To mark National Science Week 2026, Oberon Citizen Science Network (OCSN) is proud to present a free community event on Saturday 15th August: “Science in Oberon: More than you imagine!” at the Malachi Gilmore Hall, an art deco architectural gem. 

From 10:00am to 12:30pm on Saturday 15th August, the Malachi Gilmore Hall will open to the public for viewing of a number of science- and technology-related exhibits, please see the event web page for details.

Soup and bread rolls ($10 per person) will be available from midday.

From 12:30pm to 3:45pm, there will be a series of talks by guest and local speakers:

• 12:30 pm Andrew McKibbin, Mayor of Oberon - Official opening of event
• 12:35 pm Aunty Ruby Dykes - Acknowledgement of Country & biobanking at Tricketts Arch Biodiversity Site Aboriginal Corporation
• 12:45 pm Tim Churches, OCSN Co-founder & President - Introduction to OCSN and its activities, goals and plans
• 1:05 pm Dr Ana Gracanin, Research Fellow, Australian National University Fenner School of Environment & Society - Greater gliders and other arboreal marsupials: ecology and conservation
• 1:35 pm Jackson Wilburn Wilkes, PhD candidate, School of Biological, Environmental and Earth Sciences (BEES), University of NSW - Effects of climate change on platypus populations in the Fish and Duckmaloi Rivers near Oberon
• 2:00 pm Malan Bothma, PhD candidate, School of Biological, Environmental and Earth Sciences (BEES), University of UNSW - The effects of wind farms on Australian bird species – what we know and what we don’t know
• 2:25 pm An interactive scientific musical interlude
• 2:35 pm Afternoon tea - light refreshments available (free)
• 2:50 pm Alan Sheehan, OCSN Co-founder & Public Officer - Eco-acoustics for biodiversity assessment
• 3:10 pm Dr Anne Musser, Jenolan Caves Trust and NPWS - Biodiversity at Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve, with a special look at platypus research