to speak to counter the anti-abortionist views at the school, but was later allowed to return after an intervention from his father. Academic career After failing to achieve the required school marks to study science, Flannery completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in English at La Trobe University in 1977. After being impressed by Flannery's knowledge of natural history, palaeontologist Tom Rich and his wife encouraged him to pursue the subject, and Flannery went on to complete a Master of Science degree in Earth Science at Monash University in 1981. He then left Melbourne for Sydney, enjoying its subtropical climate and species diversity. In 1984, Flannery earned a PhD at the University of New South Wales in Palaeontology for his work on the evolution and fossils of macropods under palaeontologist Mike Archer. At age 26, he was hired by the mammalogy department of the Australian Museum, and took his first trips to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and elsewhere, later becoming mammal curator at the museum. He took 15 trips in total to New Guinea (both Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya) starting in 1981 and into the 1990s, working closely with local tribes to undertake fieldwork, which he later recounted in Throwin Way Leg (1998). A tapeworm he sent to a parasitologist following one trip was revealed to be a new species, and was later named Burtiela flanneryi after him. Flannery has held various academic positions throughout his career. He spent many years in Adelaide, including a spell as professor at the University of Adelaide, and 7 years as director of the South Australian Museum. He was also principal research scientist at the Australian Museum, during which time he worked to save the bandicoot population on North Head. In 1999 he held the year-long visiting chair of Australian studies at Harvard University. In 2007, Flannery became professor in the Climate Risk Concentration of Research Excellence at Macquarie University. He left Macquarie University in mid-2013. Flannery is also a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, and a Governor of WWF-Australia. He was also for a time director of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. He has contributed to over 143 scientific papers. Flannery is a professorial fellow at the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne. Until mid-2013 he was a professor at Macquarie University and held the Panasonic Chair in Environmental Sustainability. Personal life and family Flannery rarely