The Agribusiness Today 2010 Beef forum, to be held at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange, will focus on building better beef business. With speakers including representatives from Industry & Investment NSW, Meat and Livestock Australia, Woolworths, and the Australian Farm Institute, the annual forum attracts producers and industry leaders from around the region. Coordinator and lecturer from the School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences at CSU in Orange, Dr Karl Behrendt says, “The forum will provide an insight to the impact of the proposed Federal emissions trading scheme on livestock producers, low stress cattle handling and what type of cattle are needed from a processor’s perspective and supermarket’s perspective.” The Agribusiness Today 2010 Beef forum will run from 8.30am to 3.30pm on Thursday 12 August at the Machinery Centre at CSU in Orange.  

In line with a vision for Healthy Inland Communities, the Centre for Inland Health (CIH) at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will work with Narrandera Shire Council in the Riverina to combat overweight and obesity in the local community. Narrandera is one 12 local government areas in Australia to pilot the delivery of the Healthy Communities Initiative which aims to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obese Australians. It is part of the four-year Council of Australian Governments (COAG) National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health. “Through the Healthy Communities Initiative, the Centre for Inland Health will evaluate the number of people who engage in accredited physical activity and dietary education programs offered by Narrandera Shire Council,” Associate Professor Ann Bonner from CIH said. “The initiative will be rolled out and assessed over the next 15 months with particular attend paid to local residents not in the paid workforce or at a high risk of developing chronic disease such as heart disease and diabetes.”  

After 29 years as an academic, administrator and acting dean and campus director, Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) current Head of School of Accounting, Associate Professor Ross Wilson, will enjoy his last day at CSU in Orange on Friday 6 August. “Ross has contributed so much, not only to Charles Sturt University in Orange but to the entire organisation,” said Associate Professor Grant O’Neill, Head of the School of Business at CSU. “In so many roles over a distinguished career, Ross has shown enormous commitment and care for students, staff and the community. He has contributed so much and he will be greatly missed by all at Charles Sturt University.” Mrs Zelma Bone, lecturer in the School of Business said, “Ross will always be remembered for his integrity and compassion. In Orange, we owe him a debt of gratitude for the work he did to build this campus into what it is today.”  Professor Wilson will be farewelled by colleagues at a dinner on Friday 16 July.

It’s a far cry from studying platypus on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River to Army Reserve training in the jungles of Malaysia, but a Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer is about to get a taste of what her environmental science (Honours) student has been experiencing in his training with the Army Reserve. Senior lecturer in veterinary microbiology, Dr Joanne Connolly, from the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga, will leave on Monday 15 December to spend five days with Rifle Company Butterworth, near Penang in northern Malaysia, at the invitation of the Defence Reserves Support.  Dr Connolly, who researches disease in platypus, will experience life as a soldier in the field, including weapons handling and finding food from the jungle, to gain insight into the Army Reserve. It’s an activity Dr Connolly didn’t know was on the horizon when she became Mr Tom Claridge’s supervisor for his Honours degree.  However, the academic is excited and a bit nervous about the challenge. “We’ve roughed it in streams late at night netting the nocturnal platypus across the Murrumbidgee catchment as part of the current research project, but this will certainly be a bit different. Tom has to write his thesis when he gets back from his three months service, so I’ll gently remind him about that when I see him in Malaysia,” Dr Connolly said.  

Threats to inland frog species and conservation strategies will be on the agenda when the Declining Frog Working Group meets at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Albury-Wodonga on Monday 23 November. The independent advisory body is made up of policy makers, managers and scientists including CSU’s Dr Skye Wassens. The group meets three times a year to plan for the conservation and long-term management of Australia’s threatened frog fauna. Ecologist with CSU’s Institute of Land, Water and Society and meeting convenor, Dr Skye Wassens is currently looking at the breeding responses of frogs following changes in wetland flooding regimes along the Murray River. “Inland frogs are vulnerable to factors including habitat loss and degradation, exotic species, disease and climate change,” Dr Wassens said. “Coupled with these factors comes difficulty in finding frogs to actually study. Some species have very erratic activity patterns or live in remote areas or in large wetland systems which are difficult to survey. Cooperation between agencies like the Catchment Management Authorities, state government departments and scientists is vital to pool our expertise and resources,” she said. Read more about Dr Wassens research here.

Globally, the rate of loss of freshwater wetlands exceeds that of any other ecosystem and predicted climate change will greatly exacerbate the trend in the future. According to Charles Sturt University (CSU) vertebrate ecologist Dr Iain Taylor, wetlands provide invaluable ecosystem services to humans throughout the world and are essential habitats for an amazing diversity of flora and fauna. “Many species of water birds are in serious decline and the on-going drought in southeast Australia has caused a massive and probably irreversible decline in most of the larger water birds such as egrets, ibises and spoonbills,” he said. Dr Taylor is the convener of the international conference, Wetlands and Waterbirds: Managing for Resilience in Leeton in the Riverina region of NSW from Monday 9 November. Also presenting at the conference is CSU wetland ecologist Professor Max Finlayson who said climate change will place many wetlands and species under further pressure from rising temperatures and changes to their water regimes as rainfall patterns change. “If anything we should be constructing or restoring more wetlands, not degrading those that are left. They are valuable and have been under stress for far too long,” said Professor Finlayson, Director of CSU’s Institute for Land, Water and Society.

The Chancellor of Charles Sturt University (CSU) Mr Lawrie Willett AO will praise the academic achievements of almost 70 graduates who are eligible to receive their awards at a ceremony in Hong Kong on Saturday 7 November. The graduates will receive their postgraduate and undergraduate awards from the University’s Faculties of Arts, Business, Education and Science from 10.30am in the Langham Place Hotel in Hong Kong. The occasional address will be delivered at the graduation ceremony by Mr Steve O’Conner, the Librarian at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Mr O’Conner has worked in Higher Education for most of his career and has researched, published, spoken, consulted and taught very extensively in the areas of change, organisational management, information delivery, scenario and strategic planning, as well as the wider library and information environment. Graduates have completed a range of courses at CSU in areas such as theology, business, information technology, hotel management, arts, primary education, library and information management, medical imaging and clinical nursing.  

Staff and students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) successfully flew the flag at the inaugural cycling race Tour de Timor held recently in Timor Leste (East Timor). CSU student Mr Neil Van der Pleog from Mount Beauty in Victoria won the 450-kilometre race around the country. CSU students and staff also provided extensive physiotherapy services for competitors throughout the tough event. Started by President Dr Jose Ramos-Horta in the capital Dili, the five day event took cyclists through the nine regions of Timor before returning to Dili.  At the hilliest stage of the race, riders climbed to 1 850 metres. Two third year Bachelor of Physiotherapy students Mr Tom Bidstrup and Ms Rachael McLeod and physiotherapy lecturer Mr Tim Retchford from the School of Community Health at CSU at Albury-Wodonga provided physiotherapy services for the 350 competitors. Many of the riders were international participants who were attracted to Timor Leste for the gruelling US$75 000 event. “The Tour de Timor coincided with the celebration of the 10 years since East Timor's independence vote,” said Mr Retchford. “Locals lined Dili’s streets up to 10 deep to cheer the riders as they crossed the finish line.”

An artist and Charles Sturt University (CSU) student has been named as a finalist in Australia’s richest design prize. PhD student Mr Rohan Nicol from Wagga Wagga is one of 10 finalists in the prestigious Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award. With his entry, Peppered Sunlight Mr Nicol will compete for the first prize of a $30 000 grant and a trip to Milan to attend the Salone del Mobile furniture fair in April 2010. The prize is dedicated to recognising and rewarding excellence in design, improving and promoting awareness of design and improving the commercial success of talented Australians. Peppered Sunlight is a large pendant light inspired by ‘dappled light that filters through trees’. Through the School of Visual and Performing Arts at CSU at Wagga Wagga, Mr Nichol is researching a financially sustainable model of studio-based craft and design practice by engaging with the Australian manufacturing industry in regional Australia. Read more here.