In recent years, many media have highlighted the “tree change” phenomenon, with many high-paid, highly skilled professionals moving to regional areas to leave the pressures of modern city life for a more relaxed lifestyle. So why are many large organisations in inland Australia having so many difficulties in recruiting skilled professionals such as engineers and accountants? Charles Sturt University (CSU) business researchers Kerry Grigg and Debra Da Silva will explore the problem with managers from large businesses and organisations such as Mars, CooperTools, accounting firm KPMG and Albury City Council at a roundtable discussion on Thursday 20 September on the CSU Albury-Wodonga Campus. Ms Grigg is particularly looking at how such companies are using “work life balance” policies, not just better pay, to lure workers out of the cities to meet the regional skills crisis. “We are experiencing high economic growth and low unemployment, and this makes it difficult to attract professionals to inland areas. But more workers are looking for a ‘tree-change’ to improve their lifestyles. So why are they not coming to Albury?” Ms Grigg said.

Getting the best out of bush blocks is the focus of a one day conference at Charles Sturt University (CSU) tomorrow, Wednesday 19 September. Co-hosted by CSU’s Institute for Land, Water and Society and CSIRO, the one-day Better Bush on Farms Conference will gather researchers and practitioners to discuss the key questions and challenges around developing better “bush blocks” on farms. Problems such as looking after remnant vegetation and paddock trees on farms, the effects of fencing and controlled grazing and the ecological effects of efforts to conserve remnant vegetation will be addressed by speakers from CSU, CSIRO, other universities and government organisations. The meeting will be of particular use for catchment planners and implementation staff, public land managers, vegetation growers, landholders and researchers. The event will be held in the CD Blake Theatre on CSU’s Albury-Wodonga Campus, off Elizabeth Mitchell Drive, Thurgoona.

For interviews contact ILWS Communications Manager Margrit Beemster on mobile 0427 15 0457 or telephone 02 6051 9653.

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Professor Shahbaz Khan, Director of the International Centre for Water, Senior Principal Scientist and Research Leader with CSIRO Land and Water and Regional Coordinator of the Asia Pacific office of UNESCO IHP-HELP, continues to attract accolades for his world leading water research. Professor Khan has been awarded the Modelling Society of Australia and New Zealand (MSSANZ) Biennial Medal for Natural Systems, after also recently winning a prestigious Eureka Award. Based at the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus, Professor Khan says, “The recognition is great news for CSU and CSIRO research”. CSU Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and Vice-President (Research) Professor Paul C Burnett says, “It is fantastic to see that Professor Khan’s work and contribution to new knowledge in this area is being so widely recognised. He and his team should be proud of what they have achieved.” The Biennial Medal will be presented in December at the MSSANZ 2007 conference in New Zealand.

The most recent Department of Primary Industries (DPI) figures suggest that, in NSW, there are 835 horses infected with Equine Influenza on 119 confirmed properties. An additional suspect 2900 horses on 319 locations are also in quarantine. Charles Sturt University (CSU) senior lecturer in equine medicine, Dr Sharanne Raidal says most importantly, the NSW Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer reports that every one of these cases has been traced from known contact with affected horses. This means that, to date, the disease has not escaped surveillance measures. Dr Raidal warns that only by containing the virus within a small proportion of the total horse population, and allowing the disease to "burn itself out", will "we succeeded in eradicating EI". Continued careful attention to quarantine restrictions and prompt identification of new cases is required for this to happen. A number of horses with high temperatures, but no known risk of disease, have been tested negative. It is important that all such horses are examined as part of routine, ongoing surveillance for spread of the disease.

Infected properties include those at Aberdeen, Arcadia, Berry, Cattai, Charmhaven, Clarendon, Cooranbong, Eagleton, Eastern Cree, Glenhaven, Glenorie, Gloucester, Glossodia, Kulnurra, Kurrajong, Londonderry, McCullys Gap, Maitland, Moonbi, Moree, Moore Park, Mount Hunter, Muswellbrook, Palm Grove, Parkes, Pitt Town, Quakers Hill, Randwick, Raymond Terrace, Redfern, Scone, Terry Hie Hie, Timbumburi, Tintinhul and Wilberforce. For interviews with Dr Sharanne Raidal, contact CSU Media.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is contributing to the health of inland Australia through the development and funding of an Asthma Alert webpage, which will send asthma sufferers email or SMS alerts when environmental conditions pose a significantly increased risk of triggering an asthma attack. The webpage will be unveiled when the Wagga Asthma Collaboration Committee launches its 2007 Spring Thunderstorm Asthma Campaign at 10am on Wednesday 5 September at the CSU staff club, Wagga Wagga Campus. Committee Chair, Dr Bruce Graham, a lecturer at the CSU School of Biomedical Sciences, says this year’s campaign theme is Research, Education and Asthma. Professor Deidre Lemerle, Director of the E H Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, CSU and NSW DPI Research, will outline asthma research links at CSU. Rebecca Turnbull, CSU medical science & biotechnology student, will also detail research about pollens in asthma. Australian Bureau of Statistic figures show 318 Australians died from asthma in 2005.

Lessons from agriculture in the Middle Ages could today help farms in Australia become more sustainable. Back in that era, farmers didn’t hold individual titles over land but farmed collectively on common property or "commons". A modern day adaptation of this concept is cross-boundary farming, where farmers agree to pool their land resource and manage it as a whole. A free one day forum on cross-boundary farming will be hosted by the Institute for Land, Water and Society (ILWS) at Charles Sturt University (CSU), Wagga Wagga Campus, on Friday 7 September. The forum will consider the opportunities and pitfalls of cross-boundary farming, the environmental benefits, property rights, relationships between and within farming families as well as workloads. There will be two panel sessions presenting various practical and political points of view on the practice.

The forum gets underway at 9am at the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre, Wagga Wagga Campus. For interviews contact Margit Beemster, ILWS communications coordinator on 02 6051 9653 or mbeemster@csu.edu.au or CSU Media.