Celebrate National Science Week in Springwood with Science at the Local

The event is titled "Australian animals: saving us and saving them" and is being held in partnership with Sydney University, where both speakers work.

Dr Carolyn Hogg is Senior Research Manager in the Australasian Wildlife Genomics Group and works to protect Australian species including koalas through genomic research.

"I have been working on the conservation of threatened species for over 25 years," said Dr Hogg.

"For the last 10 years I've worked on the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program. Other species I work on include orange-bellied parrots, koalas, bilbies and woylies."

Also speaking will be Professor of Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Richard Payne. Professor Payne and his team are working on developing new drugs to treat human disease, taking inspiration from insects and spiders.

Professor Payne is Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, who are sponsoring the event along with Inspiring Australia NSW.

"The centre is all about understanding the building blocks of life: peptides and proteins," said Professor Payne.

"We're trying to learn from nature's untapped reservoir of peptides and proteins, but we're also developing entirely new ones for everything from agriculture to animal health and pharmaceutical applications."

"I think most Mountains locals appreciate the incredible variety of flora and fauna that call Australia home," said Science at the Local co-founder Kevin Joseph.

"This event is a great chance to hear about the latest science on conservation and how we're learning from Australia's biodiversity."

In celebration of Science Week, afternoon tea will be provided. The event is free but bookings are essential. For booking links go to https://www.scienceatthelocal.org/2022-satl-program.html.