An award-winning website that helps learners recognise the finer points of living plants has helped win international recognition for a Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer in botany. Dr Geoff Burrows has been awarded the 2010 CE Bessey Award from the Botanical Society of America for his contributions to teaching botany to undergraduate university students, many of whom complete his subjects by distance education. Dr Burrows, who is also a researcher with the University’s Institute for Land, Water and Society, said it was gratifying to receive this recognition from an international society of botanists. “It shows that Charles Sturt University students are receiving a world-class introduction to their education in plant science,” Dr Burrows said. Read more about the website, Supermarket Botany here.

One of Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) newest buildings is up for a national architecture award after it was recognised at the state level last week. The School of Dentistry and Health Sciences building at CSU in Wagga Wagga was named a winner at the Australian Institute of Architects' 2010 NSW Architecture Awards in Sydney on Friday 18 June. The two-storey structure by Brewster Hjorth Architects won the Colorbond Award for Steel Architecture. The building, which is home to the new Dental and Oral Health Clinic, will now go into the Institute’s national awards in October 2010. This is not the first award for the CSU building. In November 2009, builders Joss Construction were named a winner at the Master Builders Association Excellence in Construction Awards. The building, comprising of teaching, research and academic facilities including the clinic and a 20-place simulation laboratory, was officially opened in December 2009. Read more about the award-winning building at CSU in Wagga Wagga here.

A trial project encouraging Charles Sturt University (CSU) staff to take personal responsibility for cutting their computer and monitor energy use has concluded with results showing energy use dropped by one-third. Meters were installed in the offices of volunteers from the School of Education at CSU in Wagga Wagga for two week periods earlier this year. In the first week of the trial, participants were instructed to use their computers ‘as per usual’. In the second week they made a conscious effort to use less energy by turning computers off at the power point at the end of each day and by switching off monitors when leaving the room for more than 10 minutes. “The project found that energy use in the second week fell by an average of 32 per cent,” said team member Ms Barbara Conlan. The amount of energy saved in the second week was 62 kilowatt-hours for the 30 volunteers, equivalent to an annual saving of approximately $470. “One of the aims of this project was to promote a cultural change within Charles Sturt University as well as to provide case studies for education students on ways to be environmentally sustainable in schools, workplaces and homes.”

Staff and students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange will plant native trees to increase environmental biodiversity next week as part of a CSU Green initiative for National Tree Planting Day. The event will see CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Orange and Wagga Wagga all take part in tree planting days. CSU Green Coordinator of Partnerships Nicola Smith said the event was designed to effect the campus ecosystems. “Our goals are to increase biodiversity by providing homes and food for wildlife, which brings more wildlife to the area, more ground cover, understorey and overstorey,” Ms Smith said. “We’ll also aim to reduce topsoil loss and erosion, increase soil infiltration, influence microclimate, and increase aesthetics for each campus.” Plants will come from local nurseries that specialise in native plants. Interested staff and students will determine where to planting the native trees on each campus. Miss Smith said students drew a sense of satisfaction from taking some ownership of their own campuses and would be thanked with a barbecue lunch. The tree planting events are set for Albury-Wodonga on Friday 16 and Sunday 18 August, Wagga Wagga on Sunday 18 August and Orange on Monday 19 August.

A unique educational program for young people will be revealed during a public lecture hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga on Thursday 8 July. The ‘Putting Youth in the Picture’ (PYP) program was created by Queensland lawyer, Mr Adair Donaldson, to help local communities deal with issues confronting youth. “Our program uses a series of authentic but confronting movie scenarios to show how young people can become involved in life altering incidents as a result of poor decision making,” said Mr Donaldson. “The issues presented and discussed include sexual assault, a bar-room fight, illegal recreational drugs, binge and underage drinking.” Mr Peter Bell, Manager, Residential Operations with the Division of Student Services at CSU in Wagga Wagga said, “Charles Sturt University is extremely fortunate to be one of only two universities outside Queensland to deliver this impressive program.”

Following an environmental assessment of all Charles Sturt University (CSU) campuses against the University’s sustainability goals, the Head of Campus in Orange, Dr Heather Robinson, will officially launch the Environmental Scorecard for the campus on Wednesday 18 September. Mr Chris O’Connor, the acting energy manager with CSU Green, said this environmental assessment is relative to the initial 2006 data when the University embarked on the initiative. “Charles Sturt University in Orange, like all our campuses, have continued to grow during this period,” he said. “The introduction of new waste management systems has lifted our recycling rates to about 26 per cent, and we’ve also instituted new ‘office waste’ programs aimed at improving that even further.” In addition, CSU Green has other projects planned to assist the University achieve its recycling and energy management targets. The CSU Environmental Scorecard will be launched at 10.30 am on Wednesday 18 September at CSU in Orange.

Two teams of Charles Sturt University (CSU) Bachelor of Pharmacy students have demonstrated their business acumen to claim a place in the quarter finals of a prestigious national competition. Ms Thanh Le and Ms Marina Mikhail along with Mr Neil D’Souza, Ms Seray Goktekin and Ms Pooja Balgi are taking part in the National Student Business Plan Competition organised by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia to promote creative entrepreneurship amongst pharmacy students. This is the first time CSU has entered a team in the competition and Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice with CSU’s School of Biomedical Sciences, Mr George John, said it was an opportunity for students to practice the pharmacy management and business skills taught in the classroom. “Students had to develop a sound business plan for buying a pharmacy and the model had to be innovative while addressing community needs,” he said. “I believe the competition will give them valuable experience for starting their own pharmacy business in the future.” CSU is one of 12 teams left in the competition and the quarter final round concludes on Friday 12 July.

Central West senior high school students preparing to sit the agriculture Higher School Certificate exam will visit Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange on Friday 30 July for a HSC Agriculture MyDay. CSU’s School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences will conduct a series of lectures and workshops to assist more than 65 HSC students with their studies. They will participate in interactive workshops of their choice covering HSC topics such as the role of native plants in a pasture management system, integrated pest management programs in plants and livestock, plant breeding and plant genetics, and ruminant digestion and the integration with diet. Lecturer Ms Shevahn Telfser believes the tertiary level material students receive on the day will assist in their studies. “We believe Charles Sturt University academics’ wealth of knowledge will give the students the edge when sitting their exam,” she said. “MyDay will include a farm tour and practical hands-on activities, things the general HSC student should experience.”

The generosity of an Australian non-profit organisation has guaranteed four Charles Sturt University (CSU) Dentistry students receive more than $50,000 each towards their studies. At a recent scholarship and award function at CSU in Orange, the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation (VFFF) awarded four first-year students annual scholarships of $10,000 during their five years of study. Since 1962 the VFFF has distributed in excess of $70 million to non-profit organisations in Australia. The future of young people is of particular interest to the VFFF, as are the special needs of Australians living beyond the major metropolitan centres, particularly in rural and outback Australia. “With graduates from the School Dentistry and Health Sciences encouraged to practice in regional Australia, these scholarships are not only helping four students each year, they stand to benefit regional Australia as a whole,” said Head of School, Professor David Wilson.