Community members living around the Winton Wetlands are invited to present their views on the management and the future of the site, as part of research being carried out by CSU.

CSU and the NSW Department of Education and Community have joined forces to gather the best and brightest Year 9 students from across the Riverina for the Riverina Debating Challenge Cup.

Two Charles Sturt University (CSU) academics will put their new moustaches to the test when they take part in a 'Great Shave Off' this Thursday 28 November as part of the national Movember campaign. CSU staff and students will bid for the honour of shaving off the moustaches of the head of the podiatry program, Associate Professor Paul Tinley and physiotherapy lecturer Brett Biles in an auction. The proceeds will go towards the cost of research into prostate cancer. Professor Tinley said research into prostate cancer was critical to achieve a cure for this difficult cancer. "Many older male patients who visit CSU health clinics have prostate issues, and our podiatry and physiotherapy students work with these patients. Brett and I decided to donate our top lips as 'Mo Bros' to help raise funds for prostate cancer research."

A conference for early childhood educators across southern NSW and northern Victoria at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will discuss the theme, ‘the magic of being’. The conference will explore how educators engage with the ‘here and now’ in children’s lives and the connections made in the early years between children, educators, families and communities. CSU, Wodonga Council, Wodonga  TAFE, AlburyCity and Gateway Community Health will present Building Bridges: A Regional Early Years Conference at CSU in Albury-Wodonga on Thursday evening, 28 November, and all day on Friday 29 November. Guest speakers include Melbourne-based writer and speaker on children’s issues, Ms Ann Stonehouse, AM, and leading child psychologist Mr Gregory Nicolau from the Australian Childhood Trauma Group. The Building Bridges conference aims to strengthen partnerships between early years’ services and schools to create mutual understanding and strengthen networks. To register for the conference, go to the Building Bridges website here: www.buildingbridgesconference.com.au, or call conference coordinator Mr Bradley Hayden on 02 6023 6300.  

How to bring modern agriculture and horticulture into the classroom will be a major topic to be discussed by primary and secondary school teachers during a day-long professional development seminar hosted by Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) in the Wangaratta Study Centre on Friday 29 November. The day has been designed for teachers interested in agriculture, horticulture, primary industries, and food and fibre production. They will hear presentations by senior lecturer Dr John Harper from the University’s School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences and representatives from Victorian schools, farmers and the University of Melbourne on the latest ideas and technology that aim to maintain and improve rural production as well as promote future professional careers in agricultural and related industries. “Teachers expressed a need to develop their knowledge and skills to allow them to bring agriculture and horticulture into all aspects of the curriculum,” said Ms Ilena Young, school outreach coordinator at CSU in Wangaratta. The professional development seminar runs from 9.30am to 3.30pm on Friday 29 November at the CSU / GOTAFE Rural Industries Campus, Tone Rd, Wangaratta.

Charles Sturt University's (CSU) sustainability unit, CSU Green, will work with a new centre for excellence in environmental education to promote sustainability and environmental issues. CSU Green will work with the Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development for the Murray Darling Basin (RCE-MD) to generate awareness of the Centre within CSU and in the broader community. CSU Green manager, Mr Ed Maher, says he is looking forward to working with RCE-MD to help achieve positive sustainability outcomes. "The Centre will be a 'think tank' of expertise that will inform and educate on sustainability, share resources and ideas, and link up educational providers, employers, industries and the wider community," Mr Maher said. "For CSU Green, this means that Charles Sturt University will be making a big step towards meeting its potential to influence sustainability outcomes beyond its own boundaries." CSU is one of three lead institutions involved in the Centre along with Wodonga TAFE and La Trobe University. You can read more about the RCE-MD here.

Using cycling to deliver messages of reconciliation and good health will be all in a day’s work for Charles Sturt University (CSU) staff and students on Friday 8 November. An Aboriginal man and CSU academic Mr Brett Biles will be joined by physiotherapy students to assist with the care of cyclists riding in the Tour Da Country from Wollongong to Albury-Wodonga to promote messages encouraging good health and healthy living to members of the Aboriginal community. They will be joined by staff from Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Service (AWAHS) and Mungabareena Aboriginal Corporation to provide a free lunch and welcome up to 10 cyclists.  

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher believes effective biosecurity is the most humane and affordable way of preventing the spread of Avian Influenza from wild waterfowl to poultry operations. Birds on a second egg farm near Young in NSW have been confirmed to have the H7 strain of Avian Influenza, different to the H5N1 strain which can affect humans. Dr Andrew Peters, lecturer in Veterinary Pathology with the  School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga has an interest in the spread of parasites and disease in wild bird populations.  He said various strains of Avian Influenza circulate naturally in populations of waterfowl but rarely causes disease in these wild birds. “Different species of waterfowl play different roles in the transmission and maintenance of Avian Influenza in the natural environment,” said Dr Peters. “There is a need to better characterise this in Australia, as well as the ecology of these species, and by doing so develop cost-effective biosecurity measures to protect free-range poultry operations.” 

As regional cities slowly move into surrounding farms and bushlands, native animals such as the squirrel glider have become threatened by loss of suitable habitat. Charles Sturt University (CSU) wildlife researcher and Honours student, Mr Mitchell Francis, has found that better land planning in developing cities could help the survival of threatened species such as the squirrel glider. In a study of urban and rural environments on the northern edge of Albury at Thurgoona, Mr Francis found squirrel gliders, which live in tree hollows for nesting and foraging, preferred tall, large hollow bearing native trees where there was less urban noise, fewer roads, and less light pollution from human sources such as streetlights and houses. “I suspect that roads are barriers to the movement of squirrel gliders for foraging, and light and noise pollution from nearby developing suburbs are a threat to their persistence,” Mr Francis said. His supervisor, Dr Peter Spooner, noted that in much of eastern Australia, towns and cities are expanding into habitat which is critical for native fauna. “Knowledge of urban impacts on animals like the squirrel glider is important for town planners who are making decisions to approve urban developments on the edge of town and cities.”