"Frankly, it’s been so low this whole season so far, that we haven’t started reporting it yet!" says Dr George Car of CSU’s School of Biomedical Sciences. He says the pollen count is the lowest ever in the ten years he has been monitoring it in the Wagga Wagga area. "In previous years, the grass pollen count would have been well into the moderate or even into the high range by mid-October."

Leading Charles Sturt University research ranging from addressing the scourge of cereal cropping in southern Australia - annual ryegrass - to developing a computer game to simulate a major national crisis has won major funding in the latest round of Federal Government grants.

In light of the national emergency summit on the current poor state of water storage in the Murray Darling Basin to be held today, Tuesday 7 November in Canberra, Charles Sturt University has researchers who can comment on the problems facing irrigators and communities in the region.

Hunter Valley winemaker and NSW wine industry award winner Phil Ryan described studying at Charles Sturt University in the late 1970s as an exciting period in the evolution of the Australian wine industry.

CSU Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Ian Goulter, has welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Senator the Hon. Chris Evans, of funding of around $8 million to tackle the chronic shortages of tertiary educated agricultural professionals in Australia.

Water continues to be high on the national public agenda, with today’s (Wednesday 23 May) announcement by Victorian Premier Mr Steve Bracks that his State will still not sign up to the Federal Government’s National Plan for Water Security. Charles Sturt University’s Professor of Water Policy Kathleen Bowmer is available to comment on the latest moves in the water debate.

A CSU research team is investigating how communities cope with natural disasters such as bushfire and drought, as seen in recent years in Beechworth and Bendigo in Victoria.

Charles Sturt University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Goulter, has welcomed news of $2 million from the Federal Government for veterinary science facilities at the University’s Wagga Wagga Campus.

A CSU expert on river ecology and dam operations has advised the federal Coalition’s Dams Taskforce currently visiting the NSW-Victoria border on sustainable dam planning and operations.