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Paul Oliver is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Australian National University. He is broadly interested in understanding the diversity and evolutionary history of the Australasian region, but tends to spend most of his time working on reptiles and frogs, including describing lots of new species.

Dr Christina Walters is Research Leader in Plant Germplasm Preservation Research at the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation in the United States. Christina is best known for her innovative studies of seed physiology and its application to conservation of genetic resources for diverse plant species. Learn how the life of seeds can be maximised and how this is important for the long-term future of food and agriculture.

Fruits are often used as identifying or diagnostic characters of plants. Unfortunately, there is some tension between botanical terminology and everyday use of the same words that may lead to confusion (for example, did you know that technically oranges and grapes are berries?). Alexander will talk about fruit and seed morphology, what different types of fruit there are, how to recognise them, and what constraints certain aspects of fruit morphology place on other aspects. In addition, we will take a quick look at the various dispersal syndromes exhibited by plants.

Rosemary Purdie is an Honorary Associate at the Australian National Herbarium, Canberra. Before that she was Commissioner for the Environment for the ACT Government. Formerly Director Natural Resource Evaluation and Communication in the Office of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission and earlier a Deputy Executive Director at the Australian Heritage Commission where she was responsible for natural and cultural heritage assessments and advice on heritage conservation.