One of the inaugural veterinary science students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga, Erin Davis, has been named this year’s recipient of the Frank Mansell Award for Agriculture by the Big Brother Movement (BBM). Receiving the award at a recent ceremony at State Parliament in Sydney, Ms Davis was honoured for her academic achievements and work in her chosen field. The CSU student, from Orange, will use the $7 000 scholarship to fund a trip to the United Kingdom next year to work with veterinarians and on sheep and cattle studs. The BBM provides annual scholarships to young Australians to fund travel to the UK. “Erin’s award is a tribute to her hard work and strong interest in animal production and her well-deserved success is a demonstration of the attributes we value so highly in our veterinary students at this University,” said Professor Kym Abbott, Director of Veterinary Science at CSU.

Australian artist Euan Heng has made a generous gift to the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Art Collection with the donation of 20 of his prints valued at more than $10 000. A former lecturer in drawing and printmaking at one of CSU’s predecessors, the Riverina College of Advanced Education, Euan Heng has exhibited his distinctive work across Australia and internationally. His art also features in the public collections of the National Gallery of Australia and the state galleries in Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland as well as many regional galleries. “This represents a substantial and very generous gift and a donation which will further enhance the University’s Art Collection,” said CSU Art Curator Thomas Middlemost. Boasting 1 700 pieces, the CSU Art Collection has a focus on print-making. The works are hung in public spaces throughout the University.

As political and economic forces continue to impact upon and shape rural Australia it’s becoming increasingly important for people to develop the capacity to influence the direction of change in local businesses and communities. Recognising this, Charles Sturt University (CSU) has designed a new course, the Bachelor of Rural Studies, to fill a demand in rural communities where understanding of rural society leads to more effectively managed businesses and organisations. The course will be launched at the Australian National Field Days, Orange, by The Hon. Ian McDonald, NSW Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries. Beginning at 10.40am, on Tuesday 18 October, the Minister will be joined by Federal Member for Calare, Mr Peter Andren at the CSU Exhibition Site (site 5), located on the corner of Central Avenue and J Streets, between the Information and Function Centres at the Australian National Field Days, Orange.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) Communication (Theatre/Media) graduate, Brendan Cowell has won The 2005 Philip Parsons Young Playwright's Award. Announced in Sydney on Sunday 9 October, Mr Cowell, 28, received a $10,000 mentoring commission from Sydney's Belvoir Street Theatre Company B. He won the award for his treatment for Ruben Guthrie, a tale of male depression, addiction and the pressures of success. In order to qualify for the award, playwrights under 35 must submit a play that has already been performed in Australia by a professional theatre company. But the award is unlike other Australian playwright awards as it is given on the basis of a treatment for a potential new work and to the playwright rather than for the play. This recent success for Mr Cowell follows other awards including the 2003 Griffin Award for Rabbit, the 2002 Patrick White Award for Bed and the Gloria Payten-Gloria Dawn Foundation Young Artist Award for his work as an individual.

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.

With a background in business planning and policy development, Mr Stephen Butt has been appointed the new Executive Director of Facilities Management at Charles Sturt University (CSU). Mr Butt, who is an experienced engineer and project manager, comes to CSU from the Greater Southern Area Health Service based in Wagga Wagga. The former fitter and turner who trained in Wollongong, has post graduate qualifications in engineering management. At CSU he will oversee the largest set of building projects ever embarked on by the University, with academic facilities and services and student residences worth $240 million being constructed over five years from 2007 on its campuses in Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Orange, Dubbo and Wagga Wagga. This includes nearly $45 million to be spent by 2009 on the expansion of the Albury-Wodonga Campus.

Recent media reports of a dengue fever ‘plague’ in northern Queensland are an overstatement of what periodically occurs in that State, according to a senior Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic and member of the Institute for Land, Water and Society. “I don’t see dengue fever marching south from tropical Australia as a great plague, but rather gradually moving with the fluctuations and movements of climate change over many years,” says Professor Kevin Parton. “My work on Ross River fever, a similarly mosquito-borne disease endemic to parts of southern Australia, shows that the virus is present in humans across NSW – which would surprise many people. It becomes more common in certain weather conditions, hence the appearance of an ‘outbreak’. Sure, take public health precautions such as use insect repellent, fix fly screens and tip out standing water around your house, but some current reports are a little sensationalist.”

The Remote Telescope at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Bathurst has a full calendar of observation events plotted for the UNESCO 2009 International Year of Astronomy, which celebrates 400 years since Galileo first turned a telescope to view the night sky. The initiator and administrator of the CSU telescope, Associate Professor David McKinnon at the CSU School of Teacher Education says that images of the southern night sky through the telescope can be seen via the Internet, weather permitting, around themes that depend on which celestial objects are visible at that time. “The observation calendar centres on special events such as the particular phases of the Moon and planets, as well as requests that are lodged via the Remote Telescope website,” Professor McKinnon said. “This year is a wonderful opportunity for school students and anyone interested in astronomy to access the telescope and website to see planets and other objects as they may never have seen them before.”

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) expert in the management and restoration of aquatic ecosystems has been appointed to advise the Rudd government on the use of water purchased to restore the rivers and wetlands of the Murray Darling Basin. Associate Professor Robyn Watts is one of a panel of scientific experts appointed to the Environmental Water Scientific Advisory Committee by the federal Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong. The committee will provide advice on setting environmental watering priorities, monitoring the benefits of environmental flows, and identifying knowledge gaps. Associate Professor Watts is a Principal Researcher in the University’s Institute for Land, Water and Society where she researches biodiversity and connectivity in aquatic ecosystems and the ecological responses to flow regimes in regulated rivers. She also teaches river ecology and restoration at CSU at Albury-Wodonga.