Well, good afternoon faculty!

I here today to tell you about the research I would like to pursue as
a possible PhD thesis.  I have been invited by a reknown friendly
society to participate in a tour of Kangaroo Island, and it was while
on this island that I observed some very interesting behaviour on the
part of the members of this friendly society.  Let's call them by
their scientific name, the <i>peripatetic amicii robotgarcra</i>
species.

Every so often, these members will disembark the omnibus used to
transport them, and they will set off into the bush, often forming an
amicci train, whereby one dominant male will lead the way, followed by
both females and males of the species.  The pattern of following is
not disciplined: often the train will break up and become disjointed,
and members may well reorganize the order in which they follow.  There
does seem to be some advantage in being at the head of the train, as
there is often some jostling for position in this reorganization.

These disjunctions are usually occasioned by a train member noticing a
distinct plant by the side of the track, and will whip out an image
recording apparatus to record the observation.  What purpose these
observations have is at this stage of the investigation unknown.  It
it thought that it might be for historical purposes, or perhaps it is
that the member with the most such images will get an extra large meal
at the end of the day?  Further work is required, which may well prove
to be the thesis of this work.

It is understood that the locations of these peripatetic trains do
vary: not only with the time of day, but also with the time of year.
While some trains seem to have an annual pattern, some out-of-season
excursions have been known.  The reasons for these variations is
thought to relate not just to location, but also the diurnal and
annual cycles.  The peaks of efflorescence of the observed plants is
clearly a significant factor.

Whilst this is very early in the investigations of the peripatetic
amicii, it is hoped that this research will allow further expeditions
to observe this most interesting and irregular behaviour.  We hope to
report further on this in a forthcoming seminar.

Thank you for listening to me.