http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/ en celeste.ecuyer@anu.edu.au Copyright 2009 2009-11-05T03:40:10+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/darwins_compass/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/darwins_compass/#When:23:21:45Z Orthodox neo-Darwinism very much emphasises the random and contingent. Re-run the tape of life, as Steven Jay Gould famously observed, and the outcomes would be utterly different. Terrestrial life maybe, but certainly no humans. They, like tulips and tape-worms, are just another evolutionary fluke. The basis of this is hardly surprising: think of random mutations, massive shifts in the environment, not to mention the odd giant rock dropping out of the sky. Life is on a roller-coaster and is flung from one strange place to another. Conway Morris argued for the exact reverse, that evolution is like any other science, that is it is predictable. The mainstay of this argument revolved around evolutionary convergence, the observation that from different starting points evolution arrives at the same solution. A classic example is the camera-eyes (and please do not mention ‘deep homology'), but less appreciated is that convergence is not common, it is ubiquitous. Evidence continues to grow that evolutionary bifurcations are far from random, but probably lead to inevitable outcomes. This suggests the Tree of Life is very different from the sprawling mass of foliage that is commonly envisaged. Also of great importance is the inherency of molecular systems and the capacity for self organisation. Darwinian evolution explains the mechanism, but not the outcomes. Public Lecture, Biological Sciences, Botany & Zoology, ANU College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Medicine and Life Science 2009-09-24T23:21:45+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/fires_forests_and_futures/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/fires_forests_and_futures/#When:06:51:12Z The sustainability of the Ash forests of Victoria is contentious for a number of reasons, not least because of the pressures of population and economic growth, and climate change on their diverse uses. Attempts to take account of the principle of sustainability in weighing alternative uses have not been widely accepted and the methods used are themselves the subject of debate. But those attempts have been largely grounded in deterministic models. Recent experience in the Ash forests of Victoria indicates that planning and management needs to be much more attuned to the role of fire and to examine future paths stochastically. Such an examination suggests that the zero-sum game being played by the conservation and development camps is more likely to risk than help future sustainability of these forests and that new strategies are needed. This lecture was the Seventh Jack Westoby Lecture, presented by ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment. Public Lecture, Botany & Zoology, Environment, ANU College of Science 2009-08-31T06:51:12+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/monkey/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/monkey/#When:04:23:00Z Taking off to mend a broken heart, Vanessa Woods left safe, suburban Canberra and headed for the remote, wild and distinctly unsafe jungles of Costa Rica. She was stung so often by killer bees she developed a lethal allergy, and the monkeys she was to study were evasive, mean and aggressive. The only difference between them and her housemates was that at least she could tell her housemates apart. In this talk, science writer Vanessa Woods will explain how to survive a year in the jungle: a world of love, loss, bitter rivalry and vicious battles – and that’s just the monkeys. Public Lecture, Behavioural & Cognitive Sciences, Biological Sciences, Botany & Zoology, Environment, Society & Culture, ANU College of Science, Arts and Social Sciences 2007-03-14T04:23:00+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/reason_for_hope/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/reason_for_hope/#When:05:36:00Z Dr Jane Goodall is known worldwide as a passionate environmental advocate. At the heart of her mission is a 46-year research and conservation project studying humanity’s closest relative – the chimpanzee – at Gombe Stream in Tanzania. In this talk, Dr Goodall gives an update on the Gombe Stream project, and discusses how it is helping those people who live adjacent to the park to be more sustainable. She also discusses the work of the Jane Goodall Institute, including the ‘Roots & Shoots’ youth program which runs in 90 countries. Public Lecture, Botany & Zoology, Environment, University, Medicine and Life Science 2006-07-24T05:36:00+10:00