A photographic series by Charles Sturt University (CSU) graduate Ms Kate Lewis will feature in a new multi media exhibition in Wagga Wagga on the aftermath of natural disasters in regional Australia. Curated by ABC Riverina Open producer, Ms Sonya Gee, the exhibition is a record of the rebuilding process as a result of the devastation from the Black Saturday bushfires, Cyclone Yasi and floods in Queensland and the Riverina, as told by the people who lived through them. The photos by Ms Lewis, a Master of Arts Practice (Photomedia) graduate, feature portraits of State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers in Wagga Wagga. Aftermath: Disaster, Resilience & Recovery will be launched from 2pm on Saturday 25 August in the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Civic Centre, Baylis Street, Wagga Wagga. A five-member panel, including Ms Lewis, will discuss the exhibition and answer questions from the floor from 2.30pm. The exhibition runs until Sunday 14 October 2012.

Around-the-clock care is being provided at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga to horses injured in a stable fire in Leeton early Tuesday 21 August. Five horses died in the blaze in one of four stable blocks at the Leeton Showground. Specialist in Equine Surgery Dr Gareth Trope, from the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at CSU said, “Four horses were initially transported to our Veterinary Clinical Centre but only two were admitted to the large animal hospital with burns and smoke inhalation.” A fifth horse, deemed too ill to move immediately after the fire, was examined on Wednesday 22 this afternoon. “The horses are being regularly monitored in their stalls and are receiving intravenous fluids and drugs for pain relief. The protein loss associated with burns is a major concern,” said Dr Trope, who is being supported by Dr Sharanne Raidal, a specialist in Equine Medicine. “The level of care being afforded these injured animals is a credit to our veterinary science students. The final year students on clinical duties at the Veterinary Clinical Centre are involved in the treatment of the horses. However, other veterinary science students volunteered to return to Charles Sturt University from their holidays when the call went out for assistance.”

Public health advocate Mr Tony Kolbe from Charles Sturt University (CSU) has welcomed the High Court’s rejection of a challenge to plain packaging laws in Australia. The High Court today ruled in favour of federal government legislation to put cigarettes in olive green packets without trademarks. The ruling could see the plain packs in retail outlets by December. As Director of the University’s Centre for Inland Health (CIH), Mr Kolbe said, “Not only is this a win for the health of Australians, it sets a welcome precedent for other countries contemplating plain packaging laws. Tobacco companies can no longer use their packaging as a branding tool to sell cigarettes in Australia.” Read more about Mr Kolbe’s views on the High Court challenge by major tobacco companies on CSU News here. The CIH is a research centre at CSU, focussed on improving the health of inland communities. Read more here.  

You might know him from television but Mr Andrew Daddo will share his experience as a children’s author with literature students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga this week.  Mr Daddo has written 18 best-selling books for children and teenagers. As writer-in-residence at the Booranga Writers’ Centre Mr Daddo will read some of his work and answer questions at a public event at the Wagga Wagga City Library on Tuesday 14 August at 5pm. On Thursday 16 August he will also speak to CSU students studying his collection of short stories for teenagers called DACKED!  Senior Lecturer in English from CSU’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences Dr Mark MacLeod said being able to talk with an author directly about their work is a fantastic learning opportunity.  “Regardless of the discipline, we are communicating all day long and while emailing and texting are convenient, they are notoriously bad at conveying the subtleties of language,” he said. “Having a fiction writer on campus is an opportunity for us to learn more about the ways we can use language to communicate our intentions more precisely and to target specific audiences.”

A 15-member delegation from one of Charles Sturt University's (CSU) international partners in China will be in Wagga Wagga on Thursday 2 August. Yangzhou University (YU) is located in the city of Yangzhou in the province of Jiangsu in China’s east. CSU currently delivers a Bachelor of Business Studies to students through YU and three other universities in China. (Read more here.) The visit from 9.30am to 5pm is aimed at exploring opportunities for research in agricultural and animal science. The Chinese delegates will meet with a range of CSU staff including Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research) Professor Sue Thomas, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Administration) Professor Ken Dillon and Director of the EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, Professor Deirdre Lemerle. It will also include academic staff from the School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences and School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga. On Wednesday 4 July, six senior officials from Yangzhou University travelled to CSU in Wagga Wagga.

Twenty business students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) will this month demonstrate the possibilities of simultaneous formal study and international travel. The group leaves Sydney on Tuesday 3 July for the Philippines for 10 days to participate in a range of activities at businesses in the capital, Manila. Industry leaders and even the Australian High Commissioner to the Philippines will meet with the students. “This is not about traditional study,” said Mr Anthony Chan from the School of Computing and Mathematics at CSU. “It’s about true workplace learning and immersion into businesses in another culture. The trip’s program has been organised with the Consul General of the Philippines in Sydney and the Philippines Australia Business Council.” The trip is funded by the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research and CSU Global, a University initiative to increase the number of students undertaking international experiences as part of their studies. 

Pharmaceutical research at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga is set to benefit from a state-of-the-art microscope system to be unveiled on Tuesday 22 May. Purchase of the microscope has been made possible by a $25 000 gift to CSU’s School of Biomedical Sciences by retired pharmacist Mr Robert Lazzarini and his wife, Diane, from Wagga Wagga. Professor of Rural Pharmacy, Patrick Ball, said it has a fully integrated digital imaging system and replaces a vintage 1962 monocular microscope. “We anticipate this will support a range of research activities within the School for at least another 10 to 15 years,” he said. “This will make existing projects much easier and quicker compared to the previous system, and will provide support  for a range of possible projects in the School that the previous system could not.”  

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is continuing to make tertiary education more available in regional Australia when it opens its latest Regional University Centre in collaboration with Goulburn Ovens TAFE (GOTAFE) in 2013. Head of CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Ms Sue Moloney, will formally announce the expansion today, Thursday 3 May, during the release of the Rural City of Wangaratta's South Wangaratta Urban Renewal Strategy at 10am during a Special Council meeting at the Council Chamber, Wangaratta Government Centre. “This initiative recognises the complementary and combined strengths of Charles Sturt University and GOTAFE, particularly in agriculture. Initially, students undertaking a GOTAFE diploma in dairy management can continue their studies with credits from their GOTAFE course to gain a CSU degree in agricultural business management. We are also looking to offer further opportunities for CSU courses through the Wangaratta centre, including postgraduate agriculture studies as well as nursing,” Ms Moloney said. The CSU Regional University Centre at Wangaratta will be established by CSU in collaboration with GOTAFE with the support of a Commonwealth Structural Adjustment Fund grant of over $7m.

The impact of recent floods in the Riverina on the welfare of dairy herds will be discussed during a workshop organised by Dairy Australia for farmers from 10.30am on Thursday 5 April. Veterinary scientist Dr Chris Petzel from Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga will lead the workshop to advise farmers on how to address problems associated with a wet and muddy dairy environment, including lameness and mastitis. Dr Petzel said, “The water logged paddocks and laneways can lead to hoof problems. When the cows lie down, the risk of mastitis increases dramatically. Through the workshop, I will give farmers advice on how to tackle these problems and encourage them to be proactive in handling what can become serious milk production issues.” A lecturer in cattle medicine in the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga, Dr Petzel has a strong interest in production medicine. He has worked as a vet in Australia and the United Kingdom. The CSU academic will lead a further workshop with dairy farmers from Forbes in central west NSW on Friday 20 April.