RESEARCH INSIGHTS
Q+A with Associate Professor Sanja Hinic-Frlog
Place of study
Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga
Tell us about your visit
During my research leave this year, I have been travelling through Australia and New Zealand and visiting different museum collections along the way.
Why visit Otago Museum?
Otago Museum is on my must-visit list during my trip! This is because Otago Museum holds skeletons of some aquatic birds endemic to New Zealand, which can only be found here.
What do you hope to achieve from your research visit here?
The endemic birds I am collecting data on are also very good at exploring different environments (different aquatic and terrestrial habitats). The more birds like this I have in my database, the better I can be at inferring locomotion for extinct birds, especially the ones which were potentially also good at exploring many different environments in the past.
Why do you love science, or in your case, palaeontology?
One of the main reasons I love palaeontology is because it presents us with a unique challenge of having to make inferences about the biology of extinct animals on the very limited amount of information hidden in fossil bones and their geology.
In Conversation with James Cameron:
'The Life of an Explorer' and 'Changing the Way We Live in Our World'
 In Conversation with James Cameron – The Life of an Explorer
Hosted by Noelle McCarthy
7pm–8pm, Saturday 16 November
Hutton Theatre
Sold out, $10 tickets available for a simulcast live stream in the Barclay Theatre here
In Conversation with James Cameron and Aaron Hawkins – Changing the Way We Live in Our World
Hosted by Noelle McCarthy
11.30am–12.30pm, Sunday 17 November
Hutton Theatre
Tickets $20, book here
Challenging the Deep – Family Day
10am–2pm, Sunday 17 November
Otago Museum Reserve (paved area) and Atrium Level 1
More information here
Win an exclusive tour of James Cameron – Challenging the Deep
9.30am, Sunday 17 November
Entries close 5pm, Thursday 14 November
Enter here |
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JAMES CAMERON – CHALLENGING THE DEEP
James Cameron – Challenging the Deep takes you to an underworld; an eerie, mysterious abyss where the only light comes from flashes of bioluminescent creatures. Join Cameron as he explores the most isolated places on earth.
“We travelled from Hamilton in the North Island to go and see a current exhibition called James Cameron - Challenging the Deep... Absolutely brilliant and worth the time and money ... Take a day, take the family and enjoy an excellent facility.” – Trip Advisor Review
Climb inside a pilot sphere and experience the isolation of Cameron’s record-making dive in his DEEPSEA CHALLENGER to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. See the deep-sea specimens he collected there under a microscope, watch rusticles grow, and be intrigued by the effect water pressure has on a polystyrene cup. James Cameron – Challenging the Deep
$9.50 Children | $14 Concession | $17.50 Adults | $45 Families | Combo tickets available
Open until 9 February 2020 |
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TRANSIT OF MERCURY PLANETARIUM SHOW
Mercury is transiting across the face of the sun tomorrow morning! This transit is special as it marks almost exactly 250 years to the day since Captain James Cook and the Endeavour crew witnessed the same phenomenon at Mercury Bay, and it won't occur again for another 13 years.
Join us in the Perpetual Guardian Planetarium the evening before this celestial milestone to find out more about transits, eclipses, and our unique position in the solar system. 6.30pm, Monday 11 November
Adult $15, Child $10
Admittance to planetarium restricted to ages three years and older
Limited numbers, bookings essential
Tickets available here |
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DRESSING FOR THE CROSSING ON THE TITANIC
Join us next for a delightful and engaging talk from renowned dress historian Dr Jane Malthus. She will lead a discussion on what choices the different classes of passengers on the magnificent Titanic made about what to pack, and wear, onboard during their voyage.
Some stories and artefacts survived the tragedy, and we can speculate about other choices based on the fashions of the time, and what we know about some of the passengers. 5.30pm, Tuesday 12 November
Barclay Theatre
More information here |
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REDUCING OUR HOUSEHOLD RUBBISH
Are you concerned about the environment, but feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem? Come and hear the wonderful Hannah and Liam of The Rubbish Trip, get inspired, and be a part of the solution.
This two-hour seminar is an introduction on how to implement waste reduction in your life. With more than four years of zero-waste living, and a lot of research into the practicalities of the movement, Hannah and Liam will guide you through life without a rubbish bin. 6pm–8pm, Tuesday 19 November
Hutton Theatre
More information here |
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SPACETRONAUTSHitch a ride with our planetarium pilots through the solar system. Take a close-up look at the Sun, fly through the rings of Saturn, and hold on to your helmets as we do some amazing science experiments to learn about the planets in our solar system.
WE ARE STARS 3DConnect life on Earth to the evolution of the Universe by following the formation of the earliest Hydrogen atoms into the molecules for life today. With expert input from leading cosmologists, astrophysicists, astrochemists, planetary scientists, and astrobiologists, We Are Stars present's humanity's current understanding of where everything, the Sun, stars, and even people, came from.
ZEALANDIA: LIFE ON THE HIDDEN CONTINENTIn 2017, a team of researchers announced the greatest geological discovery of our time: the existence of an eighth continent, almost completely submerged beneath the Pacific Ocean. They called their discovery Zealandia.
...and more!
Perpetual Guardian Planetarium
$7–$12 | Films run hourly from 12.30pm weekdays and 10.30am weekends
Book tickets here |
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