Paperbark Science Series: Gavin Smith & Tyronne Bell

From AUD $15.00
  • Duration: 90 Minutes (approx.)
  • Location: Throsby, ACT
  • Product code: PW9P6T
Join us at Wildbark, Mulligans Flat for our Paperbark Science Series, where you have the opportunity to hear from various Special Guests speakers throughout the year. We also love to include time for a little Q&A at the end of each session or workshop. 


Demystifying and re-storying the serpent: why
snakes deserve our attention and respect

On World Snake Day in the Year of the Snake,
join Ngunnawal Knowledge Holder, Tyronne Bell, and local snake handler,
researcher and conservationist, Dr Gavin Smith, for a special evening of snake
yarning. Snakes are among the most feared and misunderstood creatures in our
ecosystem, and those inhabiting urban areas live precariously as a result of
how they are popularly represented and perceived. To counterbalance the
demonisation and hostility snakes are subject to, the pair will share different
ways of understanding snakes. Utilising distinct but complementary
perspectives, they will identify pathways for the Canberra community to better
tolerate and make space for snakes, as vital and part of Ngunnawal
ecosystems, landscapes and culture.

 

Tyronne Bell is a Ngunnawal descendant who grew
up in Yass, learning traditional culture from his father Don Bell (senior).
Tyronne’s passion for his Aboriginal culture and heritage and his desire to
share this knowledge with others led to the establishment of Thunderstone in
July 2013 to promote awareness of the rich Aboriginal culture and history of
the local region. Thunderstone along with other local Aboriginal businesses,
Culture on the Move and Yurbay have conducted many Aboriginal cultural programs,
activities and tours across Canberra in schools, childcare centres, government
and non-government agencies, corporate and community organisations.


Gavin Smith is an Associate Professor and the
Head of Sociology at the Australian National University. He is also Director of
ACT Snake Removals, a community snake conservation and education service.
Gavin's research is increasingly focused on urban ecology, and he is
particularly interested in the social and economic dimensions of the
human—snake conflict, as well as the complex behavioural ecology of urban
snakes. In 2021 he initiated the Canberra Snake Tracking Project, which is a
longitudinal research study exploring eastern brown snake population dynamics
and movement behaviours in a context of expanding habitat fragmentation, urban
pressures and climate fluctuations.


When: Wednesday 16th July, 2025

Time: 6:30pm - 8pm

Tickets: $15 

Where: Wildbark, 25 Rosenberg St Throsby