Launceston STEMinists

30/05/2026

Adrift Lab's Dr Jennifer Lavers will be speaking for free on plastic in seabirds on Tuesday!

"Dr Jenn Lavers from Adrift Lab is delivering the LST Field Naturalists Skemp Memorial Lecture

TOPIC: Seabirds and marine plastic pollution emerging research

WHERE: Scotch Oakburn College
WHEN: 2 June, 7:30PM

all welcome"

25/05/2026

Cool date saver coming up!

❄️ HAVE YOU SAVED THE DATE? ❄️

The Australian Antarctic Festival is returning to the Hobart waterfront in less than three months! 🐧⚓️

Join us for four days celebrating Antarctica through:
✨ Science
✨ Exploration
✨ Heritage
✨ Community
✨ Education
✨ Arts & Culture

📅 20–23 August 2026
📍 Hobart Waterfront

Expect returning favourites, new experiences, family activities, Antarctic guests, talks, exhibitions, storytelling and plenty of Antarctic atmosphere.

More announcements coming soon… 👀

20/05/2026

Well done to everyone who is still out there bioblitzing fungi in May!
Remember to join the project to have your observations count for this one.

1539 observations
280 species

Astounding how many fungi in Tasmania have been uploaded to the iNaturalist Tasmanian Mushroom Festival bioblitz.....in only 19 days

Join the project to add your fungi discoveries. iNaturalist has a global community of over 2.4 million who are responsible for 500+ new species discovered or rediscovered by citizen scientists.

Shane Marshall, a Tasmanian from the North West, is where his fascination with fungi began nearly 20 years ago. Now based in the Netherlands, his interest has grown into a full‑blown obsession. Shane creates educational content through his Tasmanian forager , leads regular fungi ID excursions in his region, and remains deeply connected to the Australian fungi community.

Shane volunteers his time identifying fungi and supporting learners across multiple Facebook groups, and is an official iNaturalist ambassador. We are grateful to have someone of Shane's passion and knowledge leading this bioblitz for the festival. His main fungi obsession right now is Chicken of the Woods!

Join the project and share what you find.

ehttps://www.inaturalist.org/projects/tasmanian-mushroom-festival-bioblitz

18/05/2026

Galaxy is open for guided viewing.

16/05/2026

16/05/2026

Thanks for stopping in Rose!

Pilot Rose touched down in Launceston yesterday as part of her journey around Australia ✈️

At just 17, this Melbourne pilot is currently circumnavigating the country solo, all while raising awareness and funds for Little Wings, a volunteer-led charity providing free, professional air and ground transport for seriously ill children across regional NSW, ACT and QLD.

By the time she lands back home, she’ll have flown more than 15,000km and is aiming to set a Guinness World Record as the youngest female pilot to complete the journey in a general aviation aircraft.

We loved having you here, Rose, and wish you all the best for the final leg of your incredible journey 👏

16/05/2026

The global results for City Nature Challenge 2026: Tasmania have been announced. We're excited that Tasmania observed 1.1% of the species recorded during the worldwide event. Pretty impressive considering how big the world is!

Read more stats at the event blog.

14/05/2026

Pint of Science in Hobart!
Maybe next year Launceston will be back on the books.

🌏🫀🐟 What do Antarctic sea ice, heart health, and Tasmania’s sand flathead have in common? They’re all part of the fascinating science behind our upcoming Hobart Pint of Science event!

Ahead of taking the stage at Pint of Science Hobart, our speakers stopped by That’s What I Call Science to chat about their research:
❄️ Dr Johannes Lohse on Antarctic sea ice and polar science
🫀 Dr Vimarsha Kodithuwakku on new approaches to early heart disease detection
🐟 Rachel Breslin on how changing environments may be influencing fish populations

Listen to Episode 323 of today & don’t miss the chance to see these speakers live at Pint of Science Hobart - From Inner Workings to Icy Worlds on May 20 🍻

12/05/2026

🏆 🥇 Results are in!
Thanks so much to everyone who took part!
While we know some will continue to upload and ID observations from the City Nature Challenge 2026: Tasmania , the official results are now finalised.

🪲 846 different species

✅ 1217 "research grade" observations
📈 62.35% of all observations reached "research grade" in ID period
📸 1952 total observations (around 800 more than the weekend before)

👩‍🌾 222 individual observers - thanks for getting out and documenting nature.

🔎 287 identifiers - we wouldn't have so many "research grade" observations without your tireless work - thank you! ✅

Looking to the future:

🍄‍🟫 🍄 The month of May is dedicated to a Tasmania-wide Fungi bioblitz - please join the project and help their team document the diversity of fungi across the state.

🌏 The next big, statewide bioblitz will be Great Southern Bioblitz 2026 , this year taking place in late November. You can join that project now to receive journal updates when we are closer to the date.