Six pupils from Bathurst South Public School impressed a large audience of teacher education students and lecturers with three-minute public speeches at Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Monday 13 October. Dr Lena Danaia, lecturer at the CSU School of Teacher Education in Bathurst, said, "The event was the culmination for first-year teacher education students of the transition to university program which covers topics such as academic literacy, numeracy, referencing, and so on. "The Bathurst South Public School students from Years 4, 5 and 6 were finalists in a recent school public speaking event, so we asked them to deliver their speeches to our students who have been working on their own public speaking skills. We thought it would be good for our students to see what primary students are capable of, given they will be teaching them in a few years. "The primary school public speakers were all outstanding and each delivered confident, humorous and entertaining talks on topics that included 'Cleaning my room' and 'Why my mother should do more work'." At the conclusion of the event the Head of the School of Teacher Education, Professor Tara Brabazon, presented gifts to the primary school students and program completion certificates to the CSU students.

An archive of historic teaching resources from Bathurst Teachers College (BTC) will be celebrated at a special ceremony at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Thursday 23 October. Associate Professor Jane Mitchell, from the CSU School of Teacher Education in Bathurst, said, "The Memorabilia Cabinet has been established to honour the work of staff and students of the Bathurst Teachers' College. The cabinet provides a permanent record of teacher education in the 1950s and 1960s in Bathurst, and contains a rich and varied trove of teaching resources created by teaching staff and students, dating from the early 1950s." Professor Mitchell will open the proceedings before an address about BTC and CSU by Head of Campus at CSU in Bathurst, Mr Col Sharp. The Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education, Professor Toni Downes, will officially 'launch' the cabinet, followed by a response by Mr Wayne Bensley, President of the Bathurst Teachers' College Alumni Association. The launch of the Memorabilia Cabinet will be at 12pm Thursday 23 October in the foyer of the Heffron Building (building 1430) on Wiradjuri Road at CSU in Bathurst. All associated with Bathurst Teachers' College are welcome to attend.

Relive the excitement of a Charles Sturt University (CSU) student Ms Saba Nabi taking out the 2014 NSW International Student Award. A new video has been posted online by StudyNSW. The video captures the build-up to the Awards ceremony at the Opera House in Sydney last month and the naming of Ms Nabi as the winner of the state-wide competition. CSU Vice-Chancellor Andrew Vann is among those in the video to praise Ms Nabi who moved from New Delhi in India to CSU in Wagga Wagga in 2011 to undertake a PhD. She used her acceptance speech to urge other international students to study in regional Australia. Ms Nabi is in the School of Biomedical Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga.  You can view the StudyNSW video here.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) staff and students in Wagga Wagga will don hats to raise awareness and break down the stigma associated with mental illness on Friday 10 October. The Mad Hatters Tea Party is an initiative of the Office for Students at catering at CSU. Health Promotion Officer Ms Coleen Pearce said "This event is all about shining a light on mental health, encouraging people to be aware of the issues and to look out for the well-being of their colleagues and friends," she said. Money raised from the sale of cupcakes will be donated to the Australian Rotary Health Hat Day appeal which raises money to help people affected by depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and many other illnesses. The Mad Hatters Tea Party is the culmination of a month-long mental health awareness campaign, which has included a Sock it to Suicide line.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) student's exhibition of art works by Bathurst residents and others affected in some way by adoption will be launched in the foyer of Bathurst Base Hospital on Thursday 9 October. The community exhibition 'Lost and Found – the art of adoption' forms part of a Bachelor of Communication (Theatre and Media) (Honours) research project by Ms Alesha Elbourne, a student in the CSU School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst. Ms Elbourne has researched the use of art-based methods to explore stories, experiences and issues concerning people affected by adoption. "This participatory art project has provided an opportunity to give voice to the stories, experiences and issues of people who are affected by adoption," Ms Elbourne said. "It was not necessary for the participants to be artists, just people who identified as being affected by adoption in some way. The artworks have a beautifully personalised quality, having been handmade and written using eco art or recycled materials." The exhibition features artworks from both local and nationally-based participant artists via online correspondence, and includes a patchwork-style map of artworks and photographs of artworks including masks, sculpture, letters, postcards etc, and there will also be a handmade magazine featuring stories and artworks by 12 local artist-participants on the topic of adoption.

Agricultural science student Ms Helen De Costa is ending her first year at Charles Sturt University (CSU) doing what she loves – promoting Hereford cattle. She is one of two CSU students named as finalists in the 2014-2015 Herefords Australia Youth Ambassador program. The Bachelor of Agricultural Science student from the NSW Southern Highlands is secretary of the reformed Southern Hereford Youth Group. Ms De Costa said, "As a Youth Ambassador with Herefords Australia I will be involved in promoting the breed by participating in sales, youth events, shows and also providing and education event for the youth of the breed to take part in. The Hereford breed is one that I think will go a long way in the future. One of the main reasons that I like the breed is because of its quiet temperament, that suitability to most markets, along with the longevity, structural and carcase traits and the mothering ability and calving ease that the breed has to offer."  Ms De Costa was also a joint recipient of the CM Hocking Memorial Scholarship through Herefords Australia in 2014. Bachelor of Animal Science student Ms Emilie Lyons is the second CSU student to participate in the national program. A total of four finalists will compete for the title of Ambassador of the Year at the Herefords Australia Youth National Heifer Show in Bathurst in July 2015.

Staff and students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Dubbo will mark the 25th anniversary of the University with a celebratory birthday cake on Thursday 9 October. Head of Campus at CSU in Dubbo, Professor Jeannie Herbert, said, "Over the past 25 years Charles Sturt University has expanded from a three-campus regional institution to a national and international university with campuses and study locations in NSW, the ACT, and northern Victoria. It delivers quality education to more than 38 000 students from across Australia and around the world either on-campus or by distance education. Charles Sturt University is unique because it shares with its communities, common goals and aspirations for the future, and the past 25 years has shown that the University is committed to growing our communities through education and research well into the future. The University has always retained a strong commitment to meeting the needs and aspirations of our rural and regional communities, and we seek to provide improved educational outcomes and lives for Indigenous, regional, rural and remote Australians. We strive to be a University whose courses, graduates and research help our regional communities to thrive and prosper economically, socially and environmentally." The celebratory ceremony will be at 12.30pm Thursday 9 October at Explorer's at CSU in Dubbo.

An animatronic baby dinosaur, exploding balloons and the natural treasures of Woomargama National Park will be on show for the Simply Greater Future Fair and Markets to be hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) from 9.30am Sunday 12 October at the Ten Mile Creek Gardens and Shire Hall. Winnie, the life-like animatronic 2.25 metre-tall baby dinosaur from the Australian Museum, will join the exploding hydrogen balloons of Questacon's comical Spectacular Science and a free guided bus tour of nearby Woomargama National Park, as well as 30 stalls displaying and selling regional produce, crafts and organic food. Kids can enjoy face-painting and yummy cakes from Woomargama Pre-school, grab a Fire and Rescue NSW show bag, or explore CSU's science and sustainability exhibition, and chat about university studies with CSU staff. The fair is part of the 'Our Place' project commenced by Holbrook residents in 2013 to address local issues around living sustainably and protecting the natural environment.

New research into understanding how human DNA works will be explored when award winning mathematical scientist, Professor Terry Speed, presents a public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga on Thursday 25 September. A principal research scientist at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Professor Speed has more than 40 years of experience in statistics, specialising in the design and analysis of studies in genetics and genomics. "Scientists have now mapped the human genome. The next frontier is to understand human epigenomes; the instructions which tell the DNA whether to make skin cells or blood cells or other body parts," he said. Professor Speed has recently been awarded the 2014 CSIRO Eureka Prize for Leadership in Science and in 2013 he won the Prime Minister's Prize for Science. The free public lecture is part of CSU's Exploration Seriesand is being held in conjunction with the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute. It will be held from 6 pm at the Wal Fife Lecture Theatre, building 14, near car park 4, off Tooma Way at CSU in Wagga Wagga.