Strong prices and demand for prime lambs have seen producers shift their focus from wool production during recent times. But Professor of Animal Production at Charles Sturt University (CSU) Peter Wynn is urging Riverina producers not to lose sight of the importance of wool in their farm business. “Wool production has been the backbone of Australia and will continue to be an integral component of farm business income, particularly across the Riverina,” said Professor Wynn, who is also a member of the EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation – an alliance between CSU and the NSW Department of Primary Industries. “It is important producers continue to integrate wool production into their farming practices and not be heavily swayed by current market trends.” The Graham Centre together with the University of Sydney have organised a wool symposium to be held on Wednesday 18 May at Hay. “The symposium will provide an opportunity for wool growers to meet with key industry researchers and future leaders in the industry.” Forty final year animal science students from CSU and the University of Sydney are expected to attend the event. The program is available from the Graham Centre website here.

Funding has been provided by Charles Sturt University (CSU) to support the full-time release from teaching commitments of 14 key researchers from the EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation – an alliance between CSU and the NSW Department of Primary Industries. The 14 Graham Centre 2011 Research Centre Fellows were honoured at a special lunch on Monday 16 May. “The 14 Fellows for 2011 will focus on a broad range of research including plant and animal diseases, animal physiology and production, animal reproduction, food security, sustainable pasture systems, weeds, canola, bio-security and environmental health, water, stubble and conservation cropping,” said Graham Centre director Professor Deirdre Lemerle.“The 2011 Research Centre Fellows have been provided $40 000 each for 12 months so they can focus on their research. We are extremely impressed with the high quality of the 29 applications for the 14 Research Centre Fellowships.”

A project involving children with disabilities living in a Vietnamese orphanage is building a close relationship between health services and educators in Australia and Vietnam. Phu My Orphanage, located in Ho Chi Minh City, has helped more than 110 students from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Community Health complete the final clinical practice requirements for their occupational therapy, speech pathology and physiotherapy degrees since 2002. This year 12 CSU students, based in Albury-Wodonga, will work closely with over 400 children and their carers, living in the orphanage for six weeks starting in June while also demonstrating therapy to the carers. They will be accompanied by CSU occupational therapy course coordinator, Associate Professor Michael Curtin, and speech pathologist Ms Jo Shugg, physiotherapist Ms Kate Willoughby and occupational therapist Ms Brooke Carroll from Yooralla, a Melbourne-based organisation that specialises in working with children and adults with disabilities.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) will join with 20 other higher education providers to showcase its education opportunities to local high school students at the North East Victoria Tertiary Education Tour on Monday 20 June in Shepparton, and on Tuesday 21 June in Wangaratta. CSU Prospective Student Adviser, Ms Emily Hill, said the expo provides an important opportunity for students to compare what higher education providers around Victoria and southern NSW can offer. “Nearly 1 300 high school students are due to attend the events in Shepparton and Wangarrata, which presents a great oportunity for regional students to access course information from a variety of institutions. The knowledge shared at these events will help students to make informed decisions about their options for life beyond Year 12,” Ms Hill said. The Shepparton event will run from 11am to 2.30pm in the Mercy Centennial Stadium, Notre Dame Catholic College, corner of Skene and Knight Streets, Shepparton. The Wangaratta event will run from 9.15am to 12.45pm in Performing Arts Centre, Wangaratta High School, Edward Street, Wangaratta.

Three Charles Sturt University (CSU) researchers have investigated what it means for Indigenous children, families, schools and communities to be prepared for schooling. The result is an approach that goes well beyond being concerned only with what children might know or be able to do. CSU Professor of Education with Murray School of Education, Bob Perry says, “We know a few things that do work: having high quality Indigenous staff in the school, good links between school and pre-schools, positive involvement of families and communities in the the transition to school, and top quality pre-school education all contribute to positive experiences. However, we must include Indigenous families and communities in the transition process and show them cultural respect as their children’s first educators. Children, families, communities and schools all have strengths that need to be recognised and celebrated.” The report, titled ‘School readiness: What does it mean for Indigenous children, families, schools and communities?’ will be launched on Tuesday, May 31 at Parliament House in Canberra by the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the Hon. Jenny Macklin MP. The report includes input from local Wiradjuri community member, Ms Leonie McIntosh, as an adviser to the research team.

Help is at hand for adults having problems with their speech, voice, fluency, communication or swallowing. Final year students in the speech pathology course at Charles Sturt University (CSU), based in Albury-Wodonga, will run intensive speech pathology services for clients over 10 weeks, starting Monday 25 July. Acting course coordinator, Dr Anna O’Callaghan said the clients will also “help educate and provide invaluable experience for speech pathologists of the future, many of whom are destined for positions in regional Australia”. Clinics will run from 9am to 5pm each Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday until Friday 30 September at the Education and Research in Communication Clinic (ERiCC building) on the University’s Thurgoona site. “One in seven Australians has a communication disability, which can be present at birth or acquired later in life. Adults often experience acquired communication disabilities following a stroke or traumatic brain injury and can suffer frustration, anger, embarrassment or grief as they try to communicate.” To take part in this intensive remedial program, contact Dr O’Callaghan on telephone (02) 6051 9223 or send an email. 

United States Consul General Mr Niels Marquardt will be immersed in environmental sustainability when he visits the award winning campus of Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga on Wednesday 10 October. Hosted by the University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Andrew Vann, and Head of Albury-Wodonga Campus, Professor Julia Coyle, Mr Marquardt will view the environmentally friendy features of the Thurgoona site, from the energy-saving buildings to extensive water-saving management facilties and dry composting toilets. “We are proud of Charles Sturt University’s environmentally sensitive campus in Albury-Wodonga and we want to show what can be done with ingenuity and thoughtful investment over a number of years,” Professor Vann said. During his visit, Mr Marquardt will also meet with CSU staff and students, some of whom recently completed overseas clinical work in Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Students and staff at Charles Sturt University (CSU), some sporting silly socks, are calling on residents in Albury-Wodonga to ‘sock it to diabetes’ as part of activities recognising Foot Health Month across Australia. Students enrolled in the podiatry degree at CSU in Albury-Wodonga are providing screening tests for participants to assess the health of their feet and to show them good self-help practices to care for their feet. Podiatry course coordinator and leading ‘silly sock wearer’ Associate Professor Paul Tinley said the screening activities were part of CSU’s commitment to address the appalling number of foot amputations caused by poor foot health in people afflicted with diabetes. “It is critically important that all people with diabetes understand the risk of injury to their feet. Feet are so far from the heart that they are often the first places to show the problems of poorly controlled diabetes such as reduced sensation. This can lead eventually to lower limb amputation and a significant impact on mobility and health. Checking your feet is important for us all, plus I like the silly socks!” Professor Tinley said.

The nature of human emotions and their relationship with pain will be the focus of a public lecture by Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer Dr Andrew Delaney in Griffith on Wednesday 15 June. Dr Delaney is a neuroscientist who recently joined CSU as senior lecturer at the CSU School of Biomedical Sciences to start a new electrophysiological research laboratory in Orange. His presentation, ‘The Emotional Brain’, will examine questions that have fascinated psychologists and neuroscientists for more than 100 years; ‘what are emotions?’ and ‘how does the brain generate an emotion?’ He will also talk about advances in tracing the neuronal pathways that are involved in generating an emotional response to pain. “I will highlight the neuroscience research that my colleagues and I will be conducting to address how the emotional circuits of the brain are activated during a painful experience,” he said. “We are also examining how changes in these circuits might contribute to the high rate of depression and anxiety in sufferers of chronic pain, a relationship that has particular relevance to those living with pain in rural communities.”