Winter Series Lecture: Dr Tonia Cochran

Presentation: Inala Jurassic Garden:

Gondwanan Connections and the Conservation of Ancient Lineages Threatened by the Effects of Climate Change through Collaboration

Speaker: Dr Tonia CochranTonia Cochran's lifelong interest in natural history has led to an interesting and varied career. Armed with a double major in Botany and Zoology, as well as Honours and PhD degrees in Zoology at Melbourne University in Victoria, she has worked as a Marine Biologist at the Australian Antarctic Division and founded wildlife tourism business, Inala Nature Tours in 1994, which offers tours throughout Australia and selected destinations around the world. Tonia has also presented talks around the globe on many varied subjects, relating to fauna and flora, and is involved in many conservation programs involving the protection and management of threatened species. She also founded the Inala Nature Foundation, a registered environmental organisation and charity, as a means to contribute to conservation projects, predominantly on Bruny Island and around Tasmania. 

Tonia is the founder, owner, collections manager and curator of Inala Jurassic Garden, a Gondwanan themed botanic garden based on 1,500 acre (600ha) property on South Bruny Island, which was opened to the public in March 2014. The garden houses a living collection of around 700 species of plants from over 50 families which have ancient connections to the Gondwanan supercontinent. This supercontinent broke apart in the Jurassic period to form today's southern continents, including Australia, South America, Africa and the almost submerged continent Zealandia (of which New Zealand and New Caledonia are part). Many of these ancient plant lineages are now threatened by the effects of climate change and human-induced threats, such as overharvesting, and are threatened in the wild. The purpose of the garden has expanded from an educational facility to a repository for ex-situ species that are at most risk in the wild. Tonia is now collaborating with other botanic gardens including Kew-Wakehurst and Bedgebury Pinetum in the UK, Sydney and Melbourne Botanic Gardens in Australia on various conservation programs. Join Tonia as she takes you on a journey of the evolution of the Inala Jurassic Garden to the multifaceted facility it has become today and the global conservation projects with which she is involved.