Are you a naturally curious person? If so, you might already know that Sydney Science Festival kicks-off this week at various locations around Sydney.
For Hawkesbury locals, our area will once again be participating in the science festival, following a sold-out science festival event held in 2018.
This year, the event will take place at Hawkesbury Library Service, and the topic will cover bees - both native and European.
PhD candidate, Bronwen Roy from Western Sydney University, will be addressing locals about the infectious disease threats facing bees.
According to Ms Roy, honeybees are of huge economic importance, due to the vital role they play in pollinating a wide variety of commercial crops.
Even so, honeybees are threatened by infectious diseases, meaning alternative pollinating insects may be needed to help them out.
Ms Roy says Australian stingless bees are one such alternative - but can stingless bees be safely introduced to work alongside honeybees to tackle this shortfall?
Ms Roy's talk will cover the pathogen threats to Honeybees, and she will explain the potential for honeybees to share their diseases with stingless bees and vice versa.
Ms Roy will provide details during her talk on Tuesday, August 13 from 6.30pm until 8.30pm.
Tickets are free however bookings are essential at www.hawkesburylibrary.eventbrite.com or by calling 4560 4460.
Hawkesbury Central Library is at 300 George Street, Windsor.
WSU at Sydney Science Festival
The Sydney Science Festival is a two-week event concluding on August 18, and includes a series of hands-on demos, public talks and lectures, and displays - meaning there is sure to be something for everybody who wants to better understand the world we live in.
Western Sydney University is hosting a number of science festival events across its numerous campuses, and highlights include speeches by the following academics: Dr Mark Hall speaking on 'Australia's marvelous pollinators'; Dr Paul Rymer on 'How urban greening ecology is creating cooler cities'; Assoc Professor Julie Old with her address 'All about wombats and citizen science'; Dr Omar Mubin on 'Get to know our robots Pepper and Nao; and Dr Ragbir Bhathal FRSN withG'aze at the stars with our astronomy experts'.
Find out about WSU's events at www.westernsydney.edu.au/research/research/sydney_science_festival.
To view the full Sydney Science Festival schedule, go to sydneyscience.com.au/2019/.
