FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
September–October 2015 11Contributors
SPRIGS OF HOPE, PAGE 22 THE FLYING PADRE, PAGE 34 GUIDED BY NATURE, PAGE 31Contributing editors: Joanna Hartmann, Karen McGhee and Josephine Sargent More contributors: Martin Au, Jacqui Barker, Matthew Barros, Peter Bellingham,
Quentin Chester, Andrea Deegan, Greg Duncan, Nam Duong, Arwen Dyer, Cathy Finch, Julie Fletcher, Matthew Frawley, Chris Gaskin, Andrew Gregory, Luke Hanson,
Ashley Hay, Bruce Hood, Alan Horsup, Brodie James, Tom Jessett, Silvia Li, Lachlan Manley, Dean Miller, Ryan North, James O’Hanlon, Joanne Paquette,
Matthew Post, Julian Robinson, Dominic Ruefenacht, Ben Saunders, Barry Skipsey, James Stone, Luke Tscharke and Matt Williams.Penny Olsen
is a research scientist
turned natural history writer.
An associate professor at
the Australian National
University, in Canberra, she
spends much of her time at the National Library
of Australia, where she enjoys digging through
the collections in search of gems on Australian
natural history. She was privileged to write
Bill Cooper’s biography, An Eye for Nature:
The Life and Art of William T. Cooper, which
reveals the fascinating history of the artist and
was published by the library in 2014.Glenn
Morrison
is a journalist, author and
musician living in Alice
Springs. His work is widely
published and has won him
several awards and fellowships. Early studies
in geography and engineering led Glenn to
combine an interest in the environment with a
desire to write meaningfully about politics and
places. Formerly editor of the Centralian
Advocate newspaper, Glenn now writes a
weekly column about the Centre for Rural
Weekly NT, and produces for ABC Radio.Heidi Willis
is a self-taught watercolour
artist specialising in natural
history illustration. Her
powerful and distinctive
works are meticulous,
fl uid refl ections of our natural world. Painting
full-time since 2003, Heidi quickly positioned
herself as one of Australia’s emerging artistic
talents. Her reputation as a leading natural
history, wildlife and botanical artist is now
well established, with her paintings found
in signifi cant public and private collections
around the world.T
HIS TIME last
year, I was
privileged to
spend a couple of days
in Timor-Leste (East
Timor). I discovered
a country that had
suffered greatly
because of its refusal
to be subdued by a
powerful neighbour, but also one
experiencing a rapid transition to a
contemporary Asian nation with all
the aspirations, hopes and dreams we
take for granted. It is a country that’s
rich in natural beauty – and the
Timorese are a culturally diverse
population with a proud and colourful
history that they want to share.
We began to work with the
Timorese government in late 2014 to
create a documentary that would
promote their exciting new tourism
opportunities (the capital, Dili, is just
a 90-minute flight from Darwin).
Our documentary filmmakers Julian
Harvey and Clark Carter joined
presenters Caroline Pemberton (star
of our recent TV series, Australian
Geographic Adventures) and marine
biologist Dean Miller to explore this
new tourism frontier on our doorstep.
Follow their adventures in Australian
Geographic Explores: Timor-Leste, available
to watch on our website, and read
Dean’s story on page 93. Perhaps
you’ll add this fascinating destination
to your must-see list, and, in turn, help
Timor-Leste realise its full potential.
The Australian Age of Dinosaurs
Museum near Winton celebrated the
completion of its first two stages last
May, and the final stage is now
underway (page 20). This facility will
attract overseas visitors, and help to
secure outback Queensland’s status as
the dinosaur capital of Australia. The
Australian Geographic Society (AGS)
donated funds in the museum’s early
days and it’s heartening to see thepotential of that support realised.
Choosing how to distribute the
funds that your subscription raises is
the most important function of the
AGS. We are delighted to welcome
Anna Rose, Tim Jarvis, AM, and Tim
Flannery to our AGS expert advisory
panel to help us decide how to best
spend your generous donations. They
will be attending our annual awards,
just a few weeks away on 28 October
in Sydney, and we would love to see
you there. Turn to page 111 to discover
more about our new team from
incoming Society chair Jo Runciman,
and find awards night booking details
on page 110.Looking forward to meeting you there.Our beautiful neighbour
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