Dr Leanda thoroughly enjoys discussing all land critters, but especially trapdoor spiders. Should you wish to book her for a speaking event, please send a message with relevant details through the Contact area and she will respond with a quote. Dr Leanda has been teaching Science Communication at universities in Perth for a decade. A list of her practical experience events is below.
2020
- Public talk ‘Trapdoor spiders of Perth’ at Glyde-In Community Centre [14th February]
- Authored The Conversation article ‘Don’t like spiders? Here are 10 reasons to change your mind’ [7th January]: http://theconversation.com/dont-like-spiders-here-are-10-reasons-to-change-your-mind-126433
- Quoted in ABC Science ‘Australia’s frogs, reptiles and invertebrates are at risk of extinction from bushfires too’ by Jo Khan [8th January]: https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/
- Quoted in The New York Times ‘Some of Australia’s Smallest Species Could Be Lost to Wildfires’ by Helen Sullivan [9th January]: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/science/australia-fire- ecology-insects.html
2019
- Radio interview with Great Southern ABC Radio ‘Social Spiders in Possum Nest Boxes’ [4th December]
- Quoted in The New York Times special The Lives They Lived ‘Barbara York Main, the Australian Lady of the Spiders’ by Alan Burdick [23rd December]: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/23/magazine/barbara-york-main-death.html
- Quoted in ABC Off Track ‘Barbara York Main – Australia’s Spider Woman’ by Ann Jones [25th May]: https://www .abc.net.au/radionational/programs/offtrack/the-worlds-oldest-spider/11138262
- Quoted in ABC Science ‘Barbara York Main, Australia’s spider woman and Wheatbelt advocate, author and poet’ by Ann Jones [25th May]: https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-05-23/vale-barbara-york-main-spider-woman/11133516
- Interviewed in podcast ‘Every Little Thing’ by Annette Heist [28th June]: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/every-little-thing/team
- Interviewed in CSIRO Publishing Journals ‘In-Spidering Research: Dr Leanda Mason and the world-famous Trapdoor Spider’ [27th June]: https://blog.publish.csiro.au/leanda-mason-trapdoor-spider-number-16/
- Radio interview with ABC Radio ‘Trap Door Spiders, Number 16 and Barbara York Main’ by Andrea Gibbs [24th May]
- Q&A Panel, and radio interviews with RTR, Curtin 100.1, and ABC Radio for promotional event screening of ‘Sixteen Legs’ with Neil Doran in Perth [throughout May]
- Interviewed by PBS Newshour ‘New genus and several species of mygalomorph spiders in Columbia’ by Vicky Stein [12th March]
- Public talk for Royal Society of Western Australia ‘Trapdoor spiders of Perth’ at Kings Park [18th March]
- Public talk for Noranda Rotary Club ‘Trapdoor spiders of Perth’ at Noranda Recreation Centre [25th February]
- Expert consultant for a play called ‘#16 work in progress’ by Finn O’Branagain [22nd Feb]
2018
- Public talk for Western Australian Insect Study Society ‘What makes a species newsworthy?’ [18th December]
- Interview for Nine Entertainment ‘Thirsty male trapdoor spiders face fierce predators to look for females who refuse to leave their burrows’ by Danielle Maguire [22nd August]: https://pickle.nine.com.au/2018/08/22/15/22/trapdoor-spider-wasp-predators
- Presentation at Perth Science Festival ‘Trapdoor spiders of Perth’ [18th August]
- Invited speaker at Australian Science Festival opening gala Perth ‘World’s oldest spider’ [10th August 2018]
- Interviewed for Curtin News story ‘Perth’s trapdoor spiders living on ‘burrowed’ time’ by Zoe Taylor [20th June]:(https://news.curtin.edu.au/stories/perths-trapdoor-spiders-living-burrowed-time/)
- Podcast ‘How old was the world’s oldest spider’: [June] https://wascicomm.podbean.com/
- Radio interview with 4ZZZ CSA On-Air Discussion: ‘43 Year old WA Trapdoor spider passes on’ [10th May]
- Public talk for Urban Bushland Council ‘The Effects of Urbanisation on Trapdoor Spiders in Perth’ [10th May]
- Radio interview with Radio New Zealand (RNZ): ‘Studying the world’s oldest spider’ by Jesse Mulligan [3rd May]: https://bit.ly/2OQQOy4
- Radio interview with Evenings with Christine Anu on ABC Radio Sydney ‘World’s oldest spider’ [April]
- Radio interview with Curtin 100.1 FM ‘Seasonal predation of trapdoor spiders’ [April]
- RTR ‘Trapdoor spiders in Perth’ and ‘Intense fires threaten conservation-significant trapdoor spiders [April]
- Radio interview with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Radio ‘The world’s oldest spider was killed by a parasitic wasp’ [30th April]: https://bit.ly/2PavLVi
- Interviewed for Curtin Instagram story ‘curtinlifeaustralia: Leanda Mason’
- Interviewed for Particle (SciTech publication): ‘Trapdoor spiders of Perth’ by Michelle Wheeler [24th April]:https://particle.scitech.org.au/earth/trapdoor-spiders-of-perth/
- Phone interview with Alan Burdick, a journalist from The New Yorker published ‘Elegy for the world’s oldest spider’ [5th May]: https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/elegy-for-the-worlds-oldest-spider
- Phone interview with Avi Selk, a journalist from The Washington Post who published ‘The extraordinary life and death of the world’s oldest known spider’ on [1st May]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/05/01/the-extraordinary-life-and-death-of-the-worlds-oldest-known-spider/
- Follow-up interview with Rebecca Boyle [18th July] for article ‘Avi Selk eulogizes the long life and too-soon death of Spider 16, and what she taught us’: https://niemanstoryboard.org/stories/avi-selk- eulogizes-the-long-life-and-too-soon-death-of-spider-16-and-what-she-taught-us/
- Vaguely Accurate: #013 The Urbanisation of Trapdoor Spiders [27th January 2018]
Pre-2018
- Guest speaker at Byford Senior Highschool
- Public talk for Friends of the Porongurups
- Public talk for Western Australian Insect Study Society Public talk for Kings Park festival of science seminar
- Public talk for Friends of Star Swamp and Trigg Bushland
Dr. Leanda 