Honouring Humboldt: Research for a Sustainable World

“Alexander von Humboldt has been referred to as ‘the forgotten father of environmentalism.’^[1] As early as 1844, he wrote that humans change the climate ‘by cutting down forests, by changing the distribution of water bodies, and through the production of large vapour and gas masses at the centres of industry.’^[2] Humboldt also described the greenhouse effect in his opus magnum, ‘Kosmos’. And time and again in his writings and in his lectures, he emphasised the interconnectedness of all living creatures on this planet. In times when the effects of climate change become ever more visible and palpable around the globe, it is imperative that the global academic community addresses the topic of sustainability in all its dimensions.”

- Dr Thomas Hesse, Deputy Chair, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

Volume 135 of the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria is now available online, open access from CSIRO Publishing, hosted at https://www.publish.csiro.au/rs/issue/11551 . This volume is substantively dedicated to the theme ‘Humboldtian Research towards a Sustainable World,’ drawn from the proceedings of the 19^th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Associations of von Humboldt Fellows in 2022.

There is an additional paper from Dr Thomas Darragh and Dr Ruth Pullin, translating letters from the celebrated German painter Eugene von Guerrard, then based in Australia, to the Ethnological Museum in Berlin from 1878 – 1880, along with the collected abstracts from colleagues presenting at the RSV’s 2022 symposium on ‘Next Generation Biocontrol of Invasive Vertebrate Pests.’

Papers

Germantown revisited

Gabrielle L. McMullen

pp. 7-14

Abstract  | PDF (5.4 MB)   Open Access Article

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Stories about symmetry

Rebecca A.H. Waldecker

pp. 15-19

Abstract  | PDF (3 MB)   Open Access Article

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A world without bees: new insights from Australia for managing sustainability in a changing climate

Adrian G. Dyer, Mani Shrestha, Jair E. Garcia, Scarlett R. Howard, Malika Nisal Ratnayake and Alan Dorin

pp. 20-29

Abstract  | PDF (3.3 MB)   Open Access Article

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Sustainable chemical synthesis: making molecules using visible-light irradiation

Daniel L. Priebbenow

pp. 30-33

Abstract  | PDF (1.2 MB)   Open Access Article

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Genome banking of ancestral haplotypes for future survival

Erwin A. Paz, Lani A. Wade, Anthony J. Lloyd, Sally S. Lloyd and Roger L. Dawkins

pp. 34-37

Abstract  | PDF (7 MB)   Open Access Article

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Photonic reservoir computing for energy efficient and versatile machine learning application

Kathy Lüdge

pp. 38-40

Abstract  | PDF (753 KB)   Open Access Article

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Australian indigenous edible halophytes — nutritious and functional for a sustainable future: antioxidant capacity and antimicrobial properties

Sukirtha Srivarathan, Anh Dao Thi Phan, Maral Seididamyeh, Olivia R.L. Wright, Yasmina Sultanbawa and Michael E. Netzel

pp. 41-46

Abstract  | PDF (683 KB)   Open Access Article

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The role of nuclear power in a sustainable future

Anthony W. Thomas

pp. 47-49

Abstract  | PDF (189 KB)   Open Access Article

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A sustainable world requires darkness at night

John B. Hearnshaw

pp. 50-57

Abstract  | PDF (2.7 MB)   Open Access Article

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Where are we at with shape-memory alloys in this ‘high-tech’ world?

Trevor R. Finlayson

pp. 58-63

Abstract  | PDF (1.8 MB)   Open Access Article

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Waves that appear from nowhere

Nail Akhmediev

pp. 64-68

Abstract  | PDF (1.1 MB)   Open Access Article

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Sustainability from a cell perspective

R.J. Clarke

pp. 69-71

Abstract  | PDF (359 KB)   Open Access Article

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Digital twin of patient in clinical workflow

Nilmini Wickramasinghe, Nalika Ulapane, Amir Andargoli, Nadeem Shuakat, Tuan Nguyen, John Zelcer and Stephen Vaughan

pp. 72-80

Abstract  | PDF (2.6 MB)   Open Access Article

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Targeting the proteases of arboviruses with cyclic and bicyclic peptides

Christoph Nitsche

pp. 81-85

Abstract  | PDF (1.6 MB)   Open Access Article

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Finding the forever pollutants — fast!

Chloe M. Taylor, Michael C. Breadmore and Nathan L. Kilah

pp. 86-89

Abstract  | PDF (1010 KB)   Open Access Article

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ABSTRACTS FROM SYMPOSIUM ON NEXT-GENERATION BIOCONTROL OF INVASIVE VERTEBRATE PESTS, ROYAL SOCIETY OF VICTORIA, SEPTEMBER 2022

pp. 91-100

PDF (245 KB)   Open Access Article

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Eugene von Guérard and the Ethnological Museum in Berlin: Correspondence 1878–1880

Thomas A. Darragh and V. Ruth Pullin

pp. 102-126

Abstract  | PDF (7.4 MB)   Open Access Article

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References

[1] Andrea Wulf, ‘The Forgotten Father of Environmentalism’ in The Atlantic, 23 December 2015 (https://www.theatlantic. com/science/archive/2015/12/the-forgotten-father-of-environmentalism/421434/).

[2] ‘durch Fällen der Wälder, durch Veränderung in der Vertheilung der Gewässer und durch die Entwicklung großer Dampf- und Gasmassen an den Mittelpunkten der Industrie‘ quoted in Frank Holl (2018), Alexander von Humboldt und der Klimawandel: Mythen und Fakten HiN XIX, 37.

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