A ceremony will be held at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga on Thursday 16 October to recognise the academic achievements of a number of fourth year veterinary science students at CSU. Organised by CSU’s Veterinary Science Foundation, the inaugural Professional Experience Scholarships will be presented to 13 students from across regional NSW during the ceremony at the Veterinary Clinical Centre at CSU. The scholarships have been provided by Coopers Animal Health, Piper Street Veterinary Clinic, and Moruya Veterinary Hospital. Read more about the inaugural scholarships here. The ceremony will also mark generous donations from the Albury-Wodonga Angus Breeders' Association (AWBA) and Prattley Livestock Equipment towards the construction of the Artificial Insemination teaching facility at the University's Veterinary Clinical Centre.    

A new academic at Charles Sturt University (CSU), Mrs Kelly Spuur, is passionate about mammography and is close to completing a PhD which aims to improve the quality of clinical breast images. A mammographer is a radiographer trained in breast imaging. Mrs Spuur believes her field is gaining popularity as an occupation, with mammographers in high demand around the world. After 16 years at Riverina Medical Imaging and BreastScreen in Wagga Wagga, she moved to CSU earlier this year. Mrs Spuur convenes a biennial mammographers conference in Wagga Wagga which this year attracted 130 specialists from across Australia. Her PhD examines the quality and evaluation of breast images in a clinical setting with the goal of developing a computer program to enhance the digital images. “This program will improve image quality and the ability of mammographers to screen using established quantitative imaging criteria,” she said. Mrs Spuur also teaches undergraduate students at the School of Dentistry and Health Sciences in subjects about radiological equipment and x-ray production.

The deep aversion some people feel towards mathematics will be among the topics to be discussed at a public forum in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 29 October. The final Edversations Professional Forum for 2009 will pose the question, do kids hate maths? A panel from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Education in Wagga Wagga, local schools and support agencies will participate in the forum. The current ideas about maths and controversies in mathematics education will also be on the agenda. The Edversations Professional Forum series is an initiative of CSU and Wagga Wagga City Council. CSU wine and cheese will be served after the forum.

Dietitians working in Wagga Wagga and the surrounding district, as well as final year Charles Sturt University (CSU) nutrition and dietetic students, will gather at CSU on Tuesday 28 October to hear from Ms Barbara Eden, dietitian with the Heart Foundation in NSW. Ms Eden will address local dietitians working in the public and private sectors about the Heart Foundation’s new catering recommendations as well as the health impact of other Heart Foundation initiatives. Based at the School of Dentistry and Health Sciences in Wagga Wagga, CSU’s Bachelor of Health Science (Nutrition and Dietetics) is the first of its kind offered outside a metropolitan area in Australia.

As the start of the Charles Sturt University (CSU) dental and oral health courses approach in February 2009, the University has added the international experience of Professor David Wilson to its teaching staff. Professor Wilson is a professor in dentistry and health science (oral and maxillofacial pathology). He has joined CSU at Orange from the International Medical University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Professor Wilson has also worked in Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and has about 30 years undergraduate and postgraduate teaching experience in oral pathology. He maintains ongoing clinical practice and research into specialist diagnostic oral histopathology. His research interests include oral cancer, oral diseases and forensic odontology.  The new courses offered through the CSU School of Dentistry and Health Sciences  in 2009 include the Bachelor of Dental Science and a Bachelor of Oral Health in Dental Therapy/Dental Hygiene.

An Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) journalist with strong ties to Charles Sturt University (CSU) and Wagga Wagga, Mr Duncan Huntsdale, will be guest speaker at the inaugural dinner being held to celebrate the role of young professionals in the Wagga Wagga community. The Celebratory Dinner will be held on Friday 31 October to acknowledge the contributions young people aged mainly between 20 to 35 years make locally. Now based in Sydney, Mr Huntsdale is the sports journalist and sports presenter for ABC television news. He was educated in Wagga Wagga and Sydney, obtained a journalism degree at CSU, and worked as a sports journalist at Prime Television in Wagga Wagga before joining the ABC in 1998. “I am looking forward to returning to Wagga Wagga where my parents live and where I went to school and began my media career,” said Mr Huntsdale. “I also look forward to supporting Charles Sturt University in organising this event for young professionals as it is where I obtained my journalism degree and met my future wife.”

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) nursing and midwifery lecturer will renew her efforts to highlight the plight of women and children in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during International Congo Week from Sunday 19 October. Dr Elaine Dietsch from the CSU School of Nursing and Midwifery in Wagga Wagga, will speak at a number of engagements in Wagga Wagga and Leeton during the week. She will discuss her experiences of her annual visits to the  war-torn African nation. In a study released in January 2008, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) reported war, disease and malnutrition are killing 45 000 Congolese every month with 5.4 million people dying since 1998. It further declared the 1998-2003 war and its aftermath had caused more deaths than any other conflict since World War II. Read about Dr Dietsch's last visit to the DRC in May 2008 here.

The future direction of nuclear oncology in rural and regional Australia is on the agenda of a conference being held at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 November. “The use of nuclear medicine in diagnosing cancer plays a crucial role in improving patient management,” said CSU senior lecturer and conference organiser Dr Geoff Currie.”There is a significant inequity in this area between rural and metropolitan people and this conference plays an important role in developing rural strategies for today and for the future.” The conference has attracted more than 100 delegates, including oncologists and radiotherapists as well as nuclear medicine students from CSU and other institutions. "The NSW Cancer Council supports important events such as this conference as part of its role to ensure equity of access for cancer patients in rural and regional NSW,” said Mr John Knight from the Cancer Council in Wagga Wagga. Associate Professor Dianne O'Connell from the NSW Cancer Council will speak on 'Patterns of cancer care studies in NSW’.

A national award promoting religious harmony and acceptance within Australian society has been bestowed on Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer in theology, Associate Professor Clive Pearson. The principal of the United Theological College (UTC) in Sydney, within the CSU School of Theology, received an Australian Affinity Award in September. The award recognised Professor Pearson’s significant contributions in the study of religion, interfaith and intercultural dialogue, and the ‘facilitating' by CSU in this dialogue. Associate Professor Pearson was particularly recognised for his work on the public theology of issues of diversity in Sydney, including analysis of the riots in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla in December 2005. “The United Theological College has been working with Affinity and Sydney’s Islamic community firstly out of concern for the neighbour, for the stranger in our midst and a concern for social cohesion,” said Associate Professor Pearson. “We have attended and presented at each other's conferences because we believe that it is important for a Christian theology to be done these days in the presence of the religious other as well as the secular.”