Media release
17 July 2009
Award winning scientist and author will open Liggins Institute lecture series
Award winning scientist to open Liggins lecture series
Dr John Long is Head of Sciences at Museum Victoria in Melbourne, a prolific and highly respected scientist and science
communicator. On 22 July he will deliver the opening lecture “Death, Sex and Evolution - 380 million year old fishes and
the origins of the human body plan” in the Liggins Institute’s Seasons of Life public lecture series, which this year
will focus on novel aspects of Evolution. He will also speak at a seminar for school teachers on teaching concepts in
science to children.
Dr Long’s is a specialist in palaeontology (fossil fish and marsupial lions are among his discoveries) and dinosaurs.
Last year he won the Australasian Science Prize for his discovery of the world’s oldest vertebrate embryos.
He has been collecting fossils since the age of seven and found his first dinosaur bones when he was a university
student. His research interests and adventures have taken him to Antarctica, Africa, Asia, North America and Europe as
well as every corner of Australia. He has named more than 50 new species of prehistoric creatures, published over 200
scientific papers and general science articles, and authored some 28 popular books, including ten for children, on
evolution and pre-history.
His most recent major papers, all published in the prestigious journal Nature, helped solve some of the biggest problems
in palaeontology: what killed the Australian dinosaurs, how fish contributed to the origins of the first land animals
and the origins of sex in vertebrates.
He has also won the prestigious Eureka Prize for the Public Promotion of Science (2001) and the Riversleigh Society
Medal for promoting understanding of Australia’s prehistoric past (2003).
Dr Long has written a number of books to introduce primary and lower secondary level children to basic concepts in
science in an accessible and friendly style. Most notable is the award winning Big Picture Book series which describes
Earth’s history and the evolution of life in geological time; the history of Earth’s climate and atmosphere and the
effects of global warming on the many environments of our planet and, due next month, The Big Picture Book of Human
Civilisations which sweeps through human history from 20,000 years ago to today and even into the future.
In this lecture he will draw on his own experiences to explain how perfectly preserved 3-dimensional fish fossils from
the Kimberley region of Western Australia reveal the origins of vertebrate sex and an evolutionary pathway leading from
pre-historic fishes to humans.
Further information:
Pandora Carlyon
Communications Manager, Liggins Institute
Tel (09) 923 2305; 021 565 715, email p.carlyon@auckland.ac.nz
NOTES:
Seasons of Life 2009: Darwin’s legacy
The Seasons of Life lecture series is an established part if the Liggins Institute’s programme to engage with its
community to discuss issues which affect our health and society. The early evening lectures are designed for
non-scientific audiences and questions are welcomed. They are free and open to the public but bookings are essential.
Refer to the Liggins website www.liggins.auckland.ac.nz for details, This year’s series takes an eclectic look at
evolution. Five distinguished speakers discuss aspects of Man’s evolution - from the origins of the human body plan to
our instinctive love of art.
Venue for all lectures: Robb Lecture Theatre, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
85 Park Rd Grafton
Time: 6-7pm
The lectures:
22 July: Death, Sex and Evolution - 380 million year old fishes and the origins of the human body plan
Dr John Long, Head of Sciences at Museum Victoria, Melbourne
29 July: The Cousin Marriage Controversy – from Darwin to the US and Modern Britain
Professor Hamish Spencer, Head of Department of Zoology, The University of Otago
19 August: Evolution, Art, Science and Purpose
Professor Brian Boyd, Department of English, The University of Auckland
16 Sept: Darwin and Medicine
Professor Peter Gluckman FRS, Liggins Institute, The University of Auckland
7 October: The Art Instinct: why we evolved to love beauty
Professor Denis Dutton, Department of Philosophy, The University of Canterbury
ENDS