Our Relationship with Weeds: Angela Moles at TEDxSydney

A lot of effort is spent trying to eradicate invasive species. Angela wants us to reconsider our relationship with weeds. She argues passionately that we should learn to tolerate the likes of Lantana. Weeds are evolving. They will become biological natives. It's only a matter of time.

Angela has a passion for weeds and she knows a thing or two about introduced species, partly because she's been one herself. Angela traipsed the globe for the World Herbivory Project, where she stayed in 107 different beds (yes, she kept count) over just a couple of years, measuring the characteristics of plants on every continent. She is a senior lecturer at UNSW, where she heads the Big Ecology Lab. Last year, she was awarded the Eureka Outstanding Young Researcher Prize. She hopes never to sleep in another hostel or spare room again.

TEDxSydney 2012 took place on Saturday 26 May 2012 at Carriageworks. Tens of thousands of people enjoyed the day: 800 in the theatre, over 1,000 via big screen simulcast in The Forum, many thousands online via YouTube and ABC Big Ideas ... and up to 80,000 tuning in to ABC Radio National.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations.)