In the Wild West - July 2012Niki Comparti's blog | Created 1 decade agoAnother great line-up of In the Wild West lectures is planned for July, kicking off with Dr Bill Humphreys’ ‘Downunder down under: collection in the dark zone’ at the WA Maritime Museum on Friday 6 July at 6pm (Please note, this lecture will now be presented by Dr Mark Harvey, Head of Terrestrial Zoology). The lecture will reveal how far (and deep) WA Museum curators go to gather specimens for the State’s collection. From fishing down desert boreholes, setting traps, abseiling, diving and crawling in caves, to hammering spikes into river beds and digging pits in gravel - exploring the biodiversity hotspot beneath our feet here in WA is not always easy, as Dr Humphreys will explain. Drilling bore in the State’s North-west to sample subterranean animals living in the seawater underneath the coastal plain. Photo courtesy of Kevin Morgan Image copyright WA Museum In Albany, the WA Museum’s dinosaur expert Dr Mikael Siversson will explain how dinosaurs are still inhabiting the Earth in ‘Dinosaurs of the 21st century: masters of the skies’. (There could be one flying around in your garden right now!) Find out more at the WA Museum – Albany on Thursday 12 July at 6pm (with drinks and nibbles from 5:30pm), and Friday 13 July at 2pm. Mikael will also present this lecture at the Onslow Shire Hall on Wednesday 12 September, and at the WA Museum – Perth on Friday 23 November. Dr Mikael Siversson, Western Australian Museum Curator of Palaeontology, next to a cast of a Tyrannosaurus Rex Image copyright WA Museum And finally, Dr Harry Butler will share his fieldwork experience in ‘Museum collectors and carers: one collector’s story’ at the Tambrey Tavern and Function Centre in Karratha on Wednesday 25 July from 6:30pm. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear from one of Australia’s most celebrated conservationists. Albany audiences will have the chance to attend Dr Butler’s lecture on November 15 and 16. Dr Butler carrying out fieldwork in the 1970s. Image courtesy of Harry Butler Image copyright WA Museum Bookings are essential for all In the Wild West lectures and can be made online at museum.wa.gov.au/inthewildwest or by calling your local WA Museum. Perth and Maritime – 9212 3813 Geraldton – 9921 5080 Kalgoorlie-Boulder – 9021 8533 Albany – 9841 4844 We look forward to seeing you soon!