The Evolution of the Annual Conference

The Annual Conference has been an institution for decades. I was always amazed at the number of people who would volunteer their time to either help organise or present workshops to their professional colleagues. Having schools prepared to open their laboratories and classrooms made the job of organising the event so much easier. Over time, the conference changed venues less often. This way teething problems with supply of equipment, IT issues and catering would reduce as the school became familiar with needs of the conference. I always found the mix between cutting-edge lectures by local or interstate experts was well balanced by workshops presented by educators, where various activities and teaching ideas were presented and could be used immediately in the classroom.

Finding recipients for the various awards has always been difficult. Not because of the quality of the winners but due to the reticence of teachers to talk about their achievements. Teachers have always been team players, not wanting to stand out from the crowd. However, the talent of the various award winners made them worthy recipients.

It was inspiring to see teachers, both offering workshops and receiving awards, and how they were improving the academic lives of their students.

Chris Jordison, past Annual Conference Convenor & chair of the Professional Development Reference Group

My very first SASTA conference was in 1986, at a local Teachers College destined to become part of UniSA after the amalgamations in the early 1990s. It was an amazing experience for a brand new science teacher to listen to the likes of Dr Cliff Malcolm from Victoria, Professor Ian Lowe from Queensland and Professor Colin Power of Flinders University, SA. I was also blown away to hear the myriad of roles undertaken by Peter Schodde recounted during the testimonial read out before he accepted his SASTA Medal. The only down side was lining up in the cafeteria to buy our own lunch, which was not included in those days. All of the conference participants arrived after the students – preservice teaching students – had already formed a long queue, and most of us had to return hungry to the conference for the afternoon keynote. My recollection is that it was not long before morning tea, lunch and the Happy Hour were included in the cost of conference registration – a great improvement!

One of the most memorable presentations I have ever heard was the keynote at the 2018 SASTA Annual Conference, held at Adelaide High. While the title: Why is evolutionary biology more than just an academic interest, sounded a bit dry, Professor Steve Donnellan, South Australian Museum, Evolutionary Biology Unit came highly recommended as an entertaining and informative speaker. He did not disappoint.

The context for his talk was the Giant Australian Cuttlefish (Sepia apama), that each year aggregates to mate and spawn on a discrete area of northern Spencer Gulf, just north of Whyalla. Judging from the photographs and videos that Steve showed us, this is an amazing spectacle. Tens of thousands of these incredible creatures aggregate, demonstrating their expert colour changers and mastery of camouflage by changing shape and texture to look like the surrounding environment. Steve is part of a group looking at their population dynamics, as there are many threats to these amazing animals. One is their own life history, as the cuttlefish only live for 12–18 months and mating is the final act of their short lives. Steve regaled us with descriptions of their range of unusual sexual antics, easily witnessed by snorkellers and divers!

It is pleasing to know that a worrying decline in the population seen in 2013, has now been completely reversed, with record populations seen in 2020. This suggests that “boom and bust” are a natural part of the population fluctuations of the Giant Cuttlefish

Jane Wright, current Annual Conference Convenor & chair of the Professional Development Reference Group