Morepork Morepork The morepork ("Ninox novaeseelandiae"), also called the ruru or Tasmanian spotted owl, is a small brown owl found throughout New Zealand and Tasmania. Described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, it was for many years considered to be the same species as the southern boobook of mainland Australia until 1999. Its name is derived from its two-tone call. Four subspecies of the morepork are recognized, one of which is extinct and another that exists only as a hybrid population. The bird has almost 20 alternative common names, including mopoke and boobook — many of these names are onomatopoeic, as
Australasian College of Tropical Medicine Australasian College of Tropical Medicine The Australasian College of Tropical Medicine (ACTM) is an Australasian medical association. It was founded on 29 May 1991 at a meeting of 10 interested clinicians, scientists and researchers at the Anton Breinl Centre in Townsville, Australia. Professor Peter A. Leggat, the College's Inaugural Honorary Secretary (1991–96), and Professor Rick Speare, the College's Inaugural President (1991–96), are generally acknowledged as the founder and co-founder of the College, respectively. Rick Speare passed the presidency on to Professor Peter A. Leggat (1996–98), who went on to serve a further two terms as President (2002–04 and 2006–08). Other