School students from the Border region will have a science excursion with a twist next week when the ‘Science in the Bush’ event, hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU), comes to Albury-Wodonga. Dean of the Faculty of Science at CSU, Professor Nick Klomp, said the two-day expo provides primary and secondary school students with an opportunity to engage with science, engineering, technology and innovation first-hand. The event, to be held on Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 October in the Albury Convention and Performing Arts Centre, will be officially opened by Assistant Director of the Australian Museum, Ms Janet Carding, followed by an address by Professor Klomp, who is also a regular science commentator on ABC radio around Australia.  Science in the Bush is part of the Science in the City Project run by the Australian Museum with Executive Partner, the University of Sydney. The program is supported by the Australian Government through the Science Connections Programme of the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) journalism student has won an award from the Australian Press Council (APC) for ‘outstanding achievement in a subject related to the objects of the Council’. Lecturer in journalism at the CSU School of Communication, Mr Chris McGillion, said that what makes Ms Stephanie Boulet’s APC Prize unusual is that she is a third-year broadcast student, not a print student. “Stephanie was nominated by journalism staff at the School of Communication on the basis of her outstanding academic transcripts and an essay she wrote concerning the ethics of covering Aboriginal issues,” Mr McGillion said. “The Press Council accepted my recommendation even though she is a broadcast major because of the importance of ethics and journalism. This award to a broadcast student demonstrates, in a sense, the APC's appreciation of the continuing merging of traditional print and broadcast media, and how ethical journalism underpins both." Ms Boulet, who is from Castle Hill in Sydney, will be presented with a certificate and a cheque for $300 from the APC by Head of the School of Communication, Mr Rod McCulloch, on Tuesday 21 October.

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.”

The annual conference held by final-year speech pathology students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will be a celebration and a farewell. The School of Community Health is celebrating the speech pathology course’s tenth anniversary while also saying farewell to Associate Professor Lindy Mcallister, its founding academic. Professor Mcallister joined CSU in 1997 to set up the speech pathology course, which has educated professionals particularly for practice in inland Australia. Professor Mcallister is taking up the position of deputy dean of medicine and health sciences at the University of Queensland. Guest speakers at the conference include Professor David Battersby, who was Dean of CSU’s Faculty of Health Studies and Head of the University’s Albury-Wodonga and Dubbo Campuses before becoming Vice-Chancellor of University of Ballarat, and Ms Claire Salter, a practicing speech pathologist from Katherine in the Northern Territory. This year’s conference, to run from Wednesday 22 to Friday 24 October, will address speech and language problems in older and younger people.

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.

An administrator from Charles Sturt University in Ontario, Canada, is visiting Australia to meet staff at the University to gain a better understanding of its systems, procedures and operational requirements. Mrs Jan Cahusac, an administrative officer who supports staff and the Head of School at the CSU Ontario School of Education, is spending 16 days in Australia and will divide her time between CSU at Bathurst and at Wagga Wagga. “This is my first visit to Australia and it’s fabulous,” Mrs Cahusac said. “I started at Charles Sturt University in Ontario when it began and it is wonderful to at last meet face-to-face with Faculty of Education colleagues here with whom I’ve been communicating by email for the last three years. I’m gaining many insights into how the University operates and how I can better integrate our work.” In 2008, there are 203 students studying the Bachelor of Primary Education Studies at the CSU Ontario School of Education at Burlington, Ontario.

Four graduates from the Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Communication  received awards in three categories at the 2008 Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs), which were presented at the Gold Coast on Saturday 11 October. Award winners Ms Katrina Brown, Mr Christopher Baskerville, and Mr Cameron Williams are graduates of the Bachelor of Arts (Commercial Radio), while Ms Josie Hand graduated from the Bachelor of Arts (Communication - Public Relations and Organisational Communication) course. Mr Michael Thompson, a 2007 CSU journalism graduate who now works at 2GB in Sydney, won the award for Best Show Producer in the Talk and Current Affairs category. He previously won the 2007 award for the Best Newcomer Off Air. Ms Laura Tunstall, a 2005 CSU journalism graduate who also works at 2GB won the prestigious 2008 Brian White Memorial Award. Mr Baskerville, who is currently Production Manager and Drive Announcer with Bathurst Broadcasters (2BS), said "It's fantastic to have been nominated for an award and even better to win. I'm just lucky to have had the excellent facilities and training at Charles Sturt University so I can compete with the best in the radio industry." Course coordinator for the CSU commercial radio course, Mr Brett Van Heekeren, said “The awards demonstrate that Charles Sturt University gives our graduates the range of skills and expertise that allows them to succeed in their industry.”

Teacher education students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Dubbo have spent Children’s Week interacting with school children this week as part of their after-school fieldwork program, which allows undergraduates to gain hands-on experience relevant to their future careers. CSU education lecturer Maria Bennet says the courses prepare students for the modern classroom. “Students are working with the Smith Family, Apollo House and engaging with on-campus playgroup sessions to develop an understanding of children and their needs,” she says. “The program allows our students to network and develop relationships with, and an understanding of, children and their community. These attributes help make a positive difference to children and families.” Children’s Week is a national annual event celebrating the right of children to enjoy childhood.