International recognition for his expertise in wetland management has led to the reappointment of a senior Charles Sturt University (CSU) scientist to a scientific panel for the international Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Director of CSU’s Institute for Land, Water and Society Professor Max Finlayson will be a member of Ramsar's Scientific and Technical Review Panel from 2009 to 2012, specialising in the effects of climate change on wetlands and water and the social and economic effects on people who rely on them. Professor Finlayson said the appointment is a great honour and is recognition of scientific expertise available at CSU. The Ramsar Convention, established in 1975, aims to protect wetlands worldwide, including the iconic Barmah Forest and Lower Lakes on the Murray River and the Macquarie Marshes in central NSW.

By staging its first myDay at Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Tuesday 24 March, the School of Communication at Bathurst  is wasting no time in attracting future students to its courses. Head of School, Associate Professor Rod McCulloch, said myDay is designed to give students from the region a taste of university life and the School of Communication by making CSU ‘their University for a day’. “We expect about 60 students from high schools in the Bathurst region will tour the University,” Professor McCulloch said. “Rather than just observe, they will engage in lectures, tutorials, workshops and other student activities. We aim to show potential students why the CSU School of Communication has such a strong reputation for consistently producing highly employable, work-ready graduates for a range of industry sectors, and why Charles Sturt University should be their first choice when applying to study.”

Fourteen visitors from Indonesia touring Victoria and Tasmania to bring closer understanding between Muslims and Christians will meet with members of the Border community at Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Tuesday 3 March. Hosted by the Uniting Church in Australia, the group particularly aims to increase mutual understanding and cultural appreciation between the Muslim majority of Indonesia and Australia’s Christian communities. While in Albury, the group will visit the University’s facilities and speak with CSU students at Thurgoona. “The University hopes the visit will enhance understanding and relations between the faiths and our cultures,” said visit coordinator and CSU student counsellor Mr Geoff Simmons. The visit will include a public forum hosted by CSU Professor The Rev. James Haire from the University’s School of Theology in Canberra.

In this Year of the Blood Donor staff and students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) are being asked to donate blood on its five campuses from Monday 2 to Friday 6 March. As part of CSU’s 20th anniversary celebrations this year, the University has issued a ‘North-South’ challenge, with the total staff and student donations at CSU campuses at Dubbo, Orange and Bathurst (North) being tallied against donations at Wagga Wagga and Albury-Wodonga (South). The Head of Campus at CSU at Bathurst, Mr Col Sharp, said the University aims to achieve 1 000 donations during the week. “While we have been planning this event for some time, it is given added urgency and significance by the needs of burns victims from the recent bushfires in Victoria,” Mr Sharp said. “I urge all University staff and students to donate blood if they possibly can. It costs nothing, takes less than an hour and does so much good.” One in three Australians will need blood during their lifetime, yet only one in 30 donates blood.

Governments across Australia have spent billions of dollars on programs to encourage rural landholders to implement sustainable farming and biodiversity conservation practices, but has this money been well spent? Drawing on his research in south eastern Australia, Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic Professor Allan Curtis will address this question when he speaks at the Fenner Conference on the Environment in Canberra on Wednesday 11 March. Professor Curtis will highlight the reality that most conservation work undertaken by private landholders is not funded by governments and that government investment in conservation programs, particularly those that invest in building and engaging human and social capital in rural communities, makes a difference. “The ‘business as usual’ approaches to engaging rural landholders are unlikely to work in the future given the remarkable change occurring as a large proportion of longer-term owners leave the land,” he said.

For Dubbo school leavers pondering their future, it’s good to know there’s a university on their doorstep, as local resident Mitchell Welham discovered. Born and raised in Dubbo, Mitchell enrolled to study a primary school teaching degree at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Dubbo, next door to his high school.  “Many people wondered why I would want to further my studies in my hometown,” Mitchell said. “I saw CSU at Dubbo as a way to continue my active participation in the Dubbo community and wanted to show that you didn’t have to go far to gain a successful career.” Having begun his teaching career at Tingha Public School in Northern NSW, Mitchell will return to Dubbo next week to graduate. To find out more about the University and its courses available on-campus or by distance education, CSU staff and students will be at Orana Mall to answer questions and guide prospective students through the next steps on their career pathways.

While 2009 provides Charles Sturt University (CSU) with an opportunity to celebrate its 20th anniversary, the year is also a time to honour the 114-year tradition of excellence and innovation in teaching, learning and research. The University was established when the Charles Sturt University Act was passed by the NSW Parliament in July 1989, however the institution’s history can be traced back to the Bathurst Experimental Farm, established in 1895.The official opening ceremony for the University’s 20th anniversary will be held from 11am, Thursday 12 March, in Joyes Hall at CSU at Wagga Wagga. Read more here.

Recent graduates from the Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Biomedical Sciences at Bathurst, will return to the University on Tuesday 24 March to speak to nursing and paramedic students about career prospects and the value of their CSU studies. Senior lecturer and course coordinator, Ms Veronica Madigan, said, “This is the first time recent graduates from the School will speak to current third year students. These graduates have told me how they now realise the value of their CSU education and want to let third year students know of the job opportunities available in the health sector. They will talk about life after CSU, how they have found working full-time, and how the course has assisted their career progression and current occupations. They are very passionate about CSU and recognise that it is a great University.”

The Western Research Institute (WRI) at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst is celebrating 10 years of research that has charted and informed developments in rural and regional Australia. CSU Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Ian Goulter, complimented the organisation on this milestone, saying “WRI is celebrating its 10th birthday in the same year that Charles Sturt University is celebrating its 20th. WRI and CSU have worked together on many projects that have helped shape and paint a picture of inland Australia. On behalf of CSU, I congratulate WRI on this significant achievement and look forward to working with the organisation over the next 10 years.” WRI Director, Mr Tom Murphy, said that when the WRI was established in 1999 the aim was to provide timely and factual data about trends and developments in regional Australia and the organisation has exceeded that aim. See more CSU 20th anniversary events here.