A historical sale took place at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange last Saturday when 30 horses were auctioned at the CSU Equine Management Centre performance horse sale. The 30 lots included riding horses, mares, foals and young stock, many of which were ready to be broken in. With interest from the NSW Central West region and beyond, a large crowd of over 100 people attended the auction with phone bidders from Victoria, Queensland and Sydney also registering. Representatives from Revelwood Warmblood Stud,  at Sommersby in NSW and for Mr Heath Ryan, a member of the Olympic Equestrian team at the Beijing Olympics, purchased horses at the auction.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) Agricultural and Wine Sciences lecturer Dr Igor Novak has been recognised for his outstanding work in the field of science with the Croation Academy of Sciences and Arts Award. Along with a Croatian collaborator, Dr Novak has published 50 articles in international refereed chemistry journals in the last 10 years. “The award was given specifically for our work published in 2011, which deals with the relationship between the electronic structure and biological activity of the pesticides Atrazine, Bromoxynil and Organochlorine insecticides,” he said. “Our work described details of such activity at the molecular level and is the first of its kind where electronic structures of pesticides molecules had been studied experimentally.” Dr Novak was pleasantly surprised by the recognition. “I was surprised and very pleased by the award, especially since the award is mostly given to scientists working in Croatia.”

A total of 16 scholarships will be presented at the annual scholarship ceremony at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange on Friday 18 May. Valued at over $67 000, the scholarships are being awarded in disciplines ranging from agricultural business management, dentistry, pharmacy to physiotherapy. Among the awards is the Kurrajong Waratah Allied Health Scholarship which will be awarded to Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) student Ms Jessica Dodd. Ms Dodd will receive $20 000 over two years. “The scholarships give students the chance to further achieve their goals,” said Dr Heather Robinson, head of campus at CSU in Orange. “Charles Sturt University is especially grateful to the donors of the many scholarships because without them, many students would not be able to attend the University.”

At first glance mistletoe might seem to be a destructive weed but Charles Sturt University (CSU) ecologist Associate Professor David Watson will explore the role the parasitic plant plays in promoting biodiversity at a seminar in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 2 May. The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre at CSU in Wagga Wagga will host the seminar titled, Parasitic plants as drivers of ecological communities: patterns, predictions, processes. In his presentation, Professor Watson will pull together a decade of research on mistletoe ecology in southern Australia. “The word parasite has nasty connotations to it but rather than being negative or even neutral, in natural systems parasitic plants may be disproportionately important to biodiversity,” he said. “This may provide land managers with a new tool to boost the value of remnant habitats for wildlife and maximise ecosystem functionality in modified landscapes.”

The future of the trade union movement in Australia is the topic of a public lecture to be presented in Bathurst on Wednesday 2 May. Ms Cassandra Coleman, a union delegate with the Public Service Association, will highlight parallels between the failed and unpopular ‘Work Choices’ legislation enacted by the federal Howard Coalition government and similar legislation of the current O’Farrell government in NSW. “We were justified in opposing ‘Work Choices’ through our ‘Rights at Work’ campaign, and we are just as right in opposing the so-called O’Farrell reforms,” Ms Coleman said. The speaker will also address the problems caused by increasing casualisation in the workplace, and how unions can engage with their members, non-members in industries, and the wider community. “I will also discuss the future of the union movement in the current and recent political environments found in Australia,” she said. The lecture will be held between 1pm and 2.30pm in Room 324 of building C3 on CSU in Bathurst.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) students with a passion for sustainability can help the University reduce its environmental footprint as part of a training and internship program. The 2012 CSU Green Steps program  involves a week of intensive training looking at environmental issues, auditing and communication along with project planning and management. Students will then put these skills into practice in an on-campus sustainability project in conjunction with CSU Green. They can also opt to undertake an internship with an external organisation to get valuable workplace experience. Acting Manager of CSU Green Mr Edward Maher said this has benefits for students and the host organisation. “The students are highly motivated and come armed with enthusiasm and hands on training. They are ready to make a real improvement to the sustainability of their host organisation,” he said. “Green Steps also gives students an edge when it comes to commencing their professional careers.”  Students and organisations interested in hosting an intern can contact CSU Green. Green Steps at CSU is a partnership between CSU Green and the Monash Sustainability Institute.

A public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange will shed light on the nature of the trade-offs involved in the proposed transfer of water to the environment in the Murray Darling Basin. Professor Kevin Parton a lecturer and researcher at the CSU School of Marketing and Management, is an expert commentator on the economic and social effects of the water transfer. His presentation is at 6pm Friday 20 April, and he believes there will need to be trade-offs between economic, social and environmental objectives when increasing the flows of water in the Murray-Darling system, which is Australia’s largest river system. “The Murray-Darling Basin Authority has proposed to transfer 2 750 gigalitres per year from irrigation to environmental flows,” he said. “Many farmers consider the costs of even the smallest transfer to be prohibitive, while many conservationists regard anything less than 4 000 gigalitres per year as insufficient to capture any significant environmental benefits.” Professor Parton will consider a number of findings from preliminary research in this controversial topic, including the costs to irrigation farmers, the amounts of environmental water needed, gains for Murray-Darling communities from the plan, and the effects on losers from the plan.

A visiting workplace learning academic from New Zealand, who was a Keynote speaker at the recent Practice-Based Education Summit in Sydney, has made a special visit to Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange. Dr Dale Sheehan, a senior lecturer and Clinical Teaching Co-ordinator at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, will visit Orange to pass on her knowledge to CSU, a university which prides itself on offering students an enriching, supportive and high quality student experience . Dr Sheehan’s presentation addressed issues such as setting up support for students undertaking workplace learning as well as assessing and engaging with workplace learning supervisors. Attending the presentation were staff from every School on the CSU campus as well as librarians and learning skills advisers. Dr Sheehan will stay in Orange until Thursday 19 April.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is encouraging schools from across NSW and Victoria to compete in a new online business simulation competition to invigorate student engagement in their business studies. The CSU Faculty of Business is introducing to schools CSU Business - Game On, a ‘virtual’ business competition where Year 11 students form teams and play for the opportunity to win regional prizes of up to $1 000 or the major prize of $2 500. “Participating student teams will engage in the GoVenture Any Business simulation game that is hosted and funded by Charles Sturt University,” explains Dr Abhishek Dwivedi, a lecturer in the School of Management and Marketing. “It allows students to build and operate their own ‘virtual’ business in a simulated market environment.”