2023 Annual General Meeting

The 2023 Annual General Meeting was held on Sunday 30th July, 2023 at the Monbulk Living & Learning Centre (21 Main Rd, Monbulk) commencing at 2.00pm.

Guest speaker: Ross Field, M Agr Sc, PhD, Entomoogist - "Butterflies of the Dandenong Ranges"

"Ross Field M Agr Sc, PhD (Entomology) has published more than 100 papers on interests such as insect ecology, biological control of weeds and invertebrates, and the biology, ecology and conservation of butterflies. His study of butterflies has been a lifetime hobby spanning more than 60 years, for the last 20 of which he has been on a quest to document and photograph Australian butterfly life histories. This resulted in the 2013 publication of an award-winning field guide(Whitley Award) on Victorian butterflies. He has successfully reared the majority of the Victorian butterfly species.

Ross worked as an entomologist in the Victorian Public Service for the most of his professional career. He was previously Director of Natural Sciences and Director of the Environment Program at Museum Victoria (1993-2001) during which time he played a significant role in the development of Melbourne Museum. Although now retired, he continues to publish on entomology and has developed a broader passion for wildlife photography.

His talk on “Butterflies of the Dandenong Ranges” highlighted some of the iconic species that breed on local grasses, sedges and various trees, and the impact of climate change on the local butterflies was also discussed."

Silky Hairstreak (Pseudalmenus chlorinda), Monbulk, Dec 2021