Archive for June, 2011

UNE is seeking participants for a new study which aims to improve our understanding of the role played by ambient and body temperature in problems such as obesity and depressed mood.

Coordinated by Emma van’t Hoenderdal, an honours student in the School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences, the project will look at the complex relationships between low and high body weight, body temperature, ambient temperature, physical activity/exercise, and mood.

Ms van’t Hoenderdal says that a better understanding of these factors may lead to new approaches in the treatment of obesity – for example, using body cooling or cooling of the home to potentially accelerate weight loss via increased physical activity.

She said the study is prompted by recent large increases in the incidences of overweight/obesity and recent advances in our understanding of low-weight eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa. For example, anorexia nervosa is now regarded as a secondary response to weight loss which is complicated by mood changes and reduced body temperature, and treated by ambient or body warming, rather than being a primary psychiatric disorder.

This knowledge has recently prompted eating disorders experts to ponder whether body-cooling strategies, or strategies which alter thermogenesis (i.e. energy expenditure above the metabolic rate at rest) may promote weight loss in obese people. However, there is very limited available research on this topic.

Another major factor impacting on body weight is physical activity, such as leisure activities, house and yard work, and also spontaneous physical activity such as foot tapping. In addition, body weight and ambient and body temperature are all linked to changes in mood. For example, exercise is known to rapidly increase body temperature and improve mood, and high and low ambient and body temperature are linked to a worsening of mood. Thus, in this study, Emma is examining the relationships between these interlinked factors.

Ms van’t Hoenderdal said she is collecting data for the study through a short online questionnaire, which will take about 15-20 minutes to complete. A follow-up questionnaire of the same length will then be completed one month later. In this questionnaire, participants will be asked to record their weight, ambient (i.e. in the house) temperature and body temperature, mood and physical activity levels, on two test days, one month apart. In addition, some local participants will receive a pedometer to wear on the two test days. Participants must be 18 years of age or older, and have access to a thermometer and weighing scales to participate in this study.

Those interested in participating in the study are invited to visit the following link to the questionnaire:

http://unebcss.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_2bZDKi4VzH5ZRE8

Further information: Dr Rhonda Brown, School of Behavioural, Cognitive & Social Sciences. Ph: (02) 6773 2410.

The discovery by scientists from the South Australian Museum and the Universities of New England (UNE) and Adelaide that some ancient, primitive animals had highly-developed vision has brought new insights into the ‘Cambrian explosion’ of life half a billion years ago.

The evidence comes from exquisite fossils from Kangaroo Island in South Australia that are over 500 million years old, yet are so well-preserved that they look like eyes from a recently-swatted fly.

The discovery, revealed today in the prestigious journal
Nature, was made by an international team of palaeontologists led by Dr Mike Lee, from the South Australian Museum and University of Adelaide, and Dr John Paterson of UNE’s School of Environmental and Rural Science.

Dr Paterson explained that modern insects and crustaceans have ‘compound eyes’ consisting of hundreds or even thousands of lenses. They see their world as pixels, with each lens producing a pixel of vision. More lenses means more pixels and better visual resolution. The fossil compound eyes have over 3000 lenses, making them more powerful than anything previously known from that period and similar to the eyes found in many insects living now, such as robberflies.

‘These fossils represent the oldest complex eyes on the planet,’ Dr Paterson said. ‘The only others known in the fossil record from this time are either very simple trilobite eyes or circular blobs.’

‘The eyes we’ve discovered belonged to an arthropod – a big group which includes insects, crustaceans and spiders – and are preserved in a way that the optical design and lens arrangement is clearly visible, enabling to us to understand how Cambrian animals could see and perhaps how they lived.’

The arrangement and size of the lenses suggests that the eyes belonged to an active predator that was capable of seeing in dim light. The findings suggest that sharp vision must therefore have evolved very rapidly, soon after the first predators appeared during the ‘Cambrian explosion’ of life that began around 540 million years ago. It is possible that sophisticated vision in early predators drove a Cambrian ‘arms race’ when animals evolved armour (e.g. shells) at a rapid rate.

As the eyes were found isolated, their owner is unknown, but they possibly belonged to a large shrimp-like animal.  The 515 million-year-old rocks containing the eyes also preserve a dazzling array of marine creatures, many new to science. They include primitive trilobite-like creatures, bizarre armoured worms, and large swimming predators with elaborate feeding appendages.

The discovery provides further evidence that the ‘Cambrian explosion’ involved rapid innovation in fine-scale anatomy as well as major body architecture in animals, and is consistent with the idea that the development of advanced vision helped to drive this great evolutionary event.

Dr Paterson added that although the find was not expected, excavation has been taking place at the Kangaroo Island site since 2007. ‘Early on we were finding eyes attached to other animals but with no detail, just blobs. But these took us by surprise: normally the lens detail isn’t there.’

A key question has been how the eyes came to be preserved and fossilized in such detail. ‘Arthropods shed their corneas, which are made of material called chitin, similar to the thin, semi-hard exoskeleton you find on shrimps today,’ Dr Paterson said. ‘We suspect that, at a very early stage of fossilization, a compound called calcium phosphate replaced the chitin. Very specific conditions are needed for this reaction to take place, and the sediments must have been deposited under very low oxygen conditions, which both slowed decay and allowed this chemical reaction to take place.’

Dr Paterson said that, subject to funding, further excavations at the Kangaroo Island site were planned.

UNE is providing innovative training to African agriculture advisors and public sector staff to develop much-needed solutions to farming and water problems in their home countries.

In a project sponsored by AusAID, the Federal Government’s overseas aid program, UNE is providing training to over 40 public sector staff involved in agricultural extension research and training in the areas of post harvest storage and processing, and water harvesting and small scale irrigation.

Currently on campus in Armidale are participants are from Burundi, Ghana, Tunisia, Djibouti and Rwanda, with others from Burkina Faso and Egypt having completed training which began in May.

While the original idea for the project had centred on a study tour to expose participants to Australian methods, the UNE team, headed by Professor John Gibson, felt participants not only needed to leave with new skills and perspectives but action plans they could implement practically.

‘While our training provides some key technical information, the focus is on equipping participants with the tools they need to be effective at driving change in their home countries,’ Project co-leader, Dr Julian Prior said. ‘To help do this we are training the participants in agricultural extension techniques and also exposing them to the lessons that can be learned from the experiences of Australian Landcare.

‘A crucial component here is adaptive learning approaches, built around problems and case studies brought by the participants. This means things change as we go along and we ourselves learn what is needed. But the whole thing is aimed at ensuring that each person can leave with a well defined action plan which can be practically implemented.’ He added that an important result of the program was the sharing of solutions already in use elsewhere in Africa by other participants in the program, which been an ‘eye-opener’ for some.

The study tour has also been refined to maximise participants’ building of a network of highly relevant contacts in Australia. Follow up visits by UNE staff would help ensure that action plans developed were working.

‘We are also keen to recognise the central role of women in many agriculture systems and the particular value – in terms of improved health, education and livelihoods – of targeting interventions to women and improving the role of women.’ Dr Prior said. ‘Gender analysis and mainstreaming of gender strategies will be embedded in the training.’

Jacob Zuttah from Ghana’s Irrigation Development Authority came to find out how to understand basic principles of small-scale irrigation in his country’s drier areas and said this could make a big difference to Ghana’s ability to feed its own people. ‘At present we import 80 per cent of our rice needs from Thailand,’ he said. ‘This project will help me to go back home and help design simple, farmer-friendly water harvesting systems for agriculture that we don’t currently have.’  Ibtissem Enneb, a researcher in Tunisia’s Arid Regions Institute, agreed, saying that she was also finding new ways to transfer technology and training to farmers.

The University of New England’s new Asia Pacific Centre has an important role in providing the knowledge to ensure Australia’s future prosperity and security, according to a leading academic.

Speaking at the recent launch of the Asia Pacific Centre in UNE’s School of Humanities, Professor Shahram Akbarzadeh, Professor of Asian Politics at Melbourne University and Deputy Director of the National Centre of Excellence in Islamic Studies, said there can be no question that, as a regional power, Australia’s prosperity is largely contingent on how well it engages with its neighbours.

‘With Asia’s role in Australia’s trade, culture and security rapidly growing, Australia’s proximity to Asia and the Pacific islands means that we need to know our neighbourhood, engage with it proactively and contribute to its prosperity,’ Professor Akbarzadeh said. ‘Because a prosperous Asia Pacific means a prosperous Australia.’

He added that, in the wake of the war on terror, Australia’s security concerns were an added reason to become much more informed about the social, cultural and political landscape of the Asia and the Pacific – the kind of knowledge best provided by tertiary centres of learning and scholarship such as UNE’s Asia Pacific Centre.

Professor Akbarzadeh noted that the Asia Pacific Centre would not be not starting from scratch in this endeavour but would be able to draw on the interdisciplinary research strengths the UNE had long possessed on Asia and the Pacific, as well as building on the past work of the former, highly-respected Asia Centre, which it was effectively replacing.

The new Centre’s immediate priority was ‘to map and measure the various factors that put states at risk of governmental and societal collapse and threaten the prospect of peace throughout the region.’ Professor Akbarzadeh said. ‘And that’s about everything pertaining to such issues as political stability, food security, health security, border security, terrorism, climate-change, migration (including refugees and trafficked persons), human rights, and so on.’

The Asia Pacific Centre was also committed to advancing a number of key projects – including Migration and Refugee policy, Environment and Social Impacts of Resource Development in Asia, and Islamic Studies – that the Asia Centre had earlier successfully begun. Indeed, an international conference on Refugees and People Smuggling has been scheduled for 26-27 September 2011. A Visiting Research Fellowship and Travelling Scholarship scheme for higher degree research students is also expected to be restarted in 2012.

The Asia Pacific Centre may be virtual, as many university centres are in the modern age of information technology, but Professor Akbarzadeh was confident that its ‘footprint’ in research and scholarship would ‘certainly be felt and seen’.

Picture: Professor Howard Brasted, Director of the Asia Pacific Centre

Five career advisers have been honoured for their “commitment and service” to the University of New England at that institution’s recent Career Advisers’ Summit.

The career advisers, all of whom are approaching retirement, included: Bill Goldie (Lismore High School), Barry Maguire (Casino High), Bill Timmins (Westport High – Port Macquarie), John Kocek (Bellingen High) and  John Bear (Toormina High).

All have worked closely with UNE’s Student Recruitment Team over many years in promoting UNE’s courses to their students, have regularly brought students on campus for Open Days and orientation tours, organised career expos in their respective towns and actively promote UNE’s early entry programs, scholarships, on campus accommodation and UNE’s strong commitment to student welfare.

Of the five, three — Bill Goldie, Barry Maguire and Bill Timmins — did their teacher training at UNE and have been strong advocates for UNE ever since.

All five received a commemorative shield and engraved wine glass in honour of their service.

Brian See, Schools Liaison Officer with the University of New England and organiser of the presentation, said: “Many of the recipients have been career advisers for decades. In that time, they have been tremendously helpful to UNE through promoting the university’s scholarships, courses, and programs, as well as organising careers expos.”

“It has been the privilege of my colleagues and I to work with them and to not only build strong working relationships, but lasting friendships as well.”

A record number of artworks from primary and secondary students in northern NSW and from as far west as Menindee have been submitted for this year’s UNE School Acquisitive Art Prize (UNESAP).

Almost 600 works from 36 schools have been submitted, and UNESAP 2011 organiser Jennifer Butler says it is ‘marvellous’ to see the continuation and growth of what began as an initiative of the University’s School of Education.

‘Schools have submitted a wide range of works with an exciting mix of materials and media,’ Ms Butler said. ‘Children from kindergarten to year 12 have contributed, and the works display a wonderfully free and expressive approach to art making.

‘We have works from drawing and collage to crayons, painting, mosaic and photography,’ she added. ‘It is gratifying to see the response of schools to the encouragement of expression in art making, and fascinating to see the variety of perceptions which children in each age category see as art.’

With entries now closed, a team of selectors have sorted the works and selected for judging a range of about 60 in the four categories of infants, primary, junior secondary and senior secondary. This year’s guest judge, Michelle Schouten, is an artist working in the medium of glass and a classroom teacher with 22 years experience.

All finalists will be invited to attend the announcement of prizes and the ‘Let’s Hang It!’ exhibition opening night, to be held at the New England Regional Art Museum on Friday, July 22^nd, at 6pm. Cash prizes up to $300 for the senior secondary prize will be awarded, with the runner up in each category also receiving a prize.

Acknowledgment of support for this is due to S & S Creativity Ltd, who have contributed to the prize money each year. This year they will also be putting together art packs for the first prize winners to encourage further exploration of different materials.

The winning entries will be framed and become part of the permanent collection of artworks held by the University of New England and displayed on the University campus. The ‘Let’s Hang It’ exhibition featuring the winning artworks will be exhibited at NERAM until August 14^th.

The Faculty of The Professions at UNE has been training primary and secondary teachers to promote interest in the visual arts for many years and, in 2004, decided to support this further by establishing prizes and organising an annual exhibition of our most talented young artists’ work. With UNESAP, coordinated by Dr Frances Alter, now in its eighth year with a growing number of schools in regional NSW participating, UNE has handed over its management to the New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM).

HSC students doing business studies, economics and law joined those taking science subjects to make the University of New England’s HSC Booster and study days this year the biggest ever.

Around 1,000 students and their teachers from more 60 schools around the north of NSW converged on Armidale for the Schools, which began on Monday, June 20^th.

The HSC booster days in the Sciences have been growing in popularity with students and teachers because of their focus on the curriculum and ability to demonstrate areas of science that cannot be done in most schools. This year more than 700 students from over 42 schools as far away as Wellington in the central west and Woodenbong in the north are visiting Armidale over the three days to add to their learning and ability to manage HSC study and exams.

Adding to this was the return of a revitalised HSC study day hosted by the School of Business, Economics and Public Policy (BEPP) and the School of Law, which attracted nearly 300 students from over 22 schools from Taree to Gulgong. Re-launching the study days was an exciting development according to Professor Alison Sheridan, Head of the School of Business, Economics and Public Policy.

‘It’s great to see students from the region having the chance to learn from presenters who are recognised specialists in the HSC curriculum areas of business studies, economics and law ,’ Professor Sheridan said. ‘It aligns well with BEPP’s area of expertise, and should flow forward into degrees and professional roles in the region.’

The students and teachers attending the Booster and Study Days seemed to share this excitement, with Samuel Brazel of Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School near Tamworth commenting that he had got unexpected, new views of his subject, alternative perspectives from the specialist presenters which he thought would help address questions in the HSC. It also broadened his horizons: ‘it’s been a blast’ he said.

Jeff Guider, Deputy Principal (Boarding) at Farrer, who was also present for the day, added that the activities engaged students with ideas and approaches from people highly experienced in particular areas as educators and presenters. ‘It’s also attractive at other levels, with students getting an experience of the higher education environment and the facilities here at UNE, helping them as they prepare for the transition to University,’ he said. ‘You also have the significant benefit of mixing with and talking to students from schools elsewhere in the region.’

In the Sciences area, Brett Woods of Camden Haven High School said he gained new perspectives from explanations of physics theory, while Callan Hart, also from Camden Haven, said that sessions such as exam preparation and note taking had been very helpful. Rachel Johnson from Warialda High School said the practicals were not just thorough but enabled her to experience things in a way she couldn’t at school – such as seeing parasites under the microscope and doing tests for blood type. ‘It’s definitely helped me understand things better,’ she said.

The HSC Science Booster Days continue until Wednesday, June 22^nd, with UNE providing accommodation and meals.

A new initiative called ‘Unison’, which aims to help useful and innovative ideas come to fruition, particularly in regional areas, is about to swing into action.

A collaboration between UNE and the NSW Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastucture and Services (DTIRS), Unison is a process ‘that is itself innovative’, according to Dr Philip Thomas, Principal Research Fellow in Innovation in the School of Business, Economics and Public Policy at UNE.

Called ‘Intentional Innovation Community Workshops’, the events will consist of a free, half-day workshop and follow-up workshop in Armidale, Tamworth, Moree and Narrabri in July and August, 2011. Dr Thomas, who is coordinating the workshops, says the purpose is to help turn ideas into useful outcomes.

Participants will learn about the concept of building Intentional Innovation Communities (IICs) from internationally-recognised speakers Ted Alter and Michael Fortunato from Penn State University. They will be able to share their ideas and hear of possible actions that can create an overall strategy for supporting innovation in our communities.

‘We need to get useful ideas to actually happen,’ Dr Thomas said. ‘People have good ideas at a personal, community and business level, but it is often much more difficult to make things happen in reality, particularly within a regional context. Many creative and motivated people do it on their own but bringing knowledge and skills into a collective process can make it much easier.

‘This is an opportunity to meet other like-minded people within your region. Within this process you are effectively bringing in knowledge from much more than one individual to complete the task required – and this is the idea of the Intentional Innovation Communities. We will talk about how to combine empowerment, trust, collaboration and creativity to achieve action.’

Dr Thomas said the process is designed for community ideas and business ideas alike. ‘These old silos of thinking are melting, and the new wave of innovation brings together those who have not traditionally talked to each other. We are keen to have people come along from all sorts of backgrounds and ages to fuel innovative possibilities.

‘From these workshops we can create a “hothouse” if you like, a safe place to share ideas, and we’re confident this process can deliver exciting prospects. We have great thinkers and do-ers within our region,’ Dr Thomas said.

The initiative is supported by the Cotton Catchment Communities CRC, Tamworth Regional Development Corporation, and DTIRS. Initial workshops will be held in Armidale on July 20^th, Tamworth on July 22^nd, Moree on August 19^th and Narrabri on August 23^rd. Bookings (for catering purposes) can be made by calling Kate Schwager on (02) 6799 2477. Further information can be obtained by calling Dr Thomas on (02) 6773 3908.

Two former UNE staff members and a current student have been recognised in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Former Associate Professor and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Arts for 12 years, Bruce Marshall, now of Bundanoon, received an AM for service to the humanities and to education, particularly through the Australasian Society for Classical Studies.

Professor Stephen Dinham, now of Surrey Hills, Victoria, received an OAM for service to educational research, and to professional associations. He was Professor of Teacher Education, Pedagogy and Professional Development in UNE’s School of Education from 2002 to 2004, and has the rare distinction of holding three degrees from UNE.

Mrs Gail MacDonell, currently a postgraduate student in Psychology, received an OAM (Medal in the Order of Australia in the General Division) for service to Partners of Veterans and their families through the Partners of Veterans’ Association of Australia (PVA).
While she is a member of the Prime Ministerial Advisory Council on Ex-Service Matters with the Commonwealth DVA and of the National Veterans Health and Well Being Forum, Mrs MacDonell has been working with partners of Veterans and their families on a volunteer basis since 1997.

In 2000, however, she took this labour of love further when she decided to study psychology to gain insight into the problems of families of Veterans. She gained a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) at UNE, and is now working to complete her PhD.

“I became involved in this area because of huge mental health and behavioural issues with my own husband, and at that time there was nowhere to obtain support,” she said. “Research has now shown the huge impact that can occur living with someone who has war-related problems.”

Currently resident in Mary White College, Mrs MacDonell is investigating the psychosocial wellbeing of partners of Australian combat Veterans and the interaction between this wellbeing and health outcomes for the Veterans.
Mrs MacDonell’s connection with UNE has also become a family affair. Not only is her daughter, Vicki Dodds of Newcastle, currently undertaking a double degree Bachelor of Criminology and Bachelor of Laws through external study but her granddaughter, Emma Dodd, is expecting to begin a Bachelor of Social Work next semester.

UNE acknowledges the assistance of material from The Armidale Express in the preparation of this article.

UNE has welcomed a highly accomplished musician and academic as the new Head of the School of Arts.

Professor Darryl Poulsen comes to UNE from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Sydney University, where he was Professor of Music and Associate Dean (Academic). Previously, he was Winthrop Professor of Music and Head of the School of Music at The University of Western Australia. He holds the degrees of Doctor of Music and Master of Music from the University of Western Australia.

Having also graduated from the Conservatoria of Luxembourg, and Liège, Belgium, Professor Poulsen is a highly accomplished musician committed to historically-informed early music performance, playing both baroque and classical natural horns.

He is Principal Horn with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra in Sydney and has held Principal Horn positions in European and Australian orchestras and performed throughout Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Australia as well as touring internationally with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Professor Poulsen’s research is predominantly in creative work: researching and performing repertoire of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic eras on period instruments, as well as the commissioning and premiering of new works. As a teacher, he has given master classes throughout Australia, Sweden and Asia and the United States of America and taught horn students from every major Australian city.

In coming to UNE, Professor Poulsen says he was attracted by the University’s strong engagement with the community and the multi-disciplinary and collegial character of the School of Arts, which combines English, Asian and European Languages, Communications and Theatre Studies as well as Music.

He looks forward to encouraging opportunities for teaching and research synergies within and outside of the School of Arts, as well as contributing to some of the Music discipline’s performance activities. While his three adult children are pursuing their own careers and interests, Professor Poulsen’s wife Linnette, who trained as an English Teacher, joins him in Armidale.

In welcoming Professor Poulsen, the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Professor Jennie Shaw, said she was delighted to have someone of Professor Poulsen’s ‘professional and personal calibre join us at UNE.’

‘His leadership experience at the University of Sydney and at the University of Western Australia, as well as his outstanding international research and creative profiles as a performer and musician, have put him in an excellent position to contribute in many valuable ways to the School of Arts, UNE and the community.’ Professor Shaw said.