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.

New students to Charles Sturt University (CSU) wanting to apply for scholarships for the coming year will need to get their applications in before Monday 18 February. The scholarships, which are offered through the Charles Sturt Foundation, are awarded to students who have demonstrated high levels of academic performance, leadership and motivation throughout their school careers. Some scholarships are also available for students undergoing economic hardship, are disadvantaged, are Indigenous or are undertaking distance education with CSU. In 2007, the Foundation provided 235 students with ongoing support for their University studies through the scholarship program.

The Charles Sturt University (CSU) Winery will showcase some of its finest vintages during NSW Wine Week starting in Sydney Sunday 9 March. Around 100 NSW wineries taking part in the event, which is aimed at showcasing NSW wine to Sydney consumers. Each NSW wine region will highlight a Regional Hero variety and CSU will showcase its recently released 2007 Sauvignon Blanc at the Orange region stand, and the 2003 Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon from the Hilltops region. CSU will also showcase its 2007 Chardonnay, which used grapes from the CSU vineyard at Orange and which was recently rated in Australia’s top 100 wines by wine commentator James Halliday.  CSU Winery Marketing Manager Richard Lawson says “This is the first event of its kind to be held in Sydney. It involves wineries from the state’s eight wine growing regions and will be an invaluable opportunity for consumers to learn, taste and see the fantastic wines being produced across NSW.”

The multi-award winning Charles Sturt University (CSU) Winery is looking forward to a good 2008 vintage with grape harvesting and pressing well underway. CSU Head Winemaker Andrew Drumm says, “Good rainfall during the growing season ensured grape vines were unstressed and produced high quality fruit.  While the vintage started early, the cool February has slowed ripening, allowing time for the grapes to develop flavour and colour.” The CSU Winery, located on the Wagga Wagga Campus, is receiving fruit from its vineyards in Wagga Wagga and Orange, as well as from growers at Wagga Wagga, Young, Tumbarumba, and Orange. Grape varieties include Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot, for table wine production. The Winery is taking Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to produce sparkling wine as well as a Portuguese variety Touriga to make CSU Port.

Australia’s beef and live export industry will have a greater understanding of Indonesia’s beef market with the launch of a two and a half year project by the Asian Agribusiness Research Centre (AARC) at Charles Sturt University’s Orange Campus. Funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, the project ‘Benchmarking the Beef Supply Chain in Eastern Indonesia’ is a collaboration with four Indonesian institutes and the world-wide network agri benchmark. Project leader Dr Claus Deblitz says, “The Indonesian beef supply chain has been identified as a crucial area in Eastern Indonesian agriculture and is one of the most complex”. Drawing a comprehensive picture of the stakeholders, product, finance and information flow, proposals will be developed investigating how the Indonesian supply chain can be more effective and competitive, and provide farmers with higher incomes.

There was loud applause for awarding-winning Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher Associate Professor Gavin Ash as he received public recognition for his work in the fields of agricultural and veterinary sciences and environmental sciences. Professor Ash was named earlier this year the recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence 2007. The CSU academic received his award from the Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Goulter during the graduation ceremonies on the Wagga Wagga Campus in April. Professor Ash, from the CSU School of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, was honoured for his outstanding contribution to innovative research in plant pathology, identifying and determining the risk posed by diseases in crops and exploring innovative approaches to the management of diseases and weeds. Since joining CSU at Wagga Wagga in 1990, Professor Ash has attracted more than $4.2 million in research funds, written for over 150 publications and supervised 38 postgraduate students. In the last five years Professor Ash has authored 27 refereed publications and gained 27 research grants.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) team lead by award-winning researcher Associate Professor Gavin Ash has developed a novel approach to attacking exotic snails that devastate crop and pasture production across southern Australia. Professor Ash and his team have found a local nematode that injects itself into the snails and delivers a deadly bacterium that kills the snail and allows the nematode to feed on the decaying body. The round worm, from the Rhabditids group, was collected from soil near Wagga Wagga, NSW, and is endemic to Australia. They kill the common white snail, white Italian snail, conical snail and small conical snail within four to eight days of being introduced. “These pests are a significant threat to Australian grain exports. They feed on emerging crops, clog up farm machinery and contaminate harvested grain which puts our exports at risk due to quarantine problems,” Professor Ash said. Based on CSU’s Wagga Wagga Campus, the research is funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation.

Improve returns from cattle bound for the Asian market will be the focus of a forum hosted by the Asian Agribusiness Research Centre at the Orange Campus of Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Wednesday 26 September. The meeting, titled Asia Today 2007 - Building Beef Returns, will be held at Borenore near Orange. Dr Claus Deblitz, Director of the Asian Agribusiness Research Centre, said Asia Today 2007 will focus on the opportunities available for beef producers who wish to take advantage of this growing regional market. “The practical morning session will provide industry experts demonstrating muscle density testing, low stress stock handling and related activities,” Dr Deblitz said. “In the afternoon, the forum will provide information for the beef industry and review opportunities in international markets. It will address major beef market trends world-wide and in Asia, improving  beef tenderness and marbling to meet customer needs, prospects of beef production in China and the Australian live cattle export business.” Keynote speaker Rob Sinnamon, the 2007 NSW Farmer of the Year, will outline how he significantly improved the profitability of a 5 000 head Santa Gertrudis beef operation he manages near Casino on the NSW North Coast,.

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Professor Shahbaz Khan, Director of the International Centre for Water, Senior Principal Scientist and Research Leader with CSIRO Land and Water and Regional Coordinator of the Asia Pacific office of UNESCO IHP-HELP, continues to attract accolades for his world leading water research. Professor Khan has been awarded the Modelling Society of Australia and New Zealand (MSSANZ) Biennial Medal for Natural Systems, after also recently winning a prestigious Eureka Award. Based at the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus, Professor Khan says, “The recognition is great news for CSU and CSIRO research”. CSU Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and Vice-President (Research) Professor Paul C Burnett says, “It is fantastic to see that Professor Khan’s work and contribution to new knowledge in this area is being so widely recognised. He and his team should be proud of what they have achieved.” The Biennial Medal will be presented in December at the MSSANZ 2007 conference in New Zealand.