Thirteen Higher School Certificate (HSC) students have been handpicked to participate in a week-long program in the Riverina aimed at attracting more young people to primary industry careers such as aquaculture, ecology, horticulture, fisheries, water security, sustainability, climate change and the environment. Their selection to take part from Monday 19 November in the Industry Placement Scholarship Program run by the Primary Industry Centre for Science Education (PICSE) and Charles Sturt University (CSU) follows talks to schools in 2012 by the Centre’s science education officer, Ms Emma Wordsworth. “As they embark on their last year of school, the students will have an opportunity to explore the exciting science based careers available in the primary industry sector,” Ms Wordsworth said. The students have been selected from schools in the Riverina and South Australia. The program will see the group visit a local organic rice farm, cattle feedlot, rice mill, native fisheries and food processing plant. On Thursday 22 and Friday 23 November, the students will be involved in activities within the University’s School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences and School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, including lectures, practical activities, tours of facilities such veterinary science facilities and underground laboratory, the Rhizolysimeter. Read more about the PICSE Industry Placement Scholarship Program here.

The high standard of services offered by the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Library to its users no matter where they live has been praised in a biennial survey conducted in September. The Library Client Survey 2012 attracted 3 844 respondents, with almost 54 per cent of the surveys completed by CSU distance education students. The Library’s Director of Client Services, Ms Alice Ferguson said, “In this latest survey, the Charles Sturt University Library has moved from the bottom 25 per cent of libraries in 2010 to the top 25 per cent for overall performance of Australian university libraries surveyed over the last two years. Our staff were highly commended in the survey for the standard of service they provide to our users.” During the last two years, CSU has established new Learning Commons in Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Orange and Wagga Wagga, and increased its use of social media through the Library. A part promoting the survey, cash prizes were offered to library users to participate in the evaluation. Two of the four winners, medical radiation science student Mr Thomas Belling and Master of Health Science Honours student Ms Di Wintle, were presented certificates by Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Vann at the Convention Centre at CSU in Wagga Wagga on Tuesday 6 November.

"One of the greatest challenges of modern neuroscience is understanding what happens to the brain as we age and why it becomes vulnerable to diseases such as Alzheimer’s,” said Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher Dr Adam Hamlin. Dr Hamlin, from CSU’s School of Biomedical Sciences, will talk about our Amazing Brain in a free, public lecture in Tumbarumba on Wednesday 28 November. Almost 280 000 Australians suffer from dementia and that figure is expected to rise as the population ages. Dr Hamlin will outline current breakthroughs in our understanding of the processes that occur in neurodegenerative diseases and what scientists are doing to find potential treatments for these conditions. A national Health and Medical Research Council Fellow, Dr Hamlin is carrying out research to discover more about brain cell death in people with Alzheimer’s disease. Read more about Dr Hamlin’s research on CSU News here.

In a first for Australia, a new research network will be launched at Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Thursday 8 November to focus on environmental justice and governance in Australia. The new group is part of CSU’s Institute for Land Water and Society (ILWS)  and will be known as the Environmental Justice and Governance for Social Change Strategic Research Area. Co-leaders of the new group, Dr Helen Masterman-Smith, an environmental sociologist, and Associate Professor Vaughan Higgins, a rural sociologist, said, “This new Strategic Research Area is one of the first research concentrations or networks in Australia that focuses on the fields of justice and governance in environmental issues, including climate change.” To launch the new group, a public workshop, Environmental Justice and Governance: Strategies for building environmentally sustainable and socially just communities will be held from 10 to 4pm on Thursday 8 November at the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre at CSU in Wagga Wagga. Pre-eminent Australian environmental sociologist, Professor Stewart Lockie from The Australian National University, will give the keynote address from 10.30am to 12noon. . To RSVP, contact Dr John Rafferty on 02 6051 9406 or email. A full workshop program is available from the ILWS here.

The success of schools in Finland has been praised in recent times, with teachers attaining high status in the community and students topping international test results. Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Education in Albury-Wodonga will host an informal and informative question and answer session with guest Dr Tuija Turunen, a senior lecturer in teacher education with Finland’s University of Lappland, to address questions on the Finnish model. A former teacher and teacher educator in Finland, Dr Turunen is a research fellow at CSU. She also has a son attending an Australian high school for the past three years. Dr Turunen will present her insights into both school systems. The informal Q & A session is open to the public and will start at 5.30pm on Monday 5 November in the CD Blake Lecture Theatre, CSU in Albury-Wodonga, off Elizabeth Mitchell Dive, Thurgoona.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) ecologist will present his ideas on how looking into history can help conserve and manage freshwater resources, including the Murray Darling Basin. Dr Paul Humphries, a researcher with CSU’s Institute for Land, Water and Society (ILWS), will present a public lecture on the use of historical approaches to understand past environmental conditions. “This will tell us how the Murray Darling Basin has got to the state it is in today, and how this knowledge can be used to set more realistic environmental targets and so help improve river management,” Dr Humphries said. The lecture will start at 4pm on Thursday 1 November in Room 202, CD Blake Lecture building (751), CSU in Albury-Wodonga, off Elizabeth Mitchell Drive, Thurgoona.

Shiftwork impacts on many women employed in Australia today and a Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher seeks Registered Nurses in the NSW central west to participate in interviews to learn about how it affects them and their families. Ms Annabel Matheson, a lecturer and PhD researcher at the CSU School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health in Bathurst, says her research aims to understand the shiftwork experience of Registered Nurses who have care responsibilities for children. “My research will explore the personal, social, health and financial impacts for women who work shiftwork while caring for children,” Ms Matheson said. “The research is a qualitative study and the data will be collected by me during individual confidential face-to-face interviews.” Registered Nurses who are interested in participating in the research can contact Ms Matheson on (02) 6338 4086 or email.

Nursing student from Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga, Ms Carol Mudford, has been recognised for her enthusiasm for nursing in rural and remote areas with a national award. The 26 year old, who has also studied with the Flying Fruit Flies and completed her schooling at Beechworth Secondary College, was one of five students nationally to be accepted into the Emerging Nurse Leader (ENL) Program sponsored by the Australian College of Nursing. Born on a sheep-wheat farm near Gilgandra in the NSW central west, Ms Mudford has completed an Arts degree and travelled and worked around Australia and overseas before becoming a volunteer leader at Mittagundi Outdoor Education Centre, an adventure program for young people on a farm in the Victorian High Plains. “That experience motivated me to pursue a career in nursing, with which I hope to work for rural and remote communities,” Ms Mudford said. “My varied life experiences, particularly at Mittagundi, have helped me appreciate community relationships and activities, so I have been motivated to become involved with local and national health student networks.”

Indonesia's commercial forestry sector needs to maintain good relationships with the communities that surround the forests. Charles Sturt University (CSU) doctoral student, Ms Kristiana Wahyudiyati, is investigating how forestry companies can make their corporate behaviour more socially acceptable. “Corporate social responsibility is increasingly being applied to commercial forestry in Indonesia and globally. My research looks at how well these companies work with communities in South Kalimantan in Indonesia,” Ms Wahyudiyati said. This week, she is meeting with her Indonesian co-supervisor, Professor Udiansyah from University of Lambung Mangkurat in South Kalimantan. He is familiar with local community attitudes and how positive relationships between communities and companies are developed. Professor Udiansyah is an expert in managing forest resources in Indonesia, and researches in environmental economics and rural development. He is also meeting with Ms Wahyudiyati’s main supervisor, Dr Digby Race, at CSU’s Institute for Land, Water and Society, based in Albury-Wodonga.