like the scales we are used to seeing on fish. Modelled from Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) micrographs.
Accuracy To ensure the models are scientifically accurate, model makers worked with AM ichthyologists Amanda Hay and Kerryn Parkinson on the living (extant) species, and palaeontologist Matt McCurry on the extinct Helicoprion shark. The experts compared and contrasted thousands of photos, scientific illustrations and AM Museum specimens to make sure everything — from the shape of a dorsal fin to the colour of an eye — was correct.
Left: The extraordinary diversity of shark eyes. Models made by Fourth Seal Studios in California.
Photo gallery 34
35EXPLORE WINTER 2022
Wet specimens Since November 2021, Sheldon Teare and the team from Collection Care and Conservation have been in the process of transferring 10 shark specimens out of their usual ethanol:water mixture into aqueous glycerol for display. This is a long and painstaking process of gradually moving the fragile specimens through increasing concentrations of water and glycerol, getting up to a final concentration of 65% glycerol. Displayed in this way, specimens appear more closely as they would in the ocean — the glycerol ‘plumps up’ the cells, makes them look less desiccated and shows their colours. Photos by Abram Powell. Photo gallery 36
The Mako Shark specimen came into the AM Collection in 2019 after being caught in a net at Maroubra Beach. Over 12 months, it was scanned, preserved and mounted in an Australian first — a particular challenge as sharks are cartilaginous (with skeletons made of cartilage, not bone). The Mako makes its public debut in Sharks, with the original skeleton being articulated by Katrina McCormick and Simon de Marchi. Photos by Abram Powell.
37EXPLORE WINTER 2022
Mako skeletonSharkarticulation
Vanessa Finney
, Head of World Cultures, Archives & Library 38
AM Members Celebrating 50 golden years of Australian Museum Members
Raising money
On 26 February 1972, The Australian wrote: When TAMS (renamed Australian Museum Members in 2006) was established, it was the second museum society in the country, after the South Australian Museum. The first committee met in March 1972. Events began in grand style soon after, with a fancy-dress ball to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first mail steamship’s arrival in Sydney.Withinayear, TAMS had over 1500 members, with offices located next to the Museum Director’s. Since then, the organisation has been an integral part of the Museum: fundraising, running public events and programs, operating venue hire, marketing, attracting sponsors and managing volunteers. For a time, Members even ran the Museum’s first coffee shop. “ T he idea behind TAMS is to get away from the traditional museum image of dust and sleepy curators by encouraging public awareness and participation … TAMS also aims to interest as many people as possible in the Australian environment and conservation”.
Created by former AM Director Professor Frank Talbot in 1972 as a way to activate the community, the AM Members organisation Ithas a rich legacy.isfittingthattheAustralian
39EXPLORE WINTER 2022
One of Members’ most important contributions has been raising funds for exhibitions and programs. From 1977 to the creation of the Australian Museum Foundation in 2005, corporate sponsor membership was handled by Members. Fees and donations were also crucial, and Members’ fundraising secured Planet of Minerals, the Birds Gallery and Dinosaurs. It was crucial in the creation of Search & Discover in 1994 — a resource centre to answer the public’s questions about the natural world and provide the first dedicated children’s space in the Museum.
Building bridges Members’ mission has always been to build a bridge between the Australian Museum and the general public. Members delivered lecture series, ran workshops, field trips and children’s events. They published the AM’s popular magazines Muse and Explore. For almost a decade, they even had their own radio show, ‘Talking Science’ on Sydney public radio. Super Science In the late 1980s, Members presented the extraordinary Super Science lecture series, bringing the world’s leading environmentalists, scientists and futurists to speak to rapt audiences at the Australian Museum. The speakers were a who’s who of international science communication, including Sir David Attenborough, David Suzuki, Noam Chomsky, Paul Ehrlich, David Bellamy, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Leakey.
Museum’s Members organisation was founded by our first ecologist, Professor Frank Talbot. Talbot established ecology as part of the Museum’s scientific goals and he saw, too, that for the Museum to thrive it needed to do more to invite the community inside its austere Neo-Classical facade. The result was the Australian Museum Society (TAMS).
Left: Chusan Ball, 1972. Above: Sir David Attenborough and TAMS executive officer Susan Bridie at a Super Science Lecture, 1980. Photos from the Australian Museum archives.
Left: Members view the Transit of Venus at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, 2012.
40
Have you checked out your benefits? Go to australian.museum/members to see the full list of your discounts and reciprocal memberships.
Below: Members at Igazu Falls during the Galapagos Island Trip, 2008.
Frank Talbot’s vision of a society of curious, adventurous and active Museum members endures today. Over 30,000 Members — the most in its history – continue to support, advocate and champion the important work we do here at the Australian Museum. Whether it’s attending lectures on climate change, learning more about First Nations cultures through workshops, getting involved in citizen science projects or bringing the next generation of scientists to see behind the scenes, the special community of people who call themselves AM Members is still as important now as it ever has been.
AM Members
Adventures near and far TAMS was perhaps best-loved by its early members for its excursions and field trips. For almost 30 years, legendary guide Ross Pearson led local walks of discovery around Sydney, natural history and heritage field trips around New South Wales, and adventures to national parks across Australia. There were also guided trips led by AM scientists to Lord Howe Island, Lizard Island and further afield to Sri Lanka, Vietnam, New Guinea, Madagascar, the Solomon Islands, and even Patagonia, the Galapagos Islands and Antarctica.
Bottom left: Muse magazine cover, 1988. Photos from the Australian Museum archives.
Australian Museum Members today
Left: Fossil, Mygalomorph “trapdoor” spider, acquired 2021. Photo by Michael Frese.
41EXPLORE WINTER 2022
New aquisition
Before the Australian Museum’s discoveries at McGraths Flat, only four fossil spiders had been found across the entire continent. Now, from this single site alone we have managed to unearth 13 new spider specimens, most of which are completely preserved. These spiders aren’t all from the same species, either; they include members of the cobweb spider and trapdoor spider families. It’s highly likely they represent just one part of a complex ecological food web that existed in prehistoric Australia.
A nest of new spider fossils
Many thousands of new specimens from this site have been unearthed and painstakingly prepared, labelled and barcoded for future study by our scientists. The fossils from this area are extremely valuable as they come from a Konservat-Lagerstätten, a special type of geological deposit which preserves plants and animals in immaculate detail, sometimes down to individual cells!
Some of the more remarkable fossils to be discovered from this new site are fossil spiders. Whilst modern spiders are all too common in our homes, fossil spiders from the ancient past are extremely rare. This is because their exoskeletons are made of an organic material that typically breaks down quickly after death. However, fossils from the McGraths Flat site appear to have avoided such a destructive fate. This is likely due to iron-reducing bacteria effectively mummifying their bodies.
The work undertaken at McGraths Flat was funded by the descendants of Robert Etheridge Jr and the Australian Museum Foundation.
The recent discovery of a new and exciting Miocene (11 to 16 million-year-old) fossil site, named McGraths Flat, at Gulgong, central New South Wales, is the cumulation of over three years’ work at the Australian Museum.
Dr Patrick Smith Technical PalaeontologyOfficer,Collection
Senior Fellow, Archaeology and Geosciences
Val, could you tell us a little about your early life?
42
Dr Val Attenbrow has been a researcher at the Australian Museum since 1989. Her research, which has focused on Holocene period subsistence patterns, resource use, stone tool technology and trade among First Nations Peoples, has had a profound impact on Australian archaeology. To honour her contributions, Val was awarded the 2020 Australian Museum Research Institute Lifetime Achievement Award. My Museum
Dr Val Attenbrow
Interview by Dr Amy Way, Scientific Officer, Geoscience and Archaeology
I was born in England in 1942. In February 1948, my family flew to Sydney. I attended Strathfield Girls High School, and then did a day secretarial course at Granville Tech. After the course, I worked in the Department of Education, after which I decided to go on a working holiday to England and stayed for five years. There I met a woman who was studying archaeology, and I joined her at evening classes at Marylebone Institute. When I returned to Sydney in 1968, I got a job as a secretary, and took a three-year diploma course in archaeology in the evening. That was my introduction to archaeology in Australia. I later obtained a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree from the University of Sydney in 1976 and completed my PhD in 1987.
Left: Dr Val Attenbrow at her official retirement celebration, 2011. Photo by Carl Bento. Above: Val directing her excavation at Balmoral Beach, 1992. Photo by Peter White.
One of the highlights of your career is the longevity of the work that you did at Mangrove Creek, more than 40 years of research in one place. Can you tell us about the benefits of doing such a long-term project? One of the benefits is the fact that as time goes on you accumulate different sets of evidence about what people were doing in the landscape. So that not only do you build on what went before, but new techniques come into being that weren’t available before. As time went on, using new technology and methods (e.g. use-wear and residue studies by Gail Robertson), we’ve been able to describe more fully what people were doing in the landscape; not just stone artefacts, but people. In this way we can try to build up a history of what people were doing in the landscape. Finally, in your years of study and work, what have been some of the most memorable or joyous moments? That’s a difficult question to answer because there have been many joyous moments, and archaeology has become somewhat of a passion with me. But I guess one of the joyous moments has been receiving the AMRI Lifetime Achievement Award — that would certainly be on the top of the list.
43EXPLORE WINTER 2022
Your research has revealed a lot of rich and detailed information about life in the Sydney Basin and one of your major field projects was in Upper Mangrove Creek (near Wyong on the NSW Central Coast), which subsequently produced the seminal text What’s Changing. Can you tell us a little bit about your findings? The work in Mangrove Creek started as a salvage project for the Mangrove Creek Dam. One of the sites went back 11,000 years. Also, one of the implement types, known as a backed artefact, was found in levels dating to 8500 years ago — much further back in time than previously accepted. Before this, researchers had thought that backed artefacts in layers younger than 5000 years old had just been moved lower by people treading on the deposit. However, Peter Hiscock and I argued that in several sites the stratigraphy was tight and that the lower backed artefacts were in situ. So, we then argued that the backed artefacts came into the Sydney Basin about 8500 years ago, which pushed back the earliest time for this kind of artefact. One of the other major contributions of your life’s work to Australian archaeology is the work you’ve done on ground-edged artefacts. Yes, I did two studies on ground-edged artefacts (e.g. axes or hatchets). One (with Nina Kononenko) focused on their use. I got interested in looking at the use of the axes when I noticed some had blunted working edges, and it intrigued me as to what they were used for. Others had flake scars from being shaped or from heavy use. Some had crushed grains in the rock from pounding and scratches (striations) where they’d been used for grinding and polishing other materials. So, they were multipurpose tools.
The other study (with Peter Grave) focused on where the axes had come from by looking at the raw materials understanding where they came from as opposed to where they were found. Tracing that movement from one place to another, one can find out about trading patterns and social networks. One way of doing this is to look at the geochemical composition of the rock from which the axes are made and to compare them to samples from outcrops of different sources of rock. There’s a basalt quarry in the hinterland of the Central Coast that through oral history is said to have been used by First Nations people as a source of rock for their axes. So we used some material from there as part of our reference collection and found that there were quite a lot of matches, and the basalt from there was a major rock source used for making the ground-edged axes in the NSW Central Coast. Artefacts made of this rock were also found in the Illawarra and in the Hunter Valley which indicates that the people — or the axes at least were moving away from their bedrock source.
44AroundtheMuseum
The 2022 Australian Museum Foundation Gala The Australian Museum Foundation hosted its annual Gala Dinner, Night at the Museum, on Wednesday 11 May. Featuring a special performance by singersongwriter Delta Goodrem, museum trivia and a LEGO® brick building contest to tie in with the Museum’s Jurassic World by Brickman® exhibition, the event was attended by 250 guests including NSW Minister for the Arts The Hon Benjamin Franklin MLC, and Valerie Taylor AM. The evening raised more than $300,000 in support of education programs at the AM. Photos by Tim Levy.
On Thursday 2 June, more than 400 people attended the second annual Talbot Oration, delivered by social researcher and climate change strategist Dr Rebecca Huntley, which explored the ways that images can convey the messages of climate change. Following the talk, AM Trustee and First Nations leader Larissa Behrendt AO moderated a panel featuring Rebecca, author Dr Saul Griffith and climate activist Tishiko King. Dr Jenny Newell also outlined the program for the new Climate Solutions Centre (CSC). More than 50 AM Members attended the event. Photos by Anna Kučera.
The Talbot Oration: Inspiring Visions for a Climate Solution
45EXPLORE WINTER 2022
Stephen began his career in genetic science before working extensively in the business sector, culminating in his role as CEO of Aussie Home Loans. Upon his relocation to Orange, Stephen joined the Somerville Collection board, keen to assist the Australian Museum and the minerals collection at Bathurst in any way possible. Stephen, who was 60 years old, was a good friend of the Museum and was passionate about his oversight of the minerals collection.
During his 24 years as Trustee and Chair, Ken transformed the Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation and the Australian Museum’s Lizard Island Research Station (LIRS). Ken’s contributions include the establishment of fundraising for the Foundation, which continues to support research at LIRS today, the construction of staff accommodation and research facilities on Lizard Island, and the annual awarding of several post- doctoral research fellowships. His contributions to coral reef science and to LIRRF and LIRS are a lasting legacy and his enthusiasm, drive and generosity will long be remembered. Ken was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2000.
Tributes 46
Ken Coles AM Trustee, Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation (LIRRF) 1991–2015 and Chair, 1994–2012
Stephen Porges Chair, the Somerville Collection, the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum, Bathurst, 2018–22
Stephen died on 22 April 2022, and is survived by his wife Serena and children Tess, Frankie and Willa. Neil Balnaves AO Philanthropist, the Balnaves Foundation Through the Balnaves Foundation, Neil generously supported the Australian Museum’s commitment to advocating for First Nations voices, including the award-winning Unsettled exhibition. The donation from the Balnaves Foundation facilitated free entry to this important exhibition, which was viewed by more than 70,000 visitors. He was a courageous leader and an advocate for philanthropy in the fields of the Arts and First Nationsled storytelling. The Australian Museum extends its condolences to the Balnaves family, including Neil’s wife Diane, children Hamish and Victoria, and their families.
Ken died peacefully on 18 January 2022 with his wife Rowena Danziger AM at his side.
47EXPLORE WINTER 2022 Leadership Gifts The Hintze ShermanTheCharitable FoundationFamilyMacdochFoundationFoundation Patrons Ann Macintosh Trust David & Megan Armstrong The Balnaves Foundation Jennifer AnonymousWollemiVonwillerRobertFamily FoundationTheNeilsonMinderooMemocorpDicconSpencer TrustThe&Annalate Dr John HoltMaryAlisonChrisWarwickEtheridgeCrivelliDescendantsEvans&GinaGrubb&BillHaywardOAMHolt&theJosephsonRickard GardellLionel&Yvonne&ElizabethLoxtonAustraliaPty LtdFoundationFoundationParadiceRichFoundationCapitalGroup Benefactors Robert Otto Albert AO RFD RD The Carrawa Foundation Claude & Maryanne Gauchat Brian & Georgina Hartzer Belinda Gibson & Jim Murphy Graeme Wood Foundation The John JohnDickinson FamilySpencerTReidCharitable Trusts Judy GretelLeePacker AM Purcell Martin&KristinaEndowment FundFamilyStefanovaJamesSchultzTerry President’s Circle Lucinda Aboud The Berg Family Foundation Drs Gary Holmes & Anne Reeckmann Dr Bruce Jenkins James N Kirby Foundation Tony Sukkar AM & Josephine Sukkar AM Wavish DickCharitable TrustFamily&PipSmith Foundation Director’s Circle Antoinette Albert Dr Charles Barnes Rosanne Burkhart Carnegie Family Endowment Mark MargotPhilipCannon-BrookesHelenCarnegie&MichaelChronican&Stephanie Chinneck Louise Cox AO Direct2 Pty Ltd Dr Zeny Edwards OAM Greg Hammond OAM Hartzer Family Endowment Drs Janice Hirshorn & George Jacobs JIBB Family Foundation Philip RosemaryKeir Lucas The Hon Ros Kelly AO & Dr David Morgan AO Susan & Stuart Lloyd- Hurwitz Leathan CatherineFamilyLivingstone AO & Michael Satterthwaite Helen McCombie Alice Arnott Oppen OAM Henry Pollack Foundation Jeffrey Simpson Troy RobynAndySuttorWadeWilliams AO & Jonica Newby Su-Ming AnonymousWong Guardians James & Belinda Allen Martin & Ursula Armstrong Lauren Atmore Paul Bailey K KenBarr& Roddy Bell Dr Kathy Belov AO Jordana and Simon Benson Robert & Linda Biancardi Christine Bishop Bill & Annette Blinco Natalia Bradshaw Jane Bridge SuzanneDavidDrFayeAndrewDrDr Patrick ToothVirginiaTheShaunaFionaArthurPeterDavidDrDavidEdwardSusanDianneAmandaProfJuliaMargaretDr Veronica LambertTrevor&PhillipPhillipPaulJohnMaggieChestnutTheAdrienneJohnGillMichael LambertandBureyButtleCarlsonYongFamilyTreeFoundationChien&JulieConnollyConnorCordonyCornwellCeciliaRiceDanosAM&&PeterDonovanDrewElizabethElliotFarrar&TerryFinneganFosterGriffin&AlexaHaslingdenElieHammamHandleyAMDrHelenHardingKateHaywardWendyHendersonAmanda&MarkHingTrevorHodsonDominiqueHogan-Doran SC&LouiseHomelInglisJamesJarrett&HonGregPearceJudge&RodericKeffordAMVioletaKellyWarwickKlabeJohnLeeceAMHowardLewisElaineMacDonaldJanieMasonPeterMayburyKimMcKayAOMcKinnonMcLartyMarilynMcMurchieMcNeeMeli Australian Museum Donors and Partners The Australian Museum and the Australian Museum Foundation gratefully acknowledges the generosity of our donors and Malcolm Moir Lily W Mung Endowment Stephen Neille Bruce Norton Saskia Orgill Leon SimonPasternakandPrue Perrott Renee Pollack Foundation John Pearson Judy Ranka & Bert Van Der Broek David Robb Karen Rochfort Drs Jane & Neville Rowden Donald E Russell Drs Jean & Evan Siegel Jacqui Sherlock Fiona Sinclair Peter Srbinovski Maisy RayDrWendy&ThereseVeraDrLouise&ChristinaStapletonStitt-DitfurthJohnStittTaggartRobinTorrenceVargassoffWalesAgnesChewLegacyWalkerTony&MrsDoffyWhiteWilsonOAMStephenWilson&RachelHawkeswoodAnonymous Bequests The late Clarence E TheChadwicklatePatricia McDonald The late Helen Molesworth The late Patricia Porritt The late Cameron ‘Ivan’ Walsh Principally funded by the NSW Government in association with Create NSW Principal Partner Westpac Major Partners NSWStocklandIBMDepartment of Primary Industries Supporting Partners IASWPPFine Art Logistics NSW Department of Planning and Environment — Water
From 24 September 2022 Explore the diversity of these ancient predators with 11 life-size shark models, immersive interactive experiences and one-of-a-kind tactile specimens created from the Australian Museum collection. See it in Sydney before it tours the world. australian.museum/sharks
