Dr Phil Manning
hosted by the Royal Society of New Zealand
Wednesday, 13 May 2015 from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Napier venue: National Aquarium, Marine Parade

In 1999, the mummified remains of a hadrosaur dinosaur were discovered in North Dakota, USA. Skin, muscle, tendons and other soft tissue that rarely survive fossilisation were preserved in this 67-million-year-old dinosaur, allowing scientists to estimate its muscle mass and ability to outrun its predators. Dr Phil Manningand his team obtained scanning equipment normally used on space shuttles at NASA to examine the remarkable fossil and they made some surprising discoveries about these ancient creatures.

This talk will take you on a whistle stop tour of the people, places and science associated with a very special fossil dinosaur called Dakota.

Palaeontologist and writer Dr Phil Manning is Professor of Natural History at the University of Manchester and Director of the Interdisciplinary Centre of Ancient Life. Phil has appeared in and presented many television documentaries for the BBC, Discovery and History Channels, and is currently filming two new documentaries to be released later this year.

Phil plays an active role in Manchester Museum’s public outreach programme and has authored popular science books. He blogs atDinosaur CSI and tweets @DrPhilManning.

More information about Dinosaurs & space-shuttles on the Royal Society of New Zealand website

This tour is a partnership between the Royal Society of New Zealand and Museums Aotearoa.

Fossils: Rock Legends

A presentation by James Crampton of GNS, Lower Hutt, and School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University, Wellington

Paleontology is the science of fossils.  Like all science, it is concerned with discovery and interpretation of the world (and universe) around us.  For paleontology, that discovery starts in the layers of rock exposed on mountainsides and in river beds, where we find fossils that have been preserved and hidden for millions to hundreds of millions of years.  Fossils are an incredible source of knowledge and understanding: from them we learn about the unique history of life on this planet, the wonderful coincidence of conditions that makes life possible, and the terrifying events that have destroyed life.  We also learn about climate change, sea-level rise, earthquakes, tsunamis, and the fossil fuels that sustain our society.  In this talk I will try to convey the excitement (and hazards!) of initial fossil discovery, and then give a tour through the sorts of scientific discoveries that follow.

Date: Tuesday 5 May 2015, 7.30pm

Venue: National Aquarium of New Zealand, Marine Parade Napier

Admission: Gold coin donation

James will be in Hawkes Bay to support the HBBRSNZ education programme Geology Rocks! with thanks to the Royal Society of New Zealand, the Hawkes Bay Branch of the Royal Society, Hawkes Bay Regional Council and TAG Oil.

Please direct any enquiries to HBBranchRSNZ@gmail.com

Atholl Anderson and Aroha Harris

5.30–7.00pm Monday 27 April 2015, Century Theatre, MTG Hawke’s Bay, Napier

Atholl Anderson, FRSNZ and Aroha Harris will talk about new perspectives on Māori history, drawing on their work for Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History.  This book is shortlisted for the 2015 Science Book Prize.

Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History charts the sweep of Māori history from ancient origins through to the twenty-first century. Through narrative and images, it offers a striking overview of the past, grounded in specific localities and histories.
The story begins with the migration of ancestral peoples out of South China, some 5,000 years ago. More at Bridget Williams Books

Judges’ comments

Tangata Whenua is a beautifully produced, well illustrated and comprehensive record of the tangata whenua. Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney and Aroha Harris present archaeological and genetic evidence alongside history, traditional narratives and oral sources to produce this powerful story – both scholarly and readable – of Maori people and the land they live in.

This is a free public event – for more information, contact Dianne Park: dpark@mtghawkesbay.com, (06) 833 9936

Download flier here>

Seaweek Royal Society Lecture

7:30 PM, 3 March 2015, National Aquarium of New Zealand, Marine Parade, Napier

Anton Van Helden

Marine Mammal and Museum consultant, Illustrator, cartoonist, and entertainer

For 24 years, Anton managed one of the worlds largest collections of Marine Mammals, exhibition planning and design, collections management, research (particularly on beaked whales), specimen acquisition, preparation and preparative processes, illustration, communication, lecturing, workshop development and implementation and specimen handling. He was involved in adding over 1000 specimens of marine mammals to New Zealand’s national marine mammal collection.

Anton was involved in the description of Perrin’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon perrini), the resurrection of the Spade-toothed whale (Mesoplodon traversii) and adding several species of cetacean to the New Zealand fauna. He was instrumental in the development of the Whales Tohora exhibition (currently touring North America) and the exhibit Wild Design at Te Papa.

Anton produced numerous illustrations for Te Papa for the exhibitions NatureSpace, Blood-Earth-Fire, The Colossal squid, Whales Tohora and other online and printed resources.

Members and friends joined the Branch Council at the Holt Planetarium on Monday 8 December for a small celebration at the start of the festive season. This was prior to the evening lecture by Hamish Campbell.

This was also an opportunity to recognise the support for lectures we receive from the Holt Planetarium, and the staff at the National Aquarium who between them host most of our events. Thanks especially, Gary and Carol.

How and where to find them

Dr Hamish Campbell, GNS Science.
Monday 8 December 

Hamish Campbell, here to support the fascinating Dinosaur Footprints exhibition at The National Aquarium of New Zealand, delivered a virtuoso performance on topics far wider than merely the dinosaur record. Anyone who has heard Dr Campbell speak on radio or TV will attest to the clarity with which he communicates to a lay audience.

By the end of its ninety minutes, his talk, and his answers to the many questions from the audience ranged across the origins of the land masses that make up modern New Zealand and neighbouring islands, the tectonic plates and faults that determine its seismicity, the geology evident at its surface (including fossil discoveries), through to evidence of climate change and its likely future consequences.

Preceded by festive drinks and nibbles, this lecture brought the year to a fitting and entertaining close.