Renowned palaeontologist to talk on Alfred Wallace
KUCHING: Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak will organise a a talk entitled ‘Chasing Butterflies and Other Unknowns: The Work of AR Wallace’ given by world renowned palaeontologist Patricia Vickers-Rich.
This talk, which will be of interest to fans of Wallace’s life work, is one of the fi rst events for What About Kuching (WAK) 2017, the October festival celebrating the arts, culture and lifestyles of the people of Kuching.
It will be held at The Waterfront Hotel at11am on Oct 1.
British naturalist and explorer Alfred Russel Wallace may not be as popular as his peer Charles Darwin, but he is legendary in his own right.
Vickers- Rich will talk about why he is her hero.
She is working with John van Wyhe from the National University of Singapore ( NUS) and Melbourne fi lm-maker Steve Pritchard on a documentary about Wallace, which centres on one of his most notable observations – the Wallace Line.
This boundary separates the bio-zones of Asia and Australasia: islands west of the Wallace Line share fauna similar to that of East Asia whereas those east of the line are populated by marsupials and birds similar to those in Australasia.
Vickers-Rich’s talk highlights these findings and how the movement of the continents provides an answer to this enigma that was never really solved by Wallace.
Those attending her talk will also get the rare treat of seeing some footage from this documentary in-progress.
Vickers- Rich was born and educated in the United States and migrated to Australia in 1976.
She has held a succession of academic positions at Monash University and Swinburne in Melbourne where she currently holds a Professorship in Palaeobiology and a Directorship of PrimeSCI, a pre-Tertiary science education group.
She has written a number of research and popular books which have won awards including the Premier of Victoria’s Science book of the year, two Eureka awards for science writing, and has published more than 200 scientific publications, including several in Science over the years.
She still teaches at undergraduate level, mentors graduate student projects and is involved in early childhood education projects in Afghanistan, Timor-Leste, Namibia, Argentina and Australia.
WAK 2017 celebrates the arts, culture and lifestyles of the people of Kuching by creating a platform to share the abundant talent here and throughout Sarawak.
The month-long event from Sept 30 to Oct 29 will encompass every genre from visual to performing arts, traditional to contemporary arts, and from static exhibitions to active outdoor pursuits.
To date, over 50 components have been committed by various groups, with more to come. Want to join the party? Send your proposals to info@ aboutkuching.com.
Know someone who fits into what WAK 2017 is trying to achieve? Get in touch at info@ aboutkuching. com. If possible, include contact information for the person or group you are proposing.
For updates, like WAK 2017 on Facebook at http://www.fb.com/ aboutkuching or follow them on Instagram at @ aboutkuching. Check out the hashtags #WAK2017 and # aboutkuching. Their website is aboutkuching.com.