Speaker Series: Conserving an Australian Icon
We warmly invite you to register for this free event launching Zoos Victoria’s End of Year Campaign: Help protect the future of the Platypus at Healesville Sanctuary.
For more than 90 years, Healesville Sanctuary has been the cultural home of the Platypus, leading the way in research, care and conservation.
Join us for an inspiring evening as our specialists share insights into the hidden world of the Platypus. Discover the groundbreaking research and methodologies integral to the future of this much-loved Australian icon.
Register today to be part of this remarkable journey and help safeguard the future of the Platypus for generations to come.
Host
Dr Jenny Gray is the Chief Executive Officer at Zoos Victoria, charged with the operation of Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary, Werribee Open Range Zoo and Kyabram Fauna Park. Jenny has qualifications in Civil Engineering, Transportation Engineering, Business Administration, and Ethics, a combination which provides a unique set of skills to tackle the challenges of transforming the four zoos that comprise Zoos Victoria.
In 2016, Jenny completed her PhD in ethics with her thesis on “An Ethical Defence of Modern Zoos” published by CSIRO. Over the past 17 years, Jenny has led the transformation of Zoos Victoria into a zoo-based conservation organisation. Zoos Victoria has developed a unique model for contributing to measurable and meaningful conservation actions through their zoo operations, by holding and breeding endangered animals, supporting field projects and, most importantly, engaging visitors in measurable and meaningful conservation actions.
Guest Speakers
Dr. Jessica Thomas oversees the platypus husbandry program at Healesville Sanctuary, a world-renowned facility in platypus breeding, care and research. As a specialist keeper, she manages the platypus care programs at the Sanctuary, overseeing their behaviour, diet, nutrition, health and exhibit environment.
In 2018, Dr Thomas earned a PhD from the University of Melbourne where she studied the breeding biology of the platypus. She also investigated burrow use by juvenile platypuses in their natal home range and maternal care of platypus nestlings. Her research also extends to behavioural enrichment for platypuses to enhance animal welfare in zoos.
Jess is also the platypus studbook keeper as well as a species coordinator for the Zoos and Aquariums Association.
Dr La Toya Jamieson is a Wildlife Detection Dog Officer at Zoos Victoria, and has been a post graduate research supervisor at La Trobe University and University of Melbourne.
She has been working with and researching wildlife detection dogs since 2015. After completing her Bachelor in Applied Science (Wildlife Science major), her PhD research investigated factors that influence detection dog team success, including the positive effect of a strong dog-handler bond and the influence a dog’s breed has on training time and detection success.
As part of the Fighting Extinction Wildlife Detection Dog Program at Healesville Sanctuary which specialises in detecting our threatened species, La Toya has partnered with detection dogs to trial data collection for Platypus conservation in novel ways. This project has been a world first in helping us to better understand the way platypus live in the wild, all without ever needing to see or handle a Platypus.