Staff from the Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Communication gathered in Bathurst’s Machattie Park on Thursday 12 February to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. When Darwin voyaged to Australia in 1836, Bathurst was the most westward point of his inland journey, and when his book On the Origin of Species was published in November 1859, it changed the scientific understanding of life on Earth. At the commemorative morning tea in the park’s rotunda yesterday, CSU Professor of Communication, John Carroll, read extracts from Darwin’s journal to the gathering which also included members of the Bathurst branch of the Pensioners and Superannuants Association. Writing on 20 and 21 January 1836, Darwin observed ‘Bathurst has a singular and not very inviting appearance; groups of small houses, and a few large ones, are scattered rather thickly over two or three miles of a bare country which is divided into numerous fields’. He described conditions as hot, dry and dusty, noting the Macquarie River was a ‘mere chain of ponds … separated from each other by spaces almost dry’, but added ‘a little water does flow, and sometimes there are high and most impetuous floods’. He acknowledged that ‘the season had been one of great drought, and that the country does not at present wear a favourable aspect; although I understand two or three months ago it was incomparably worse’. T’was ever thus.

The opportunities in Australia for growing perennial wheat are being investigated by Charles Sturt University (CSU) PhD student Ms Nicole Hyde. As part of a Cooperative Research Centre for Future Farm Industries project, Ms Hyde late last year began to investigate several key questions: Can perennial wheat regrow in following seasons? Can perennial wheat survive our hot, dry summers? How does perennial wheat survive and regrow? “Perennial wheat is being developed in the USA, Russia, China, Argentina and now Australia, by crossing annual bread wheat with various perennial grasses,” said Ms Hyde. “The result should be a perennial grain crop that has the potential to offer significant benefits in Australian farming systems, including improved soil structure, reduced dry land salinity problems, and the provision of feed for grazing during the critical break-of-season period. However perennial wheat has never before been grown in Australia, so we do not yet know if these benefits will actually be delivered.” Ms Hyde hopes to complete her PhD by late 2011.

With the start of Orientation Week at Charles Sturt University (CSU), the first students have taken up residence in the newly completed accommodation at Bathurst Campus. University officials are pleased that 120 new rooms were completed and ready to be occupied, and that another 80 rooms will be completed in the coming weeks. CSU’s Director of Student Services, Mr Andrew Callander, said the residences mark a new era in on campus living. “Besides being designed and constructed to be environmentally friendly and sustainable, the new residences come equipped with internet access and cable TV.” The complex consists of 10 modular concrete and corrugated iron buildings paired to enclose an open courtyard. Each block will house 20 students in self-catered accommodation with ‘open plan’ kitchens and living areas. The corrugated iron, which is light, strong, adaptable and durable, shields the internal concrete walls from the summer heat to enable the buildings to maintain a more constant temperature without the use of expensive air conditioning.

New students and supportive family members have flooded onto the Bathurst Campus of Charles Sturt University (CSU) to get their bearings at the start of Orientation Week 2009. During his welcome to new students on 16 February, Head of Bathurst Campus, Mr Col Sharp, said he was delighted by the energy the new students brought to the campus “It’s important that new students are welcomed and assisted with their transition to university life, and we are confident that CSU will be a positive and constructive experience for students as they build their careers.” On Tuesday, students formally enrol, are given information about their courses and subjects and meet teaching staff. On Wednesday 18 February, students attend information sessions about CSU’s online services, electronic communications, learning in an e-environment and how to access support and facilities in information technology, library and student services. Male and female students will also participate in separate compulsory seminars on personal well-being and safety. Thursday is ‘Market Day’ on the library lawn, which provides a feast of information for new students about local businesses and services that they might chose or need to use during their time in Bathurst. There are no formal sessions scheduled for Friday.

A leading Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic will lead a team of researchers contributing to the recently announced five-year, $30 million Australian Centre for Groundwater Research and Training. Professor Allan Curtis, a social researcher with the CSU Institute for Land, Water and Society is well known for his work in natural resource management and rural communities in South Eastern Australia. Professor Curtis says the project aims to improve Australia’s capacity to better manage ground water resources which are threatened by over-extraction and pollution. “While the Centre will examine issues around the sustainable harvesting of groundwater resources, including the interactions between surface and groundwater, there is an important contribution for social research in terms of engaging groundwater users in developing practices that make more effective use of groundwater; and developing innovative arrangements that lead to more sustainable use of groundwater,” he said. The new centre is a partnership of 20 organisations including the Australian Research Council and the National Water Commission, CSIRO and 12 universities. Professor Curtis, along with other CSU researchers including Dr Digby Race and Dr Maureen Rogers, will work to identify projects to be funded over the next six months.

As part of Orientation Week at Charles Sturt University (CSU) Orange, academics at the School of Dentistry and Health Sciences will meet the 40 students they will spend the next five years teaching. “We are very excited about spending time with the students preparing them for the semester ahead,” senior lecturer Dr Sabrina Manickam said. “As well as theory-based learning, the students will experience hands-on dentistry in Session 2 in the simulation lab and clinical environments.” The introduction session is part of a full schedule of orientation events happening at five of CSU’s campuses this week. New students, including those living on and off campus, can participate in campus and library tours, attend compulsory academic information sessions and complete online enrolment as well as participate in a range of social activities.

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.

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.