Thu 16 - Sun 26 August, 2007

National Science Week is an opportunity to celebrate the contribution science and technology has made to our society, economy and environment.

As a leader in scientific research and discovery, ANU is pleased to offer a full program of exciting and informative Science Week activities.

CANBERRA - MELBOURNE - PERTH - SYDNEY

To help celebrate the tenth birthday of National Science Week, the ANU is pleased to extend its public lecture series to a national audience - lectures will be held in Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. The lectures feature outstanding research undertaken at the University, showcasing a portion of the broad disciplines and innovative research studies at the ANU College of Science.

Presenters: Paul Willis and Bernie Hobbs

Venue: Uni Pub

Time: Saturday 18 August, 4pm – 6pm

Bookings: Free to the public. Bookings not required.

This Pubscience session tackles one of the hottest issues of our time: climate change and the media. In the past year, stories about climate change have moved from the back to the front page of the newspapers, fuelled by contentious documentaries such as Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” and most recently, Martin Durkin’s “The Great Global Warming Swindle”. So how is the topic of climate change handled by the media? Is it given balanced coverage – and what does that mean anyway? Should journalists treat climate change as a scientific story? A political issue? An unsubstantiated rumour? Should they be sceptical about the link between climate change and human activity, or treat it as a reality?

Jeremy Leggett has been described by Time Magazine as ‘one of the key players in putting the climate issue on the world agenda.’ He was an award-winning scientist, oil-industry consultant, and Greenpeace campaigner before setting up his UK-based renewable energy company, Solarcentury.

Simon Grose is has been a science and technology writer and editor for 15 years and is a contributor to The Canberra Times, Nature Medicine and Australasian Science.

Professor Will Steffen is director of Earth System science and sustainability at the Australian National University, and a science advisor to the Australian Greenhouse Office. He has a special interest in terrestrial ecosystem interactions with global change, the global carbon cycle, and incorporation of human processes in Earth System modelling and analysis.

Hosts:
Bernie Hobbs is a science writer and performer with the ABC and a judge on the ABC TV’s New Inventors program
Paul Willis is a palaeontologist by training and a science reporter with ABC TV’s Catalyst program.

Venue: Shine Dome, Gordon Street, ACTON

Time: Wednesday 22 August, 5.30pm

Bookings: Free to the public. Bookings not required.

Come on a journey to a place where the usual “CSI” and “Numbers” operatives just won’t cut it - the bottom of the sea. A former criminal profiler with a team of Australia’s elite scientists will attempt to solve a pirate mystery on the floor of the ocean using techniques you won’t see on television.

This unique experience will transform the Shine Dome into a virtual submarine and give you a grandstand seat for this interactive marine adventure showcasing the future of forensic science.

Presenter: ANU Water Initiative / ANU Emeritus Faculty

Venue: H C Coombs Theatre, Fellows Road, ANU

Time: Friday 24 August and Saturday 25 August, 9am - 7pm

Bookings: Free to the public. Bookings not required. Schools should contact the colloquium organiser and indicate the number of seats required as there will be a quota on the number of seats allocated to schools.

'Water Matters' is a colloquium and public forum on water presented as part of National Science Week and the 2007 Australian Science Festival.

The colloquium will be addressed by Lord Selborne KBE FRS, Chair of the House of Lords Committee on Science and Technology and author of the House of Lords Report Water Management published on 6 June 2006.

Other speakers include: Bear McPhail, Will Steffen, Dingle Smith, Tom McMahon, Barney Foran, Paul Perkins, Peter Lane, Quentin Grafton, Steve Dovers, Alistair Watson, Wendy Craik, and John Reid.

There will be a visit to an art exhibition on the evening of 24 August at the ANU School of Art. On the evening of 25 August there will be a public forum preceded by a musical interlude from Sirocco.

Sponsored by the ANU Water Initiative, the ANU College of Science and the ANU Emeritus Faculty. Supported by the Australian Government as part of National Science Week.

Website: www.anu.edu.au/emeritus
Enquiries: Giles Pickford on 0411 186 199

Venue: Shine Dome, Gordon Street, ACTON

Time: Saturday 25 August, 5pm

Bookings: Free to the public. Bookings not required.

Australia is the driest inhabited continent in the world; rainfall is variable and droughts common. As such, every drop of water is important. This Public Forum brings together a range of expertise on a variety of water related concerns, including ecological issues, questions about climate change, water quality and salinity concerns, urban needs and restrictions, groundwater concerns and asks important questions about the best management of Australia's water resources. Moderated by ABC Canberra's Alex Sloan, the expert panel will provide insight into long and short term consequences of water management in Australia with local, national and international perspectives.

Gary Jones (E-Water, University of Canberra)
Janette Lindsay (ANU College of Science)
Rebecca Letcher (ANU College of Science)
Paul Perkins (ANU Water Initiative)
Lord Selborne (United Kingdom House of Lords)

Sponsored by the ANU Water Initiative, the ANU College of Science and the ANU Emeritus faculty. Supported by the ACT Government and Australian Government as part of National Science Week and the Australian Science Festival.

Venue: Interactive Learning Theater, Room 1.04, Peter Baum Building, Building 42, ANU. Front entrance University Avenue. Rear entrance Linnaeus Way.

Time: Tuesday 21 August, 11.30 - 12.30pm

Bookings: Free to the public. Bookings not required.

We'll put some of ANU's finest physics PhD students to the test in a presentation challenge to highlight their skills as scientists and communicators. The best presenter will win a $2,000 prize donated by Tarcus Consulting.