Division of Environmental and Life Sciences

News From the Dean
The weekly update from the Dean of Division, A/Prof Kevin McCracken

Oxfam Trailwalker Benefits from the Assistance of our Chiropractors
100km through the Sydney bush equals many sore knees, hips, backs and blisters!

Opportunities
- Australia’s Ocean Research Ship "Southern Surveyor" Open to Sydneysiders
- 7 days aboard the Southern Surveyor: Fantastic Opportunity for Students
- Heads Up: New Laureate Scheme to Attrach World Leading Researchers
- $1M for International Humanities and Social Science Collaboration
- 2 Day Workshop: "Legionella - Perspectives and Practice"

Events
- Centre for the Integrative Study of Animal Behaviour Colloquium
- State Library of NSW Talk: "Griffith Taylor’s Antarctica"
- Biological Sciences Seminar: "Germination strategies of native annual plants in coastal California"
- ELS Seminar Series

News From the Dean

Dear Colleagues

I spent some time last week finalising OSP applications for the Division and as a consequence I have become aware that we are missing quite a few of the reports that are due at the end of the OSP. Under the Enterprise Agreement, staff who undertake OSP are required to submit a report on their program within 1 month of return from OSP, to the Dean through their supervisor and Head of Department. The report should include major activities and outcomes, discrepancies with the goals in the proposal and the contributions of the program towards the work of the staff member and the goals of the Division/Department and the University. Delay in submitting the report can influence the normal 3 year interval between the return from a previous program and the start of the next by one month for each month it is late. Bearing in mind that the Division will cease to exist from 31 December 2008, I suggest that if you have previously had a period of OSP you check that you have submitted a report and if not, that you do so as soon as possible. I want to avoid staff having future OSP eligibility deferred due to not having reported on their previous OSP. Full details are available at: http://www.hr.mq.edu.au/policy/develop/1904.pdf .

An email was sent around last Thursday (3 September) relating to the PDR Module 4 Supervisor Training and Staff Information Session. Please note the change in registration as this is now via HR online and not through the Division. Full instructions are in the email.

A couple of opportunities:

Applications for AINSE Research Awards are now open. Areas of particular interest include - researching climate change; the management of water resources; the study of air pollution; studying the structural integrity of materials; radiobiological research; medical physics and imaging; material science. Further details from: http://www.ainse.edu.au/ainse/for_academic_researchers/ainse_awards.html

The Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) has sent information about the NSW Career Development Day for Early Researchers. Available to PhD students, early post-doctoral and post graduate researchers, being held on Tuesday 30 September from 9:00 to 5:00 at Eastern Avenue Auditorium, The University of Sydney. Further information is available from: http://www.asmr.org.au/MRWNSW.html

Last Wednesday evening saw the launch of a book ( Weaving Lives Together at Bawaka, North East Arnhem Land ) produced by Sandie Suchet-Pearson (Human Geography), Kate Lloyd (Human Geography) and Sarah Wright (University of Newcastle) in collaboration with Yolngu women from Bawaka in Arnhem Land. The launch was held in the Macquarie Art Gallery in conjunction with an exhibition of photographs and intricate baskets, with the women who produced the baskets present for the occasion. The atmosphere at the event was very special and made one feel proud of the Division's involvement in the project. Well done Sandie and Kate for your work and your exceptional engagement with the Bawaka community. Anyone interested in obtaining a copy of the book can do so by emailing tourismhub@bigpond.com .

Finally, and another very successful event . there was a great turnout for the Wednesday seminar in Biological Sciences last week when Tim Flannery spoke on "An update on climate science and the political response". It was standing-room only!

Till next week.
Kevin

Oxfam Trailwalkers Benefit from the Assistance of our Chiropractic Interns

Commit. Endure. Achieve. With the catch cry of the event in mind the walkers set off from 7.00am on Friday 29 August 2008 the 10 th Oxfam Trailwalker began at Parsley Bay , Brooklyn . Over the next 48 hours a total of 519 teams of 4 brave souls would trek through 100 kilometres endurance trail incorporating some of the most rugged bushland in Sydney to reach their destination, Georges Heights Oval, Mosman.

The 100km trail is split into stages with checkpoints. At each checkpoint teams must report to a registration desk where all members of the team are confirmed and both checked in and checked out. Four of the checkpoints also included a 'Clinic' in which volunteer Physiotherapists, Massage-therapists, Chiropractors and Podiatrists were on 'hand' to assist the walkers in reaching their objective. This was the first year chiropractors were to be part of the volunteer crew.

Dr Fleur Castlereagh, Dr Ashleigh Hall, Dr Michael Theodosiou, Dr Ryan Canavan, Dr Naomi Conlon, Dr Steven Cannon and Dr Sara Winchester volunteered their time to supervise the final year chiropractic intern students from Macquarie University to form the Chiropractic Volunteer Crew for Trailwalker 2008. The fabulous T-shirts kindly provided by the Chiropractic Association of Australia (National) came in handy as our volunteers incorporated layers of clothing to rug up for those shifts which included both the chilly nights/early mornings (it dropped to just 4 o C on Friday evening and only a little warmer at 7 o C on Saturday evening)!

As well as attempting to meet (or beat) the 48 hour deadline, each team also commits to raising at least $1000 to support Oxfam's work in 26 countries including indigenous Australia to overcome poverty and suffering around the world. Team 16, Westpac Gale Force is top of the leaderboard having raised a total of $43 670 in funds for Oxfam.

Brimming with enthusiasm and not knowing what to expect our chiropractors and interns started at the first chiro equipped checkpoint. The beginning of the shift saw the tail end of the 'hard core' walkers, teams whose catch cry from each point was 'check in, check out' as they raced to beat the clock, and so treatments early on were a little slow. By 9pm (16 hours in), the clinic was busy with the bulk of the teams now reaching North Turramurra. With all beds full and a queue of 5 deep waiting for assistance, it was all hands on deck to provide support (and relief) for those tired, strained hips, knees, ankles! It really was a bit hard for the team to pack up and leave at the end of the shift at 11pm.

At their second post, Sara, Ryan and the interns rugged up for a cold night ahead. This clinic also included a podiatrist to assist (some of the blisters were truly amazing!). It was a great experience for our interns to work so closely in such an amazing group of volunteers. They were fed and watered by Oxfam and enjoyed the interprofessional discussions that ensured as they shared patients, and observed and delivered treatments to very grateful patients. 

Meanwhile, further down the trail, massage therapists joined Ashleigh and the team at chiro post number 3. Patients requiring assistance were steady during the early part of the evening, with requests for assistance increasing late in the evening. Again assistance was sought regarding knees, lower back, hips, ankles and hamstring/shin injuries. Interns undertook strapping, mobilisations, stretching, deep tissue work and adjustments to help the walkers move through to the next stage of the walk. The stress of trekking through the bush for the last 80 + kms was starting to show. Requests for knees, ankles and hips were common. The team were adjusting, strapping, stretching, mobilising and providing deep tissue work as the teams staggered and hobbled into the clinic. The St Johns team were hard at work with sprains and the most hideous of blisters.

At the final post, just 12km from the finish, Naomi, Steve and the team paired up with a massage therapist, and walkers continued in a steady stream during the course of the afternoon. Working closely with St Johns Ambulance volunteers and the massage therapist, a steady stream of tired, sore walkers moved in and out of the clinic all afternoon. Later in the afternoon students from the Bachelor of Podiatry at Newcastle University joined the chiropractors and massage therapist at this clinic. Walkers now had the opportunity to have blisters, boils, bunions attended to in the clinic! Boy did we become popular! Interns were able to watch podiatric surgery on tired, blistered and damaged feet. Likewise the chiropractic interns demonstrated knee mobilisation techniques to their podiatry colleagues. Steve with his background and interest in sports was able to provide invaluable strapping advice and guidance to both the chiropractic interns and the podiatrist students. With walkers determined to finish (that look of grim determination that they absolutely had to finish!) again there were adjustments, stretching, mobilisations, strapping and now podiatric foot surgery! This whole checkpoint seemed to buzz with the finish line seeming so close. It really was an amazing sight to see a walker hobble in and then walk out, ready to make that last final stage to the finish line.

Congratulations to the Berowra Bushrunners whose team completed the trail first in a blistering 14 hours and 6 minutes. We extend our congratulations to all of those teams who completed this endurance challenge, it was a truly inspiring event to be able to support. In total, from the original 519 teams which started at Brooklyn , 492 teams and 1598 walkers arrived at Georges Heights Oval, Mosman.

The Department of Health and Chiropractic would like to specifically thank the following amazing individuals for enabling the Department of Chiropractic to volunteer for this event:

Ms Chris McGillion from the NSW Chiropractors Association of Australia who was able to source volunteer chiropractors to supervise our interns, and able to organise the snazzy blue and white team t-shirts from the Chiropractors Association of Australia (National) for our volunteer team of students and chiropractors.

Dr Fleur Castlereagh, Dr Ashleigh Hall, Dr Michael Theodosiou, Dr Ryan Canavan, Dr Naomi Conlon, Dr Steven Cannon and Dr Sara Winchester whom were outstanding supervisors, checking and querying test results, querying proposed treatment plans and ensuring that all times sound clinical judgement and safe chiropractic treatments were implemented by our chiropractic interns. Many stayed for longer periods than they were rostered for.

All of the interns who gave up their Friday or Saturday evenings to volunteer (especially Jason Yao who started at Kambora at 8 pm and worked through until 1am Saturday then returned to Kambora early in the morning on Saturday and stayed with us until we left Frenchs Forest until midnight Saturday). What an enormous commitment!

A special word of thanks to both Laura Willis from Oxfam whom worked tirelessly to provide us with the information and resources we needed, and also to Dr Peter Garbutt for initiating the contact and enabling our involvement in 2008.

This event has raised a total of $2, 233 928.00 for Oxfam to utilise for its projects (75% of these monies will be allocated to projects). For more information about this event or Oxfam and the excellent projects which they initiate, please visit http://www2.oxfam.org.au/trailwalker/sydney/trail/

The Department of Chiropractic has scheduled the following additional fieldwork events with the Master of Chiropractic final year interns over the next two months in which we would be seeking assistance from the association again:

•  NSW Cancer Council Relay for Life (similar to, though much less intensive than the Oxfam fieldwork) @ Macquarie University 20 and 21 September, http://www.announcements.mq.edu.au/events/relay_for_life

•  Australian University Games - Australian Championship Rowing in Penrith @ the Sydney International Regatta Centre on 29 Sept - 4 October

A Day in the Life...Chiro Students hard at work at the Oxfam Trailwalker

Thanks to Karinna Handley, Chiropractic Clinic Practice Manager from the Department of Chiropractic for this story.

Opportunities

• Australia’s ocean research ship open to Sydneysiders

The Marine National Facility’s Research Vessel, Southern Surveyor, will be open to the public for guided tours at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney, from 2-20 September.

RV Southern Surveyor is the only dedicated Australian research ship equipped to perform marine research in the offshore waters of Australia and Oceania. It is used by Australian universities, CSIRO and other research organisations and their international collaborators to improve our understanding of the marine environment.

RV Southern Surveyor carries a scientific contingent of 15 and a crew of 14 to operate the vessel and deploy research equipment at depths of up to six kilometres, from the tropics to the subantarctic.

The Director of the Marine National Facility, Captain Fred Stein, says it is a rare opportunity to explore the ship. “Visitors will experience a behind-the-scenes tour of this fascinating multi-disciplinary research vessel,” he says. “The ship is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities that enable the oceanographic, climate, marine geology, fisheries and ecosystem studies needed to understand the influence of the oceans on our continent and to sustainably manage Australia’s marine resources.”

The Southern Surveyor is owned and managed by CSIRO, which operates it on behalf of the nation with funding provided by the Australian Government.

Guided tours run daily from 10am to 3pm and are limited to 10 people at a time. For further information you can contact contact Capt Frederick R Stein himself on 03 6232 5024 or by email at Fred.Stein@csiro.au or see www.anmm.gov.au

• 7 days aboard the Southern Surveyor

25 January – 1 February 2009, Sydney to Wellington (NZ)

The Southern Surveyor is Australia’s national oceanographic research vessel, 66 m long with a ship’s crew of 14. The vessel operates 24 h while at sea – students typically work 12 hour shifts between 0600 to 2400. The voyage will have up to 4 scientific staff for computing, electronics, swath mapper and possibly hydrochemistry.

The 7 day transit voyage to Wellington includes approximately 30 hours of additional time to divert to oceanographic features of interest and deploy a CTD and plankton trawls. We will be particularly interested in eddies of the East Australian Current off Sydney, to follow up on voyages in Aug and Oct. We will also operate the swath mapper as it crosses the Taupo Seamount; measuring currents with an ADCP; recording numbers of seabirds and marine mammals; nutrients and calibrating chlorophyll sensors in the vicinity of an ocean glider. Occasional tutorials will be provided by the staff. Up to 10 young scientists are invited to apply for this experience. Food and airfare back to Sydney covered by the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, ARCNESS (ARC Network for Earth System Science) and NSW Dept of Primary Industries, except for $100 levy per student paid to SIMS before travel. Other airfares to Sydney and back to other cities will be supported as much as possible. Up to 12 young scientists in total, including the Chief Scientist Dr Jason Everett, one other watch leader and up to 10 university students. Applicants must be full time enrolled as an undergraduate or postgraduate, >18 years old, and possess a valid Australian passport.

If you are interested, please e-mail a 1-2 page letter with: Name, Contact details, School/Department, University, current enrollment (degree, dates), name and e-mail of an academic referee, and signed by the applicant and by your referee. Outline the reasons for applying (i.e. your interests and aspirations).
Send application to Jason.Everett@unsw.edu.au by 14 November 2008. Applications will be assessed by Iain Suthers, Nathan Bindoff and Steve Kennelly.

• Heads Up: New Laureate Scheme to Attrach World Leading Researchers

Outstanding researchers from Australia and around the world will be attracted to work in Australian universities under a new Australian Laureate Fellowships scheme, announced today by the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr.

“Under the new scheme, researchers at the peak of their careers will have the opportunity to develop strong teams of emerging talent - passing on their experience and knowledge to the next generation,” Senator Carr said.

Costing $239 million over five years, the program will be run by the Australian Research Council (ARC) alongside Labor’s new Future Fellowships scheme for mid-career researchers.

"Up to 15 fellowships will be awarded every year. Each fellowship will be worth around $3 million over five years and will allow the Laureate Fellow to work with, and mentor, up to four postdoctoral and postgraduate researchers," he said.

Australian Laureate Fellowships will replace the Federation Fellowships program and takes into consideration the recommendations of the 2007 review of thatscheme and the opinions of the independent ARC Advisory Council.

The Government anticipates that the scheme will open from mid-October, watch this space for further details.

• $1M for International Humanities and Social Science Collaboration

Senator Kim Carr has also been busy announcing Australian Government funding of $1 million over the next three years to support international research engagement for the humanities and social sciences.

The funding will be offered through the International Science Linkages program which aims to facilitate and support research cooperation between Australian researchers and leading counterparts from overseas.

More information is available at: https://grants.innovation.gov.au/ISL/Pages/Home.aspx

• 2 Day Workshop: "Legionella - Perspectives and Practice"

Hetzel Lecture Theatre, State Library of South Australia
16th – 17th October 2008

Hosted by Flinders Research Centre for Coastal and Catchment Environments (FR3cE), this 2-day workshop covers both technical and practical aspects of the environmental control of Legionella and Legionnaires’ disease. Guest speakers include nationally and internationally recognized experts who will deliver state-of-the-art presentations on various aspects of Legionella control. Topics will include Legionella ecology, protozoology, detection methods, engineering, water treatment, public health and regulation.

Cost is $425 Lunch, morning and afternoon teas provided, and dinner at historic Ayers House on the evening of the 16th October. For further information and registration details please contact:
Dr Gillian Napier Phone: (08) 8201 2193 or (08) 8201 3552 Email: gillian.napier@flinders.edu.au

Events

• Centre for the Integrative Study of Animal Behaviour Colloquium

"Kangaroo know-how: modelling an organism's sensibility"
Given by Dr Greg Walkerden, Macquarie University.

Further information about Dr Walkerden's research can be found at: www.bwassociates.com.au/
Tea and coffee will be available for 15 minutes before this event and there will be an opportunity to speak to Dr Walkerden afterwards during an informal luncheon held immediately following the presentation.

Where: Building W19A, Seminar Room, 209 Culloden Road
When: 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM on Friday the 12th of September, 2008
Further information: Dr Paul G McDonald phone: (02) 9850 9232 or paul@galliform.bhs.mq.edu.au

• State Library of NSW Talk: "Griffith Taylor’s Antarctica"

Antarctica held remarkable promise for geographer Griffith Taylor, a member of Scott's expedition. Carolyn Strange, senior research fellow ANU, and adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, talks with Alison Bashford, an historian of Science at Sydney University about the meaning of this expedition, where science triumphed in spite of tragedy.

Time: 12:00pm-2:00pm, Wednesday Sep 10
Cost: $22/$20/$15 incl refreshments
Venue: Metcalfe Auditorium, State Library of NSW, Macquarie Street, Sydney
Bookings: State Library of NSW www.sl.nsw.gov.au (02) 9273 1770

• Biological Sciences Seminar

"Resilience to climate change? Germination strategies of native annual plants in the variable climate of coastal California"

Margie Mayfield, University of Queensland

Time: 1.00 this Wednesday 10 September
Venue: E8A290 (Biol Tea Room)

Snippets

Emissions trading may cause mix-up
Economists have found that the Australian Government's emissions trading scheme may accidentally encourage logging in native forests.

Sleep trouble linked to bipolar relapse
Research with monitoring cuffs has suggested that people with bipolar have sleep disturbance in the days, or even weeks, leading up to a bipolar relapse.

Improved telescope may find planets
Telescopes recalibrated using a Nobel Prize winning laser technique will measure the Universe with the precision of a fine tooth comb, and could even find new planets.

Science could aid dog breeding
Research suggests that genetics could be used to predict and breed for certain dog behaviour - such as being able to cope with high density living.

Absent fathers hasten menstruation
Girls who have an absent father early in life are likely to have their first period earlier, which previous studies have linked with health problems.

Schizophrenia interrupts growth
A brain receptor that ensures normal adolescent growth is dysfunctional in sufferers of schizophrenia, new research has revealed.

Hazardous homes cause injuries
Many houses are filled with accidents waiting to happen, according to New Zealand research that found 40 per cent of homes contain a large number of hazards.

Exercise stops memory loss
Australian researchers have found that doing just 20 minutes of exercise a day can prevent memory deterioration in people over 50.