Events

Bushfires are becoming a regular feature of Australian summers. Fire seasons are becoming longer and starting earlier, and high severity fires are occurring more frequently and often in unexpected places. However, with all the recent rain and floods in Australia, do we need to be worried about the upcoming bushfire season?

Bushfire scientists try to understand how, where and why fire risk is changing, and what can be done to reduce the likelihood and impacts of future fires. So how exactly do bushfire scientists measure risk? And how can that information be used to help protect the things we care about? Join Dr Kate Parkins as she explains the role of science in understanding bushfire risk and how climate change is transforming the playing field. Dr Parkins will give audiences a rare demonstration of how exciting new technologies (including drones, thermal imaging cameras, scanners, fire tables and simulation models) are being used to answer complex and urgent questions about how we can best protect ourselves from another fire season like Black Summer.

The Science Festival Mid-Afternoon Masterclasses run online every day at 2pm, Monday to Friday during National Science Week. Each masterclass showcases a University of Melbourne scientist and their groundbreaking discoveries, with live demonstrations, virtual lab tours, and lots of fun! 

Get your questions ready as our scientists would love to hear from you during the live Q&A.

Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellow Lecture

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed flaws in the legal and institutional frameworks for preventing and responding to the spread of diseases. COVID-19 has tested many fields of international law and policy from health, human rights and trade, to transport and financial stability. The COVID-19 disruption has generated discussions about the need for stronger legal tools for pandemic prevention and containment, including through the World Health Organization (WHO). It has led us to rethink how life-saving medical interventions including vaccines are developed, manufactured and allocated. The pandemic’s impact has demonstrated the need to develop global mechanisms to guarantee financing for critical public health and medical interventions.

This lecture provides a unique opportunity to hear from one of the world’s leading global health law experts, Gian Luca Burci, on the crucial issues that must be addressed at the international level.

Professor Sharon Lewin (Director, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity) and Professor Alison Duxbury (Deputy Dean, Melbourne Law School) will act as discussants.

This lecture is co-hosted with the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health.

About the Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellowship

The Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellowship Program enables overseas scholars of international distinction to make an extended visit to the University and contribute to the University’s academic, intellectual and cultural life. The Fellowships are awarded annually, following an application and selection process that begins with nominations from University of Melbourne Faculties.

The Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellowship Program arose from a recommendation by the Russell and Mab Grimwade Miegunyah Fund Committee - the body responsible for the management of the Russell Grimwade bequest.

Sir Russell Grimwade was an industrial chemist by training and a man of wide-ranging interests, including forestry, native timbers and printing, and was the author of two books. He was a member of the University Council for 20 years from 1935, including a period as Deputy Chancellor.

Miegunyah (a word from an Aboriginal language, possibly Dharuk (Sydney), that includes the meaning ‘house’) was the Grimwades’ home from 1911 to 1955. Both Miegunyah and Sir Russell’s art collection were bequeathed to the University of Melbourne in his will of 1949 and presented to the University after the death of Lady Grimwade in 1972. The art collection is housed in The Ian Potter Museum of Art, the University Archives and the Baillieu Library.