University Events Calendar

28 November, 2014

October Events December Events View Full Year

World renowned Richard Fortey public lecture: Survivors: the animals and plants that time has left behind

Date/Time: Friday, 28 November 2014, 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm

Location: The Braggs Lecture Theatre

Cost: Free

More information: Visit website

The Environment Institute and the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA are honoured to present a public lecture by one of the most accomplished science writers and biologists of this time, Richard Fortey.

Professor Fortey is senior paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London and is a world expert on trilobites.

Richard Fortey was presenter of a four part series called Fossil Wonderlands: Nature's Hidden Treasures, which aired on 11 March 2014, as well as another four BBC mini series and appearances in David Attenborough documentaries.

He was a key scientific consultant to the award winning Discovery Channel documentary The Future is Wild. The documentary doubled previous best ever viewing figures for Discovery's U.S. channel Animal Planet.

He has also written numerous books including Life which was short-listed for the Rhône-Poulenc Prize in 1998 and Trilobite! which was short-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize in 2001.

In a rare treat, Richard Fortey will present a public lecture at the University of Adelaide entitled: Survivors: the animals and plants that time has left behind.

Richard will address the public on the commonly held view that evolution moves ever onwards and upwards. Many of these organisms have come through global crises that reorganised the entire biosphere through mass extinction: several of them have outlived both trilobites and dinosaurs.

Richard has spent several years visiting these messengers from the past in their natural habitats, to find out if there was some common factor in their longevity, or whether they were simply lucky. The journey took him to Yellowstone Park, remote mountains in China - and, not surprisingly, several places in Australia.

In his talk, Richard will describe the lives of these survivors, and explore the threats they now face to their continued existence. "We need to conserve what Charles Darwin termed 'living fossils' for future generations."

This will one of the biggest events of the year for the Environment Institute, you won't want to miss it!

More info
Download Flyer

When: Friday 28 November, 5.30-7.00pm
Where: The Braggs Lecture Theatre
Register via Eventbrite

Contact: Corri Baker, Email: corri.baker@adelaide.edu.au, Website: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/environment/, Marketing, Communications and Events Coordinator, Environment Institute, Adelaide University, Business: (08) 83133670