Tas Field Nats concern at proposed restructure of TMAG
Proposed reductions in staffing at TMAG have the potential to affect the core business of the Tas Field Nats - which is the study of all aspects of natural history and to advocate for the conservation of our natural heritage. The TMAG has had a long history of involvement with the Tas Field Nats in providing support for our study of Tasmania’s distinctive natural environment.
One of the proposals for restructure at the TMAG is to merge the Senior Curator for Invertebrate Zoology position with the Senior Curator for Vertebrate Zoology into one. These are two highly specialised and distinct fields.
The two current incumbents, Dr Simon Grove and Dr David Hocking, will be well known to most TFNC members through their presentations to the Club, their articles in The Tasmanian Naturalist and their regular appearance in the media.
David spoke at the Tas Field Nats in November 2024 on Fossils of Tasmania: A Deep Time Journey through Prehistory and followed up leading our members on an excursion to Mt Knocklofty to look for fossils. Simon has also given presentations to the Club, and was nominated by the Tas Field Nats Club for the Natural History Medallion, which he was duly awarded. Simon is also author of Seashells of Tasmania, an essential companion for beachcombing in Tasmania, as well as Seasons in the South, in which he relates the ‘back-stories’ for many of Tasmania’s more unusual or distinctive invertebrates.
Simon’s knowledge of invertebrate taxonomy, species discovery and distribution is highly specialised, as is David’s work in vertebrate zoology, palaeontology, threatened species and wildlife health. If there were only one Zoology curator, that person would be expected to report across both specialised areas, on everything from identifying deep-sea molluscs to performing Tasmanian devil necropsies and tissue preparation, plus all the other things that the two curators currently do as experts in their individual disciplines. The effect would be to diminish Tasmania’s scientific expertise in both areas. It is, indeed, untenable.
