The Northern Branch representatives named in the 2021 Royal Society of Tasmania Annual Report were Dr Eric Ratcliff OAM and Mr Neil MacKinnon. The report also shows that Dr Ratcliff served as Northern Branch President in 2021.
Northern Branch Representatives in the 2021 Annual Report
| Role | Name | What the report says |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Branch Representative | Dr Eric Ratcliff OAM | Listed as a Northern Branch Representative in the main council list and also as Northern Branch President in the branch report. |
| Northern Branch Representative | Mr Neil MacKinnon | Listed as a Northern Branch Representative in the main council list and also shown as Honorary Treasurer after replacing Mr Robin Walpole in July 2021. |
Royal Society of Tasmania in 2021
The Royal Society of Tasmania says its mission is the advancement of knowledge. Its priorities include promoting Tasmanian historical, scientific, technological, and cultural knowledge, supporting public engagement, and recognising academic excellence. The Society also states that it has continued since 1843, is one of the oldest royal societies outside the United Kingdom, and is the oldest scientific society in Australia and New Zealand.
The Society explains that its annual publications have a long history. It says that since 1849 it has published annual volumes of refereed scholarly papers about Tasmania in Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, and that annual volumes have been published since 1851. The 2021 volume is listed as Volume 155, Issue 1.
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Where the Northern Branch Sits in the Society
The Royal Society of Tasmania says its Northern Branch is based at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston. The Society also states that a branch in Launceston was formed in 1853, later lapsed, and was reconstituted in 1921, where it has continued since then. That background makes the 2021 report a centenary year document as well as a regular annual report.
The annual report shows the Northern Branch representatives in the wider council structure. In the main council list, Dr Eric Ratcliff OAM and Mr Neil MacKinnon are named as Northern Branch Representatives. In the Northern Branch section, Dr Ratcliff is also listed as Branch President, while Mr MacKinnon is listed as Honorary Treasurer and as the replacement for Mr Robin Walpole after his resignation in July 2021.
What the 2021 Report Records About Their Roles
The report makes clear that the Northern Branch leadership was active throughout the year. It states that the Management Committee met twelve times in 2021, with six meetings held before lectures and the rest held through Zoom. It also says committee members stayed in contact by email and phone when needed. This shows a branch that kept working in a structured way through a mix of in person and online operations.
The report also notes that the Northern Branch handled accessions to its library collection under Mr Andrew Parsons, who is identified as an ex officio member of the Northern Branch Management Committee. It further states that the Northern section of the Society’s website was maintained from Hobart by the Society’s Webmaster, while Ms Chel Bardell helped publish Northern material on the Society’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, and Dr Robert Johnson helped upload webinar recordings to YouTube. These details show how the branch’s work stretched beyond meetings and into library, web, and public communication tasks.
Northern Branch Lecture Program in 2021
The 2021 Northern Branch report says the branch resumed face to face meetings during the year as the pandemic situation improved, and every lecture was also broadcast as a Zoom webinar. It also says the branch thanked its speakers for the quality of their presentations and noted strong attendance at many lectures. Admission pricing for face to face lectures was also recorded, with free entry for Royal Society members and children under 16, and set prices for the general public and several concession groups.
The lecture list in the report gives a clear picture of the branch’s program. It includes talks on pyrogeographic thinking, COVID 19 vaccine rollout, the stories of kanamaluka, plastics and marine wildlife, blue economy growth, and the Geological Society of Australia joint meeting. The report also records a Science Week forum for University of Tasmania PhD candidates. This list shows a broad program covering science, health, environment, geology, and local knowledge.
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Northern Branch Centenary in 2021
A major focus of the report is the Northern Branch centenary. The report says the branch was able to resume regular meetings with full room capacity on 27 June 2021 to celebrate the official centenary date. It records that invited guests included the Mayor of Launceston, Albert van Zetten, the Governor of Tasmania, Her Excellency the Honourable Barbara Baker AC, and her husband, Emeritus Professor Don Chalmers AO. The report also says Dr Eric Ratcliff welcomed the guests and that the Governor delivered a speech on the place of the Royal Society of Tasmania in current day Tasmania.
The centenary event also included the launch of a special edition of Papers and Proceedings. The report says the journal contained northern authors writing on northern subjects, including geology, astronomy, faunal studies, the European use of dolerite as a building material, the creation history of the Northern Branch, iodine deficiency, and the survival of Aboriginal life and culture in the Bass Strait Islands. It also notes an article on robotic exploration using autonomous underwater vehicles in Antarctica.
The report says the branch also marked the centenary with several related activities. These included a 2021 calendar dedicated to the Northern Branch, an exhibition on the branch history prepared by QVMAG, three new banners with artwork of early Launceston, bookmarks featuring paintings from the calendar, a Mayoral Reception at Launceston Town Hall, and fundraising for a storage cabinet to house the Lambkin Knight butterfly collection donated to QVMAG.
Dr Eric Ratcliff and Mr Neil MacKinnon in the Branch Record
Dr Eric Ratcliff appears repeatedly in the 2021 annual report. He is listed as a Northern Branch Representative in the council section, as Northern Branch President in the branch section, and as the person who welcomed guests at the centenary event. The report also says he was awarded the Royal Society of Tasmania Medal 2021, which recognised his research on architecture, building conservation, art, and history.
Mr Neil MacKinnon is also clearly positioned in the report. He is named as a Northern Branch Representative in the council list, then identified as Honorary Treasurer in the branch section after replacing Mr Robin Walpole in July 2021. He is also listed as the Northern Branch Rep on The Foundation in the main office bearers section. That means his role was both financial and representative in 2021.
Official Record of the 2021 Annual Report
The Royal Society of Tasmania’s annual reports page lists the 2021 report among the Society’s official publications. The report is part of a long running record of annual scholarship and branch activity, which makes it a reliable source for names, roles, events, and committee structure.
The 2021 Papers and Proceedings volume also confirms the importance of the Northern Branch in the Society’s publication record. Its contents page includes a “List of Northern Branch Presidents” and the article “Resurrection: the creation history of the Royal Society of Tasmania’s Northern Branch,” showing that the branch centenary was a key part of the 2021 volume.
Key Points from the 2021 Northern Branch Report
The report places the Northern Branch representatives inside a wider picture of continuity, leadership, and public work. It records the branch’s centenary, its lecture program, its online and in person delivery, its library and website support, and its links with QVMAG and the Launceston community. It also records the names and duties of the people who carried the branch through 2021, especially Dr Eric Ratcliff OAM and Mr Neil MacKinnon.
