Topic outline

      • Keynote 1: Is Feeding the People Costing Us the Earth? File 6.6MB Powerpoint presentation

        This video is of the first keynote speech given by Professor Neal Menzies, Head of the School of Agriculture and Food Science at the University of Queensland.


        Worldwide, demand for food, fuel and fibre continues to increase, and our production systems have been able to meet this increased demand. Indeed, most scientists now believe that the Earth's population will stabilize at a level that our food production can support. However, this view assumes that the current level of agricultural production can be sustained. Perhaps this view is too optimistic, particularly for those of us living on an ancient landmass like Australia.

        The accompanying file is the PowerPoint presentation used in this talk.

      • Keynote 2: Exploding Stars, Dark Energy and the End of the Universe File 40.5MB Powerpoint 2007 presentation

        This is the PowerPoint presentation that accompanied the keynote talk given by Dr Brad Tucker, Astrophysicist/Cosmologist, and Research Fellow at Mount Stromlo Observatory.

        Most stars end their lives in brilliant explosions known as supernova. These massive burst briefly outshine all the light from the galaxy they occur in. The past 20 years has been a "boom" period for supernovae with vast amounts of time and effort being invested in these projects.

        Video unavailable due to hardware failure at time of recording.

      • Keynote 3: DST Initiatives to Support STEM URL

        This keynote was presented by Dr Len Sciacca, Chief of Partnerships and Engagement for the Defence Science and Technology Group.

        Doctor Sciacca's presentation was titled 'DST's Initiative to Support STEM' and was about the need for greater numbers of STEM students and the opportunities available within Australia.

        Unfortunately, the presentation for this keynote is currently unavailable.

      • Keynote 4: Education and Megatrends File 6.6MB Powerpoint 2007 presentation

        This is the PowerPoint presentation that accompanied the keynote talk given by Dr Stefan Hajkowicz, Senior Principal Scientist–Strategy and Foresight, CSIRO.

        Doctor Hajkowicz's research aims to help organisations explore plausible futures and make wise choices. His research background lies in the fields of geography, economics and decision theory. He is one of Australia's most popular speakers on the topic of future trends and decision making.

      • The Stanhope Oration for CONASTA 65 Page

        The Stanhope Oration is CONASTA's plenary event honouring the memory of Roy Wilson Stanhope who had a profound effect on the development of science teachers' associations around Australia and, in particular, the Australian Science Teachers Association.

      • CONASTA 65 Breakfast Talk Page

        A CONASTA tradition is the Science Breakfast talk. This one, entitled 'Marvellous Minibeasts: New educational outcomes from Entomology' is given by Gurion Ang from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Queensland.