Past Events
Field trip to Leith Saddle
Sunday 30th of October 2011, 09:00 AM (12 years ago)
Contact: David Lyttle | djl1yttle@gmail.com | (03) 454 5470
Celebrating International Year of Forests. This trip is open to members of the public and will be led by various members of the Botanical Society. The trip will follow a well formed track from Leith Saddle up through mixed podocarp broadleaf forest that grades into Libocedrus forest that in turn gives way to mixed tussock/ shrubland. This is perhaps the best piece of representative forest close to Dunedin. Depart from the Botany Department car park, corner of Great King Street and Union Street (West).
Orokonui Ecosanctuary workshop on plant photography with digital SLR cameras
Saturday 29th of October 2011, 10:00 AM (12 years ago)
Contact: David Lyttle | djl1yttle@gmail.com | (03) 454 5470
At Orokonui Ecosanctuary, led by BSO photographer David Lyttle. Cost: $29.90 (Donation).
Genetic variation in Alfalfa mosaic virus
Wednesday 19th of October 2011, 12:00 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: Trish Fleming | trish.fleming@botany.otago.ac.nz | (03) 479 7577
A talk by Aiko Lignon. MSc Proposal. School of Physical Education Seminar Room #213–4, University of Otago, 55 Union St, Dunedin
Can we use virus infection to manipulate secondary metabolites in economically important plants?
Wednesday 19th of October 2011, 12:00 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: Trish Fleming | trish.fleming@botany.otago.ac.nz | (03) 479 7577
A talk by Max Corral. Botany MSc Proposal. School of Physical Education Seminar Room #213–4, University of Otago, 55 Union St, Dunedin
Orokonui Landmark Lecture. The meaning of eco: Science or brand?
Wednesday 12th of October 2011, 07:30 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: Orokonui Ecosanctuary | info@orokonui.org.nz | (03) 482 1755
A talk by Prof. Kath Dickinson, Dept of Botany, University of Otago. St David's Lecture Theatre, University of Otago.
Three talks by the winners of the Botany Postgraduate Research Colloquium
Wednesday 12th of October 2011, 05:30 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: Allison Knight
Jaz Morris will discuss how greenhouse conditions affect the physiology of giant kelp? Diego Urrutia Guevara presents a talk about the response of alpine plant and soil composition to induced environmental conditions on the Old Man Range, New Zealand, and Tim Crawford explains profiling low-oxygen electron transport in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Abstracts relating to each talk can be found in the communications section of the newsletter. At the Zoology Benham Building, 346 Great King Street, behind the Zoology car park by the Captain Cook Hotel. Use the main entrance of the Benham Building to get in and go to the Benham Seminar Room, Rm. 215, 2nd floor. Please be prompt as we have to hold the door open.
Hort Talk: Green Ways to Eradicate Invasive Weeds
Friday 7th of October 2011, 12:00 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: Dunedin Botanic Garden | botanic@dcc.govt.nz | (03) 477 4000
A talk by T. J. Irvin, at the Botanic Garden Centre.
A plan for Lepidium conservation at Long Beach
Thursday 6th of October 2011, 05:00 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: Graeme Loh | gloh@doc.govt.nz | (03) 474 6935
There is a rare un-named native herb in the cabbage family that lives at the sea cave. The Department of Conservation wishes to do work to improve its numbers and future. You are invited to meet this Lepidium and discuss its future. Meet at the cave at the north-west end of Long Beach.
Orokonui Ecosanctuary. Garden design and plants to attract native birds.
Thursday 6th of October 2011, 02:00 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: Orokonui Ecosanctuary | info@orokonui.org.nz | (03) 482 1755
A talk by Philip Dunn, Ribbonwood Nursery. At Orokonui Ecosanctuary. Cost: $5.00 (Donation).
My place in the world: An update on the electron microscopy facilities at the University of Otago
Wednesday 5th of October 2011, 12:00 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: Trish Fleming | trish.fleming@botany.otago.ac.nz | (03) 479 7577
A talk by Allan Mitchell, Technical Manager, Otago Centre for Microscopy. Union St Lecture Theatre, Cnr Union St West & Great King St.
Differential susceptibility to ocean acidification
Tuesday 4th of October 2011, 04:00 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: Dept Marine Science | marine.science@otago.ac.nz | (03) 479 8306
A talk by Associate Professor Catriona Hurd. Marine Science Seminar Room, Dept of Marine Science, University of Otago, 310 Castle St, Dunedin (corner Frederick and Castle Streets).
Friendly Forest Fungi: mycorrhizae of NZ native forest trees
Wednesday 21st of September 2011, 12:00 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: Trish Fleming | trish.fleming@botany.otago.ac.nz | (03) 479 7577
A talk by Dr David Orlovich in celebration of International Year of Forests 2011. I will discuss the importance of fungus-root symbioses in NZ forests and describe recent research on native mycorrhizal fungi. A Department of Botany Lunchtime Seminar. Note: Special time and Venue: Union St Lecture Theatre, Cnr Union St (West) & Great King St.
10th Annual Geoff Baylis Lecture: Complex relationships with friends and foes: How native plants manage the risks
Wednesday 14th of September 2011, 05:30 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: David Lyttle | djl1yttle@gmail.com | (03) 454 5470
Speaker Dr Bill Lee Landcare Research, Dunedin; Joint Graduate School of Biodiversity and Biosecurity, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland. Plants share a world with many other organisms that represent both potential enemies and possible allies. For their enemies plants are a food source, but plants have developed numerous defences, including co-opting other animals, to protect vital organs. This involves strategic alliances, armed neutrality and active warfare. Plants also develop interdependencies with other biota for obtaining resources, assisting reproduction and dispersal, and limiting herbivory. The talk will explore what we know about these interactions in New Zealand, and discuss some of the extraordinary relationships amongst and between fungi, arthropods, birds, and plants. Emphasis will be on the strategies and tactics involved from the perspective of the plants, and how much plants are prepared to repel enemies and gain friends in natural ecosystems. At Castle 1 Lecture theatre. Nibbles and drinks from 5:30 in the Castle concourse, talk starts at 6:00 pm.
Field trip to Mihiwaka guided by Alf Webb
Saturday 10th of September 2011, 09:00 AM (12 years ago)
Contact: David Lyttle | djl1yttle@gmail.com | (03) 454 5470
We will walk through some podocarp forest representative of the Dunedin area, then go on to regenerating shrub-land with a small sphagnum bog. We will see some of the eastern most Libocedrus bidwillii stands, and see wonderful views from the rock out-crops. Depart from the Botany Department car park, corner of Great King Street and Union Street (West).
More than megaherbs: 200 years of vegetation change on subantarctic Campbell Island
Wednesday 10th of August 2011, 05:30 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: David Lyttle | djl1yttle@gmail.com | (03) 454 5470
A talk by Alex Fergus. The Campbell Island Bicentennial Expedition team stuck it out on our southernmost landmass for 10 weeks this past summer. As a member of the terrestrial ecology research group, my focus was the recovery of the plant and insect communities and the interaction between seabirds and plant diversity. The vegetation of Campbell Island has changed dramatically in the 200 years since European discovery. Burning, grazing, and the mediated effects of rats have altered species abundances and community structure. Permanent plots and photo points (dating from the 1870s) reveal vegetation damage before 1960 has given way to re-growth and range expansion. The progressive removal of European vertebrates has sparked a remarkable and rapid recovery of many of the iconic, and also the less well-known subantarctic plant species. How much of this recent change is simply recovery and how much is due to climate change is the next big question. Expect lots of pictures mixed in with a wee bit of science and even a few new discoveries for the island. At the Zoology Benham Building, 346 Great King Street, behind the Zoology car park by the Captain Cook Hotel. Use the main entrance of the Benham Building to get in and go to the Benham Seminar Room, Rm. 215, 2nd floor. Please be prompt as we have to hold the door open.