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Why do some changes feel impossible — whether it’s improving our mental health or protecting the planet — while others seem to click effortlessly into place?
Join us at Queensberry Hotel for a musical night of mind exploration! This event explores the rhythms and behaviours that quietly shape our lives. From the internal body clocks that influence mood, sleep, and mental illness, to the messy realities of human behaviour that complicate environmental action, these talks reveal why timing, context, and psychology matter far more than good intentions alone.
Join us at Queensberry Hotel for a musical night of mind exploration! This event explores the rhythms and behaviours that quietly shape our lives. From the internal body clocks that influence mood, sleep, and mental illness, to the messy realities of human behaviour that complicate environmental action, these talks reveal why timing, context, and psychology matter far more than good intentions alone.
Nature's clocks and human mood
Greg Murray
(Prof Greg Murray is Director of Mood Disorder Research at Swinburne University of Technology. He conducts research into mood disorders, circadian rhythms, and personality. He is ranked in the top 1% of researchers worldwide in each of these fields and is recognised as a world expert in bipolar disorders. After a first career in music, he took out his PhD from University of Melbourne in 2001 and was promoted to full Professor at Swinburne in 2011.)
I do research into the body clock's involvement in mood disorders like depression and bipolar disorder. We're currently looking at how body clock disturbance might predict relapse in bipolar disorder; how daily timing of meals might stabilise the body clock and prevent relapse; and how mania might emerge from unusual timing of reward activation across the day. The body clock (the circadian system) is pervasive across species, and present in nearly every cell of the human body. It drives 24-hour patterns in physiology, behaviour and cognition. Fascinatingly, it's an open system, taking lighting information from the environment - this means that humans can change their body clock's functioning by changing their behaviour. Scientific interest in this topic has exploded since three circadian researchers received the Nobel Prize in 2017. My interest in the topic emerges from my first career as a drummer.
It's Complicated: A Field Guide to People and How to Orchestrate Change for a Better Environment
Peter Bragge & Meg Shaw
(Meg Shaw is a Research Fellow & Behavioural Scientist at BehaviourWorks Australia, Monash University. She focuses on understanding why people do what they do, and how we can design solutions that make it easier to do the right thing for the planet. Peter Bragge is a Professor of applied evidence-based policy & practice at Monash. He focuses on reviewing research evidence to improve decision-making across multiple domains including behavioural science. He writes original piano & uses it in science communica)
If solving environmental problems were just about knowledge, we’d have solved them already. Most people care about nature and the future of the planet - yet we still get confused about what goes in the recycling bin, avoid picking up litter we see on the beach, get a little too close to wildlife for the perfect selfie, and have plenty of good intentions that never quite turn into action.
The truth is that just telling people what they should do doesn’t work. Humans, as it turns out, are a little messy… and occasionally they don't sing from the same song sheet
In this presentation, behavioural scientists Professor Peter Bragge and Dr Meg Shaw introduce a “field guide” to human behaviour. Drawing on examples from wildlife conservation, farming, waste, and everyday life, they will explore why people do what they do, and how those insights can create small shifts to make sustainable behaviours easier and more attractive. In a world first, they will do this with the aid of a live soundtrack which will bring the key concepts to life (pun intended - also please note this will not extend to street theatre or interpretive dance).
Because once we understand that we’re all complicated, it's easier to orchestrate change.
The truth is that just telling people what they should do doesn’t work. Humans, as it turns out, are a little messy… and occasionally they don't sing from the same song sheet
In this presentation, behavioural scientists Professor Peter Bragge and Dr Meg Shaw introduce a “field guide” to human behaviour. Drawing on examples from wildlife conservation, farming, waste, and everyday life, they will explore why people do what they do, and how those insights can create small shifts to make sustainable behaviours easier and more attractive. In a world first, they will do this with the aid of a live soundtrack which will bring the key concepts to life (pun intended - also please note this will not extend to street theatre or interpretive dance).
Because once we understand that we’re all complicated, it's easier to orchestrate change.
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Queensberry Hotel
593 Swanston St, Carlton, Melbourne, Vic 3053, Australia