Next conference:
The next SASB Conference will be held at the University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, between 2–4 December 2026 in partnership with the Australasian Evolution Society.
For information about the conference and registration please visit: (https://ausevo.com/registration/).
Some key dates to be aware of:
31 August 2026: Early Bird registration closes.
8 November 2026: Final Registration closes.
2-4 December 2026: Conference dates.
Monthly Seminar series:
This online seminar series will be held on the third Wednesday of every month, hosted on Microsoft Teams at 2:00 pm AEDT. The teams meeting invite is sent to members by our secretary – if you haven’t received it, please email sasbiologists@gmail.com.
Click here to see our previous seminar speakers.
Missed out on a talk you really wanted to watch? Current SASB members can find links to Seminar Series talks in the members tab here Previous Monthly Seminar Series.
August Seminar Speaker: Barbara Azevedo de Oliveira
Barbara Azevedo de Oliveira is a botanist with a Master’s degree in Plant Science from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil, where she studied bryophyte diversity and functional traits on ironstone outcrops. She recently completed her PhD at the University of Queensland, focusing on phylogenetics and species delimitation within the arid-zone Microneurae group of Acacia using Angiosperms353 target capture. She is currently a Research Scientist at the Western Australian Herbarium, where she uses genomic and morphological data to investigate species boundaries in eucalypts.
Please join us on 19 August 2026 to hear Barbara’s talk titled: Are there two gidgees? Testing species delimitation between Acacia georginae and A. cambagei.
Annual events related to systematics:
Workshops:
Sydney Phylogenetics Workshop The MEEP Lab has run the annual Sydney Phylogenetics Workshop at the University of Sydney since 2010. This workshop provides an introduction to phylogenetic trees, evolutionary models, phylogenetic methods, maximum likelihood, Bayesian inference, molecular dating, and phylogenomics.
Postgraduate Systematics Training Workshop The Invertebrate Systematics and Biodiversity Lab at the University of Adelaide ran the Postgraduate Systematics Workshop every one or two years for over a decade. The workshop is currently on hold to evaluate and plan the next iteration.
Celebrations:
Taxonomist Appreciation Day: Every year on the 19 March, we celebrate taxonomists and the work they do in documenting biodiversity!
Museum Selfie Day: The third Wednesday in January (January 15th, 2025) is a day to take a selfie in a museum and celebrate the institutions that support systematics!
Previous events:
Previous monthly seminar speakers:
July Seminar Speaker: No speaker this month
17 June Seminar Speaker: Zoe Meziere
Zoe Meziere is a PhD student at the University of Queensland’s Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science. Her research makes use of genomic and environmental data to better understand the diversity, connectivity and local adaptation of coral populations. Coral reefs support more than 25% of all marine life, but our understanding of coral biodiversity is significantly impaired by the widespread occurrence of cryptic species — morphologically indistinguishable yet genetically distinct taxa. This talk will present recent advances in detecting cryptic coral species, with a focus on the Stylophora pistillata species complex from the Great Barrier Reef.
Using population genomic data, we identified five sympatric taxa within what was previously considered a single Indo-Pacific species. Demographic modelling revealed that these taxa are at different stages along the speciation continuum and are historically connected by gene flow. Critically, we found that these cryptic species differ in their thermal sensitivity, which will affect species composition and diversity under continuing ocean warming. Together, these findings highlight the importance of incorporating genomic data in ecological studies, restoration programmes, and conservation planning.
20 May Seminar Speaker: Emily Roycroft, Genomic insights into the evolution & extinction of Australian mammals
Emily Roycroft is an evolutionary biologist, ARC DECRA Fellow, and Head of the Evolutionary & Conservation Genomics Research Group at Monash University. Her research addresses evolutionary, ecological, and conservation questions, with a particular focus on using museum collections to reconstruct evolutionary history and investigate past genetic diversity, population decline, and extinction. Her work primarily focuses on Australian mammals and reptiles, especially rodents, marsupials, and geckos. Emily did her PhD at The University of Melbourne and Museums Victoria, followed by five years at the Australian National University, before moving to Monash in January 2025.
15 April Seminar Speaker: Ian Brennan, Assembling the Australian Reptile and Frog Tree of Life
Ian Brennan is a Senior Scientist and Curator of Terrestrial Vertebrates at the Queensland Museum and an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow. His research in biodiversity focuses on the evolution of Australian vertebrates at varied temporal scales, from deep macroevolutionary patterns to shallow speciation processes. Understanding the drivers of Australian diversity provides insight into how our continent became the biodiversity hotspot it is today.
18 March Seminar Speaker: Xavier Barton, Ticky Business: Integrating Population Genetics, Microbiome, and Environment in Amblyomma triguttatum.
Xavier Barton recently completed his PhD at Murdoch University, Western Australia, affiliated with the CrypTick Lab and the Harry Butler Institute. His research focuses on the population structure of ticks from a systematic perspective, using ddRADseq to analyse the population genetics of Amblyomma triguttatum (ornate kangaroo tick) and other significant species. By integrating genetic data with environmental and microbial information, he aims to understand these species within their ecosystems. This research provides insight into how ticks and tick-borne pathogens spread across landscapes, particularly in Australia where significant knowledge gaps remain.
Xavier’s talk was titled:
18 February Seminar Speaker: Dr James Bickerstaff, Finding the fuzzy spot of speciation: Insights from population genomics on beetles, bees, and katydids
Dr James Bickerstaff is a scientific officer in the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. He manages the Australian Faunal Directory, focusing on the taxonomy and systematics of terrestrial arthropods. He was awarded a PhD from Western Sydney University in 2022 and recently completed a CSIRO Early Research Career Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Australian National Insect Collection. He continues his research on the molecular ecology, comparative genomics, and systematics of bark and ambrosia beetle fauna, and also works on the genomics of other taxa, from bees to katydids to thrips, fungi and Wolbachia. Dr Bickerstaff’s talk was titled:
21 January Seminar Speaker: Dr Mark Harvey, My taxonomic life and the lessons I’ve learned.
Dr Mark Harvey has been a longstanding and highly influential member of the Australian systematics community. Over his distinguished career, he has held a range of critical roles that have significantly advanced our understanding of Australian biodiversity. These roles include Curator of Arachnids and Myriapods at the Western Australian Museum; President, Vice-President, and Treasurer of our very own SASB; and Member and Vice-President of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. He has also served as Editor-in-Chief of the Australian Journal of Taxonomy. Most recently, in 2025, Dr Harvey reached an extraordinary milestone, having named and recognized his 1000th species.