Journey to the frozen edges of the Earth with polar explorer Tim Jarvis AM and Museums Victoria’s Senior Manager of Genetic Resources, Joanna Sumner.
Celebrating our newest permanent exhibition, Our Wondrous Planet and to mark World Environment Day coming up on June 5th, this discussion will traverse the vast ice sheets of the Antarctic to the rapidly changing ecosystems of the Arctic to explore the fragile worlds that exist at our planet's coldest extremes.
Hear how melting ice is reshaping global systems, what these frozen landscapes reveal about Earth’s climate history, and what these remote environments are signalling about our shared future.
SPEAKERS
Tim Jarvis AM is an environmental scientist, explorer, author, filmmaker, philanthropist and rewilder. Tim was conferred a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2010 for services to environment, community and exploration and was named South Australia’s Australian of the Year in 2024. He seeks solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss. He works to protect and restore environments and has been awarded Australian Geographic Society’s Conservationist of the Year in 2016 for his project on melting equatorial glaciers, 25Zero. Tim provides environmental advice to corporations and holds board, ambassador and advisory positions for Fauna & Flora; WWF, the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife, the SA Dept of Environment & Water and the Australian Geographic Society. Tim has re-enacted Douglas Mawson and Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic expeditions and works for the protection of Antarctica. He led the successful campaign to quadruple the size of marine sanctuaries around Australia's 3 subantarctic islands Macquarie Island (2023) and Heard and McDonald Islands in 2024, increasing them from 233,000km2 to over 750,000km2 and was responsible for the introduction of a Biodiversity Act in South Australia in 2025.
Dr Joanna Sumner is the Senior Manager of Genetic Resources at Melbourne Museum Research Institute, overseeing the museum’s wildlife DNA, tissue and living cell collection and facilitating research on conservation, taxonomy and evolutionary genetics. Joanna’s research on reptiles has given her the opportunity to work in forests and deserts across Australia.
In 2023 Joanna travelled to Antarctica with Homeward Bound, a global, leadership initiative for women and non-binary people in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine). The program aims to increase the influence of women in decision-making for a sustainable future. The experience of being in Antarctica further cemented Joanna’s passion for the exquisite diversity of life in our natural world and the vital need to conserve the remaining wilderness areas.
Hilary Harper grew up in regional Australia and loves the way radio connects people through storytelling, a practice which transcends time, space and football codes. She's been ferreting out ordinary people's extraordinary stories for over 30 years, including 20 at the ABC, most recently as a weekday host on Radio National. Her life goal is to one day own enough bookshelves.
ACCESSIBILITY
Please view our accessibility page for general information. A sensory map of Melbourne Museum can be found on our Visual Stories page where step-by-step visual and written access guides are available. Contact our team on 13 11 02 or email us at [email protected] to discuss how we can support your visit.
