Symposium: Communication, outreach, conservation

Phylogenetic diversity in conservation: why we should proceed with care.

Marcel Cardillo (Australian National University); Alex Skeels (Australian National University). Phylogenetic diversity (PD) connects systematics with conservation, by using phylogenetic branch lengths to quantify an assemblage’s “evolutionary history”, which is widely regarded as worthy of protection. Although PD is still rarely used in practical conservation decision making, it is becoming more visible in the international policy […]

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The first 1,000 images of Australian leaf mines: How an iNaturalist project has discovered new species and records.

Ying Luo (Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO and Australian National University) In this talk, I’ll discuss how utilising the free Projects feature on iNaturalist has allowed users to collate over 1000 records of Australian leaf miners. Leaf miners are insects whose larvae feed inside leaves. They leave distinctive trails on leaves, which means that they

The first 1,000 images of Australian leaf mines: How an iNaturalist project has discovered new species and records. Read More »

Miracine parasitoid wasps (Braconidae, Miracinae): First Australian record and new species described as part of the Insect Investigators citizen science project.

Mollie-Rosae Slater-Baker (The University of Adelaide); Andrew D Austin (The University of Adelaide and South Australian Museum); James B Whitfield (Department of Entomology, University of Illinois); Erinn P Fagan-Jeffries (The University of Adelaide and South Australian Museum). Miracinae is a poorly known and rarely collected subfamily of parasitoid wasps belonging to the megadiverse family Braconidae. As parasitoids of leaf-mining caterpillars, they play important

Miracine parasitoid wasps (Braconidae, Miracinae): First Australian record and new species described as part of the Insect Investigators citizen science project. Read More »

A guide to strategically communicating taxonomy: from public to parliament.

Bryan D. Lessard (Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water). Taxonomy underpins our understanding of biodiversity and its effective management. Despite its significance as a foundational science, wider interest in the science of taxonomy, systematics and collections-based research is in decline. Science communication has the power to reach and inform

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Impacts of the ABRS National Taxonomy Research Grant Program on Australia’s threatened species.

Jaever M. Santos; Tina A. R. Gopalan; Bryan D. Lessard (Australian Biological Resources Study). The Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) has supported biodiversity research since its establishment in 1973. Throughout its 50 years as Australia’s focal point for taxonomy and systematics, the ABRS has provided this support to the taxonomic community through the National Taxonomy

Impacts of the ABRS National Taxonomy Research Grant Program on Australia’s threatened species. Read More »

Over a decade of species discovery with Bush Blitz.

Jo Harding (Bush Blitz); Kate Gillespie (Bush Blitz). Bush Blitz is Australia’s largest species discovery program. It is a unique multi-million dollar partnership between the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Parks Australia, BHP and Earthwatch Australia to document plants and animals across Australia. There are an estimated 580,000-680,000 species in Australia,

Over a decade of species discovery with Bush Blitz. Read More »

The systematist as a storyteller: reflections on the role of narrative in Systematics

André W. do Prado (Murdoch University, Australia). Historical narratives play an important explanatory role in evolutionary biology. Systematics, as a scientific endeavour, has been criticized for a long time, often treated as an arbitrary classification, and for often avoided narrative explanations, as it was seen as highly speculative. This talk aims to provide reflections on how

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