Division of Environmental and Life Sciences

News From the Dean
The weekly update from the Dean of Division, Prof Liz Deane

OMEC4 - Mercury Emissions from Coal Workshop
Prof Peter Nelson Reports from the 4th International Experts' Workshop

Opportunities
- Writing Clear Science Workshops
- Call for Nominations: Australian Science Prize

Events
- Who named human beings and coffee beans? New Royal Botanic Gardens Exhibition
- Renewable Energy in Regional Areas Conference
- Sydney Shove Public Lecture: Separation of Church and State
- ELS Seminar Series

News from the Dean

Dear Colleagues

Thank you for your sterling efforts in getting all our grades together last week and most especially to Kevin McCracken who led the Working Party to review the grades with help from Mike Poulsen and Ian Jamie (in absentia) and the Division meeting to confirm them. Thanks also need to go to the Executive Officers in Departments who worked hard to ensure that our results were loaded in time for the University deadline.

The Division submitted an outstanding number of MURF applications this past week. Competition is going to be very fierce as there are only six on offer.

Now you have some time to spare, here are some more funding opportunities:-

Till next week

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MEC4 - Mercury Emissions from Coal

Prof Peter Nelson Reports from the 4th International Experts' Workshop

12th-15th June 2007, Tokyo, Japan

Peter Nelson, Head of the Graduate School of the Environment recently attended the International Energy Agency sponsored workshop on Mercury Emissions from Coal (MEC4). The MEC workshops facilitate the interaction of invited experts representing the utilities, governmental bodies, research institutes and commercial industries, allowing discussion of how they can work together to address the problem of mercury emissions from coal combustion. Previous meetings have been held in Glasgow (2004), Ottawa (2005) and Katowice (2006). Australia will host the next meeting in 2008.

MEC4 was notable for an expanded mercury program in China and Korea, and for the involvement of Brenda Koekkoek of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Chemicals section. UNEP has a stated objective of eliminating anthropogenic emissions of mercury to the environment, and is seeking a partnership with the MEC group to link coal combustion (the largest anthropogenic source) into the UNEP program (see http://www.chem.unep.ch/mercury/).

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Opportunities

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Writing Clear Science Workshops

Wednesday 25th July - Friday 27th July

Unilinc Meeting Room, Level 9, 210 Clarence Street, Sydney.

Day 1: The Nuts & Bolts of Writing

Day 2: Writing Reports, Articles & Manuscripts

Day 3: Writing Your Thesis

For further information and to download brochures, course outlines, costs, venue details & registration forms, please go to www.writingclearscience.com.au.

Contact details: info@writingclearscience.com.au or phone 0416-097979.

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Call for Nominations: 2007 Australasian Science Prize

Australasian Science is Australia¹s only monthly science magazine, and since 1937 has dedicated its pages to world-class science from our most inspiring minds.

The magazine¹s Patrons are Nobel Laureate Prof Peter Doherty and renowned science broadcaster Robyn Williams, representing excellence in science and its communication.

The Australasian Science Prize, awarded annually, provides priceless recognition to Australian scientists whose work best encapsulates these ideals.

Criteria considered by the judging panel include scientific originality, breadth of impact, and communication to both the scientific and broader communities.

Nominations for the 2007 Prize are now open, and must be received by 14 September 2007.

For information on how to nominate see http://www.australasianscience.com.au.

The winner(s) will be announced in the November/December 2007 issue of Australasian Science.

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Events

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Conference to outline a big future for renewable energy in regional areas

Bendigo, Sept 17-18  

Renewable energy will underpin sustainability in regional Australia in the future, according to a La Trobe University regional development specialist.

Professor John Martin, who heads La Trobe University's Centre for Sustainable Regional Communities, says the rising price of coal-generated electricity and petrol will drive regional communities to look towards solar, wind, biomass and other renewable energy sources in the future.

Prof Martin was speaking ahead of a conference, Renewable Energy and Regional Australia: Creating Local Economic Development Opportunities, to be held in Bendigo in September.

The conference will examine what's viable in solar, wind, wave, timber, biomass, gasification and hydrogen fuel cell energy production for regions and the business opportunities emerging to service these developments.

The conference is the brainchild of the City of Greater Bendigo and La Trobe University.

Prof Martin said businesses were already emerging in country areas to supply renewable energy at a regional level. "We have the solar tower at Mildura, wind farms, biofuel plants such as the one at Barnawartha now in construction and feeder businesses such as wind turbine and renewable energy regulator manufacturers and others emerging," Prof Martin said.

"This conference is all about showing how companies and communities are doing this and carving a future that will help sustain them in terms of energy and income. This is a great opportunity for business developers, planners and regional leaders to see and hear about the opportunities challenges and scenario ahead including how renewable energy will be created, distributed and regulated."

Speakers include a central Victorian man who has invented a regulator for hybrid solar and wind power generating systems and who is now building a plant to make them, a company that's building a factory to create biofuel out of tallow to another that's creating large scale solar systems big enough to power entire towns. The conference is in Bendigo on Sept 17-18. For details and to register, check www.renewableenergyconference.com.au or phone (03) 5434 6001.

Who named human beings and coffee beans? New Royal Botanic Gardens Exhibition.

He pioneered the naming system which includes Homo sapiens and Coffea arabica - coffee and commenced the huge task of classifying all life on earth, he was Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus.

His 300th birthday is being celebrated by scientists throughout the world. In Sydney an exhibition has opened in the Red Box Gallery at the Royal Botanic Gardens. The exhibition reveals some of the fruits, flowers, vegetables, nuts, herbs, spices, cereals, fibres and animals that he named.

The great scientist was born in Sweden in 1707. He became a professor of medicine and botany and also studied animals and mineralogy. His work has a profound and continuing influence on biology.

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Sydney Shove Public Lecture

Separation of Church and State?

When: Thursday 12th July 2007 at 6pm

Where: Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts,280 Pitt Street Sydney

Cost: Free

Should there be a clear separation of church and state? Are implied or actual threats of formal church disapproval or even exclusion going too far?

Speakers: Max Wallace (NSW Humanists, former A.N.U academic, whose book, The Purple Economy, supernatural charities, tax and the State is forthcoming) and Reverend Nigel Fortescue (Assistant Minister, Naremburn Cammeray Anglican Church, a dynamic and growing Anglican Church on Sydney's North Shore)

Political and policy debates on stem cell research, terminating pregnancies, same sex relationships, capital punishment and euthanasia are often the subject of 'conscience votes' ie when the discipline of party politics is relaxed and members of parliament are allowed to vote according to their 'consciences'. What these issues have in common is that they often relate to particular sets of religious beliefs about the sanctity of life, when life begins and other such issues.

This connection encourages lobby groups including the churches to intervene to persuade individual politicians to take up particular lines, as is a legitimate part of the democratic process.

But how far should these powerful institutions go to pressure their members to do their bidding? What is the role of Churches, Temples, Synagogues and Mosques and other religious institutions vis a vis government? Should church leaders publicly pressure their presumed members to comply with their policies?

There are interesting issues on how far the individual 'conscience' votes of politicians should reflect their personal views, those of their constituencies, scientific evidence or the influence of particular religious institutions.

The recent bill on stem cell research, in the NSW Upper house, has stirred up wide debate as various Church leaders sought to influence votes on what is fair and unfair influence and we wish to explore these questions in our July Controversies debate.

ELS Seminar Series

Departments in ELS host seminars covering a wide range of topics associated with ongoing research projects and other areas of interest. The seminars are delivered by academics, research staff, and students from within the Division, as well as guest speakers from other institutions and industry. Details of times, dates, locations and topics of seminars to be held over the next few weeks are listed here.

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Snippets

Lizards fight through visual noise
Animals that alter their movement-based signals to overcome visually 'noisy' environments could lead to a better understanding of vision systems and improve the capacity of 'seeing' machines.

Elderly women fall harder
The likelihood of sustaining a fall injury serious enough to require hospitalisation increases exponentially from about 65 years of age - especially if you're a woman.

Stress related obesity may be reversed
New findings on the mechanisms that trigger stress-induced obesity, published today in Nature Medicine online, could offer hope to millions.

Australian's improve on teleportation
Teleportation, a concept popularised in the original Star Trek television series, is edging closer to reality through work being conducted by Australian theorists.

Insects ensure weeds outlast natives
Weeds are winning the battle when it comes to surviving in the wild, with foliage eating insects preferring the taste of native plants.

Discovering the trail of the whales
A study of humpback whales has uncovered the migratory movement of whales between the Antarctic, the east coast of Australia and the Oceania region.

'Sundried tide': the silent disaster
Australian researchers have studied and documented the effect of the 'sundried tide'; a force of nature that can silently wipe-out coral reefs.

Chinese remedy backed by science
Reports of a traditional Chinese medicine having beneficial effects for people suffering from type 2 diabetes now has some scientific evidence to back up the claims.

Generation gap is now economic
The so-called 'generation gap' is disappearing, making way instead for an economic gap between the generations and class divisions within society, according to a UNSW sociologist.

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