UWA NEWS
15 NOVEMBER 2010 Volume 29 Number 18
Academic
dynasty
on track
to Oxford
by Lindy Brophy
Jackie McArthur’s path to a Rhodes
Scholarship began as soon as she
was old enough to sit at the dinner
table.
Born to a family of academics, the Law/
Arts graduate said dinner conversations
with her parents at a young age were
sometimes incomprehensible. “But we
were raised with the notion that
scholarship provides opportunities for
untold personal and intellectual growth,
yet also entails responsibility to use
achievements for greater good,” she
said.
Jackie joins a long line of prominent
UWA graduate Rhodes Scholars
including former Premier Geoff Gallop,
former Federal Attorneys-General and
Queen’s Counsels Peter Durack and
Daryl Williams, former Labor Prime
Minister Bob Hawke and former
Opposition Leader and current
Ambassador to the United States,
Kim Beazley.
In fact, UWA graduates have won 46 of
the WA Rhodes Scholarships over the
past 50 years.
But the UWA dynasty that is more
important to her just now is the
McArthur family.
Her father is Winthrop Professor Ian
McArthur, a theoretical physicist and
long-time head of the School of Physics.
In this issue
After graduating from UWA, Professor
McArthur did his PhD at Harvard,
followed by postdoctoral research at
the University of Cambridge and in
Germany and an assistant Professorship
at the University of Hamburg before
returning to Australia.
“My proudest achievement is to have
graduated from UWA and to have all of
my four children graduate from here
too,” Professor McArthur said.
Jackie’s older sister Ann studied
Medicine and has just been accepted
for training as a surgeon in Melbourne.
Her older brother Alistair did Science/
Engineering and, at the same time,
trained as a commercial pilot. He has
recently taken up a position as a
Captain with a regional airline in
Queensland. Her younger brother Jamie
started work as a graduate geologist
with Chevron earlier this year.
“Defiantly, I studied humanities while my
parents and three siblings pursued
careers in sciences,” Jackie said.
continued on page 2
P3 our oldest phd? P7 somerville season starts P8 centre for rock-art studies
Recording
the Kimberley
It is called simply The Kimberley. No other words are needed to describe
Australia’s last great wilderness.
This beautiful new book is the first in a series of natural history titles from UWA
Publishing and comes at a time when the region is under scrutiny during debate
over industrial development and environmental and heritage issues.
The luxurious coffee table edition has more than 200 images from the best
photographers in the business, from teeming bird life at Roebuck Bay to elusive
desert animals; from cascading waterfalls to wide savannah plains.
The photographs are accompanied by words from award-winning journalist
Victoria Laurie. The lively text is written for general readers, but is the result of
serious consultation with the people who know the region, including scientists,
traditional owners, tour operators and bird watchers.
The Kimberley is available at the Co-Op Bookshop for $59.95 (or $54.55 for
members).
Also, read about UWA’s Centre for Rock-Art Studies on pages 8 and 9.
Academic dynasty on track to Oxford from page 1
The former Shenton College student,
debater and public speaker completed
her Bachelor of Law (Honours) last year
and next year will finish Honours in Arts.
She plans to read for a Bachelor of Civil
Law and Master of Philosophy at Oxford
University.
to the University’s two most outstanding
graduands – as well as the Frank
Edward Parsons Prize in Law and the
Mallesons Stephen Jacques Prize for
Best Law Honours Dissertation; in 2009
the Jean Rogerson Honours Student­
ship in Law, and the Mannkal
Foundation Honours Scholarship for
UWA’s best honours student writing a
dissertation on the role of government.
Jackie has won a swag of prizes during
her studies at UWA, including in 2010
the JA Wood Memorial Prize – awarded
She has worked as a volunteer intern
at the International Institute of
Humanitarian Law in Italy, and as a
“Yet my view of Law as a practical social
mechanism for ordering the world arises
largely from growing up with scientists.”
2
professional legal research assistant
at the WA State Solicitor’s Office while
also tutoring in constitutional law at
UWA and lecturing in UWA’s Indigenous
pre-law program.
She has already been appointed
Associate to Justice Susan Kiefel, of the
High Court, due to start in July 2012.
“I’m not sure how everything will fit
together, now I’m going to Oxford,”
Jackie said. “I’ve been talking to the
Rhodes administrators and also to
Judge Kiefel, to work things out.”
UWA NEWS 15 November 2010The University of Western Australia
Role reversal
turns to success
for senior student
At the age of 87, Marcia Foley
may be the oldest student to have
completed a PhD at UWA.
Her years set her apart from other
graduate students but so does the
curious phenomenon of role reversal.
Marcia has just finished (and had
accepted) her thesis on the history of
social work in the mental health arena in
WA, from 1959 to 1999. During the 10
years that it took to research and write
her dissertation, she was supported and
encouraged by her six children and
many grandchildren.
“My grandchildren, especially the
teenagers and the University students,
are so proud of me,” said Marcia,
remarking on the fact that it was usually
grandparents who talked of being proud
of their grandchildren. “And my children
gave me a great party when my thesis
was accepted.”
Her work was co-supervised by
Associate Professor Maria Harries in
Social Work and Social Policy. In another
example of role reversal, A/Professor
Harries had been Marcia’s practicum
student at Heathcote Hospital in the
1960s. “She learnt from me back then
when she was an undergraduate
student, then 40 years later I was
learning from her,” Marcia said.
She studied economics at UWA in the
early 1940s. “I was the only woman in
my class,” she said. “I didn’t know
anything about economics but I didn’t
want to be a teacher, a nurse or a
stenographer, which seemed to be the
only choices for women in those days.”
Marcia married during her Arts course,
then worked for a while as a graduate
assistant with the Under Treasurer. After
having six children, she decided to go
back to study.
“Social workers were in short supply
and, with a big family, I thought I
probably had the experience that was
necessary, so I became one of the six
The University of Western Australia
Marcia Foley with supervisors Maria Harries and Charlie Fox in the background
students in the first year of the inaugural
social work course at UWA in 1965.
Things only got difficult when I had to
juggle full-time study with children who
had the measles!”
Her research showed that, in the 1950s
and 60s, social workers were very much
under the influence of doctors. “They did
what the doctors told them to do,” she
said. “But I was lucky working at
Heathcote Hospital, in mental health.
Everybody was equal there and the
doctors weren’t revered as gods.”
After a successful career in mental health
social work and having added a MPhil in
Women’s Studies to her degrees, Marcia
was encouraged by her children to write
her memoirs. “I’d never done any history
so I enrolled in a postgraduate course
in Irish history, as I have Irish ancestors.
I wrote my own history, then thought
what about the history of social work?”
Associate Professor Charlie Fox from the
discipline of History co-supervised
Marcia’s research. “Unusually for history,
Marcia was part of her own research,
part of the history of social work in the
mental health sector in WA,” he said.
Oral history formed a major part of her
research. “There was very little written
so I had to interview people who were
working in the area across those years,”
she said.
Marcia plans to continue with some
different aspects of her research and
publish some papers.
UWA NEWS 15 November 2010
3
It’s in the
spring of
their step
Towards a
high-quality,
diversified
higher
education
system
There are significant new
challenges and opportunities
facing our sector, particularly as
universities continue to ensure
that the much heralded ‘education
revolution’ continues under the
Government of Prime Minister
Julia Gillard.
Of most importance in my view is the
need for the Federal Government to
adequately fund universities for the
wellbeing of the nation. In the first
place that means adequate funding
per student.
In a context of rising enrolments, our
nation cannot maintain quality higher
education at present rates of funding
per student. Unfortunately, both
taxpayers and graduates need to pay
more to fund a system that will meet
Australia’s future needs.
This is because the Government has
not accepted the 2008 Bradley Review’s
recommendation of a 10 per cent
increase in Commonwealth funding,
thus putting pressure on the review
panel. Whatever the panel recommends
will not be implemented until the 2013
academic year – meaning sustained
underfunding for the next two years if
the Government does not provide relief
in next year’s budget.
Therefore, as a member of the Group
of Eight research-intensive Australian
universities, our University is suggesting
a 50 per cent increase in maximum
student contributions.
Some in the sector believe this increase
would be too much. But the argument is
not only a fiscal one: a large increase in
the maximum amount is needed to drive
diversity and market behaviour in our
sector. The present system of uniform
4
Could understanding how
ostriches run help human
athletes go faster?
Alan Robson
Vice-Chancellor
funding rates denies differences in
costs of delivery and quality.
A modest rise in the cap will lead all
universities to charge the new maximum
amount. This would be a poor outcome.
It would not solve the long-term financial
problems and universities would still be
inhibited from innovating to meet the
needs of a more diverse student body.
There would still be an incentive to
enrol fee-paying postgraduates and
international students rather than
domestic undergraduates to make up
the financial shortfall.
We are suggesting therefore that along
with more flexible student contributions,
the review should consider differential
rates of Commonwealth funding to
further encourage diversity.
Differentiation in course offerings and
prices would allow students to make
their own trade-offs between quality,
convenience and price, just as in
markets for other goods and services.
A more flexible system would make
more revenue available to fund extra
places, thus widening access and
funding services – as well as support
for students from groups who are
under-represented at university.
Failure to act risks further decline
towards an underfunded system that
does not meet students’ or employers’
needs.
The future can be a high-quality
system in which different institutions
do different things well.
Assistant Professor Jonas Rubenson,
from the School of Sport Science,
Exercise and Health, is not convinced,
but his research has found the
difference between humans and
animals such as ostriches is the
elasticity of the joints.
“I hope my findings will inspire
engineered technologies that allow
humans to run faster and with less
energy, particularly disabled athletes,”
he said.
Ostriches use tendons to store and
return twice as much elastic energy
per step than humans, reducing the
work required by their muscles.
Professor Rubenson’s findings were
published recently in Interface, a
journal of the Royal Society. It is one
of the highest-ranked interdisciplinary
science journals. It has led to
widespread interest from media
around the world.
His paper, Adaptation for economical
bipedal running: the effect of limb
structure on 3-D joint mechanics,
looked at how animals such as
ostriches can run both fast and
remarkably economically.
Understanding what allows these
species to run with such little energy
expenditure is of interest to biologists,
sports scientists and engineers trying
to fabricate more efficient robots and
prosthetic limbs.
Professor Rubenson and his team
analysed the biomechanics of five
tame ostriches running along a 50
metre track, and compared the
results with similar human movement.
“We chose ostriches because, like
humans, they are two-legged, and
have a similar mass,” he said. He
compared their movement to that of a
bouncing ball or a pogo stick. “It’s all
in the spring of their step!” he said.
UWA NEWS 15 November 2010The University of Western Australia
Not enough to eat in a
land that exports food
Anu Rammohan (right) at UWA … and meeting the villagers in Jamaranapalli, India
Food insecurity in India remains stubbornly high for
a country that has experienced more than a decade
of strong growth and robust levels of agricultural
production.
“There is enough food in India to feed everybody,” said the
Business School’s Professor of Economics, Anu Rammohan.
“In fact, India even exports food. But politics and administrative
problems mean that the food isn’t distributed properly.”
Professor Rammohan and researchers from Sydney, Griffith
universities and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences have an
ARC grant to examine the factors that impact on food security
in rural Indian villages.
The four-year study will gather detailed household-level data for
600 households from six strategically-selected border districts
to analyse the links between access to food and human capital
outcomes at the household level.
The team will share their findings with the International Food
Policy Research Institute and the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, which is funding a food security summit in Delhi
in February 2011, to which Professor Rammohan and her
team has been invited to attend.
“The Challenge Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and
Food Security (CCAFS) and the International Water Manage­
ment Institute (IWMI) is also holding a summit in Delhi on
Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, this month,
so researchers can exchange research ideas and find out what
kind of data our colleagues are collecting, so we don’t overlap
and waste resources,” Professor Rammohan said.
“At least ten years ago, the Indian Government set up a food
distribution system to BPL (Below Poverty Level) households,
to ensure they received wheat, rice, sugar and oil at very very
low prices.
The University of Western Australia
“But it just hasn’t been implemented properly, which has led to
the government of India proposing a new Food Security Act.”
Previous work by Professor Rammohan on food security and
child malnutrition in Bangladesh and Nepal showed household
wealth and the parents’ level of education were the most
important factors in the growth and health of children.
“But that research was done using secondary data,” she said.
“This time, we are going into the villages – we have already
visited them, in September – and we have Indian research
partners who will organise the data collection as the interviews
will be conducted in the local languages.”
The study will focus on rural villages where 75 per cent of the
Indian population lives. “Most of the people who live in the
urban slums have moved into the cities from the rural villages
for employment reasons. They can’t afford the rents in the
cities, so they set up these shanty towns, but at least they have
access to food,” Professor Rammohan said.
“We’re not sure of the reasons for the food insecurity in India.
There are inequalities between states, with some very rich
food-secure states, in the north, but some states are in a very
bad way and we’re not sure whether it’s worsening inequality
or poor administration that is contributing to the problem.”
She hopes the study will make recommendations on policies
and institutional arrangements to best combat food insecurity.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation recently reported
that 925 million people around the world were chronically
hungry and that one child died from malnutrition every six
seconds.
“We must put in place sustainable effective policies that will
make a real difference to the lives of the poor in India and
around the world.”
UWA NEWS 15 November 2010
5
This is my UWA
To enter the competition, the student
teams had to load their videos onto
YouTube, so they immediately became
an effective marketing tool for UWA.
The contest and its ‘viral marketing’
was initiated by International Centre
intern Carol Cheung.
Ed and Tammy’s 100-second video won
them a $1,000 prize to share. Ed will
become an international student next
year when he continues his studies in
Singapore. Tammy will continue her
education in China.
Presenting the prize, Senior Deputy ViceChancellor Professor Bill Louden, who
had experience as an international
student himself, said he had learned two
things by watching the students’ videos.
“The first is that all UWA students seem
to be extremely attractive. And I had no
idea how important the peacocks were
to students. They appeared in almost
every entry.”
Ed Cryer and Tammy Key celebrate
their award-winning video
“This is my bookstore … this is my
lecture theatre … these are my
pets…”
The ducks and the peacocks became
the pets of international student Tammy
Key in This is My UWA, the video she
and Ed Cryer made to promote the
University to prospective international
students.
Ed, a Law/Arts(Communication) student
and Tammy (an international student
from South Africa studying Commerce)
won the International Centre’s prize for a
video to encourage more students from
overseas.
They filmed each other all over the
Crawley campus, claiming “my library”,
“my business school”, “my tav”, featuring
the best aspects of the University.
Each entry in the competition had to
include at least one international student,
and there was intense rivalry between
teams from Trinity and St George’s
College. Trinity came out on top: Ed is
the President of Trinity and Tammy is a
resident there.
Ed recently also recently won an
inter-college ‘lip dub’ competition. A lip
dub is a music video clip, using an
already-released song, that aims to
involve as many people as possible. It
must be one long take from the
beginning to the end of the song.
His impressive version of Queen’s Don’t
Stop Me Now involved nearly all the
students at Trinity.
To see it, go to http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=MOjnjHfUBJI To see This
is my UWA, simply type the title into a
Google video search.
Heaven’s game played in the US
University sport connections last a lifetime.
Australia’s Ambassador to the US, Kim Beazley, still has his UWA Rugby
blazer and wore it to a cocktail party he hosted at the Embassy in
Washington last month for the UWA Rugby Team.
The team’s Ivy League tour took them to New York, New Haven, Boston
and Las Vegas. They played Yale and Harvard, beating Yale under­
graduates on the ground where George Bush once played rugby. They
also beat the Harvard Business School team, playing on astroturf under
lights, a new experience for the club.
The highlight of the tour was the cocktail party, where Kim Beazley cited
the importance of sport diplomacy. Mr Beazley was in a premiershipwinning team for UWA in 1971 and is still the patron of the UWA Rugby
Club.
The touring team was made up of both graduates (including Rick Wolters,
deputy director UWA Sport and Recreation) and current students, who
promoted UWA and ‘the game they play in heaven’ on their 17-day tour.
6
Australian Ambassador Kim Beazley and UWA
rugby captain Sam Medway at the Australian
Embassy in Washington
UWA NEWS 15 November 2010The University of Western Australia
Summer
at Somerville
starting soon
Can the season of Festival films at the
Somerville Auditorium get any better
– or longer?
The Lotterywest Festival Films will run for
five months this summer, from
November 29, 2010 to April 17, 2010
with the biggest number of films ever
programmed in the history of the Perth
International Arts Festival (PIAF).
It features 26 first release films from 17
countries, including seven that will be
shown exclusively at the Somerville.
(Most films are screened both at UWA
and Joondalup Pines.)
One of these is Summer Coda, an
Australian film which opens the season
on Monday November 29.
Australian director Richard Gray’s debut
feature is described as a magnificently
realised romantic drama set in the
orange groves of sunbaked Mildura, with
a backdrop of the majestic Murray River.
“Starring Rachael Taylor and Alex
Dimitriades, this is an Australian gem of
the first order,” says Sherry Hopkins,
PIAF’s film and electronic image
manager for more than 40 years.
“Other exclusives at the Somerville
include Zhang Yimou’s enormously
entertaining A Woman, a Gun and a
Noodle Shop’– a smart remake of the
The University of Western Australia
Coen Brothers’ first and arguably best
film Blood Simple; and from Finland, the
deliciously chilly Rare Exports: A Xmas
Tale – put quite simply, a Christmas story
for those who hate Christmas stories,”
Sherry said.
Season highlights include the Sydney
Film Festival’s 2010 top film Heartbeats,
from Quebec’s 21-year-old cinematic
wunderkind Xavier Dolan. Dolan himself
plays the lead role of Francis, a gay man
who, together with his best friend, Marie,
a smart, attractive young woman
obsessed with Audrey Hepburn, vie for
the affections of the suave, blonde
Adonis, Nicolas. Francis and Marie’s
unrelenting competition threatens their
platonic friendship. Dolan presents a
different kind of romance while
questioning the very nature of love itself.
In Sherry’s opinion, Todd Solondz has
created his best work yet with Life
During Wartime, a ‘quasi-sequel’ to his
1998 cult classic Happiness. “Again
Solondz resurrects themes of suburban
discontent, taboos and family
dysfunctionality, along with generous
doses of deadpan humour and
sympathy.”
Over the years Lotterywest Festival Films
has featured Danish director Susanne
Above: A selection of festival films (l-r):
Summer Coda; In A Better World; and Rare
Exports
Bier’s films including Open Hearts,
Brothers and After the Wedding to great
critical acclaim. “In mid-January we are
delighted to be screening the Australian
premiere of her most mature and honest
work to date, In a Better World,” Sherry
said. “Loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in
wait as retaliation and dangerous liaisons
between two Danish families clash.
Exploring revenge as well as power
struggles, loss and fear, this honest,
insightful film remains a gripping and
effective work and will without doubt
prove a season highlight.”
These are just some of the films that will
be screened in the first half of the
season. Call PIAF on 6488 5555 for a full
colour brochure on the entire program or
go to perthfestival.com.au for program
details, trailers, reviews and more.
Advance tickets sales and film packs are
available now. Avoid the queues at the
Somerville and book at BOCS at the
Octagon Theatre.
UWA staff can salary sacrifice film tickets
and tickets to other PIAF shows, up to a
value of $1,000.
UWA NEWS 15 November 2010
7
Rock-art: the world’s longestrunning artistic tradition
Decorated panel from Mawarndarlbarndarl rock shelter showing kangaroo tracks (na-marnda),
jellyfish (na-wuthirri), and hand stencils. Photograph by Liam Brady and reproduced courtesy
of Yanyuwa Elders, Leonard Norman, Graham Friday, and the li-Anthawirriyarra Sea Rangers
The public campaign to protect
precious Indigenous rock-art in the
Pilbara and Kimberley could be
somewhat of a double-edged sword.
While encouraging mining companies to
contribute towards the protection of the
rock-art, the campaign has also drawn
public attention to rock-art, placing it
under even greater threat.
Associate Professor Jane Balme, acting
director of UWA’s new Centre for
Rock-Art Studies, said there was more
graffiti being added to many sites every
day.
“Vandalism and dust from busy roads
are now two of the biggest threats to
rock-art in the north of the state,” she
said. Lichen, water run-off and wasp
nests can also destroy Indigenous art
that is thousands of years old.
The new Centre has been established to
help protect rock-art through advocacy,
research and developing partnerships
with Indigenous groups to create
sustainable heritage strategies.
The Centre’s core values also include
collaboration (with Indigenous
communities), understanding (through
research) and communication (to both
the academic and broader community).
“Everybody knows about the rock-art of
France and Spain,” Professor Balme
said. “But that ceased about 10,000
years ago. The great thing about
Australian rock-art is that it is a
8
continuing tradition and part of a living
culture.”
Unlike most other parts of the world,
knowledge about rock-art remains
strong among Australian groups, with
stories about symbolism and meaning
being passed down from generation to
generation.
Rock-art teaches us about people’s
stories, history, relationships to land,
social boundaries, belief systems and
interaction with others.
There are more than 100,000
documented rock-art sites in Australia
and many more still unrecorded.
WA is recognised internationally as home
to some of the most spectacular rock-art
in the world. Professor Balme said few
landscapes offered as much tangible
evidence of human history as the Pilbara
and Kimberley regions.
“And it is still continuing. In some parts
of Australia, it is traditional practice for
some Indigenous people to touch up the
rock-art, to renew the power of the
images,” she said. “Others are
transferring rock-art images onto other
media such as canvas.”
The traditions of touching up and adding
layers to older pictures produces a
valuable record of change. Professor
Balme said that, in some areas, where
new art was superimposed over older
art, you could see a change in the
animals represented. “When you see a
The Rock-Art Centre’s archaeologists
(from left): Martin Porr, Jane Balme,
Liam Brady and Alistair Paterson
change, say from water animals to more
land animals, you can work out how the
environment has changed over time.”
She said figurative art that depicted
people, for example, wearing
headdresses, carrying dilly bags and
using spears, could tell us about dress
and material culture, even though these
items had never been found in
archaeological excavations.
Interest and expertise in rock-art is
spread across the University. The
Centre’s activities involve staff from the
School of Indigenous Studies, the
Berndt Museum of Anthropology, the
UWA NEWS 15 November 2010The University of Western Australia
and develop collaborative research,”
he said.
WA Supercomputer Project, the Energy
and Minerals Institute and the disciplines
of archaeology, chemistry and fine arts.
Dr Liam Brady agrees. “Our work in the
Centre for Rock-Art Studies is not driven
by just a scientific agenda. It is
developed with the local people.”
Funding also comes from a variety of
sources: the Australian Research
Council, National Geographic, the
Australian Institute for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Studies, resource
companies including Rio Tinto and BHP,
and Indigenous groups.
“We want to keep on developing
relationships with Indigenous
communities so that we can help them
to make their own management
decisions about their rock-art,” Professor
Balme said. “And we want to build
capacity among our researchers so we
can train postgraduate students to
continue the work. There are very few
rock-art experts in Australia – you can
count them on one hand.
“We need funding to develop big
continuing projects to train and
encourage young researchers, especially
Indigenous researchers.”
The Centre brings together the expertise
of Professor Balme; ARC Postdoctoral
Fellow Dr Liam Brady; Assistant
Professor Martin Porr (who has a
background in European rock-art);
Assistant Professor Blaze Kwaymullina
from the School of Indigenous Studies;
Chair of Archaeology, Associate
Professor Alistair Paterson; Director of
Eureka Archaeological Research and
Consulting Dr Kate Morse; Winthrop
Professor Ian McLean and Assistant
Professor Darren Jorgensen from
Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts;
the Berndt Museum’s Director, Dr John
Stanton; and Winthrop Professor John
Watling, a forensic chemist with
experience in ochre provenancing and
dating techniques.
He is currently working with the Palyku
Aboriginal community in the Pilbara,
recording their rock-art, which is mostly
engravings. “This is the first recording of
this art that is directed by the
community,” he said.
Andrew Wilson surveying rock art,
Eastern Pilbara (Photo Alistair Paterson)
to address problems regarding the
interpretation of our nation’s rock-art
heritage” he said.
A/Professor Porr said he was not
interested in rock-art simply as an
archaeological artefact, but in the
relationship between it and today’s
Indigenous communities.
“I am also interested in everything to
do with hunter-gatherers,” he said.
“In Australia, hunter-gatherers paint, and
they have been doing so for longer than
any other civilisation in the world. Until
the colonial settlers came 200 years ago,
Indigenous Australians had been living in
complex hunter-gatherer societies
continuously for 50,000 years.
“There is more than a lifetime of work on
the rock-art in the Kimberley. But I want
to bring the people of the region together
Dr Brady is also part of an ARC
Discovery grant, with colleagues from
Monash University and the University of
New South Wales, to look at the
relationship between the Yanyuwn
people and the sea, and the role rock-art
plays. They are working with sea rangers
in the Pellew Islands in the Gulf of
Carpentaria. The sea rangers are
members of the local community who
are in charge of managing and
preserving rock-art sites.
A/Professor Alistair Paterson is part of
another ARC Discovery grant, with
colleagues from Griffith University, ANU
and the University of New England,
conducting a national study of rock-art
produced by Aboriginal artists in recent
centuries, documenting contacts with
visiting Southeast Asian fishermen and
Europeans.
Some of the contact rock-art was
produced well into the 19th and 20th
centuries and documents convicts,
boats and even early aeroplanes.
They are working with Indigenous
communities in the Pilbara, Arnhem
Land, Central Australia and Wollemi
National Park.
Assistant Professor Martin Porr recently
ran an international workshop on the
controversial Gwion-Gwion rock-art of
the Kimberley. There has long been
disagreement about the age of the art
(estimated to be between 3,000 and
17,000 years old) and whether it was
created by non-Indigenous people.
Late rock-art expert Grahame Walsh
claimed the images of large, finelypainted and elegant human figures in
elaborate headdress were created by a
pre-Aboriginal race; however this claim
has been roundly criticised and rejected
by both Aboriginal communities and
archaeologists. A/Professor Porr said
this theory had critical implications for
Indigenous rights and native title.
“We need to enter a new phase of
collaborative, multi-disciplinary research
The University of Western Australia
Engraving of a boat at Inthanoona pastoral station, inland Pilbara region.
Courtesy of the Ngarluma Resource Centre and Wong-goo-tt-oo
UWA NEWS 15 November 2010
9
XMASL5
2010 Christmas cards now available
at www.uniprint.uwa.edu.au
SeaSon’S
GreetinGS
Season’s
Greetings
Season’s
Greetings
Season’s
Greetings
Please visit www.uniprint.uwa.edu.au and log on to the online
orders using your existing account to view the beautiful
UWA Campus inspired, 2010 Christmas Cards. A highlight
of the new range of cards features flora of the University.
Don’t despair if you do not have an existing account.
You can log in using the generic login.
Username: seasons2010 | Password: seasons2010
If you have something else in mind for your cards, UniPrint can even help you
create your own personalised cards.
For further information or assistance with online ordering please contact
Aaron on 6488 5512 or email [email protected]
UWA Staff Home Loans
It All Comes Back to You
Unicredit is a mutual banking organisation, established
to serve University staff. If your home loan is with
Unicredit, you will benefit in 3 ways:
1. Better flexibility & personal service
Your Personal Lending Consultant can tailor your lending for
the lowest cost and the best flexibility, and then assist you to
manage extra repayments and free re-draws 1 with ease.
2. Better standard variable rates
Our standard variable rate is much better than the banks.
Just refer to our website to compare.
3. Lower costs - No deferred or hidden fees...
and no establishment fees*
standard
now
$0
$0
$0
$0
Establishment
Property Valuation
Security Lodgement
Settlement Cheques
$ 200.00
$ 184.50
$ 183.25
$ 24.00
SAVING YOU
$ 591.75 on standard costs *
-----------
Phone the Unicredit Lending
Centre on 9389 1011 or refer
to: www.unicredit.com.au
Unicredit Lending Centre > 80 Broadway Nedlands > ph 08 9389 1011 > www.unicredit.com.au
* Unicredit will waive up to $600 of standard loan establishment costs on new standard variable home loans with loan funding greater than $150,000. Government fees such as
Landgate title search and registration still apply. Offer subject to change and expires on 31/12/10. Terms, conditions, fees, charges and normal lending criteria apply and are available
on application. Please refer to our Fees and Charges Schedule, available from any Unicredit branch. The University Credit Society Ltd. AFSL244168. 1 Minimum loan redraw $1000.
10
UWA NEWS 15 November 2010The University of Western Australia
Cakes on
campus for
cancer research
UWA’s part in
Indian Ocean
affairs
A social science research group
founded at UWA has been granted
significant ‘observer status’ at an
important international forum.
The Indian Ocean Research Group
(IORG), co-founded in 2002 and
chaired by Honorary Senior Research
Fellow Dennis Rumley, was recently
recognised by the Indian Ocean Rim
Association for Regional Cooperation
(IOR-ARC).
Cupcakes decorated to look like breasts were a big hit at a fund-raising stall
at UWA last month.
The stall was a Pink Ribbon event to raise money for breast cancer research, run by
Business School administrative assistant Rani Varathan.
Rani became a champion fundraiser for the cause after recovering from breast cancer
herself 10 years ago. She has shaken tins, baked cakes, run raffles and stalls for the
past eight years, raising close to $11,000.
This year, her friends, supporters and colleagues in the Business School baked and
decorated about 400 cupcakes, which were popular with both staff and students.
Along with the sale of Pink Ribbon merchandise, the raffle of a hamper, a breakfast
and some tin rattling, the day raised just over $3,900 to help find a cure for the cancer
that affects one in 11 Australian women each year.
Dr Rumley, from the School of Social
and Cultural Studies, said that, after he
gave a presentation on behalf of IORG
at the IOR-ARC meeting in Yemen,
strong support had been received from
many of the 18 regional states. As a
result, IORG would obtain unique
access to all important regional
academic discussions and would be
able to initiate and participate fully in
regional academic programs. Dr
Rumley’s visit to Yemen was supported
both by UWA and the Department of
Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The IORG is a social science policyoriented research network that
encourages research on geopolitical,
economic, socio-cultural,
environmental, scientific and
technological issues relevant to the
Indian Ocean Region.
It promotes dialogue on the peaceful
uses and ecologically-sustainable
development of maritime resources in
the region; it fosters interstate
cooperation; and contributes to an
understanding of the causes, as well as
the effects, of a wide range of nontraditional regional security threats.
The eight-member committee comes
from Australia, India, the UK and
Canada. It includes Adjunct Associate
Professor Viv Forbes (School of Earth
and Environment).
IORG has published five books, mostly
concentrating on various aspects of
security and resources in the Indian
Ocean Region.
Reshma Fernandes, Rani Varathan, PhD student Melanie Pescud
(all from the Business School) and Sara Flavelle (Graduate
Scholarships) were rushed by students at morning tea time
The University of Western Australia
One of the key issues raised at the
recent IOR-ARC meeting was the need
for Australia to decide on a national
focal point for Indian Ocean Studies.
Part of Dr Rumley’s mission was to
write a report to DFAT on his views on
this in the light of the Yemen meeting.
UWA NEWS 15 November 2010
11
Links strengthen Shenton connection
The students at Shenton College could be excused for thinking
the Crawley campus was an extension of their school.
Over the past two years, nearly 100 UWA staff have been involved in
education programs with the high school students. They have run nearly
90 programs across arts and sciences and many of them have been
mentors for high-achieving students. More staff have taken Shenton
College students for work experience.
The College thanked UWA at a ceremony at the Sunken garden recently,
as they have done every two years since the program began.
Professor Jane Long, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) is the Chair of
Learning Links. She said the program had gone from strength to strength
since its inception 11 years ago, now including Shenton College as UWA’s
founding Learning Links partner, as well as Belmont College and Perth
Modern School.
“Learning Links exemplifies all the best in collegiality, and our institutions’
commitment to the power of education,” Professor Long said. “Staff give of
their time, often after hours, to engage students in intellectual adventures
beyond the standard curriculum. Learning Links affords a wonderful
opportunity for staff at UWA and Shenton College to learn from one
another, to share ideas, and to develop initiatives to benefit students.
Retired UWA academic David Treloar is farewelled from
Learning Links by Shenton College principal Mike Morgan
“Mike Morgan, Principal of Shenton College, has been an outstanding
champion of Learning Links over the past two years. Under his leadership
the College has thrived, and with it, its important connections to UWA.
“For UWA’s part, we are really pleased to see the commitment of staff
present and past, who have dedicated themselves to Learning Links.
Chief among these people is David Treloar, who was instrumental in the
establishment of the Program, and has since then, as senior staff member
and then as community representative, been an active member of the
Learning Links team.
“On the eve of David’s retirement from the committee, we are pleased to
recognise David’s contribution to all that the program has become.”
This year, 86 graduates from Shenton College were offered places in
undergraduate programs at UWA.
Professor Jane Long congratulates Gary Cass
for his contribution to the program
Call for nominations
Kimberley
Foundation
Warden and Deputy Warden of Convocation
Term of office for both positions is one year
Annual lecture
Eleven Members of the Council of Convocation
Seven three-year terms; one two-year term; three one-year terms
6pm Thursday 25 November
CONVOCATION, The UWA Graduates’ Association
One Member of the UWA Senate
Four-year term
All office bearers are eligible for re-election at end of term
All UWA graduates are automatically members of Convocation and are entitled to nominate
and/or vote.
Nomination forms are available from:
www.graduates.uwa.edu.au; [email protected]; 6488 3006
If nominations exceed vacancies, voting papers will be sent to all eligible member of
Convocation in February 2011. Successful candidates will be declared at the First Ordinary
Meeting of Convocation on Friday March 18, 2011.
Nominations must be received by 5pm on Friday January 14, 2011. Send nominations to:
Juanita Perez, convocation officer, UWA M362 35 Stirling Highway Crawley WA 6009.
Elections will be conducted in accordance with The University of Western Australia Act 1911
Statutes 9 and 12. See http://calendar.publishing.uwa.edu.au/latest/partc
12
The University Club of Western
Australia
Whitefella Dreaming: Science in
search of Kimberley pre-history
Presented by Dr Jim Ross, Chair of
the Foundation’s Science Advisory
Council and Chair of UWA
Geoscience Foundation
This lecture is free and open to all.
Sports Day
See the next issue of UWANews
for coverage of the successful
UWA Staff Sports Day.
UWA NEWS 15 November 2010The University of Western Australia
Hale and hearty after hail storm
and heart condition
The destructive March hailstorm and a student who
collapsed in a corridor with a blood clot in her heart
tested UWA’s health and safety personnel and its
training efforts this year.
The annual Safety Awards, presented last month, recognised
individuals and groups for their outstanding efforts.
But The Chair of the University Safety Committee, Professor
Allan McKinley, said the awards were also to acknowledge,
share and celebrate the many efforts which were made in
creating, maintaining and improving the safety and health
cultures and standards at the University.
The winner of the 2010 Individual Safety Award was Graham
Wright, a technical officer (electrical) in Facilities Management.
Graham has been involved with electrical work at UWA for
nearly 35 years and has always showed leadership and
commitment to improving electrical safety around the Crawley
campus.
All the finalists in this section also received certificates of
appreciation: David Thatcher and Kael Driscoll, from the
Library, for their leadership, initiative and high safety and health
standards following the hail storm in March; and Arts project
officer Jessica Brunner and Security’s Graham Morrison, for
their role in providing first aid to the student who collapsed in
the Arts building in June.
1
2
The University Library won the 2010 Group Safety Award for its
response to and recovery after the hail storm.
The Business School’s Tracy Taylor was awarded the 2010
Safety Leadership Award. Tracy leads the School’s Safety
Group, has been the building warden since moving to the new
building, oversees first aid training and has initiated a wellbeing
focus for staff in the Business School.
Julie Proudfoot, from the School of Medicine and
Pharmacology at Royal Perth Hospital, won the 2010 Safety
Recognition Award, for her ‘can do’ attitude towards improving
working conditions and the safety culture at RPH.
All winners received vouchers for the University Co-Operative
Bookshop which has sponsored the awards since its inception
in 1999.
3
1. Graham Wright – individual award winner
2. Tracy Taylor won a leadership award
3. The Library team winners: Kael Driscoll, Gina Sjepcevich and
David Thatcher (wearing his CanTeen bandana)
4. Julie Proudfoot (left) and Jessica Brunner at the awards
Last news
The next issue of UWAnews will be the final edition for 2010.
The deadline for copy is Wednesday November 17.
But please get in early with your notices, advertisements or
suggestions for editorial content, as it is always a popular
issue and fills up fast.
The first issue for next year will be published on March 7.
The University of Western Australia
4
UWA NEWS 15 November 2010
13
UWA News classified
RESEARCH GRANTS
Grants Awarded Between
18/10/2010 to 29/10/2010
ARC DISCOVERY PROJECTS
Winthrop Professor David Andrich,
Graduate School of Education:
‘Advancing the Application of Rasch
Models to the Level of Tests –
Estimating Person Parameters
Independently of All Test
Parameters’— $210,000 (2011-13)
Winthrop Professor David Badcock,
Dr Mark Edwards, School of
Psychology, Australian National
University: ‘Form and Motion
Interactions in Human Motion
Perception’— $582,074 (2011-15)
Winthrop Professor Mohammed
Bennamoun, School of Computer
Science and Software Engineering: ‘A
3D Video‑based Vision system for
Future Robots’— $310,000 (2011-13)
Winthrop Professor Mohammed
Bennamoun, Dr Roberto Togneri,
School of Computer Science and
Software Engineering: ‘Development of
a 3D Audio Visual Next Generation
Speech Recognition System’—
$279,000 (2011-13)
Dr Britta Bienen, Winthrop
Professor Mark Cassidy, Centre for
Offshore Foundations Systems:
‘Predicting the Foundation
Performance of Offshore Jack Up
Drilling Rigs in Intermediate Soils’—
$330,000 (2011-14)
Professor Shaun Collin, Prof Trevor
D Lamb, Winthrop Professor David
Hunt, Emeritus Professor Ian Potter,
Associate Professor Nathan Hart,
School of Animal Biology, Murdoch
University, Australian National
University: ‘The Evolution of Light
Detection and its Impacts on Early
Vertebrate Evolution’— $375,000
(2011-13)
Winthrop Professor John Dell,
Professor Klaus Ploog, Professor
David Pulfrey, School of Electrical,
Electronic, and Computer Engineering,
University of British Columbia, Paul
Drude Institut fuer
Festkörperelektronik: ‘CdTe/Ge
Tandem-Junction Solar Cells for
Efficiency Enhancement in Thin‑Film
Photovoltaics’— $390,000 (2011-13)
Professor Raphael Didham, School
of Animal Biology: ‘Global Change and
Food Web Structure: Synergistic
Effects of Multiple Drivers of Global
Change on Species Interaction
Networks’— $330,000 (2011-13)
Associate Professor Kieran Dolin,
School of Social and Cultural Studies:
‘Australian Literature After Mabo’—
$152,988 (2011-13)
Dr Ullrich Ecker, Professor Murray
Maybery, Prof Gordon Brown,
Doctor Richard Henson, School of
Psychology, University of Warwick,
Medical Research Council: ‘Memory
Consolidation - Integrating Cognitive
Science and Neuroscience
Approaches to How We Remember
and How We Forget’— $422,000
(2011-14)
Winthrop Professor Cristina Gibson,
UWA Business School: ‘Identity and
Intimacy in a Virtual World: Designing
Meaningful, Responsible and Effective
Virtual Work’— $204,000 (2012-13)
Winthrop Professor Hong Hao, Dr
Guowei Ma, School of Civil and
Resource Engineering: ‘Development
of Design and Analysis Methods for
Blast-Resistant Window Structures’—
$240,000 (2011-13)
Winthrop Professor Stephen
Houghton, Dr Annemaree Carroll,
14
Prof John Hattie, A/Prof Rebecca
Ang, Carol Tan, Graduate School of
Education, University of Queensland,
University of Auckland, Nanyang
Technological University: ‘Structural
Relations of Loners Loneliness and
Antisocial Behaviour in Children and
Adolescents – Building a Conceptual
Model for Effective Intervention’—
$212,399 (2011-13)
Winthrop Professor Xiao Hu,
Professor Paul Ichim, School of
Dentistry, Oral Health Centre, School
of Mechanical and Chemical
Engineering: ‘Development of a HA
Containing Ceramic Composites Core
Dental Implant System with Effective
Variable Elastic Properties’— $230,000
(2011-13)
Associate Professor Mikhail
Kostylev, Doctor Rantej Bali,
Professor Sergey Samarin,
Winthrop Professor Robert Stamps,
Associate Professor Sergej
Demokritov, Professor Giovanni
Carlotti, Dr Adekunle Adeyeye, Dr
Oleksandr Serha, School of Physics,
National University of Singapore,
University of Munster, Max Planck
Institut fuer Mikrostrukturphysik,
University of Kaiserslautern, University
of Perugia: ‘Complex Magnetic
Structures for Microwave Logic and
Memory Applications’— $680,000
(2011-14)
Winthrop Professor Hans Lambers,
Associate Professor Patrick
Finnegan, Professor Hans Bohnert,
Professor John Cheeseman, Dr
Austin Mast, School of Plant Biology,
University of Florida, University of
Illinois at Urbana‑Champaign: ‘Is the
Extreme Phosphate Sensitivity Found
Among Australian Plants a
Consequence of their Adaptation to
a Severely Phosphate-Limited
Environment?’— $390,000 (2011-13)
Winthrop Professor Julie Lee,
Winthrop Professor Geoffrey Soutar,
Prof Jordan Louviere, Professor
Shalom Schwartz, UWA Business
School, University of Technology,
Sydney, Hebrew University of
Jerusalem: ‘Extending the theory and
Measurement of Personal Values and
Testing Relations of Values to Attitudes
and Behaviour’— $244,000 (2011-13)
Winthrop Professor Ian McLean,
Dr Darren Jorgensen, School of
Architecture, Landscape and Visual
Arts: ‘Mobilising Remote Aboriginal Art
Centre Records for Art History’—
$113,000 (2011-12)
Dr Kathryn McNamara, Professor
Nina Wedell, School of Animal
Biology, University of Melbourne,
University of Exeter: ‘Ecological
Immunity in the Lepidoptera –
Unravelling the Relationship between
Immune Function Sperm Quality and
Reproductive Success’— $315,000
(2011-13)
Dr Ajmal Mian, School of Computer
Science and Software Engineering:
‘Active Multispectral Computer Vision
for Defence and Security’— $724,000
(2011-15)
Professor Grant Morahan, UWA
Centre for Medical Research: ‘Rapid
Mapping of Genes for Complex
Traits’— $360,000 (2011-13)
Winthrop Professor Cheryl Praeger,
Prof Akos Seress, Professor Alice
Niemeyer, School of Mathematics and
Statistics, Ohio State University:
‘Symmetry and Computation’—
$210,000 (2011-13)
Associate Professor Alison Reid,
Winthrop Professor Jacqueline
Fritschi, A/Prof Anthony
LaMontagne, Doctor Seeromanie
Harding, Doctor Erik Lenguerrand,
UWA Centre for Medical Research,
University of Melbourne, Medical
Research Council: ‘Work Related Fatal
and Non Fatal Accidents and Injuries
and Exposure to Workplace Hazards
in Migrant Workers in Australia’—
$401,000 (2011-13)
Professor Mark Reynolds, School of
Computer Science and Software
Engineering: ‘Automation of Metric
Temporal Reasoning’— $255,000
(2011-13)
Winthrop Professor Peter
Robertson, Professor
Prema‑chandra Athukorala, UWA
Business School, Australian National
University: ‘Sustaining India’s
Economic Transformation – Challenges
Prospects and Implications for
Australia and the Pacific Region’—
$180,000 (2011-13)
Professor Gordon Royle, Doctor
Dillon Mayhew, Professor Geoffrey
Whittle, School of Mathematics and
Statistics, Victoria University of
Wellington: ‘Exact Structure in Graphs
and Matroids’— $300,000 (2011-13)
Professor Tim Sercombe, Dr
Anthony Roberts, Doctor Vivien
Challis, Assistant Professor
Laichang Zhang, Associate
Professor Joseph Grotowski,
Assistant Professor James Guest,
Professor Jurgen Eckert, School of
Mechanical and Chemical Engineering,
University of Queensland, Johns
Hopkins University, Leibniz Institute for
Solid State and Materials Research:
‘Porous Beta Titanium Bone Implants
Optimized for Strength and Bio
Compatibility: Design and
Fabrication’— $330,000 (2011-13)
Professor Leigh Simmons, School of
Animal Biology: ‘The Evolutionary
Biology of Seminal Fluid’— $1,075,000
(2011-15)
Professor Fiona Stanley, Melissa
O’Donnell, Doctor Natasha Nassar,
Associate Professor Ruth Gilbert,
Doctor Marni Brownell, UWA Centre
for Child Health Research, School of
Paediatrics and Child Health,
University of Sydney, University College
London, University of Manitoba:
‘Public Health Approach to Child
Abuse and Neglect – Antecedents
Outcomes and International
Comparisons of Trends’— $199,655
(2011-13)
Dr Elke Stroher, ARC Centre for Plant
Energy Biology, Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft:
‘Glutaredoxins as Agents of Redox
Homeostasis in Mitchondria and
Respiratory Associated Cell Functions
in Plants’— $245,538 (2011-13)
Winthrop Professor David
Sampson, Professor Brian Wilson,
School of Electrical, Electronic, and
Computer Engineering, University of
Toronto: ‘3D Optical Coherence
Tomography in Cancer’— $680,000
(2011-13)
Dr Olivier Van Aken, Associate
Professor Frank Van Breusegem,
ARC Centre for Plant Energy Biology,
Ghent University: ‘A Novel DNA Motif
Involved in Plant Mitochondrial Stress
Responses’— $256,655 (2011-14)
Dr Linqing Wen, Winthrop Professor
David Blair, Associate Professor
David Coward, Professor Peter
Quinn, Professor Alan Weinstein,
Professor Yanbei Chen, Dr Michel
Boer, Dr Patrick Sutton, Dr Kipp
Cannon, School of Physics, California
Institute of Technology, Cardiff
University, CNRS – Centre National de
la Recherche Scientifique: ‘Real Time
Signal Processing and Distributed
Robotic Telescope Networking for Co
Detection of Gravitational Waves and
their Optical Counterpart’— $545,000
(2011-15)
Winthrop Professor Dongke Zhang,
A/Professor Behdad Moghtaderi,
Associate Professor Vishnu Pareek,
Associate Professor Hong Yang,
Doctor Shaobin Wang, Dr Louis
Wibberley, School of Mechanical and
Chemical Engineering, Curtin
University of Technology, CSIRO,
University of Newcastle: ‘Production
Processing and Combustion of an
Innovative Slurry Fuel for High
Efficiency Distributed Power
Generation’— $300,000 (2011-13)
Associate Professor Tongming
Zhou, Winthrop Professor Liang
Cheng, Assistant Professor Ming
Zhao, School of Civil and Resource
Engineering: ‘Vortex and Force
Characteristics of an Inclined Cylinder
in Oscillatory Flows’— $248,000
(2011-13)
Doctor Simon Grabowsky, School of
Biomedical, Biomolecular and
Chemical Sciences, Free University of
Berlin: ‘Seeing Chemical Reactions:
Electron Pairing and Energetics Along
Pseudo-Reaction Pathways From
High-Resolution X-Ray Diffraction
Data’— $341,796 (2011-13)
Catherine Grueber, Associate
Professor Jonathan Evans, Dr John
Fitzpatrick, School of Animal Biology,
University of Otago: ‘Testing Current
Methods for Understanding and
Mitigating Inbreeding Depression in
Conservation’— $130,000 (2011-13)
ARC LINKAGE PROJECTS
Associate Professor Vincent
Wallace, Winthrop Professor Fiona
Wood, Dr Peter Siegel, Doctor Philip
Taday, Tom Walker, Padraig O’Kelly,
School of Physics, California Institute
of Technology, Royal Perth Hospital,
TeraView Ltd, T-Ray Science Inc: ‘A
New Technique for the Assessment of
Burns’— $270,000 (2011-13)
Winthrop Professor David Lloyd,
Professor David Smith, Professor
Jiake Xu, Associate Professor Bruce
Gardiner, Professor Thomas Kirk,
Assistant Professor Jonas
Rubenson, Winthrop Professor
Ming Zheng, School of Surgery,
School of Mechanical and Chemical
Engineering, School of Computer
Science and Software Engineering,
Sport Science, School of Exercise and
Health, University of Auckland, Sir
Charles Gairdner Hospital:
‘Bioengineered Bioscaffolds for
Achilles Tendinopathy Treatment’—
$840,000 (2011-14)
Winthrop Professor Timothy
Mazzarol, Winthrop Professor
Geoffrey Soutar, Winthrop Professor
Jillian Sweeney, Associate
Professor David Webb, Associate
Professor Jasmine Henry, Helen
Brock, Marina Cilona, Stephanie
Doeltsch, School of Electrical,
Electronic, and Computer Engineering,
UWA Business School, PureProfile,
WA Office of Energy, Synergy:
‘Enhancing Sustainable Energy Saving
Behaviour Through Communication –
A Longitudinal Study’— $180,000
(2011-12)
Professor Andre Luiten, Professor
Kenneth Baldwin, Professor Brian
Orr, Professor John Hartnett,
Professor Steven Tingay, Professor
John Dickey, Professor Peter Quinn,
Doctor Jonathan Lawrence, Philip
Light, Dr Richard Warrington, Guido
Aben, Ivan Philips, Dr Anastasios
Tzioumis, Dr Giorgio Santarelli,
Professor David McClelland,
UWA NEWS 15 November 2010The University of Western Australia
UWA News classified
Dr Vikram Sharma, Dr Peter Fisk,
School of Physics, Curtin University of
Technology, Australian National
University, CSIRO, University of
Tasmania, Macquarie University,
National Measurement Institute,
Observatoire de Paris, AARNet Pty
Ltd, QuintessenceLabs Pty Ltd:
‘Creating a National Time and
Frequency Network for Australia’—
$600,000 (2011-13)
Winthrop Professor David Pannell,
Prof John Rolfe, Professor Michael
Burton, Professor Jessica Meeuwig,
School of Agricultural and Resource
Economics, Central Queensland
University, Centre for Marine Futures,
Swan River Trust: ‘Do Scientist and
Public Preferences Diverge – Analysing
Expert and Public Preferences for
Environmental and Social Outcomes
for the Swan River’— $97,984
(2011-12)
Associate Professor Wallace
Cowling, Winthrop Professor Neil
Turner, Winthrop Professor
Kadambot Siddique, Assistant
Professor Matthew Nelson, Dr
Robert Furbank, Centre for Legumes
in Mediterranean Agriculture, School of
Plant Biology, CSIRO, Norddeutsche
Pflanzenzucht Hans‑Georg Lembke
KG, Council of Grain Growers
Organisation Ltd, Faculty Office –
Natural and Agricultural Sciences:
‘Improving Heat and Drought
Tolerance in Canola Through Genomic
Selection in Brassica Rapa’—
$200,000 (2011-13)
Dr Muhammad Hossain, Professor
Mark Randolph, Winthrop Professor
Mark Cassidy, Dr Okky Purwana, Dr
Matthew Quah, Centre for Offshore
Foundations Systems, Keppel Offshore
and Marine Pty Ltd: ‘Estimation of
Spudcan Penetration Resistance in
Stratified Soils Directly from Field
Penetrometer Data and Quantification
of Punch Through Risk’— $409,904
(2011-13)
Winthrop Professor Mohammed
Bennamoun, Assistant Professor
Jacqueline Alderson, Andrew Lyttle,
School of Computer Science and
Software Engineering, School of Sport
Science, Exercise and Health, Western
Australian Institute of Sport, Swimming
Australia, Australian Swimming
Coaches and Teachers Association
(ASCTA): ‘An Automatic Markerless
Three Dimensional Motion Analysis
System for Aquatic Environments’—
$254,329 (2011-13)
Assistant Professor Daniela Ciancio,
Winthrop Professor Andries Fourie,
Dr Charles Augarde, Stephen
Dobson, School of Civil and Resource
Engineering, University of Durham, WA
Department of Housing, Ramtec Pty
Ltd, Scott Smalley Partnership: ‘Use of
Rammed Earth in Aboriginal
Communities of Australia’— $233,354
(2011-13)
Professor Thompson McCuaig,
Winthrop Professor Mark Barley, Dr
Marco Fiorentini, Dr Anthony Kemp,
Professor John Miller, Doctor Elena
Belousova, Professor Mark Jessell,
Professor Kim Hein, Dr Graham
Begg, Janet Tunjic, Dr Thomas
Angerer, Dr Nuru Said, Dr Leon
Bagas, School of Earth and
Environment, James Cook University,
Macquarie University, Universite
Paul-Sabatier, Gold Fields Australasia
Pty Ltd, University of Witwatersrand,
Institut de Recherche pour le
Developpement, Minerals Targeting
International Pty Ltd, AMIRA
International Ltd, Anglogold Ashanti,
Northern Territory Geological Survey:
‘Four Dimensional Lithospheric
Evolution and Controls on Mineral
System Distribution in Neoarchean to
Paleoproterozoic Terranes’—
$1,620,000 (2011-13)
Winthrop Professor Gregory Ivey,
Assistant Professor Nicole Jones,
Associate Professor Ryan Lowe,
Geoffrey Wake, Jason McConochie,
School of Environmental Systems
Engineering, School of Earth and
Environment, Woodside Energy
Limited: ‘Ocean Response to Tropical
Cyclone Forcing on the Australian
North West Shelf’— $559,000
(2011-13)
Assistant Professor Jennifer
Rodger, Professor Sarah Dunlop, Dr
Rachel Sherrard, Lawrence Farrow,
Doctor Chin Joo Goh, School of
Anatomy and Human Biology, School
of Animal Biology, Université Pierre et
Marie Curie, Global Energy Medicine
Pty Ltd: ‘Studying the Impact of
Pulsed Magnetic Fields on Neural
Tissue’— $260,000 (2011-13)
Associate Professor Stephen
Humphry, Winthrop Professor David
Andrich, Graduate School of
Education, Australian Curriculum
Assessment and Reporting Authority,
WA Curriculum Council: ‘Controlling
Empirical Factors to Measure
Educational Achievement in Invariant
Units’— $445,000 (2011-13)
COUNCIL OF GRAIN GROWER
ORGANISATIONS LTD COGGO
NPZ PEA FOUNDATION
Professor Timothy Colmer, Centre
for Legumes in Mediterranean
Agriculture, School of Plant Biology:
‘Physiological and Molecular
Characterisation of Salinity Tolerance in
Chickpea’— $25,000 (2010)
DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN
AFFAIRS AND TRADE – ACIAR
Dr William Erskine, Dr Kenneth
Flower, Centre for Legumes in
Mediterranean Agriculture, Faculty of
Natural and Agricultural Sciences,
School of Plant Biology: ‘Introduction
of Short Duration Pulses into Rice
Based Cropping Systems in Western
Bangladesh’— $1,987,033 (2011-15)
OVE ARUP AND PARTNERS HONG
KONG LIMITED
Winthrop Professor Barry Lehane,
School of Civil and Resource
Engineering, Centre for Offshore
Foundations Systems: ‘CLP
Meteorological Mast Instrumentation
System for Suction Caissons’—
$23,000 (2010-10)
RURAL INDUSTRIES RESEARCH
AND DEVELOPMENT
CORPORATION
Assistant Professor Katherine
Hammer, School of Biomedical,
Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences:
‘PSE Symposium on Terpenes
Application, Activity and Analysis
– Kate Hammer’— $2,160 (2010-10)
Classifieds
TO LET
COMO: Fully furnished, 3 bedroom, 2
bathroom house in Como. 15 minutes
drive from UWA. For 1 year in first
instance starting January 2011. $550
per week excluding utilities. Contact:
[email protected]
MOUNT LAWLEY: A spacious
two-bedroom apartment (96m2) for
lease from January 2011. The
apartment can be rented fully furnished
or empty, as required. A year’s or six
months’ lease is preferred, but offers
of shorter leases will be considered.
Floorboards, newly renovated
bathroom, beautiful fifth-floor view to
Perth CBD, and public transport at the
The University of Western Australia
doorstep. Call 0413 491 342 or email:
[email protected]
SHENTON PARK: Unfurnished family
home for rent. $600 per week. Well
presented, freshly painted house
available. For long term lease from 12
November 2010. 4 bedrooms and 1
bathroom with separate toilet. Large
kitchen with separate family and
lounge room. Reticulated yard and
garden with lawn maintained by owner.
Air conditioning to master bedroom
and family room. Ceiling fans to 3
bedrooms. Alarm system installed.
Pets OK. Great location close to UWA,
Kings Park, Subiaco and Hospitals.
Contact: 0419 191 220.
FRANCE – South West Holiday
accommodation. Self-contained
apartment in one of the most beautiful
Medieval Villages of the Perigord Noir,
BELVES. For more details see website:
http://belves.info/ or contact Susana
Howard Ext 8669; H 9246 5042;
email: [email protected]
FRANCE – Self-contained stone
cottage in charming SW village of
Treignac with terrace overlooking
sunsets across a forest. 2 bedrooms,
sleeps 4, $100 per night. Also 1
bedroom apartment below, $70 per
night. Contact Kate on 9387 5015 or
email [email protected]
FOR SALE
Equipment: Light table. A0 size, on
stand. Excellent condition. $500 ono.
Contact Ext 2150 or david.kennedy@
uwa.edu.au
Honda “Today” scooter, $990. 50 cc
engine, red color, electric start, auto
transmission, gloves, helmet and
protective cover. 7,300 km, very good
condition. Registration 10/2010. Call
Krish at 6488 7314 or email krisht@
cyllene.uwa.edu.au
Bed, King size. $130. Wooden,
antique style and mattress good
condition. Call Krish at 6488 7314 or
email [email protected]
BRIDGETOWN: Bargain! Half acre
block in Bridgetown. Huge 2164
square meter. $170,000 or nearest
offer. Contact Julie: 0411 522 007
or Catherine: [email protected] for
information. Location 1km from centre
of town. One hour drive to Margaret
River or to Bunbury.
HOUSESITTING
Canadian academic couple visiting
UWA would like to arrange to
house-sit for two months in early
2011. The dates are flexible, but
February and March are preferred.
We are non-smokers visiting without
children or pets, but have cared for our
own home, pets, garden, etc, for many
years. Email: venus@physics.
mcmaster.ca
ACCOMMODATION/SHARE
HOUSE
FLOREAT: Guy mature professional,
non-smoker, neat, clean wanted to
share modern home with quiet owner.
Furnished facilities available: spacious
bedroom and cupboards, private
bathroom and sitting/meals area. Linen
available if required. Includes cleaning.
$200 + expenses. Phone 9387 5182
or 0447 639 378.
WANTED
Work required over summer for
postgraduate student. Reliable and
trustworthy mature student interested
in the following: gardening, office,
administration, accounting and clerical
and marketing. Reasonable rate.
Contact or text: 0416 171 217 or
phone: 9389 9817.
Redundant Equipment
2 x IBM R60e Laptop Laptop bag included. No warranty or
support. Best offers considered. Age
4+. Condition 2 (one with no battery).
The Rural Clinical School of WA
(SPARHC). Senthil Rajasekaran,
[email protected]
1 x IBM R52 Laptop
Laptop bag included. No warranty or
support. Best offer considered. Age
4+. Condition 2. The Rural Clinical
School of WA (SPARHC). Senthil
Rajasekaran, senthil.rajasekaran@uwa.
edu.au
1 x IBM R60e Laptop
Laptop bag included. No warranty or
support. Best offer considered. Age
4+. Condition 3 (no battery, LCD
screen broken, requires external
monitor). The Rural Clinical School of
WA (SPARHC). Senthil Rajasekaran,
[email protected]
1 x IBM R60e Laptop
Laptop bag included. No warranty or
support. Best offer considered. Age
4+. Condition 4 (Dead. Suitable for
spare parts only). The Rural Clinical
School of WA (SPARHC). Senthil
Rajasekaran, senthil.rajasekaran@uwa.
edu.au
2 x IBM T30 Laptops
Laptop bag included. No wireless,
warranty or support. Best offers
considered. Age 5+. Condition 2. The
Rural Clinical School of WA (SPARHC).
Senthil Rajasekaran, senthil.
[email protected]
In a campus
emergency
dial 2222
Data Collection Services
SAVANT specialises in fast, accurate, and
cost-effective data collection using the latest in
sophisticated technology for online surveys and
computer scannable questionnaires
SAVANT services include:
> Research Design, Question Development, Questionnaire Design
> Print Production and Distribution
> Scanned Data Collection (1000 double-sided pages/hour)
> Online Data Collection
> Manual Data Entry
> Statistical Analysis and Reporting
SAVANT has assisted with over 50 NHMRC, ARC, UWA-funded
and postgraduate research projects
For further information, please contact:
Dr Shane Langsford or Jeanette McQueen
Suite 14, 37 Brown St, EAST PERTH, WA 6004
(08) 9325 1500 | www.savant.net.au
UWA NEWS 15 November 2010
15
the last word …
by Alexandra Thornton
Being students at UWA provides us with the foundations
and support to take on absolutely anything.
When an interesting idea or possibly rewarding concept comes
to mind, you should take hold of it and run, run, run!
That’s exactly what a group of seven UWA Fogarty Scholars did
last semester when planning a weeklong cultural awareness trip
to the Pilbara. The inaugural trip was organised by a small
committee of scholars, headed by Thomas Williams.
A common endeavour of most UWA Fogarty Scholars is the
empowerment of young people, using direct participation to
inform others of local issues and to promote awareness and
effect positive changes. This was what we hoped to achieve on
the trip.
As real city-slickers we wanted to broaden our understanding
of what it’s like to live in a rural area and what issues affect both
the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, with a focus
on those affecting the youth. A key aim of ours was to find out
more about Indigenous culture and about what is being done to
help reduce the disparity between Indigenous and nonIndigenous Australian living standards and quality of life.
As none of us initially had any connections with the Pilbara, and
they would be imperative to the success of the trip, we had to
go about forging connections with various groups which would
enable us to achieve our goals. Often young people find it
intimidating to approach large corporations to ask for
assistance, when they have little to give in return, but this is
what we did, and it resulted in many invaluable connections
being made. The planning and undertaking of the trip involved
cooperation with a number of different bodies, who all assisted
in making the trip the success it was. These groups included
mining companies Woodside and Fortescue Metals Group, the
State Government Departments of Corrective Services and the
Attorney General, as well as the regional school, and hospital.
We based ourselves in Karratha and spent time meeting with
and talking to people from many different walks of life, and so
encountered different perspectives on the issues of the region.
During the trip many common stereotypes were completely
shattered.
We started with a tour of Roebourne District Prison where many
prisoners were working to learn a trade.
16
Fogarty Scholars at the Fortescue River (from left): Imogen
Forbes-Macphail, Alexandra Thornton (author), Stephanie Sim,
Robert Thomas, Ryan Steed and Neil Thomas, with Brian Wilson,
superintendent Roebourne District Prison (standing).
The photograph was taken by Fogarty Scholar Thomas Williams,
who is now studying in China.
The afternoon spent at the primary and secondary schools in
Roebourne was one of the most memorable, as interacting with
kids closer to our own age provides a completely different
perspective on life.
We were also able to meet people from the health, justice and
mining sectors, finding out about the programs that are making
positive headway in the region, and about what still isn’t being
done to resolve major issues or is being done ineffectively.
We were fortunate enough to speak to many members of the
Yindjibarndi people, who gave us an insight into their culture
and way of life, as well as their conflicts with the Government
and mining companies over their welfare and land.
It was great to have our eyes opened to just a few of the
problems inherent in today’s society, to remind us of the
positive changes we, as the decision-makers of tomorrow, will
get the opportunity to implement in the future.
This trip would most definitely not have been possible without
the generous support of Jon Stubbs (Director of Student
Services) and the Fogarty Foundation, who showed so much
support for our idea and provided sponsorship for the trip.
There is no doubt that this support has helped remind us that
there are an infinite number of directions in which a university
education can take us.
UWA NEWS
EDITOR/WRITER: Lindy Brophy, Public Affairs
Tel: 6488 2436 Fax: 6488 1020
Email: [email protected]
Hackett Foundation Building, M360
Director of Public Affairs: Doug Durack
Tel: 6488 2806 Fax: 6488 1020
Designed and printed by UniPrint, UWA
UWA News online: http://uwanews.publishing.uwa.edu.au/
UWA NEWS 15 November 2010The University of Western Australia
UniPrint 82520
Taking on
the world –
starting in
the Pilbara