As Niall mentioned, Bookend is now the home of Expedition Class, the award-winning interactive adventure-learning program run by Andrew Hughes. Andrew and Ninna Millikin have recently returned from a reconnaissance trip to Melaleuca in south-west Tasmania in preparation for this year’s expedition, and they were lucky to have spectacular weather down there given that it was the week before winter!

This year’s expedition is the Tassie Tiger Hunt, and has curriculum materials developed in conjunction with the Department of Education to link with 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity. What does it take to manage and understand our threatened species? What does it take to see if a species really has gone forever? What can we learn to do things better in future? Andrew will be helping kids find answers to these questions during his trip!

Proudly supported by Bookend, Australian Geographic, the University of Tasmania SET program, the Department of Education, and the Mercury’s Newspapers In Education program, check out Andrew’s amazing upcoming adventure learning expedition, in which students can follow every twist, turn and tumble (hopefully only minor) of his amazing journey!

Last month also saw the conclusion of a six-month run of The Burning Season exhibition hosted in partnership with the Imaginarium Science Centre in Devonport.

The exhibition consisted of 47 orang-utan and behind-the-scenes images, and stunning large-format, back-lit transparencies. These come from the documentary of the same title, the Australian premiere of which Bookend hosted in Hobart in 2009 with patron Cathy Henkel. As with Bookend, the over-riding message of the film is one of finding positive solutions to environmental problems.

But wait, I hear you ask, what about the rest of Tasmania? Not to fear, parts of The Burning Season exhibition have already visited Don College, and we will be displaying it in full at the Cradle Coast University of Tasmania campus in August, and then at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens in Hobart from September 20!

Rotoract is also hoping to have a special viewing of the film in Devonport in conjunction with the exhibition later in the year.

Coming up even sooner is the Treadlightly Envirofest at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens this Sunday, 6 June 2010.  Several of us from the Bookend crew will be there throughout the day (Stall Number 2, shared with UTAS and right near the entrance), so come and say hello!

We will have some interactive activities and information and we are looking forward to sharing our passion for positive environmental solutions with students, friends of Bookend, and any random strangers we can inspire. Rug up and come along to check out live music, talks, stalls and loads of activities to inspire a sustainable way of life!

Best wishes,

Tanaz