Friday the 29th is echidna day in Mount Gambier!
A final reminder that – yep – Friday the 29th is echidna (and goanna) day in Mount Gambier!
We warmly welcome Dr Peggy Rismiller OAM to the Mount for a busy Friday, including an ABC SE SA radio interview in the morning (catch her just after 9.30am SA time), a staff workshop, and an all-ages evening talk at the Mount Gambier City Hall (7pm – enter via the cave gardens).
The talk will cover Peggy’s research work into echidnas and goannas over the past 25 years and her passion for habitat conservation and restoration. Refreshments are provided afterwards and it should be a great science-y evening out!
On Saturday, she’ll back it up with a ‘tracks and traces’ ramble alongside NGT ecologists on Saturday morning at 10.30am near Mt Gambier. We’ll learn to read the bush for traces of echidnas and other native animals, and hopefully get some butterflies floating by too… it’s the last day of winter so it’s a good chance to get out and celebrate it!
All welcome of course, and you can sign up for the ramble at the Friday evening talk or by contacting Jonathan on 0432 406 486 or .
About Dr Peggy Rismiller
Dr Rismiller is well known for her echidna and goanna research, and is the author of the book Echidnas: Australia’s Enigma. In the late 1980s she moved from the US to Kangaroo Island where she runs the research program at the Pelican Lagoon Research Centre. As well as hosting Peggy and her team, the centre is also home to a rotating cast of researchers from around the world who drop in to study the unique ecology of the island. In 2006, Peggy was awarded the Order of Australia for services to science.
More information about Dr Rismiller and the Research Centre can be found here: http://www.echidna.edu.au/about_us/about_us.html