The first major renovations in more than 30 years to the football sheds on Peter Hastie Oval, at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga, are now complete. More than $150,000 worth of funding through the CSU Student Services and Amenities Fee was dedicated to the project. All facilities in the home and away change rooms have been upgraded, extra security measures have been installed and the canteen has been upgraded. "Clubs are a major part of the student experience at CSU. The CSU Australian Football and Netball Club mean a great deal to many past and present students of CSU and its predecessor institutions. It's a real pleasure to see targeted student funding make such a significant contribution to this great student-based project," Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) Professor Ken Dillon said. "These upgrades ensure that the Club prospers well into the future and will be able to continue to provide an enjoyable social experience for CSU students." Football Club president Jeff Angel said, "the upgrades mean a lot to the club and gives new life to the place. Being a student based club we don't have the big membership base or financial supporters to undertake projects such as these renovations. The club looks forward to working with CSU on further projects to upgrade sporting facilities at the Wagga campus to benefit all the University's clubs."

A multi-layered possum skin cloak is on special display at the William Merrylees Library at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga to showcase the work of Indigenous artist and CSU graduate Dr Treahna Hamm. Cloaks created by Dr Hamm have been purchased by major galleries and museums including the National Gallery of Australia, National Museum of Australia, Australian National Maritime Museum, Museum of World Culture in Frankfurt, Germany and the Albury Regional Gallery as well as by private collectors in Australia and overseas. One of Dr Hamm's possum skin cloaks from the Albury Regional Gallery Collection was worn by Ngambri Elder, Aunty Matilda House-Williams during the Welcome to Country at the 44th Opening of Federal Parliament in Canberra on Tuesday 12 November. Dr Hamm's most recent cloak, Emu Cummeragunja Woka (Emu homelands) is on display at CSU into the New Year. The artist graduated from CSU in Wagga Wagga with a Masters of Visual Arts in 2000. The cloak highlights the evolution of the artist's practice and technique using ochre as well as other traditional methods of painting derived from the landscape of Dhungala – the Murray River. The emu feathers which adorn the cloak have strong family links and are symbolic of the stories to one of Dr Hamm's family clans the Wollithica of the Yorta Yorta Nation.

How do beef producers in Australia's northern and southern beef zones recognise and manage emergency animal disease? A new project at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga and James Cook University in Queensland is seeking to answer this question and determine the most effective and efficient strategies for communicating with producers about biosecurity. Researchers recently distributed a survey to beef producers in the Riverina and Hume Livestock Health and Pest Authorities, asking about their on-farm biosecurity practices. "Producer responses to our survey will help ensure that we can continue to work towards protecting Australia's beef industry from emergency disease risks such as foot and mouth, and maintain our 'low risk' disease trade status," said researcher Ms Luzia Rast from the Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation. "Responses will also allow us to build a picture of beef producers knowledge and practices regarding disease threats and the implications for recognition and reporting of emergency animal diseases. In the survey, producers can volunteer to participate in follow up face-to-face interviews. "We are looking for 30 to 40 beef producers to participate in these interviews and will select producers randomly from those who volunteer," Ms Rast said. The project is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Producers who would like further information about the project or surveys should contact Ms Rast on lrast@csu.edu.au.

A new exhibition from the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Regional Archives and the Museum of the Riverina in Wagga Wagga will be officially opened on Thursday 12 December, at 5pm, in the city's Historic Council Chambers. The joint exhibition, People & Place - Fitzmaurice and Baylis Streets, Wagga Wagga,  has been curated by historian Dr Nancy Blacklow from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga. The exhibition is a journey through the years, tracking the development of Baylis and Fitzmaurice Streets, focusing on the people and places which have defined the very character of the city. Executive Dean of the CSU Faculty of Arts, Professor Jennifer McKinnon will open the exhibition, which is free and runs from Friday 13 December until Sunday 30 March 2014.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) final year animation and visual effects students are showing off their skills and the University's new 3D equipment in a showcase of short animated films on YouTube. The industry-standard stereoscopic 3D production pipeline allows CSU students to work on the same equipment and with the same software as that used in Hollywood studios. Lecturer, Mr Andrew Hagan from the School of Communication and Creative Industries at CSU in Wagga Wagga, said the University is one of the few places in Australia that is teaching this cutting-edge filmmaking technique. "The Charles Sturt University Animation and Visual Effects Showcase proves our graduates deliver internationally competitive films to the world," he said. "We're celebrating the fifth year of making the high quality films available free online." Those with 3D-enabled displays on their computer or television can view these films natively with an internet browser or YouTube TV.

A conference for early childhood educators across southern NSW and northern Victoria at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will discuss the theme, ‘the magic of being’. The conference will explore how educators engage with the ‘here and now’ in children’s lives and the connections made in the early years between children, educators, families and communities. CSU, Wodonga Council, Wodonga  TAFE, AlburyCity and Gateway Community Health will present Building Bridges: A Regional Early Years Conference at CSU in Albury-Wodonga on Thursday evening, 28 November, and all day on Friday 29 November. Guest speakers include Melbourne-based writer and speaker on children’s issues, Ms Ann Stonehouse, AM, and leading child psychologist Mr Gregory Nicolau from the Australian Childhood Trauma Group. The Building Bridges conference aims to strengthen partnerships between early years’ services and schools to create mutual understanding and strengthen networks. To register for the conference, go to the Building Bridges website here: www.buildingbridgesconference.com.au, or call conference coordinator Mr Bradley Hayden on 02 6023 6300.  

Teacher education academics at Charles Sturt University (CSU) are taking the 'kitchen garden in schools' concept a step further with a garden of Indigenous food plants. One of 11 projects to be awarded a Sustainability Grant in 2012 from CSU Green, the Indigenous Food Garden is located around the School of Education building at CSU in Wagga Wagga. The new garden aims to 'increase biodiversity and bird habitat, provide better environment for staff, to be used as a teaching resource, help build links with Indigenous community, and see that flow through teaching'. It was planted earlier this year under the guidance of a local Indigenous group. Native plants have been used on one side of the building to attract native birds. The remaining area has been planted with indigenous food plants. One of the CSU staff behind the project is lecturer Ms Jacqui Tinkler. She said, "The project demonstrates that just the simple act of planting a garden is a powerful way to reconnect with not only the land, but also with the people who used the land for food. So many of us have become very disconnected from the way we get our food and the land that produces it. By planting a garden full of Indigenous plants that can be used for food, I wanted to create a space where people could come and learn about these plants and our connection to the land."

What does a bus shelter have in common with the annual collection of poetry and prose produced by the Booranga Writers' Centre at Charles Sturt University (CSU)? The Centre’s 2013 fourW anthology will preserve forever in print the eight poems which have featured on Wagga Wagga bus shelters since 2011. Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Mr David Gilbey, from CSU’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences said the bus stop poems and their distinctive illustrations add to the eclectic mix of writing styles and subject matter in the literary anthology. “For 24 years fourW has provided a voice for regional writers, an opportunity for new writers to be published and a meeting place for writers from around Australia and overseas to come together for a ‘global’ literary conversation,”  he said. CSU Head of Campus Ms Miriam Dayhew will officially launch fourW twenty-four on Saturday 23 November from 2pm at the Wagga Wagga City Library. Winners of the Booranga Prize for best poem and best short story will also be announced. The anthology is produced with support from the NSW Government through Arts NSW, Wagga Wagga City Council, and CSU.

Charles Sturt University's (CSU) sustainability unit, CSU Green, will work with a new centre for excellence in environmental education to promote sustainability and environmental issues. CSU Green will work with the Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development for the Murray Darling Basin (RCE-MD) to generate awareness of the Centre within CSU and in the broader community. CSU Green manager, Mr Ed Maher, says he is looking forward to working with RCE-MD to help achieve positive sustainability outcomes. "The Centre will be a 'think tank' of expertise that will inform and educate on sustainability, share resources and ideas, and link up educational providers, employers, industries and the wider community," Mr Maher said. "For CSU Green, this means that Charles Sturt University will be making a big step towards meeting its potential to influence sustainability outcomes beyond its own boundaries." CSU is one of three lead institutions involved in the Centre along with Wodonga TAFE and La Trobe University. You can read more about the RCE-MD here.