JULY 2009
JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY
Toads with fins
Can science save our fisheries
from tilapia?
More rice
Changing the rice plant to fill
more bowls
Islam and tax
How tax reform could attract
Muslim investors
www.jcu.edu.au/discover
Cover: Research worker Matthew Knott (front) and Dr Damien Burrows
netting for tilapia. Photograph by Through the Looking Glass Photography.
Bad fish
4
Tilapia are aggressive, harassing and chasing other
fish. These voracious eaters can dominate water
bodies and overwhelm our fisheries.
Islam and investment
6
Tax reform could help encourage investment in
Australia by oil-rich states, as well as signalling
Australia’s understanding of Islam.
Battling on
We are gearing up for next year’s
celebrations of our 40th birthday
as an autonomous university. But
did you know that May 19, next
year, will be the 50th anniversary
of the formal establishment of
University College, Townsville?
The then Minister for Education,
the Hon J.C.A. Pizzey, laid the
foundation stone two days later,
and the College was officially
opened by Premier Nicklin on
February 27, 1961.
Nine years later on April 20, 1970,
on the oval at the Douglas campus,
the Queen proclaimed the Act
establishing James Cook University.
That Act – the James Cook
University of North Queensland
Act - stated our function was
to ‘meet the special needs
of the community’ which the
then Minister for Education,
A.R. Fletcher, noted during the
parliamentary debate ‘almost
restates the principle of serving the
interests of north Queensland’.
It is quite clear from those initial
debates that the University was to
have a special interest not only in
and for northern Queensland but
also for the people of the tropics.
We were Queensland’s second
university and the only university
in Australia in the tropics and we
have played an important role in
knowledge creation and knowledge
sharing in both areas of ‘special
interest’ throughout our history.
The report we recently released
on the economic impact of
the University on our region
reveals another aspect of the
continuing influence the University
community has.
In 2008, the year examined by the
report, JCU’s economic value to the
north Queensland economy was
$445 million. We provided 3.4 per
cent of the Townsville economy
and 3.4 per cent of the total
employment.
In Cairns, where our footprint
is smaller but growing, we
contributed one per cent of the
economy and 0.7 per cent of the
total employment. Our students
spent a total of $139 million.
None of this would have happened
were Cairns and Townsville not
university cities.
For almost 50 years, James Cook
University has been an important
part of the northern Queensland
community and from here has
reached out to the world. We
have deliberately chosen to be a
research-intensive university and
we have fulfilled the ambitious
goal given us all those years ago, of
providing for the special interests
of the community and the people
of the tropics.
May the light that has shone for the
past 50 years be ever increasing.
Sandra Harding Vice-Chancellor
2
JULY 2009
7
JCU medical students had a close encounter with
army life and battlefield medicine in a training
exercise at Lavarack Barracks.
First physios
8
The first physiotherapists to graduate from JCU are
now hard at work in the public and private health
sectors.
More rice
9
The world is hungry for rice and Professor Jim Burnell
is part of an international effort to grow more, while
using less fertiliser and water.
Bachelor pads
10
Male bowerbirds display their treasures in elaborate
galleries to attract potential mates. In their spare
time, some also impersonate cats.
Thesis on track
13
Postgraduate history student Dave Phoenix wore out
two pairs of boots while researching his thesis on the
ill-fated explorers Burke and Wills.
More creativity
14
Improvisation, acting, digital imaging, writing for live
performance, putting on a show – Creative Industries
students can pursue their passions.
Working the labs
17
Technical Officer Marg Greer enjoys working with
scorpions, toads, centipedes and world-leading
researchers in Tropical and Marine Biology.
In Print
18
A handbook for entrepreneurs, why the wet tropics
rocks, and the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef: new
books by JCU writers.
Volume 3 No 1
Discover is published by James Cook University.
Editor: Linden Woodward
Contributors: Erik Boman, Helen Cook, Jo Meehan, Fiona Melder, Jim O’Brien,
Andrew Rankin, Narelle Reece, Cheryl Robertson,
Through the Looking Glass Photography, Elizabeth Tuckett, Sue Wellwood.
Design: Twocan Multimedia
Advertising enquiries: [email protected]
Online: www.jcu.edu.au/discover ISSN: 1835-2464
Nemo: lost again
Nemo, the lovable clownfish
of movie fame, may be unable
to find his way home as carbon
emissions cause the world’s
oceans to acidify.
Like many reef and coastal fish,
clownfish (Amphiprion percula) are
swept off their home reefs into the
open ocean as tiny babies and use
their acute sense of smell to find
their way back again.
“When seawater becomes more
acidic, clownfish lose the sense
of smell that guides them home,”
said Dr Philip Munday. “The
consequences for sea life are
potentially devastating.”
Dr Munday is QEII Fellow and
Principal Research Fellow in JCU’s
School of Marine and Tropical
Biology and Research Fellow with
the ARC Centre of Excellence for
Coral Reef Studies based at the
University.
“When seawater becomes more
acidic, clownfish lose the sense of
smell that guides them home”
When raised in normal seawater,
clownfish are strongly attracted
to scents from anemones on their
home reefs and tropical rainforest
trees on nearby land. They avoid
the smell of swamp trees or tropical
grasses, which grow near habitat
less suited to their needs.
But research has shown that
clownfish reared at levels of
seawater acidity that could occur
by 2100 were attracted to a range
of environmental smells, including
those they normally avoided.
Those reared in seawater at pH
7.6 showed no response to scent
cues at all – a situation that could
arise in the second half of the next
century with elevated CO2 and
reduced seawater pH.
The results show for the first time
that ocean acidification could alter
the behaviour of marine organisms
during critical stages of their life
history.
“This is a disturbing finding,
because the tiny larvae of many
coastal fish probably rely on scent
cues in the water to locate adult
habitat,” said Dr Munday, lead
author of a paper published in the
Proceedings of the US National
Academy of Science.
“Any disruption to their ability to
navigate could have far-reaching
implications for the future of these
fish populations.”
The paper, Ocean acidification
impairs olfactory discrimination
and homing ability of a marine
fish, was published by a team
of researchers from James Cook,
Moscow and Oslo Universities.
The researchers said at least 30
per cent of the human-generated
carbon dioxide released into the
atmosphere in the past 200 years
had been absorbed by the oceans.
Fishy fellows
JCU Senior Research Fellow
Dr Morgan Pratchett was presented
to the Prime Minister and the
board of the American Australian
Association at a special dinner in
Sydney in February.
The American Australian
Association is a non-profit
organisation, which awards
fellowships to American and
Australian scientists to undertake
research in the reciprocal country.
Dr Pratchett has been awarded
one of the Association’s Sir Keith
Murdoch Fellowships to further his
research into the effects of climate
change on the biodiversity and
productivity of coral reef systems.
Also presented at the dinner
was Dr Michael Berumen, a
research scientist at the Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institute,
who will undertake postdoctoral
research at JCU with the Centre of
Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.
Danielle Dixon, from Minnesota,
commenced her PhD at JCU in
January, investigating juvenile
clownfish. D
He will undertake his fellowship at
the National Coral Reef Institute in
Florida, and is one of six Australian
academics awarded Sir Keith
Murdoch Fellowships in 2008-09.
D
From left, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Rupert Murdoch and Morgan Pratchett.
www.jcu.edu.au/discover
3
government and environmental
organisations to contain and
control tilapia.
“They are incredibly aggressive
towards other fish, they harass
and chase them,” Dr Burrows said.
“They’re voracious eaters and will
eat anything from mud to plant
material and other fish. They can
dominate water bodies.”
How bad can a fish be?
“Without significant
intervention, tilapia will take
over our northern rivers. They
have the potential to overwhelm
our native fish populations and
their habitats.”
Two species of tilapia were
introduced to different areas
in Australia between 1977 and
1981. Since then the Mozambique
mouth-brooder has become
the dominant tilapia species in
Queensland’s northern waterways,
inhabiting the Barron, RussellMulgrave, Johnstone and upper
Herbert Rivers, Cooktown’s
Endeavour River, the Burdekin and
waterways around Townsville. A
second species, the spotted cichlid,
occurs only around Cairns and the
Atherton Tableland.
Tilapia have the potential to
overwhelm fish habitats
Dr Burrows is coordinating a
massive project that aims to
confine the populations of
tilapia, one of Australia’s greatest
environmental pests. Increasing
public awareness of the threat
that tilapia pose to our fisheries is
central to those efforts.
“They are incredibly
aggressive towards
other fish, they harass
and chase them”
4
JULY 2009
ACTFR researchers were part
of the largest freshwater fish
management project ever
undertaken in Queensland,
organised by the Queensland
Department of Primary Industries
and Fisheries.
“It was decided to treat a fivekilometre stretch of the creek with
rotenone, a fish poison derived
from plant extracts, traditionally
used by Indigenous people to catch
fish,” Dr Burrows explained.
In total, 31 tilapia were removed
from the creek. “That might not
seem a lot, but in other sites we’ve
spent months trying to remove
several hundred tilapia through
repeated fishing efforts.”
The area has been monitored
closely since the project. There
has been no sighting of tilapia in
Eureka Creek since the treatment,
and native fish species have
recovered well. “I can’t overstate
the importance of the Eureka
Creek effort,” Dr Burrows said. “It
appears to have saved the Gulf of
Carpentaria rivers from invasion.”
That’s the warning from Dr Damien
Burrows, Director of the Australian
Centre for Tropical Freshwater
Research at James Cook University.
“With greater public awareness, we
can stop it. We can save our rivers
from this pest,” Dr Borrows says.
“But preaching about controlling
tilapia isn’t enough. We need to
explain why it’s so important to
control this fish.”
west of Mareeba on the Atherton
Tableland. “Eureka Creek is a
tributary of the Mitchell River,
and the Mitchell flows across
Cape York Peninsula to the Gulf of
Carpentaria, so we had to find a
way to stop that population getting
established.”
Ironically, the traits that make this
fish a pest in Australia also make it
popular in aquaculture. More than
100 countries farm tilapia and it is
the third most commonly cultured
fish species, after carp and salmon.
Tilapia, described by Dr Burrows
as ‘cane toads of the waterways’,
are aggressive, hardy and vigorous
fish with a high tolerance for poor
conditions. These characteristics
make them the perfect pest.
A critical concern for the ACTFR
team is the danger that the
fish will spread into the Gulf of
Carpentaria and further into the
Northern Territory’s water systems.
“Currently, there are no viable
options for eliminating existing
populations, so all effort is on
preventing new infestations from
getting established,” Dr Burrows.
The Australian Centre for Tropical
Freshwater Research (ACTFR)
works with more than 40 other
Alarm bells rang when, in 2008,
a new population was detected
in Eureka Creek about 50km
“They’re widely aquacultured
because they’re fast breeders and
they eat anything and everything,”
Dr Burrows said. “However in
countries like the USA, where they
are the second most cultured fish,
they have also become a problem
fish.
“In Australia the environmental
and economic costs of tilapia as
a pest far outweigh any benefits
they might have as an aquaculture
product.” D
— Jo Meehan
Photography: Through the Looking
Glass Photography
Aquatic ecologist Damien Burrows takes a closer look at a tilapia
D
Tilapia – toads with fins
ACTFR’s Damien Burrows (left) and Matthew Knott, with the fish
they aim to contain
www.jcu.edu.au/discover
5
OPINION
Justin Dabner is an
Associate Professor in
the School of Law at
James Cook University
in Cairns. His research
focuses on international
comparative taxation law.
Recent research into the
impact of Australian tax on
investment into Australia
from Islamic states has
been the subject of an
award winning paper and
submission to the Federal
Government.
Associate Professor Justin Dabner. Montage by Sue Wellwood.
Islam:
an opportunity
Most of the investments in the East
a result, the return on Shariah-
The recharacterisation of interest
are in familiar areas – real estate,
compliant investment products is
can have tax implications for
energy, tourism and infrastructure
effectively recharacterised as rent
investors. Shariah-compliant
Whilst many in the West
view Islam as a threat, a
more enlightened minority
appreciate the economic
opportunity presented by the
rich, oil-producing, Arab states.
– and in some cases are guided
or profit, rather than interest.
investment structures can suffer
by familiarity with the investment
The amount of wealth being
accumulated in these nations
cannot be overstated. The Gulf’s
GDP in 2006 was US$600 billion;
double the level of 2002. Current
account surpluses have totalled
about US$500 billion in the four
years to 2007.
destination.
The development of these products
and structures has come to be
This is where Australia has a
known as Islamic finance, and
particular opportunity. Australia
Singapore, Malaysia and Hong
already enjoys a healthy trade
Kong, amongst others, are vying to
relationship with
the region. Exports
from Australia to the
United Arab Emirates
are growing at more
than twice the rate of
Australian exports to
the world.
Shariah (Islamic)
law prohibits an
investor from earning
interest. As a result,
the return on Shariahcompliant investment
products is effectively
recharacterised as rent
or profit, rather than
interest.
for an income tax penalty because
the recharacterised returns are
This entrenched
competition,
together with
Australia’s limited
Muslim population
and expertise in
in the Australian government
When the sons and daughters
of wealthy Arabs studying in the
West experienced a backlash after
September 11, and some Western
countries froze Arab investment
funds, the investment focus turned
from the West to the East. In
particular, substantial investment
funds were pulled out of the
advantages we must appreciate
recognising the nuances of
that there is intense competition
Shariah-compliant investment
for Arab investment. Singapore
structures, to encourage
and Malaysia have been proactive,
investment in the country
amending their regulatory and
generally.
United States.
JULY 2009
Where the investment is cross-
finance centres.
To successfully leverage off these
6
earning GST-exempt interest.
border, then there is also potential
Shariah law, probably
holiday destination for Gulf
makes it unrealistic for us to
citizens and Australia hosts an
compete to be an Islamic finance
increasing number of students
centre.
tax regimes to accommodate the
liability arising from prohibition on
as global Islamic
Oil-generated wealth has funded
massive developments, in the Gulf
region and throughout the world.
Offshore investments, however, are
increasingly going in a different
direction to that traditionally
taken.
from Arab states.
there can be an additional GST
establish themselves
The Gold Coast has
become a significant
multiple stamp duty liabilities, and
Nevertheless, there may be merit
likely to be assessed at (higher)
marginal rates of tax, rather than
at the (lower) final withholding tax
rate applicable to interest.
The Australian Government is
currently reviewing the tax regime
applying to Islamic finance.
Given that traditional sources of
capital have all but dried up with
the global economic crisis, any
amendments to the law that may
accommodate additional sources
of finance are to be welcome.
The real value in such amendments
might be the message that it would
send to the Islamic region about
Australia’s cultural understanding
These changes would not be
and preparedness to accommodate
difficult, and should be viewed as
Islamic principles. This is a chance
Shariah (Islamic) law prohibits an
the removal of an anomaly, rather
to send the right message to the
investor from earning interest. As
than as a tax concession.
increasingly influential Arab world. D
nuances of Islamic investment.
Human rights and climate change
Indigenous Employment
Coordinator Janine Gertz is back
from New York with experience
to share.
She was part of the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander delegation
to the United Nations Permanent
Forum on Indigenous Issues in May.
A Gugu Badhun and Ngadjon Jii
woman originally from Malanda,
Ms Gertz now works at JCU in
Townsville as well as undertaking
community work.
“It was largely a learning
experience, but I had input into
the interventions put forward by
the Indigenous delegation on a
wide range of human rights issues
affecting Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people,” she said.
“I’m particularly passionate
about having input into issues
including the impacts of climate
change on Australia’s Indigenous
population and the ongoing fight
for the repayment of the wages
of Indigenous workers still being
held by State Governments around
Australia, including Queensland.”
Ms Gertz said she was working
with the Gugu Badhun people to
develop and implement a social
and business enterprise plan, with
the aim of building partnerships
and opportunities with local
industry.
“Attending the forum was an
opportunity for me to connect my
role as Indigenous Employment
Coordinator and the community
work I’m currently involved in at
the local level, with the universal
experiences of the world’s
indigenous peoples,” she said.
“It has also helped develop my
Janine Gertz
lobbying and advocacy skills
in the international arena. I’m
looking forward to sharing my
skills and knowledge with the local
Indigenous community now that
I’m back.”
The Eighth Session focused
on implementing the
recommendations of the previous
year’s session which had as its
theme ‘climate change, biocultural diversity and livelihoods:
the stewardship role of indigenous
peoples and new challenges’.
Ms Gertz said that her participation
in the forum was made possible
by support and sponsorship from
the Australian Human Rights
Commission and JCU. D
Exporting tropical expertise
“The projected global tropical economy
is $US40 trillion, more than 20 times
Australia’s economy”
An organisation that aims to
maximise Australia’s slice of
the global tropical economy was
launched in Townsville in April.
Bloody study
Australian Army Medic Private Shayne Jorgensen and JCU medical student
Lauren Brownhalls. © Newspix
Medical students witnessed
dramatic rescues of wounded
soldiers, battlefield triage and
emergency first-aid during
Blood on the Base.
Lavarack Barracks Medical Centre
senior nursing officer, Major Greg
O’Connor, said one aim of the
day was to encourage students to
consider careers in the Defence
Force.
The annual training exercise at
Townsville’s Lavarack Barracks
allows defence personnel to
showcase their skills and the
Barracks’ health and medical
capabilities.
“We make it as realistic as we can,
with mock patients being rescued
and medical decisions being made
as they would on the battlefield,”
he said.
Students observed a series of
exercises, including the use of the
jaws of life to extract casualties
from Army vehicles.
TropLinks is a network of research
bodies, companies, industry groups
and economic development
organisations with a specific
interest in issues affecting the
tropics.
“That growth will drive parallel
growth in knowledge-intensive
industries supplying products
and services in areas such as
health, agriculture, education and
infrastructure.
“With our excellent tropical
research and expertise and our vast
tropical footprint, Australia has the
potential to secure a large slice of
this economic pie.
Board member and JCU ViceChancellor, Professor Sandra
Harding, believes TropLinks will
be the engine powering the
research, development and export
of Australia’s tropical expertise to
the world.
“The aim is to connect researchers,
companies and investors who
will together build the industry
and combine their knowledge to
develop the products and services
sought by the tropical world,”
Professor Harding said.
“The projected global tropical
economy is $US40 trillion, more
than 20 times Australia’s economy,”
Professor Harding said.
TropLinks is supported by the
Department of Employment,
Economic Development and
Innovation. D
“It’s good practice for our health
staff, as an adjunct to their
training. And it usually inspires a
few students to consider careers in
defence.” D
www.jcu.edu.au/discover
7
Crust, hearts
and arteries
Honouring a champion
James Cook University has
honoured a great champion
of rural education with the
establishment of the Pearl Logan
Chair in Rural Education.
Lady Pearl Logan MBE has devoted
almost 50 years to rural education.
Professor Chris Cocklin
James Cook University has
received more than $4m from
the Australian Research Council’s
National Competitive Grants
Program (NCGP) and the National
Health and Medical Research
Council (NHMRC) for 2009.
The NCGP projects, beginning in
2009 and worth more than $2
million, cover a range of areas
including geology, anthropology,
ecology and evolution, chemistry,
engineering and the biological
sciences.
The School of Earth and
Environmental Sciences will lead
an investigation into the possibility
of formation of mineral by fluid
flow through the interfaces of the
Earth’s crust.
JCU was also awarded more than
$2 million by the NHMRC. The
projects include an investigation
into the relationship between
obesity and the weakening of
arteries, and the development
of an improved solution used in
the transportation of hearts for
transplants.
The School of Veterinary and
Biomedical Sciences received two
NHMRC grants, totalling more than
$750,000. One of the projects
funded is an investigation of the
early events that contribute to
heart damage following rheumatic
fever.
JCU’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor for
Research and Innovation, Professor
Chris Cocklin, said the successful
projects focused on the University’s
goal of providing a brighter future
for the tropics.
“JCU’s success in this very tough
competition is a reflection of our
excellence in research and of the
importance of research for the
tropics,” Professor Cocklin said.
D
8
JULY 2009
“In a relatively young and
decentralised state such as
Queensland, rural education
has been a real challenge, and
Lady Logan’s contribution is a
particularly significant one,” said
JCU Vice-Chancellor Professor
Sandra Harding.
“She has understood the critical
importance of educational
opportunities to rural children
and their parents, and has worked
tirelessly to ensure that young
people in rural areas are able to
nurture their talents and pursue
their dreams.”
Lady Pearl Logan MBE with Professor Neil Anderson.
“The Bradley Review makes it clear
there are enormous difficulties
with the provision of education in
regional and remote areas,” she
said.
“Establishing this special Chair,
which will enable further
development, research and
teaching in the field of rural
education, presages the direction
higher education will take in
Australia if the Bradley Review
recommendations are accepted by
the Government.”
Professor Anderson to extend
his research in rural and remote
education,” Professor Harding said.
“His research to date includes the
use of information communication
technology, or ICT, in remote
education. Importantly, he has also
investigated ways to ensure that
rural students have access to the
growing employment opportunities
that require ICT expertise.”
“The appointment will enable
Professor Anderson said it was
important to encourage the best
quality education graduates to
work in rural areas. “Becoming
a teacher in a rural area enables
graduates to make a critical
difference, because they contribute
not just to their school but also to
the wider community.” D
The first physiotherapists to
graduate from JCU are now hard
at work in the public and private
health sectors.
The newly accredited course began
in 2005 and aims to address the
shortages in the health workforce,
particularly in regional locations.
teach our students a wide range of
skills including health promotion
and population health skills,” Ms
Jones said.
Anne Jones, Head of Physiotherapy,
said the 44 graduates headed off
to jobs throughout Australia after
their Townsville
graduation ceremony
in December.
“Physiotherapists in rural and
remote areas generally need to
have a broad knowledge, so we
“Our students have invested a lot
into the program and my highlight
of the last four years has been
watching students grow, develop
and learn.” D
Professor Harding said that JCU’s
initiative in establishing the Chair
in Rural Education was given
further impetus by the Bradley
Review of Australian Higher
Education.
Professor Neil Anderson, Professor
of Education at JCU in Cairns, has
been appointed to the Pearl Logan
Chair in Rural Education.
First physios
“A large number are
now working in
northern Queensland
but we also had quite
a few go to jobs
interstate,” she said.
Newly graduated physiotherapists Sarah Gleeson, Alaina Krumins and Jessica Sandilands. © Newspix
The world ate 423 million tonnes
of rice in 2007
Professor Jim Burnell hopes to fill the world’s rice bowl. Photography by Andrew Rankin.
Helping rice work harder
For more than 20 years Jim
Burnell has had food on his
mind. Or, to be more specific,
rice.
Professor Burnell is one of a
group of international researchers
working to increase the rice plant’s
ability to photosynthesise, thereby
boosting its growth rate.
The project is being run by the
International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) and is supported by
a US $11m grant from the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation.
“The aim, which we expect will
take about ten years, is to develop
a rice plant that can yield up to
50 per cent more product, but use
less fertiliser and water,” Professor
Burnell said.
After first raising the idea among
his colleagues in 1986, he has
worked on developing the concept
and method ever since.
Certainly, the world is hungry for
rice. In 2007, global consumption
was 423 million tonnes. “With
the world’s population expected
to increase by at least 50 per
cent in the next 50 years, a more
productive rice plant could help
food supplies keep pace,” Professor
Burnell said.
molecules with four carbon atoms.
world’s poorest countries.
“The key difference from our point
of view is that C4 plants are able to
convert carbon dioxide into glucose
more efficiently. Many weeds are
C4 plants, but so are sugar cane
and corn.
About 25 scientists from around
the globe are working on the
project, each pursuing a specific
area of responsibility. Professor
Burnell’s task is to determine
what role the enzyme carbonic
anhydrase could play in the
photosynthetic process.
“Our ultimate aim is to manipulate
the biochemical pathway that rice
uses to convert carbon dioxide into
glucose, making it a more efficient
plant and a more economical crop.”
“It would require similar
conditions to sugar cane
– high light intensities and warm
temperatures – but it would have
greater economic return than
sugar. So it would be a perfect crop
for the tropics.”
“This is a natural extension to my
earlier work determining the gene
sequence of carbonic anhydrase in
plants,” he said.
Making rice more productive is
all about carbon. Rice, like most
plants on earth, is a C3 plant; in
the process of assimilating carbon
dioxide it forms molecules with
three carbon atoms. The next most
prevalent group, C4 plants, form
Professor Burnell’s mission is to
find the best way to alter the
location of carbonic anhydrase in
rice, to help maximise the plant’s
photosynthetic rate.
“It’s located in the wrong
intracellular compartment to allow
it to function efficiently. Moving it
is my part of the puzzle.”
Professor Burnell hopes that in
addition to feeding the hungry, the
new modified rice crop could have
economic potential for some of the
The scientists, who hail from the
United States, Britain, Germany,
China, Canada, the Australian
National University and CSIRO,
will meet annually to discuss their
findings. The project is being
run out of the Philippines (where
IRRI is based) in conjunction with
the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organisation.
“We are all incredibly excited about
this project. The potential reward is
huge,” Professor Burnell said. “The
same technology may one day be
used to convert wheat and other
C3 cereal crops to more efficient C4
plants.” D
— Jo Meehan
www.jcu.edu.au/discover
9
The bird collectors
“
People come here
from all over the
world to see these
birds, so we’re very
lucky to have them
just a stroll from
the classroom
”
The bowerbirds of JCU’s Townsville
twigs. “There are about 10 to 15
Each year Dr Robson nominates a
campus have been helping to teach
active bowers on the campus right
broad line of inquiry for the third-
tropical biology for so long, they
now, so there may be up to 30 birds
year biology students, who then
should have staff cards.
here,” Dr Robson said.
design their own research projects.
“These birds are the artists of
As well as constructing and tending
“They’ve looked at seasonal
the animal world and they’re a
their galleries, the bowerbirds are
changes in bower structures, how
great teaching resource,” said Dr
gifted mimics. Those on campus
the bowers are used throughout
have been heard impersonating
the year, the types of decorations
band saws, whistling kites and cats.
they use and their various
Simon Robson, Associate
Professor in the School
of Marine
and Tropical
The bowers are not nests; they
are used only for courtship. The
While scientists struggle to study
birds use a myriad of things to
some bowerbird species in remote
decorate their bachelor pads,
locations in Australia and Papua
only in Australia and
such as shells, feathers, flowers,
New Guinea, researchers studying
Papua New Guinea, and
pebbles and berries, even bits
the JCU birds are never more
the males of all species
of plastic and glass. “A purple
than a few minutes away from a
collect coloured objects
mouthguard would have to be
cappuccino.
and display them in
the oddest decoration I’ve seen,”
specialised areas to
Dr Robson said.
Biology.
Bowerbirds are found
attract females.
The Great Bowerbird
or Chlamydera nuchalis,
the world to see these birds, so
we’re very lucky to have them
bowerbirds unique among birds.
just a stroll from the classroom,”
“The section of their brain that
Dr Robson said. “The bowerbirds
common on campus,
deals with visual and conceptual
of JCU and Townsville have been
arranges its treasures in and
processing is relatively large,” Dr
studied for more than 50 years.” D
around avenues constructed of
Robson said. “It’s quite likely that
or artistic sense of beauty.”
JULY 2009
“People come here from all over
This unusual behaviour makes
they possess a wonderful aesthetic
10
behaviours.”
— Erik Boman
Photography by Cheryl Robertson
Watch the birdy
Photographer Cheryl Robertson
has observed the JCU bowerbirds
since her student days in the
mid 1980s. She later worked on
campus, spending many a lunch
hour documenting generations of
birds. She is now a professional
photographer.
“These photographs were all taken
near the Chancellery building,
where there’s been a bower for as
long as I can remember.
“It can take a lot of patience to
photograph them at work on their
bowers, but it’s always rewarding.
They can be really comical mimics,
and very precise in the way they
arrange and rearrange their
bowers.”
www.jcu.edu.au/discover
11
Win for Creative Arts
Carnival for children
The CEO of JCU’s Singapore
campus, Dr Dale Anderson,
recently presented a cheque
to two services that assist
underprivileged children.
The award-winning School of Creative Arts
JCU’s School of Creative Arts has
taken out the top prize in the
Australian Institute of Architects’
2009 North Queensland Regional
Architecture Awards.
Designed by BVN Architecture,
it is now in the running for the
Queensland Architecture Awards.
In awarding the prize of Building of
the Year, jury director Justin O’Neill
said it was a “well tuned creative
arts building that offers inspiration
and freedom of expression to its
users”.
Designed to serve both the
student body and the wider
Townsville community, the School
was officially opened in October
last year by the Governor of
Queensland, Her Excellency Ms
Penelope Wensley.
The funds were raised at the
Singapore campus Christmas
Carnival and were presented to
Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centres
and Child@street11.
“In addition to providing quality
education we also encourage our
students and staff to reach out to
the local community,” Dr Anderson
said.
Children from the two centres
have visited the campus previously
for carnival games and dance
performances. The carnival
JCU Singapore plans to make the
Christmas Carnival an annual event
and will continue to find ways to
help children and families in need.
Children visiting JCU Singapore
The School groups its four primary
functions around a central,
landscaped spine. Pre-cast
panels form a walled court that
encloses both internal and external
spaces. The roof is stepped to
accommodate the different scales
of teaching, administration and
outdoor interaction.
“These external spaces cater
for both intimate and large
gatherings, providing a new, artsbased meeting zone within the
University,” Mr O’Neill said. D
Rainforest
leader joins
JCU
large-scale soy and cattle farming,
oil-palm plantations, and oil and
gas development, have escalated
in importance in recent decades,”
he explained.
“These are buoyed by rapid
Distinguished rainforest
researcher William Laurance has
joined James Cook University, as
a Research Professor based at
JCU Cairns.
Professor Laurance was previously
a Senior Scientist with the
Smithsonian Institution. He has
lived and worked in the jungles
of the Amazon and central Africa,
studying the impacts of habitat
fragmentation, logging, roads,
hunting, and fires on tropical
forests.
“I see much prospect at JCU
for international research and
collaboration, especially in the
Asia-Pacific region, which has some
of the most imperilled forests in
12
JULY 2009
was part of the University’s
commitment to assist the less
privileged children of the Kebun
Baru constituency.
globalisation, economic growth,
and rising standards of living in
developing nations. In addition,
biofuels are likely to grow rapidly
Bill Laurance is returning to the rainforests of tropical north Queensland
as a driver of future destruction.”
the world,” he said. “The University
has long been a world-leader in
reef and marine research, and now
the push is to develop a terrestrial
program that’s equally dynamic.”
the CSIRO Tropical Forest Research
Centre at Atherton, and director of
the Centre for Rainforest Studies
at Yungaburra, before joining the
Smithsonian in 1996.
He emphasised the need for all
This is not the first time Dr
Laurance has chosen to work in
Australia. “As a doctoral student
at the University of California,
Berkeley, I spent two years
doing fieldwork on the Atherton
Tableland,” he said.
In a public lecture hosted by
JCU Singapore in May, Professor
Laurance highlighted some new
and emerging threats to tropical
ecosystems and their implications
for business leaders.
degree program, the Bachelor
“Industrial drivers of forest
conversion, such as logging,
understanding of environmental
He was also a postdoctoral fellow at
companies to have sustainable
practices in place and not to be
“environmental sinners”.
JCU Singapore will offer a new
of Business and Environmental
Sciences, from the October
2009 student intake. The course
will provide business leaders
and advisors with a good
issues. D
“Really stuffed,” is how
postgraduate student Dave
Phoenix describes himself,
after walking more than 3,700
kilometres as field research for
his doctorate in history.
Dave wore out two pairs of boots
on the walk from Melbourne to the
Gulf of Carpentaria, seeking insight
into the journey and landscape
that eventually defeated explorers
Robert O’Hara Burke and William
Wills in 1861.
Because of incomplete diaries,
lost records and missing archives,
no one knows for certain the
route the explorers travelled. Dave
chose his path after consulting
records including expedition
diaries, newspaper reports,
financial records, surveyors’ notes,
paintings, maps and astronomical
observations, as well as a compass
and a GPS unit.
Unlike Burke and Wills, who
travelled much of the way with a
huge party of men, horses, and
camels, Dave walked with his dog
Cooper, meeting up each night
with a support vehicle driven by his
partner Annie.
drinking up to 15 litres of steaming
bore water. “I walked through some
impressive country and in some
ways I’m sorry the trip is over, but I
don’t miss the bore water,” he said.
The trip took him across sand
dunes, black soil plains, lignum
swamps, and gibber deserts. While
reading in Burke’s journal about
the expedition’s camels bleeding,
sweating and groaning with fear
as they were forced over the sharp,
quartz rocks of the Selwyn Ranges,
Dave saw feral camels living a
much more comfortable life.
back by the same combination of
salt marshes, summer king tides
and flooded creeks that defeated
Burke and Wills.
“It was the toughest part of the
whole walk. After three attempts
in three days, I eventually got
there with the help of a mate in a
boat. I was able to see very clearly
why Burke and Wills couldn’t get
through to the open sea.
“These days they’re well adapted
to that environment,” he said.
“I saw more camels there than
in any other area. They run wild
through the Selwyns now.”
Like Burke and Wills, Dave left
Melbourne in August and
arrived at the Gulf at the
start of the wet season.
He was unable to
walk to the Gulf
coastline,
beaten
“That’s the point of my research
– not to re-enact their travels,
but to put myself in that same
landscape and reflect on the role
the landscape played in their
decisions, and in the expedition’s
progression and eventual failure.”
When Burke and Wills turned
back from the Gulf, they faced the
1500-kilometre journey back toD
Coopers Creek, where they died.
Dave’s journey ended in comfort
with a cold beer, a view of the Gulf
waters, and a thesis to write.
– Linden Woodward
> www.walk.burkeandwills.net.au
Dave and Annie wish to thank all
the people who helped them along
their way, giving time, advice and
access to properties.
Historian Dave Phoenix and his dog
Cooper rest their feet on the way to
the Gulf of Carpentaria
In 114 days of walking he
endured dust storms, teeming
rain, and days when the
40-plus temperature was
only partially relieved by
A thirsty thesis
In 114 days of walking he endured dust
storms, teeming rain, and days when the
40-plus temperature was only partially
relieved by drinking up to 15 litres of
steaming bore water.
www.jcu.edu.au/discover
13
Let’s put on a show
Russell Milledge, with Lance Gavenor Gagawygn’s Tiger Shark. Photo: Sue Wellwood.
“
Far north Queensland
has always held a
great allure for artists.
We need to rejuvenate
”
that enthusiasm
James Cook University’s Cairns
campus is centre-stage to
a growing host of creative
professionals, aspiring actors,
screenwriters, directors, curators
and digital artists, with the
expansion of the Bachelor of
Creative Industries.
The updated degree encompasses
media and performance, in
addition to the existing strands in
visual arts.
“Who knows what stars of the
future we will launch,” says Russell
Milledge, course coordinator and
lecturer in the School of Creative
Arts.
“This is a creative region,” Russell
said. “It has the facilities, the
resources, the people and the
creative talent. And now we have
an internationally recognised
degree program that brings
together all this knowledge, knowhow and energy.”
The new strands of the course cover
diverse topics, from improvisation
and acting techniques to digital
imaging and writing for live
performance.
14
JULY 2009
“We’re not catering just for writers
or actors, but the whole workings
of a production,” Russell said.
“As well as developing their own
area of expertise and gaining a
professional qualification, students
will be able to ‘put on a show’.
When they graduate they will be
fully equipped to enter the wider
arts industry.”
With digital media continually
evolving, and the creative arts
industry being quick to embrace
change, the challenge has been for
degree programs to keep up.
“This is a highly flexible course.
There is a framework of core
subjects and electives, lectures and
practical sessions, but we really
want to allow the students to find
their own way, whether it be as
an actor, gallery curator or VJ at
festivals.”
Some parts of the course will take
place off campus at local arts
venues.
“The Cairns region has a well
connected arts community. We
have excellent theatrical spaces
and companies where students
will undertake placements. They
will work behind the scenes and
with their peers, in the theatre,
at convention venues, in the film
and events environment, or in art
spaces.”
Originally from Cairns, Russell
Milledge graduated from
Sydney’s National Arts School
and completed a Masters at QUT.
His creative career of more than
20 years began in museum and
gallery practices, specialising in
Indigenous and traditional visual
arts. He is Artistic Director of the
new media performance group
Bonemap, and the annual On
Edge contemporary media and
performance festival.
As a founding director of Kick Arts
Contemporary Arts in Cairns in
1992, he has always held great
vision and hope for the creative
industries in his home town.
“Far north Queensland has always
held a great allure for artists.
We need to rejuvenate that
enthusiasm. In all the changes that
are constantly going on around us,
art allows us to say what is unique
about Cairns and our region – and
we have so much to say.” D
— Helen Cook
Alice Chang was named Young Queenslander of the Year in
2003 and Young Territorian of the Year in 2006
Graduate Update: Alice Chang
The manicured lawns of the
Cambridge’s Magdalene College
are a long way from the tropics, but
2006 JCU medical graduate Alice
Chang has made the transition
with a little help from some famous
names.
First off was a detour via China, as
a volunteer working with the Fred
Hollows Foundation and as AusAid’s
Youth Ambassador for Development.
“I was helping to establish the first
NGO eye hospital, as well as starting
mass screening programs for the
prevention of childhood blindness
and diabetic retinopathy,” she said.
When the devastating earthquake
hit Sichuan Province last year, Alice
quickly travelled to the area to help.
She wrote at the time:
Monash Award to further her studies
at Cambridge, and while in China
“I will be based in the villages just
found out she was the first JCU
outside the epicentre, where the
graduate to win a Cambridge full
government efforts are not able to
scholarship from
arrive yet, because
“I think James Cook
the Bill and Melinda
of the need being so
University has a unique
Gates Foundation.
great in the epicentre
perspective and is doing
of the quake.
She also discovered
great things in fulfilling
she had been
“It has been a great
the needs of Australian
accepted into
privilege to be able
society”
Cambridge’s
to help with the
Magdalene College
disaster effort as
– an institution that dates back to
many of my colleagues’ families
1428. “It came as a bit of a surprise,
are affected. They are still living
after doing a phone interview in the
in tents at the moment, too afraid
middle of a paddock in rural China
to be inside buildings as nobody
– I was dealing with the handknows when the post-earthquake
foot-mouth outbreak – with cows
tremors will stop.”
roaming next me. The line was not
Alice had already won a Sir John
the clearest,” she said.
Alice was part of the second cohort
of graduates from JCU’s School
of Medicine and plans to return
to Australia to start her specialty
training after completing her Master
of Philosophy in Public Health at
Cambridge.
“I think James Cook University
has a unique perspective and is
doing great things in fulfilling the
needs of Australian society,” she
said. “In the long term I want to
work as a specialist in regional,
rural and Indigenous communities
in Australia, and continue with
research, advocacy and teaching in
my field.” D
— Jim O’Brien
www.jcu.edu.au/discover
15
A funky makeover
Graffiti artist and mural
designer Dr Sue Albanus
has left her graphic stamp
on several previously blank
walls around the Townsville
campus.
Dr Albanus and some of her former
students have decorated the
Student Association’s Club and an
air-conditioning plant room. They
are now working on a series of
designs at the School of Earth and
Environmental Sciences.
Dr Albanus said the design in
each artwork needed to ‘last’.
“When designing a piece of work
that is going to be on a wall for
a long time, you need to look at
the longevity of that design. It
will need to be current to many
changeovers of audience.
“The key to a good design is in
its colour and movement. It’s also
important to take into account the
environment of where the work is.
When we did the piece at the Club,
we knew that the demographic
would be a certain age group, so
the design catered to that group.”
Peter Hill, Director of Facilities
Management at JCU, said the
paintings brought life and colour to
the campus. “Sue’s art has added
vibrancy and life to some dull
spaces. After I saw what she had
done at the Club, I was pleased
to offer her some other spaces to
work with. I’ll be on the lookout for
more.” D
Dr Sue Albanus. Photographer: Fiona Melder
Remote
recognition
Faculty of Arts, Education and
Social Sciences
Ms Helen McDonald, Ms Robyn
Lynn, Mr Peter Jones, � Dr Anne
Swinbourne, Dr Tracey Walker,
Ms Aileen Sorohan.
The recipient of the 2009
JCU Citation for outstanding
contribution to student learning
inspires tomorrow’s teachers,
some of them from Queensland’s
most remote places.
Helen McDonald is Director of
RATEP (a community-based
teacher education program) and
Director of Professional Experience
and Community Engagement in
the School of Education.
By using a combination of
on-site teachers and a range of
technologies and media, RATEP
delivers teacher education courses
to Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander students, based primarily
in remote communities.
“Helen’s work addresses the
needs of students who are widely
16
JULY 2009
Faculty of Law, Business and the
Creative Arts
Ms Kate Galloway, Ms Katja
Fleischmann, Dr Janelle Rose.
Award-winning teacher Helen McDonald. Photographer Andrew Rankin.
recognised as marginalised,”
said Associate Professor Malcolm
Vick, Acting Head of the School of
Education.
“I am impressed with her capacity
not simply to inform students
about connections between
knowledge, theory and practice,
but also to show them how they
can make these connections
themselves.
“Indeed, she incites them to do so,
supporting and encouraging them,
against their self doubts, to engage
in making such connections, with
confidence, independently.”
In all 22 academics have been
cited for their outstanding
contribution to student learning at
JCU in 2009. (See panel at right.)
Faculty of Medicine, Health and
Molecular Sciences
Dr Suzanne Munns, Dr Marion Gray, �
Associate Professor Tarun Sen
Gupta, Associate Professor Linda
Crane, Mr Ray Park, Ms Florence
Schaeffer, Ms Yasmin Pannach.
Faculty of Science, Engineering
and Information Technology
Dr Shaun Bedward, Dr D’Arcy
Mullamphy, Dr Ronald White,
Mr Patrick Higgins, Dr Ickjai Lee.
The inaugural citation for
sessional staff
Mr Jason Lodge, Psychology. D
Marg Greer. Photographer Andrew Rankin
World wetlands expert
James Cook University’s George
Lukacs has been appointed to
the expert panel of the Ramsar
Convention on Wetlands for a fouryear term.
He recently attended the first
meeting of the 2009-2012
Scientific and Technical Review
Panel as its expert member for
wetlands and agriculture. There are
seven other thematic experts on
the Panel drawn from a global pool
of scientists and educators.
“The Panel is a subsidiary body
of the Convention on Wetlands
and was established to provide
scientific and technical guidance,”
Mr Lukacs said.
“Wetlands are one of the most
productive and diverse ecosystem
types, and play a critical role in
maintaining a variety of services to
communities around the world.
“This includes drinking water, food
and fibre, but also flood mitigation,
water purification, and climate
regulation,” Mr Lukacs said.
“The Ramsar Convention reflects
this importance. It was the first
attempt at an international level
to establish a legal instrument
for providing comprehensive
protection for a particular type of
ecosystem.”
The Convention on Wetlands was
signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971 and
came into force in 1975. It provides
the framework for national action
and international co-operation for
the conservation and wise use of
wetlands and their resources.
Australia was one of the original
signatories to the treaty, which now
has 159 contracting parties and
covers more than 1800 wetland
sites across the world, totalling 170
million hectares.
Bowling Green Bay, south of
Townsville, is one of 65 Australian
sites that include national icons
such as the Coorong in South
Australia, Kakadu in the Northern
Territory and the Macquarie
Marshes in New South Wales.
Mr Lukacs has worked with JCU’s
Australian Centre for Tropical
Freshwater Research for the past 15
years. His research interests include
wetland ecology, irrigation and
natural resource management. D
my
JCU
Marg Greer
TECHNICAL OFFICER
“
Marg Greer has been a
Technical Officer with the School
of Marine and Tropical Biology at
JCU for 16 years. She has several
thousand toads in her freezer.
The students will dissect them
to understand their anatomy
and physiology as well as the
basic guidelines in dissecting
techniques.
“The job is more interesting
than it sounds. I’m often out
in my backyard looking for
scorpions, toads and centipedes
to take to work the next day for
undergraduate classes.
The most interesting aspect of my
job is being out in the field. I’ve
been fortunate to visit places such
as Moorrinya, Kirrama, Blencoe
Falls and Undara. I’m responsible
for catering in environments with
very limited resources, which is
challenging.
One of my responsibilities is to set
up the labs for student practical
classes. There are two practicals I
particularly enjoy.
Osmoregulation in first year
zoology requires being out in
the mangroves and collecting
fiddler crabs and sipunculids.
It’s an experiment that distinctly
illustrates the comparison of an
osmoregulator and osmoconformer.
The other is biological molecules
in plant and animal cells, held in
first year botany and zoology. It’s
a series of experiments involving
laboratory techniques that make
it a challenge to set up and also
clean up.
Recently I was involved in Toad Day
Out, organised by the Townsville
City Council. It proved to be a huge
success and is destined to become
an annual event.
Volunteers collected thousands
of toads, which were euthanised
humanely. Eventually they’ll be
defrosted and used in zoology.
Field trips give me the opportunity
to interact with the students
and academic staff. We have a
high percentage of international
students in Marine and Tropical
Biology, and it’s inspiring to see
them achieve academically. I’m
also able to practise my Italian with
some of them!
My entire career has been in
labs ranging from agriculture,
pathology, oil analysis, Douglas
water treatment plant and finally
JCU. I’m enrolled part-time in
a Bachelor of Science with a
microbiology major. I’d like to end
up in research in either the Vet or
Medical schools.
My job here has given me the
opportunity to work with some of
the leading researchers in marine
biology, zoology, botany and
D
aquaculture.
”
— Marg Greer spoke to Jo Meehan
www.jcu.edu.au/discover
17
In print
Dive in
Marine scientists from around Australia
have collaborated on the ultimate
guide to the Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef: Biology,
Environment and Management is
the ultimate guide to Australia’s
greatest natural asset. Providing
information for students,
tourists, researchers and
managers, it will appeal to all
those who have an interest in the
Great Barrier Reef.
Professor Kingsford said the book
provided quick and easy access to
an ever-expanding literature on
the Reef.
It is a collaboration involving
35 contributors from marine
institutions around Australia,
including JCU, Australian Institute
of Marine Science and Great Barrier
Reef Marine Park Authority.
Big on small
business
‘Perfect preparation for the
up-and-coming entrepreneur’ is
how Entrepreneurship and Small
Business Management in the
Hospitality Industry, has been
described.
Co-authored by JCU’s Dr Darren
Lee-Ross and Professor Conrad
Lashley from Nottingham Business
School, the book explores
entrepreneurial theory and practice
in the hospitality industry.
Dr Lee-Ross, an Associate
Professor in the School of
Business, said small businesses
were the backbone of the tourism
and hospitality industry and
represented the vast majority of
firms within this sector.
“The number of entrepreneurs
has dramatically and uniformly
increased over the past ten years,”
he said. “This book provides the
knowledge and skills required
to start a small business and
drastically increases the chances of
sustaining it successfully.”
Associate Professor Darren Lee-Ross
The book was edited by leading
coral reef experts: Dr Pat Hutchings
of the Australian Museum,
Professor Mike Kingsford of James
Cook University and Professor Ove
Hoegh-Guldberg of the University
of Queensland.
“We think there’s a need for a
book that flags the major issues
and gives an entrée to a broader
literature. After all, how do you
know what to search for if you are
The book includes an examination
of context, theory, concept to
reality, business planning and
future growth.
“We have explored entrepreneurial
theory and practice as applied
to the hospitality industry,” Dr
Lee-Ross said. “The text alternates
between strategy and operations,
to show the two areas are linked,
and discusses major challenges
and opportunities.
“The text is ideal for undergraduate
and postgraduate MBA students
as it invites the reader to reflect
on their learning for greater
understanding of the subject,” he
said.
Reflective practice activities are a
key feature of the book, along with
case studies and clearly defined
chapter objectives.
Entrepreneurship and Small
Business Management in the
Hospitality Industry
By Darren Lee-Ross and Conrad
Lashley
Butterworth-Heinemann
ISBN 978-0-7506-8448-4
JULY 2009
The book covers a variety of issues
concerning the Reef including the
geologic history of the reef, climate
change, coral bleaching, coral
disease and the challenges of coral
reef fishing.
The Great Barrier Reef: Biology,
Environment and Management
Edited by: Pat Hutchings,
Mike Kingsford and
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
CSIRO Publishing
ISBN: 9180643095571
Between a rock
and a wet place
The Wet Tropics, famed for its
diverse flora and fauna, has
another story to tell - a 440
million year tale, revealed in its
rocks.
Rocks, Landscapes and Resources
of the Wet Tropics tells that story in
an engaging and accessible style.
It’s a booklet you’ll want to keep in
your glove box or backpack as you
explore.
Four JCU researchers from the
School of Earth and Environmental
Sciences, along with Warwick
Willmott from the Geological
Society of Australia’s Queensland
Division, provide expert
commentary on some of the major
events that shaped the landscape.
The geological story of this region
begins 440 million years ago, with
the bump and grind of tectonic
plates that produced the parcel of
sedimentary rocks known as the
Hodgkinson Province.
Geologist Bernd Lottermoser
surveys the history of the
Hodgkinson and the processes that
created its mineral wealth, from
antimony to zircon.
In the past four million years the
region has witnessed spectacular
volcanic activity. Volcanologist
Peter Whitehead offers an expert
guide to these fiery times, and
explains why we can expect more
in future.
18
unaware of the area?” Professor
Kingsford said.
Millaa Millaa Falls cascades over basalt
columns formed by cooling lava
The Wet Tropics also encompasses
an enormous variety of soils,
explored by soil scientist Paul
Nelson. Get to know your dirt,
and you’ll know where to look for
massive turquoise earthworms and
the world’s biggest cockroaches.
Robin Beaman takes a tour of
the main habitats found along
the Great Barrier Reef, from the
shallow seagrass beds along the
coast to the abyssal depths.
There’s a useful list of further
reading and a handy glossary to
help with the technical terms:
study it carefully and you, too, will
be able to use ‘abyssal depths’ in a
sentence.
Rocks, Landscapes and Resources
of the Wet Tropics
Edited by Bernd G Lottermoser
and Warwick Willmott
Geological Society of Australia,
Queensland Division
ISBN 9780975789483
The calendar
Art workshop
Winter in the tropics
painting workshop
Details: A week-long,
intensive painting
workshop, presented
by the well-known
representational painter
Geoff Dupree.
Date: 28 June – 5 July
Time: 9.00am – 5.00pm
Location: JCU Cairns
Contact: Geoff Dupree,
e-mail:
[email protected] or
tel: 0434 833 792
Education conference
The first year experience
Details: The Pacific Rim ‘First Year
in Higher Education’ Conference
has as its theme Preparing for
tomorrow today: the first year
experience as foundation.
Date: 29 June – Wednesday 1 July
Location: Rydges Southbank
Convention Centre, Townsville
Contact: www.fyhe.qut.edu.au
Science camp
Science in the tropics
Details: A six-day camp for
students in Year 11 and 12 who
have an interest in the natural and
physical sciences.
Date: 28 June – 3 July
Location: JCU Townsville
Contact: Nicole Platz,
tel: (07) 4781 6807 or
e-mail: [email protected]
Science conference
Challenges in environmental
science and engineering
Details: Topics include:
environmental challenges,
from catchments to consumers;
sustainability and renewable
energy; green processes.
Date: 14 – 17 July
Location: Jupiters Hotel, Townsville
Contact: E-mail [email protected]
Geoscience conference
Fractals and dynamic systems in
geoscience
Details: This conference focuses
on the application of fractals and
dynamic systems to resource and
risk assessment.
Date: 13 – 14 August 2009
Location: Jupiters Hotel,
Townsville.
Contact: www.jcu.edu.au/5frac
Geology conference
Society for geology applied to
mineral deposits
Details: Economic geology
researchers from around the world
gather for their 10th biennial
meeting.
Date: 17 – 20 August
Locations: Jupiters Hotel and the
Convention Centre, Townsville
Contact:
http://sga2009.jcu.edu.au/
Art symposium
Conversations in contemporary
Indigenous Australian art
Details: The symposium will focus
on the issues challenging and
invigorating the Indigenous arts
industry. It is held in conjunction
with the Cairns Indigenous Art
Fair, which will run from 21 to 23
August.
Date: Friday 21 August
Time: 8.00am – 5.30pm
Location: Centre of Contemporary
Arts, Cairns
Contact: For further information
on the symposium, contact
Russell Milledge,
tel: (07) 4042 1796,
e-mail:
[email protected]
JCU open days
Details: Explore your local
university.
Cairns
Date: Sunday 23 August
Time: 10.00am – 2.30pm
Location: JCU Cairns, McGregor
Road, Smithfield
Contact: Rima Ismail-Jones,
tel: (07) 4042 1008 or e-mail:
[email protected]
Townsville
Date: Sunday 30 August
Time: 10.00am – 2.30pm
Location: JCU Townsville, Angus
Smith Drive, Douglas
Contact: Andrew D’Arcy,
tel: (07) 4781 6838 or e-mail:
[email protected]
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Join us, along with some of the world’s finest artists, this July in
Townsville North Queensland as we celebrate the anniversaries
of Purcell, Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn and more.
Be inspired by performances from William Barton, Jack Liebeck,
Kathryn Stott, Goldner String Quartet and Southern Cross Soloists
– just to name a few.
Special events include the Outback Tour, Chefs in the North Dinner,
Marine Talks, Young Families’ Concert and A Breath of Fresh Air at
Alma Bay, Magnetic Island.
Become a part of this year’s Festival.
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For more information visit www.afcm.com.au.
For bookings phone 1800 449 977.
www.jcu.edu.au/discover
19
33463_JCU0935_MakAds
Location, location...
James Cook University is Australia’s leading university for the tropics.
Our location in northern Queensland provides researchers with unique
living laboratories – from the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef and
rainforests of the Wet Tropics to tropical savannas and the arid outback.
People come from around the world to join our leading researchers to study:
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Join us today.
Call 1800 246 446 or visit: www.jcu.edu.au
CAIRNS TOWNSVILLE BRISBANE SINGAPORE