Download October 2007 to January 2008 Calendar of Events.

Download February 2008 to May 2008 Calendar of Events.

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FNCV Updates
We get many invitations to environmental events and conferences here at the office that we just can’t get to you quick enough in the FNN. Also, in spite of good planning sometimes meetings and excursions are cancelled at the last minute and in the past we have had no way of informing the club at large. In reponse to this, a new web-based forum was recently set up through the Yahoo Groups Network to increase the speed with which we can communicate with each other. We’ve had a great response so far from those who’ve signed up so I’m reminding everyone else to get online and sign up too!

When you sign up to FNCV Updates, you will receive regular notices informing you of relevant seminars, projects and events. Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fncvupdates/ and follow the links. 
This is a moderated group available to members only so remember to include either your member number or your full name so I can identify you!  Hope to see you online soon! Any questions, please call Mimi in the office.

If you queries about any of the events listed below these are the people to call:
Bat Group:                              Megan Davidson AH 9380 5062
Botany:                                    Karen Muscat - MOB 0411 219 940
Fauna Survey Group:             Sally Bewsher - AH 03 9752 1418
Geology Group:                      Rob Hamson - AH 03 9557 5215
Microscopy:                            Ray Power - AH 03 9717 3511
Marine Research Group:       Leon Altoff - AH 03 9530 4180
Juniors:                                    Wendy Clark - AH 03 9877 9266
TIG:                                         Alan Yen - AH 03 9722 1665 MOB 0409 194 788
Fungi Group:                           Arthur Carew - AH 03 5968 4505

Calendar of Events Jan 2007 to May 2008

January

Monday 7th – Fungi Group
No Monthly Meeting

Saturday 12th – Fauna Survey Group
Stagwatch – Enjoy an evening walk as we look & listen for our native fauna, especially Leadbeater’s Possum. Contact: Ray Gibson.

Wednesday 16th – Microscopical Group
No Monthly Meeting.

Saturday 19th – Marine Research Group
Field trip to Breamlea – Bancoora Reef. Meet at 12 noon at the Bancoora Surf Life Saving Club Melways Map 495 B7. Contact: Leon Altoff.

Friday 25th – Juniors’ Group
Meeting – Members Night. See Juniors’ Newsletter for further details. Contact: Wendy Clark.

Friday 25th to Sunday 27th – Fauna Survey Group
Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve. Survey for significant & threatened fauna in the home of three of Victoria’s state emblems. We will focus on bat trapping. Contact: Sally Bewsher**

February

Mon 4th - Fungi Group
No monthly meeting.

Tues 5th - Fauna Survey Group
Elephants of Sri Lanka - their physiology, way of life and significance to Sri Lanka’s history, culture, economy and ecology. Speaker: Teresa Cannon. Contact: Ray White.

Fri 8th - Geology Group
Excursion Morning guided tour of Lilydale Quarry courtesy of Unimin Australia Limited. (This is not a collecting trip). Details in FNN. Contact: Rob Hamson

Sat 9th - Fauna Survey Group
Stagwatch. Look for Leadbeater’s Possum & other nocturnal wildlife. Contact: Ray Gibson.

Mon 11th – Marine Research Group
Tosias by Kate Naughton & Gabrielona nepeanensis by Platon Vafiadis. Contact: Leon Altoff.

Tues 12th – Terrestrial Invertebrates Group
The Altona Skipper Butterfly. Speaker: Meagan Relf. Contact: Alan Yen.

Wed 13th - Su 17th – Marine Research Group
Field trip to Phillip Island. Individual locations TBA on trip. Contact Leon Altoff for details.

Wed 20th – Bat Group
Grey-headed flying-fox count. Meet at Yarra Bend Golf Course carpark Mel 2D G7 at 7.45pm. RSVP by e-mail or phone Megan Davidson.**

Wed 20th – Microscopy & Botany Groups
Combined meeting Adaptation to the environment of algae: a hands on practical night. Speaker: Mary Gibson. Contact: Ray Power

Sat 23rd – Sun 24th - Fauna Survey Group.
Bat trapping & checking nestboxes. Costick’s Reserve/Paddy’s Ranges National Pk. (near Maryborough) Contact: John Harris.**

Sun 24th – Botany Group
Rehabilitation of the Merri Creek – Join the Merri Creek Management Committee, DPI & Melb. Water to discuss removal of the State Prohibited Alligator Weed along creek & check out rehab. plantings from 1980’s to the present. Opportunity to survey for Alligator weed if there is interest. RSVP by email /ph to Annie Lamb.

Wed 27th – Geology Group
Extinction of Australia's Megafauna: timing and causes. Jacqui Duncan, La Trobe Uni, will present the latest theories on what caused many of Australia's Pleistocene animals to die out. Contact: Rob Hamson.

Fri 29th - Juniors’ Group
See FNN for details. Contact: Wendy Clark.

March

Mon 3rd - Fungi Group
Distribution patterns of Australian macrofungi based on a combination of climate and geography: a talk by Dr Tom May, Senior Mycologist, RBG Melbourne. Contact: Arthur Carew.

Tues 4th - Fauna Survey Group
Experience the plants & wildlife of the Pyrenees – Speaker: Marc Tessier. Contact: Ray White.

Sat 8th – Mon 10th - Fauna Survey Group
A wildlife survey at Holey Plains State Park - to look for bandicoots, New Holland Mouse & pygmy possums. (near Rosedale/Sale). Contact: Russell Thompson.**

Wed 12th- Sun 16th – Marine Research Group
Field Trip - to Harmer’s Haven & Inverloch area. An in depth survey of the marine invertebrates at Harmers Haven. Contact: Leon Altoff .

Wed 19th – Bat Group
Grey-headed flying-fox count. Meet at Yarra Bend Golf Course carpark Mel 2D G7 at 7.00pm. RSVP by e-mail or phone Megan Davidson.**

Wed 19th - Microscopy Group
The morphology of pollen and spores – Speaker: Roger Pierson, Deakin Uni. Contact: Ray Power.

Thur 20th – Botany Group
Native plants & wildflowers of West Australia. Speaker: Bruce Fuhrer. Contact: Karen Muscat.

Fri 21st to Mon 24th – Juniors’ Group
Camp See FNN for location. Contact: Wendy Clark.

Mon 24thto Mon 31st - Fauna Survey Group
Camp – In Western Aust. Ltd numbers, own expenses. RSVP by 8th Feb to John Harris**

Wed 26th – Geology Group
Geological Conservation: a 2008 Perspective. Dr Susan White of La Trobe Uni will bring us up to date on this topic with particular reference to Victoria. Contact: Rob Hamson.

Fri 28th – Juniors’ Group
No meeting

April

Tues 1st - Fauna Survey Group.
See FNN for details. Contact: Ray White.

Sun 6th - Fungi Group
Fungal Foray 10.30am The Beeches picnic ground, Marysville (MEL 610 T11). Full directions in March FNN. Contact: Arthur Carew

Mon 7th – Fungi Group
See FNN for details. Contact: Arthur Carew.

Tues 8th – Terrestrial Invertebrates Group
Keeping Bugs Alive. Speaker: Jess Sinclair, Museum Victoria. Contact: Alan Yen.

Sat 12th - Fauna Survey Group.
Stagwatch. Enjoy an evening looking for our native fauna, especially Leadbeater’s Possum. Contact: Ray Gibson.**

Sat 12th – Marine Research Group
Field trip – to Brighton Holloway Bend. Meet at 11:30 am in car park Mel map 76C2. Contact: Leon Altoff.

Sat 12th & Sun 13th - Geology Group
Weekend Field Trip Phillip Island: Volcanics and Granite Coastlines. Sat. at the western end of the island with Graeme Burgan, Education Officer with Phillip Island Nature Parks & Sun. with Dr Eric Bird, following up his Nov 2007 talk on granite coastlines looking at Cape Woolamai. Details in FNN. Contact: Rob Hamson.

Mon 14th – Marine Research Group
Meeting at 8pm at the FNCV club rooms. Roundup of 2008 Field trip season. Contact: Leon Altoff.

Wed 16th – Microscopy Group
Pathogenic fungi: Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Learn about the molecular biology of fungal diseases of plants e.g. White rot. Speaker: Rebecca Barnett, PhD candidate, Dept of Botany,
La Trobe University. Contact: Ray Power.

Thurs 17th – Botany Group
Responses of alpine vegetation to recent bushfires. Speaker: Neville Walsh. Contact: Sue Bendel.

Fri 18th – Sun 20th - Fungi Group
Foray weekend to the Otways. Contact: Geoff Lay.

Sun 20th – Trust for Nature Excursion.
See FNN for further details. Contact: Annie Lamb.

Wed 23rd – Bat Group
Grey-headed flying-fox count. Meet at Yarra Bend Golf Course carpark Mel 2D G7, 5.30pm. RSVP by e-mail/ ph to Megan Davidson.**

Wed 23rd - Geology Group
Latrobe Valley Brown Coal. Dr Guy Holdgate of Melbourne University wrote the chapter on coal in the 2003 Geology of Victoria. His overview of this major resource will include what recent research on brown coal tells us about Victoria's climate over the past 40 million years. Contact: Rob Hamson.

Fri 25th – Sun 27th - Fauna Survey Group
Rushworth. Checking & maintenance of nestboxes, bat trapping & spotlighting for native fauna. Contact: Ray Gibson.**

Fri 25th – Juniors’ Group
See FNN for details. Contact: Wendy Clark.

Sun 27th - Geology Group
Excursion Granite in the Strathbogies. All-day excursion with leader Dr Allan Rossiter. Meet at Violet Town, finish at Euroa. Details in FNN. Contact: Rob Hamson.

May

Sun 4th - Fungi Group
Fungal Foray 10.30am Upper Yarra Reservoir, Reefton (MEL 612 U2). First car park, Doctor’s Creek Walking Track. Contact: Arthur Carew.

Mon 5th – Fungi Group
See FNN for details. Contact: Arthur Carew.

Tues 6th - Fauna Survey Group
Going, Going, …Gone. The Plight of the Yellow-Eyed Penguins, Stewart Island, New Zealand. Speaker: Julie McInnes. Contact: Ray White.

Thurs 8th – Botany Group (note: 2nd not 3rd week)
Reconstructing wildflower grasslands. Speaker – Dr Paul Gibson Roy. Contact: Sue Bendel.

Sun 11th - Fungi Group
Fungal Foray. 10.30am Macedon. Meet at Sanatorium Lake Picnic Ground, (Mel 527 E3) approx. 1.5km along Barringo Rd See April FNN for full directions. Contact: Geoff Lay.

Mon 12th – Marine Research Group
Anemones – Speaker: Michela Mitchell. Contact: Leon Altoff.

Wed 14th – Bat Group
Grey-headed flying-fox count. Meet at Yarra Bend Golf Course carpark Mel 2D G7 at 5.00pm. RSVP by e-mail or phone Megan Davidson.**

Sun 18th – Botany Group
Restoring fabulous plains Grassland at Clyde. Contact: Sue Bendel

Sun 18th - Fungi Group
Fungal Foray 10.30am Bunyip State Park (Gembrook), Mortimer Reserve Picnic Ground, off the Gembrook-Tonimbuk Road (MEL key map 14). Contact: Arthur Carew

Wed 21st – Microscopy Group
Microscopy techniques for examining Mycorrhizael associations – Speaker: Magali Wright, Melb Univ. Contact: Ray Power.

Wed 28th - Geology Group
Sand Management at Lakes Entrance. Peter Wheeler, Monash University, describes the interaction of coastal and catchment processes that affect the morphodynamics of the channel systems at the entrance to the Gippsland Lakes. Contact: Rob Hamson

Fri 30th – Juniors’ Group
See FNN for further details. Contact: Wendy Clark.