explore lowres part1

8/14/2019 Explore Lowres Part1

1/10

THE MURDOCH UNIVERSITYCOMMUNITY MAGAZINE

sept/oct 2009Vol 5 / ISS 6

All the action fromOpen Your Mind Day

see photo gallery - page 7

New $2.3m centre to fast-track

clean fuels - page 3


2/10

2 THE MURDOCH UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY MAGAZINE

Thousands at MurdochsOpen Your Mind Day

Discoveries abounded at Murdochs Open Your Mind Day. See photo gallery page 710.

More than 12,000 people

turned out for this years

Open Your Mind Day at

Murdoch University on Sunday,

August 30.

Colourul multicultural activities, a liquid

physics demonstration by Pharmacy showing

how it's possible to walk on custard and several

leading WA rock bands eatured among the

days entertainment.

Vice Chancellor Proessor John Yovich said

the Universitys new partnership with SunsetEvents was already reaping rewards with ve

Perth bands giving a ree concert on Bush Court

or Open Your Mind Day, headlined by Sugar

Army.

The partnership means Murdoch will be

host to many exciting uture events, Proessor

Yovich said.

He said the Open Your Mind Day gave

people a glimpse o the ull range o courses on

oer and also the culture and community that

embody Murdoch.Equity and social justice are an intrinsic part

o the Murdoch University culture, he said.

We have a longstanding commitment to

making university education more accessible to

improve the moral as well as economic abric o

Australia.

The days activities included hands-on

demonstrations o chiropractic science, tours

o Murdochs state-o-the-art engineering

pilot plant and media studios and even gold

panning.

Also on display around campus wererobotics, IT computer games, orensic acial

reconstruction and incredible x-rays o native

animals treated at the Universitys Veterinary

Hospital.

Visitors or the event came rom as ar as

Melbourne, Queensland, Karratha and Toodyay.

Footage rom the days activities is now on

Murdoch Universitys YouTube Channel:

www.youtube.com/user/murdochuniversity

Explore magazine is or the Murdoch University

community. It is produced by the Oce o Corporate

Communications and Public Relations. The views

expressed in Explore are not necessarily those o the

University.

Managing Editor Editor

Tanyia Maxted Hayley Mayne

[email protected]

Telephone: 9360 2474

Facsimile: 9310 4233

Writers Photography

Denise Cahill Brian Richards

Freya Contos Mark Grin

Hayley Mayne Robin Kornet

Laura Glitsos Tanyia Maxted

Pepi Smyth Wayne Rochat

Tanyia Maxted

Design

Nany Kusumo

2008 Murdoch University

Professor Richard Harper has

been appointed the inaugural

Alcoa Chair in Sustainable

Water Management at

Murdoch University.The Alcoa Chair in Sustainable Water

Management partnership, valued at $600,000,

will ocus on providing leadership in the eld o

water management.

As Chair, Proessor Harper will work with

Alcoa and Murdoch University teams to address

urgent water issues specic to Western Australia,

including impacts o changing rainall patterns,

water capture and water reuse and recycling.

Proessor Harper has over 20 years'

experience in science and policy roles withthe Western Australian Government and was

an early advocate or using investment in

carbon mitigation to tackle intractable land

management issues, such as salinity and

erosion.

His experience includes developing a

bioenergy production system with short rotation

orestry, developing site selection systems or

arm orestry and examining various orms

o land degradation including salinity, wind

erosion and non-wetting.

Alcoa o Australia unding supports the Chair

position or at least three years.

Alcoa Chair to address urgent water issues

Inaugural Alcoa Chair in Sustainable Water Management, Proessor Richard Harper.This publication is printed on environmentally riendly stockrom sustainable managed orests.


3/10

3

Murdoch Universitys Dr Mike

Bunce and Dr Vedi Hadiz

were among the first 200

mid-career researchers toreceive the prestigious ARC

Future Fellowship award.

Federal Minister or Innovation, Industry,

Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr,

announced the national and international

outstanding researchers in the rst round o the

ARC Future Fellowships scheme.

The Government established the ARC

Future Fellowships scheme to address the gap

in opportunities or mid-career researchers in

Australia, which orced many o our talentedresearchers to search or work overseas, Senator

Carr said.

This rst round o the scheme will see 159

o our best and brightest continue their world-

class research at home, boosted by the our-year

ellowship, worth up to $740,000.

Fellows will receive up to $135,000 each

or each o the our years and administering

institutions will receive up to $50,000 a year or

associated inrastructure and other costs.

Dr Mike Bunce, Senior Lecturer in Biological

Sciences and Biotechnology, was awarded or his

research titledAn inventory o past biodiversity in

Western Australia using ancient DNA.

Dr Vedi Hadiz, an Associate o Murdochs

Asia Research Centre, was awarded or his

research, State, Class and Islamic Populism:

Indonesia in Comparative Perspective. Currently

Associate-Proessor o Sociology at the NationalUniversity o Singapore, Dr Hadiz will move to

Murdoch to take up the Fellowship.

Australias new research hub

to fast-track creation of

clean alternative fuels for

the countrys transportneeds was officially launched

at Murdoch University by

WA Transport Minister Simon

OBrien.

Murdoch Vice Chancellor Proessor John

Yovich thanked the WA State Government or

its $2.3 million unding o the Universitys new

Centre or Research into Energy or Sustainable

Transport (CREST) as a WA State Centre o

Excellence.

This new collaborative research hub

will ast-track the creation, testing and

commercialisation o clean, alternative uels by

our scientists," Proessor Yovich said.

"This is critical i Australia is to successully

meet the combined challenges o declining

petroleum resources and slowing climate change

and in the process create new green businesses

and jobs to boost the state and national

economy.

Murdoch University has an international

reputation or creating renewable energy

solutions and the scientists working throughCREST oer many promising opportunities

or new green technologies to assist the WA

government and industry make the transition to

a new sustainable transport system.

Proessor Yovich said CREST brings together

the States leading researchers in alternative

transport uels and technologies and draws

upon expertise in the university sector, industry

and the public service.

Leading Murdoch scientists at CREST include

its Director, Proessor David Harries, and

Proessors Parisa Arabzadeh Bahri, Pritam Singh

and Philip Jennings.

Murdoch researchers at CREST are currently

researching biouel processing modelling,

battery chemistry and uel cells, hydrogen

energy, and new energy products such as

biouel derived rom microalgae.

Proessor Yovich said Murdochs collaborative

partner in CREST, Curtin University, also

had expertise in oil and gas technology

and chemical engineering processes or the

development o hybrid uels and its research

teams will contribute to CREST.

ARC Future Fellowship recipient, Dr Mike Bunce.

New $2.3m Centre to ast-track clean uels

Fellowships invest inuture o research

Proessor Yovich and Transport Minister Simon O'Brien discuss the uture o clean uel, examining Murdoch's biouel rom algae.

sept/oct 2009 / Vol 5 / Iss 6


4/10

4 THE MURDOCH UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY MAGAZINE

Fith-year chiropractic student Clairemarie Wilson treats a patient at Geraldton Regional Medical Service.

Fifth-year Murdoch University

chiropractic students headed

to regional Western Australia

in their study break to

provide free treatment to

the Indigenous communities and

others who were unable to

afford treatment.

Senior Lecturer at Murdoch University,

Dr Bruce Walker said the students conducted

ree clinics in Kununurra, Carnarvon and

Geraldton supervised by qualied chiropractors.

Indigenous people oten cannot aord or

do not have access to chiropractic treatment in

these remote regions so we encourage them to

take advantage o the ree service, Dr Walker

said.These nal-year students made general

health assessments but essentially concentrated

on muscle and bone problems such as back,

neck, arm, leg, shoulder, hip and knee pain.

This is the ourth year Murdoch University

has run this program. The eldwork is

sponsored by mining services contractor NRW.

The chiropractic services were

enthusiastically welcomed by local Aboriginal

people and hundreds o consultations took

place, Dr Walker said.

Without NRW many Aboriginal people in

remote regions would not be able to get relie

rom their aches and pains, some o which are

serious and debilitating.

Dr Walker said the Universitys School o

Chiropractic and Sports Science encourages

students to undertake a broad range o clinical

experiences prior to graduation, but the main

purpose o the visit was to build a long-termrelationship with local Aboriginal people in the

hope o delivering ongoing care.

Free regional chiropractic care

New findings suggest that

parasites may hold a key for

the decline in some native

animal populations, such as

the woylie.

Murdochs Parasitology Research Group

is conducting the rst study o its kind into

parasites o Western Australias native animals,

working closely with the Department o

Environment and Conservation (DEC).

Weve been given Australian Research

Council unding to investigate parasites in

WA as there isnt a lot known about inections

associated with Australian native animals, said

Dr Andrew Smith, Murdochs Parasitology

Research Fellow.Were value-adding to the work DEC is

already doing in its conservation and captive

breeding programs and working to protect

remnant populations by giving insight into the

parasite burdens o native animals.

Dr Smith said they had discovered that in

many o WAs native animals there were new

species o parasites.

Although were not certain yet whether

these parasites are adversely aecting wildlie,

we have ound that nearly 50 per cent o the

declining woylie population o the South-

West carried a novel species o the protozoan

Trypanasoma sp, compared to the healthier

population at Karakamia near Chidlow which

only recorded 10-15 per cent prevalence.

Dr Smith said the Parasitology group would

be able to assist with the DECs rehabilitation

programs in the uture.

Our research will be able to show the

impact that a range o parasites is having onanimals being reintroduced into their native

habitats, which will hopeully increase the

likelihood o successul rehabilitation.

New parasite fndings hold clues or native animal declines

Dr Andrew Smiths team have discovered new species o parasites in many o WAs native animals.

At Murdoch Universitys

biggest-ever graduation

ceremony, Ms Catherine

Livingstone AO, Chairperson

of the Telstra Corporation,

and Adjunct Professor John

Sweaney received honorary

doctorates in recognition

of their exceptional

achievement in the corporate

and health sectors.

More than 500 graduates and their guests

attended the Convention Centre ceremony where

Ms Livingstone and Adjunct Proessor Sweaney

were introduced by Vice Chancellor Proessor

John Yovich.

Throughout her career, Ms Livingstone has

continued to make an active contribution to the

corporate sector through her participation on

many high prole boards, Proessor Yovich said.

As a rst or Australia, Adjunct Proessor

John Sweaney, a leader in the eld oChiropractic education, was also awarded an

Honorary Degree at the ceremony the rst

chiropractor to ever receive an Honorary Degree

in Australia.

His insight and dedication to the proession

have been instrumental in establishing a suite o

successul chiropractic courses that have tted

well with Murdochs existing style o curriculum

and resources.

Adjunct Proessor Sweaney has served

the chiropractic proession in Australia and

internationally or 40 years, and is passionate

about improving its global standards, Proessor

Yovich said.

Earlier in the day Ms Livingstone gave the

2009 Sir Walter Murdoch Lecture, Rethinking

Innovation.

Honours at biggest-ever graduation

At this year's Sir Walter Murdoch Lecture, Telstra Chairwoman Ms Catherine Livingstone spoke about the

need to encourage and support innovation.


5/10

5

5

Every year the Western

Australian finalists in the

National Titration Stakes

competition gather at

Murdoch Universitys chemistry

laboratories.

The best 15 teams rom the state's high

schools compete at Murdoch or the most

accurate chemical analysis.

This year Carine Senior High Schools two

teams scooped rst and second places in the

WA competition.

Dr David Ralph, organiser o Murdochs

involvement in the competition since 2005, said

the high schools competed in the event or a

number o reasons.

Its an enrichment experience or students

at that level and they get a good boost knowing

they can do the mechanics o science and do

it as well as proessional scientists, Dr Ralph

said.

He said the University supported the

competition with resources including laboratory

access, technical and academic time.

Murdoch has been involved in the Royal

Australian Chemistry Institute competition since

last century, and interest in the event shows no

sign o waning.

(Let to right) Carine SHS students Georgia Evans, Siobhan Embury, Natalie Dreibergs, Georgina Journet, Tiahn Shine and (ront) Krushi Shah.

Murdoch Dubai is celebrating

the graduation of its first

10 graduates, seven of whom

made the long journey to

Perth to attend murdoch

largest ever graduation

ceremony on September 17.

Murdoch Dubai's Academic Dean Proessor

John Grainger, said the rst cohort o graduates

had completed their Master o Business

Administration (MBA).

The Dubai MBA program can be completed

in one year ull-time or two years part-time with

classes oered in the evening and on weekends

to suit working proessionals, Proessor Grainger

said.The graduates are all expatriates who live

in Dubai or proessional reasons. They orm a

multicultural group with students coming rom

a variety o countries including the US, Belgium,

Kenya, Jordan, India and Iran.

Graduate Abdelkarim Boutaour rom

Belgium originally moved to Dubai because o

the career advancement opportunities.

We are living in a proessional environmentin which we need to stay afoat with technology

but also rom an academic perspective, Mr

Boutaour said.

The MBA will help me rom a personal

perspective, enhancing skills, sharpening

my judgement and developing a methodical

approach to challenges.

It is anticipated that demand or the MBA

course will continue to grow at Murdoch Dubai.

We currently have 60 MBA students

enrolled and expect many more students to joinin the January, May and August 2010 intakes,

Proessor Grainger said.

Dubais frst graduates visit Perth

Vice Chancellor Proessor John Yovich, Deputy Vice Chancellor Proessor Gary Martin (centre ront) and

Murdoch Dubai Academic Dean Proessor John Grainger (back) congratulate Dubai's frst MBA graduates.

sept/oct 2009 / Vol 5 / Iss 6

Supporting up-and-coming chemists

Tackling salinityThe Shire o Wagin could potentially harness

thermal bioenergy to tackle salinity issues in

the uture, through a partnership that Murdoch

University is hoping to bring to the National

Centre o Excellence in Desalination.

Eight Murdoch researchers gained an

overview o desalination projects on arms in the

Shires o Wagin and Katanning in September.

Researchers also met with Shire

representatives to discuss the potential or

using renewable energy or the desalination o

brackish water.

Murdoch University graduate students are

already collaborating with Morton Seeds and

Grains in Wagin to investigate the potential or

renewable energy produced rom biowaste.

Around 22,000 tonnes o oat husks are

produced at the Wagin site each year, and we

are examining the easibility o developing

a 2.5MW Bioenergy cogeneration plant that

produces both electricity and steam, said Karne

De Boer, a graduate student rom Murdochs

School o Engineering and Energy.

Proessor David Doepel rom the National

Centre o Excellence in Desalination said the

tour provided an invaluable opportunity to gain

insight into salinity issues in the South-West.

The newly ormed Centre is an ideal orum

to explore real-world choices that Wagin and

Katanning could embrace and we are very

appreciative or the opportunity to nd out

more about the regions issues, Proessor

Doepel said.

The Centre is ocusing on improving

the eciency and cost o desalination, and

reducing its carbon ootprint through the use o

renewable energy technology.

It may be possible to build existing industry

partnerships that Murdoch University has in

the region to create living laboratories to test

desalination technologies that could improve the

management o the saline aquier.


6/106 THE MURDOCH UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY MAGAZINE6 THE MURDOCH UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY MAGAZINE6 THE MURDOCH UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY MAGAZINE

Murdoch Philosophy PhD

student Minaxi May has held

her first major art exhibition

in more than four years.

Kaleidoscope, held at Earlywork Gallery

recently, marked a return to her love o colour,

design and orm, with colourul pieces, wall

works, sculptures and installations.

Ms May used everyday paper materials

including sticky dots, streamers, conetti and

coloured paper in the exhibition.

Ms May is a visual artist whose work

encompasses popular culture and the everyday

environment with an emphasis on colour,

consumerism, playulness and design.

Her art oten incorporates materials

and objects rom the urban, commercialenvironment.

These attributes o the pop world are

captured with a sense o un achieved through

quirkiness, improvisation and a keen exploration

o multidisciplinary art techniques.

Phd student holds major art exhibition

An innovative form of rapid

eye movement therapywith promising results in

helping people recover from

emotional trauma has won a

prestigious research award.

Dr Chris Lee, Director o the Clinical

Psychology Program within the School o

Psychology, has shown that when a therapist has

a patient ocus on their trauma and acilitates

their eyes to move rapidly rom side-to-side they

experience more signicant trauma reduction

than when no eye movement therapy is used.

Dr Lees research has been recognised

with the inaugural Francine Shapiro award orresearch excellence at the 10th EMDR Europe

Conerence in Amsterdam.

The international award recognises the

most signicant contribution to research

in understanding how Eye Movement

Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)

contributes to trauma recovery.

Dr Lee says EMDR is a complex method

o psychotherapy that integrates many o the

successul elements o a range o therapeutic

approaches, and combines them with eye

movements in ways which stimulate the brains

inormation processing system.

It appears that people who experience a

traumatic event suer disruption to Rapid Eye

Movement (REM) sleep, the stage o sleepwhen substantial emotional memory processing

occurs, Dr Lee said.

The person is unable to process the event

and thus the memory o the event continues to

be experienced in its original traumatic orm.

Dr Lees PhD student Sarah Schubert has

been studying the physiological responses

people experience (heart rate, sweating and

respiratory rate) when they process their trauma

incidents using EMDR compared to when they

dont use EMDR. Ms Schubert was honoured

with an award or best poster presentation at the

conerence.

Rapid eye movement therapy treats traumaShrooming It was one o the artworks eatured in the Kaleidoscope exhibition .

Big thinking examinescrisis o meaningMurdoch University will host the th annual

Philosophical Colloquium in November,

bringing together contributions rom a range o

disciplines to contemplate the Crisis o Meaning.

Organiser Dr Lubica Ucnk said the

Colloquium would bring together national and

international speakers in response to the theme.

We will have an engaging group o speakers

who are likely to approach Crisis o Meaning in

many ways: humanistic compared with scientic

orms o meaning, historical and timeless

understandings, phenomenology, language and

interpretation, truth, sustainability, ethics, and

the meaning o meaning itsel, Dr Ucnk said.

The Colloquium will be held at Murdoch

University on Friday, November 27 by the

Murdoch Philosophy Program in conjunction

with the Krishna Somers Foundation, the

Murdoch School o Social Sciences and

Humanities and the Faculty o Arts and

Education.

Colloquium organiser Dr Lubica Ucnk prepares

or the events fth anniversary.


7/1077march 2009 / Vol 4 / Iss 3 7open your mind day, august 30, 2009open your mind day, august 30, 2009

open

your

mind

day,

august

30,

200

9

Open Your Mind Dayphoto gallery '09


8/108 open your mind day, august 30, 2009

open

your

mind

day,

august

30,

2009


9/109open your mind day, august 30, 2009

open

your

mind

day,

august

30,

200

9


10/101010 THE MURDOCH UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY MAGAZINE10 open your mind day, august 30, 2009

open

your

mind

day,

august

30,

2009

explore lowres part1

Documents