Issue 05. 5 May 2008 - UWA Staff - The University of Western Australia

UWA NEWS
5 May 2008 Volume 27 Number 5
Genetic code cracked
by Lindy Brophy
Photo by Paul Ricketts, DUIT Multimedia
“
Raw data is
wasted when you
can’t manipulate it
effectively. People all
over the world have
been looking for a
system like this
“
A childhood friendship was the catalyst for a major international
development in genetic research at UWA that has captured the
imagination of the science world.
Researchers in the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, in
collaboration with colleagues at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences in
California, have mapped the genetic switches that determine the epigenetic
inheritance code for plants.
This discovery has huge implications for a fundamental understanding of the
inherited function of genes and has the potential for application in plant breeding
and food production and eventually could help to unlock the secrets of cancer and
other human diseases.
Professor Harvey Millar (above left) and his PhD student Julian Tonti-Filippini (above
right) are the UWA researchers in the project, and their joint publication with the
Salk Institute was this week published on the front cover of Cell, a leading
international molecular biology journal.
continued
continued
on page
on page
2
2

Genetic code cracked
continued from page 1
Image courtesy of Ryan Lister, Jamie Simon and Joseph R. Ecker, Salk Institute
Mr Tonti Filippini is a co-first author with Dr Ryan Lister, who
completed his PhD in 2005 in the ARC Centre of Excellence
in Plant Energy Biology at UWA, won a Human Frontier
Science Program fellowship for a post-doctoral position at
the Salk Institute and has been there for 18 months.
He and Mr Tonti Filippini have been friends since they were
children, so when Dr Lister needed help with managing his
research team’s epigenetic data, he asked Julian.
“It had to be somebody he trusted because he gave us
direct access to the institute’s valuable collection of data,”
said Mr Tonti Filippini, who is a bioinformaticist, describing
himself as more of computer programmer than a plant
biologist.
What started as a side project to help out the Salk Institute
team grew into a ground-breaking discovery that will help
molecular biologists to make sense of their data.
“Everybody has data management problems,” Professor
Millar said. “It is a big hole internationally that needs to be
filled, and we think this development of Julian’s will radically
change the way epigenetic data can be visualised and, in
turn, what we can learn from it.”
Epigenetics is a science focused on unlocking the secret
codes that determine which genes are turned on and which
are turned off. The settings of these switches, which exist in
all living plants and animals, are called methylation points.
Until now, scientists did not have a clear picture of how
many methylation points a biological system had, or the
tools to find them all.
Software written by Mr Tonti-Filippini proved critical in
handling, analysing and visualising the Terabytes of data
generated by the study. A revolutionary genome-browser
called Anno-J shows the exact location of more than two
million methylation points in the plant genome by displaying
“aligned reads from deep sequencing data” generated by Dr
Lister in the laboratory of Dr Joe Ecker at the Salk Institute.
“The DNA sequence in a gene changes over long periods of
time and is generally permanent,” Professor Millar explained.
“But now we have the tools to map and see the methylation
points or switches that can change heritable gene
expression much more quickly, and then change them back
again, without altering the basic sequence of the DNA.”
The team used a plant called Arabidopsis for this research,
the ‘lab rat’ of plant science.
“When we studied mutants that lacked enzymes that
methylate or de-methylate DNA, we saw large heritable
changes in methylation patterns which up and down
regulated a large number of genes, without us changing the
DNA of these genes in the plant,” said Mr Tonti Filippini.
If scientists can learn how to regulate gene expression via
epigenetics, there are implications for cancer treatment in
humans as well as the production of food and biofuels
through tailored plant feedstocks. UWA’s plant biologists are
paving the way for life-saving developments by helping in
the establishment of the technologies needed for
epigenome sequencing.
“Julian’s programming and data analysis skills have been
essential for the project,” Professor Millar said. “The Salk
Institute had so much data but couldn’t display or analyse it
to the degree they knew it needed. Raw data is wasted
when you can’t manipulate it effectively.”
“People all over the world have been looking for a system
like this,” Professor Millar said.
He and Mr Tonti Filippini work in the Australian Research
Council-funded ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy
Biology and in the WA Government-funded State Centre of
Excellence in Computational Systems Biology.
These centres are dedicated to discovering and
characterising the molecular components and control
mechanisms that drive energy metabolism in plant cells.
This is vital for
determining the timing
and rate of plant growth
and development, the
biomass and yield of
grain, fruits and crops,
the efficient use of water
and mineral nutrients and
the tolerance of plants to
environmental stresses
such as excess light and
drought.
Dr Ryan Lister gave access
to his group’s data
2
UWA NEWS 5 May 2008
The University of Western Australia

Luxury research
When a sparkling new BMW X5
was delivered to the Vice-
Chancellery recently, some
people thought it was a new car
for Professor Alan Robson.
But no such luck for the Vice-
Chancellor. The luxury four-wheel drive
has been donated by BMW for
research into driver assistance
systems, to help curb the road toll by
providing drivers with computerised
aids.
Associate Professor Thomas Braunl’s
work on robotics and automation in the
School of Electrical, Electronic and
Computer Engineering took him on
sabbatical to the Technical University of
Munich last year.
“They had good contacts with BMW
and Audi and I asked if we could get an
older vehicle for our research,”
A/Professor Braunl said. “They said
they would give us a brand new vehicle
with zero kilometres on the clock.
Unfortunately, it is not licensed so
there’s no joy-riding, just research being
done with it!”
He said that driver assistance systems
were already being installed in some
luxury cars and a brand of truck to try
to make driving safer.
“The early systems were radar-based.
Their active cruise control could
measure the distance between the car
and the vehicle in front and keep the
distance constant, instead of just
keeping the speed constant.
“We are now looking at systems using
image processing: actual cameras that
look at surrounding cars and road
conditions and modify the driving
accordingly,” he said.
“With the camera we can identify the
lane markings on the road and install a
warning system if the driver goes too
close to it. This is especially useful for
long-haul truck drivers who might get
sleepy and drift across into the next
lane.”
A/Professor Braunl said technically it
would be possible for a car to be totally
automated. “But if it was involved in an
accident, the blame would lie with the
manufacturer, not the driver, so the car
companies are keeping well away from
that idea,” he said.
for
safer driving
“
With the camera we can identify the lane
markings on the road and install a warning
system if the driver goes too close to it
His group’s innovation is to work
towards embedding the driver
assistance system into a small
independent device similar to a satellite
navigation system.
“It could then be attached to the
windscreen of any car and you could
have the benefit of the system without
having to buy a car with the system
installed,” he said.
“Maybe, in the future, it could even be
part of your mobile phone. All it needs
is the right software.”
Associate Professor Thomas Braunl hopes this
device will ultimately make the roads a safer place
“
The group includes A/Professor
Braunl’s PhD student Adrian Boeing,
who went to Munich on sabbatical with
him last year. “Adrian developed the
vehicle regulation and tracking software
that will be part of our device.
“We hope to eventually include more
advanced functions,” he said. “The
industry is looking at braking systems
that could detect a potential collision,
which would trigger full braking
capacity with just a touch of the brake
pedal. This would need quite advanced
sensors.”
The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 5 May 2008 3

Graduations
reflect the
strength
of our
University
Amidst major national discussions last month on higher
education, on campus there was significant reinforcement of the
University’s primary mission through our autumn graduation
ceremonies at which more than 2,750 students received bachelor
degrees, diplomas, masters degrees and higher degrees
The awards included 75 PhDs from across all faculties, as well as degrees and
diplomas to 660 graduates from business, more than 200 engineers, 109
doctors and 98 teachers.
These graduation events, held in autumn and spring, remain a most important
reminder of the human realities of our University environment and provide very
tangible evidence of our contribution to society. Our highly-talented graduates
are destined to become leaders in business, industry, government, academia
and the community more generally.
Along with the success of students, our graduation ceremonies also recognise
the extraordinary work of individuals within our broader community through the
awarding of Honorary Degrees. These are offered to those who have provided
distinguished service or reached significant attainments in the areas of
community and public service, private sector engagement, international links,
academic achievement, or contribution to the arts.
At our autumn graduations, 11 such honorary degrees were awarded to:
Mr Brettney Fogarty (Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters)
Mrs Annie Fogarty (Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters)
Ms Sara Macliver (Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music)
Mr Kerry Hill (Honorary Degree of Doctor of Architecture)
Mr John Poynton (Honorary Degree of Doctor of Commerce)
Mr Terry Enright (Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science in Agriculture)
Dr James Ross (Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science)
Professor The Honourable David Malcolm (Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws)
Ms Erica Smyth (Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters)
Dr Brian Lawn (Honorary Degree of Doctor of Engineering)
Dr Richard Pestell (Honorary Degree of Doctor of Medicine).
The success of our honorary degree recipients in Australia and on the global
scene, along with the extremely high quality of all our graduates, reminds us
that they are the greatest reflection of the strength of our University and its
contribution to society.
Along with the graduation ceremonies last month, there was also wider
interaction with the community through the University’s annual Parents’
Welcome for the parents of new undergraduate students.
A record number of more than 1,130 parents responded to our invitation and
the significance of the event is reflected in the fact that by far the majority of
parents (some 87 per cent) indicated that their son or daughter was their first
child in their family to study at The University of Western Australia. As a result,
for most parents, this was their first visit to the University.
The University owes its thanks to the staff who volunteered their Saturday
afternoon to present at information sessions and to act as tour guides for the
Parents’ Welcome.
Royal
address
Professor Jorg Imberger has
been invited by His Royal
Highness the Duke of Edinburgh
to speak in London.
The Director of the Centre for Water
Research will be giving the prestigious
RSA (Royal Society for Encouragement
of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce)
Prince Philip Lecture, delivered annually
by world leaders.
Professor Imberger is expected to give
a global perspective on challenges in
water management in the 21 st century.
He will dine at the 250-year-old RSA,
one of the UK’s oldest and most
respected think tanks, with Prince
Philip, who will chair the event.
The lecture will be broadcast live on the
RSA’s website, with an MP3 available
to download afterwards.
Professor Imberger’s audience will be a
mixture of RSA Fellows and nonspecialist
members, plus others
working in the field, policy makers and
academics.
His lecture follows RSA events featuring
prestigious speakers such as Kofi
Annan, Al Gore, Amartya Sen and
Jeffrey Sachs.
“Professor Imberger’s invitation to
address the RSA is a reflection of the
international excellence attained by
many of our researchers,” said Vice-
Chancellor Professor Alan Robson.
“Although our University is in one of the
world’s most isolated cities, it has a lot
to contribute on solving some of the
global community’s most urgent
problems, including water use.”
Professor Imberger will be presenting
the Prince Philip Lecture at RSA House,
Central London, at 6pm on
Wednesday, June 11.
Alan Robson Vice-Chancellor
4
UWA NEWS 5 May 2008
The University of Western Australia

French
timepiece
ticks again
Time stood still for Craig Atkins
through 30 years of prize-givings,
media conferences and meetings
in the Vice-Chancellery’s Prescott
Room.
All he recalls from those many
occasions is the beautiful antique
French calendar clock that stood not
working on a side table.
“I finally got sick of it and asked Alan if I
could take it away and get it working
again,” said the Emeritus Professor of
Plant Biology. And it is now a going
concern.
Professor Atkins’ father collected
clocks and he grew up surrounded by
them.
“Dad lived in the country, so I used to
buy a lot of his clocks for him,”
E/Professor Atkins said. “I remember
buying one in 1958 for 400 guineas,
which Dad sold before he died for
nearly $400,000. It was a windmills
clock made in 1690 for the Lord Mayor
of London. There were only three of
them: one is in the Victoria and Albert
Museum, one belongs to the Queen
and is in Holyrood House, Edinburgh,
and we had the third one.”
The mantle clock in the Prescott Room
was given to the University by a former
Senate member Dr William J Hancock
in 1931. E/Professor Atkins said it was
made in France in the second half of
the 19th century by clockmakers
Louis-Achille Brocot of Paris.
“But, interestingly, it has the name
McMaster of Dublin on the face of the
clock,” he said. “McMaster would have
made the case, which I think is marble,
but the workings are definitely French.
“The escapement, on the front of the
upper dial, regulates the transfer of
energy from the pendulum, or in this
case, the spring, to the movement of
the hands. This clock has two ruby
jewel posts that engage the
escapement wheel. It is known as a
Brocot escapement and was patented
by the maker in the early 19th century.”
The lower dial shows the date and the
difference between solar time and clock
time. “This varies throughout the year
because the Earth’s access is tilted and
the Earth’s orbit around the sun is
elliptical,” he explained.
E/Professor Atkins said the key to wind
the clock had been lost. “The clock
wasn’t damaged, just very dirty inside,
Emeritus Professor Craig Atkins is delighted to see this clock working
so I had a clockmaker friend clean it
and make a new key. I got it running
again and regulated it. It should be OK
now as long as somebody in the
Vice-Chancellery remembers to wind it
every 24 days.”
After restoring the clock to its place in
the Prescott Room, E/Professor Atkins
was going home to his three Morgans
(British racing cars) and to work on his
second book (co-authored with two
English colleagues) on racing cars.
The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 5 May 2008 5

Our group
of eight at
by Natali Morgan
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called for ‘big ideas’ at
the 2020 Summit and UWA presented him with just
that - eight of our leading academics whose
motivation for change may help create the better
future Australia is looking for.
More than 1,000 delegates from around the nation were called
upon to attend the two-day talkfest in Canberra to discuss
ideas on climate change through to the possibility of creating a
national education curriculum.
Individual contributions made at the Summit by our attending
academic staff will be looked at in future issues of UWA News,
but here is taste of who went, and what may be to come:
A tax on junk food, alcohol and tobacco to fund a national
preventative health agency and programs to keep people
healthy received strong support from experts in the long-term
national health strategy stream of the Summit, attended by
Dr Fiona Wood, 2005 Australian of Year, and clinical
professor in the University’s School of Surgery. The creation of
a healthbook website similar to Facebook also raised
discussion and will be
considered along with
recommendations on
creating a self-sufficient
“
and flexible medical
workforce.
Australia’s future security
and prosperity workshop
was attended by Dr Gary
Sigley, director of the
University’s Confucius
Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd
Institute and senior lecturer
in the School of Social and
Cultural Studies, and
Associate Professor Samina Yasmeen, who both
contributed their knowledge of culture and language to
Summit discussions on the national and international
community in our rapidly changing world. Ideas which evolved
in this area included linking Australians to Asian communities
through school partnerships and establishing four institutes to
look at Australia’s relationship with Japan, China, the US and
India.
Holding the government accountable on Indigenous issues
through the creation of a new watchdog got discussion under
way in the Options for the future of Indigenous Australians
stream, attended by Adele Cox, lecturer at the UWA Centre
for Aboriginal Medical and Dental Heath, Dr Christine
Jeffries-Stokes from the School of Primary, Aboriginal and
Rural Health Care and chief investigator of the Eastern
Goldfields Renal Project, and Professor Fiona Stanley,
2003 Australian of the Year and director of the Telethon
Institute for Child Health Research in UWA’s Faculty of
Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. All three women
contributed their much-valued insight into Indigenous
Australia, acquired over their many years of work with
Indigenous communities. Delegates also looked into
increasing the formal and legal recognition of Aborigines with a
possible treaty.
Building upon the Indigenous Australia discussion was the
Creative Australia stream, where Indigenous culture was
recognised as core to creativity in Australia. Discussing the
expansion and development of education in arts and creativity
to enrich and support cultural endeavours, were Shelagh
Magadaza, artistic director of the Perth International Arts
Festival, and Professor Margaret Seares, UWA Senior
Deputy Vice-Chancellor. Other key policy ideas raised included
boosting Australian
television content and
establishing a ministry of
I don’t want to wake up one
morning in the year 2020 with
the regret of not having acted
when I had the chance
“
culture with funding access
to research and
development.
With myriad ideas from
delegates across all
Summit streams, public
submissions, internet blog
sites and the media, many
will await the government’s
response to the Report of
the Summit (end of 2008)
with baited breath. What will the future hold? Will it be
changed? One thing is for certain – although the government’s
response is important, we are all passionate about pursuing
our imagined future and it is we, as like-minded individuals,
who will set about creating its path.
The future is in our hands, a notion poignantly captured by Mr
Rudd at the closing of the Summit: “I don’t want to wake up
one morning in the year 2020 with the regret of not having
acted when I had the chance; that’s why it’s important to plan
ahead,” he said.
“I don’t want to have to explain to my kids, and perhaps their
kids too, that we failed to act, that we avoided the tough
decisions, that we failed to prepare Australia for its future
challenges.
“We can either take command of the future or we can sit back
and allow the future to take command of us.”
Read about what our delegates had to say in the next issue of
UWA News.
6
UWA NEWS 5 May 2008
The University of Western Australia

Teaching Month
Teaching and learning project officer
Susan Gazey has been appointed to
oversee and facilitate the program. She
will provide resources, guidance and
advice.
Dr Lee Partridge, a lecturer in the
Centre for the Advancement of
Teaching and Learning (CATL), helped
the faculty to set up the program last
year.
“The Dean nominated 10 excellent
teachers to participate,” Dr Partridge
said. “I ran a workshop to help them
come up with a framework for
evaluating a peer’s teaching. Then each
of them chose another colleague as a
partner and 20 of them refined the
framework further.
“Then they went away and took turns in
watching each other teach.
“They said they all benefitted hugely
from this exercise, despite some of
them being sceptical at the outset and
all of them being good teachers to start
with,” she said.
Reflecting
on teaching
Arts faculty teachers Andrea Bach, Srilata Ravi, Leith Passmore and Sabine Kuuse
consider their reflections with Lee Partridge, Alexandra Ludewig and Susan Gazey
Perhaps Narcissus would not have come to grief if he had had a
colleague’s reflection at which to gaze.
The Faculty of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences began a peer reflection initiative
recently by taking the participating staff members to the Reflection Pond, so they
could look deep into their own reflections and those of their colleagues.
The idea is not to become self-obsessed, as Narcissus did, but to see in the teaching
colleague with whom you are partnered, your own strengths and weaknesses, as
well as theirs.
Dr Alexandra Ludewig, the faculty’s associate dean (education) is keen to involve
new, sessional and casual teaching staff in the initiative, as they often miss out on or
are in need of professional development.
“The scheme is voluntary and involves nominating an aspect of teaching you wish to
work on; teaming up with another interested staff member; observing each other’s
teaching and providing feedback; meeting with your peer as often as you both need
to during the year; and submitting a one-page report at the end of each semester,”
Dr Ludewig explained.
The group then finalised a set of
recommendations which the current 10
participants are using now to guide
them through the process.
Four other faculties are using or
developing peer review techniques.
Last year, Natural and Agricultural
Sciences used peer review to reflect on
ways to improve the delivery of specific
units, rather than as a professional
development tool for individuals.
The Business School has several
trained observers who are available to
observe and provide feedback on
classroom practice. The Law School is
devoting Teaching Month to peer
review, with a planned introductory
session with CATL. And Medicine,
Dentistry and Health Sciences is
implementing a peer review process
across all schools.
Dr Ludewig sees the initiative as more
than just a chance for individual
teachers to improve their performance.
“I see it as a community-building
exercise,” she said. “We constantly
encourage our students to be part of
the University community, and the staff
need to do the same.
“We are not going to make it to the list
of the world’s top 50 universities if we
all stay at home writing our books and
not interacting with each other.”
The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 5 May 2008 7

Another strong
engineering partner for UWA
on our substantial research and
teaching expertise.”
Chevron’s Energy Technology
Company President Mark Puckett said
the program was designed to help
develop new technologies and people
required to meet the world’s growing
energy needs.
“It enhances local and global gas
research and education and
complements Chevron’s existing
alliances with other leading universities
and research institutions,” he said.
Chevron’s Mark Puckett and Professor Alan Robson seal the partnership program
Global energy company
Chevron, has selected UWA to
join its prestigious worldwide
university partnership program.
The three-year $6.9 million partnership
program, including a $2.3 million
commitment from Chevron and in-kind
funding of $4.6 million from UWA, will
fund a Chair in Natural Gas Process
Engineering, two postdoctoral
appointments and two PhD
scholarships.
The University joined universities such
as Stanford, Texas A&M and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) in the United States, the Imperial
College London, and Bandung Institute
of Technology in Indonesia when it
signed an agreement recently to
become part of Chevron’s University
Partnership Program.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Alan Robson
said the partnership cemented the
University’s place as a leading
international university of excellence
and a world class centre in training
engineers and earth scientists.
“This partnership is a great
achievement for our University,” said
Professor Robson.
“Our relationship with Chevron and its
industry and academic partners will
enable us to produce more job-ready
graduates and allow Chevron to draw
Chevron recently opened a Global
Technology Centre in Perth to provide
value-adding research, development
and technical support for the
company’s Asia Pacific and worldwide
operations.
Chevron’s University Partnership
Program operates in 18 cities with
UWA currently the only Australian
university chosen to take
part. Universities are selected based
on their excellent reputation, forward
thinking and result-oriented education
development.
The partnership will focus on gas
processing, providing professional
development to meet industry needs
and complementing the work of the
Western Australian Energy Research
Alliance, the Chevron Energy Technology
Centre and the Australian Gas Centre.
Encouraging
innovation
Antoine Musu used his entrepreneurial
instincts to develop the University Club
The Business School’s first Master of Business
Innovation graduated in the recent ceremonies …
which raised the question: Can innovation and
entrepreneurship be taught?
“It’s like the argument about leadership,” said Professor Tim
Mazzarol, who supervised Antoine Musu, the first graduate
from the course.
“There is a lot of theoretical discussion about leadership and
whether it can be learned, but, at the same time, there is no
empirical evidence that people are born with leadership
qualities,” Professor Mazzarol said.
“And it is a similar situation with entrepreneurship. It is an area
that students volunteer for. It is certainly not a core subject
that everybody who does an MBA has to take.”
Professor Mazzarol presented a paper last year in Europe on
entrepreneurial orientation among MBA students. He said his
students start off their studies by doing a GET test, to reveal
their General Entrepreneurial Tendency.
8
UWA NEWS 5 May 2008
The University of Western Australia

Research on world stage,
researcher on Winthrop stage
Female veterinarians have double the risk of
miscarriage, from exposure to anaesthetics, X-rays
and pesticides.
This finding, from PhD research in the School of Population
Health, was published recently in the British Medical Journal.
The article was then featured on the health websites of the
BBC, Yahoo news, the US Government Health Department
and TV and radio stations throughout the UK and US.
While its co-author, Dr Adeleh Shirangi, was being feted by
science communities on the other side of the world, she
slipped quietly back to Perth to attend her PhD graduation
ceremony in Winthrop Hall last month.
Dr Shirangi currently holds a post-doctoral fellowship at
London’s Imperial College, where she is looking at exposure to
pesticides and their link to congenital birth defects.
This is related to the work she did at Population Health, under
the supervision of Professor D’Arcy Holman and Associate
Professor Lin Fritschi on occupational hazards in veterinary
practice and possible effects on reproductive outcomes in
female veterinarians.
Originally from Iran, Dr Shirangi completed a Masters in Public
Health at Adelaide University before taking up a position as
project co-ordinator at Population Health, of an Australia-wide
study into the health risks of veterinarians.
“The project explored the effects of stress and the incidence of
cancer and injuries, and led me to my PhD project, where I
studied the incidence of miscarriage, birth defects, preterm
births and occupational stress,” Dr Shirangi said.
She found that female vets were twice as likely as the general
population to have miscarriages due to their working conditions.
Dr Adeleh Shirangi back in Perth for her graduation
“We found that not all veterinary practices complied with
safety guidelines,” she said. “Lead shields, protective thyroid
collars and lead glasses are examples of established
protective equipment which are not frequently used by
veterinarians.”
She said the same chemicals were used in veterinary
practices around the world and that protection devices and
better ventilation would go a long way in preventing human
treproductive problems.
“There are five qualities needed for
entrepreneurship. They are the need for
achievement; creativity and aboveaverage
capacity for creative thinking;
capacity for calculated risk-taking;
capacity for autonomous action (or
going it alone); and internal locus of
control (or the feeling that you are
creating your own destiny).
“There are enterprising tendencies in all
human beings. How they score is often
dependent on their family or work
history,” he said.
“I had a student who was a nurse, who
scored extremely low in the GET test. I
found out that her father had died when
she and her siblings were young so
they never felt economically safe, so
didn’t take risks. Then, being a nurse,
there was no room for risk-taking; she
always worked in a team, not alone;
and there was no creativity in her work.
“But once we sorted that out, she was
able to open up to opportunities and
she ended up completing the course
and starting and running a successful
business with her husband.”
Antoine Musu worked at UWA for
several years as a consultant to the
University Club.
“With a background in hotels, tourism
and leisure, and experience in clubs
overseas, I was brought in to advise
what could be done with the old
University House,” Mr Musu said.
He spent a few weeks walking around
the campus listening to people. “I heard
people talking about graduates all the
time, and people expecting graduates
to come back to the University. But
nothing was being done for them.
They were excluded, as undergraduates,
from the old University
House, but were expected to want to
return.
“I came up with the vision of a new
club for both graduates and staff and,
once others could see the vision, I
was given the job of giving it a life.”
While working for UWA, Mr Musu took
on a Master of Business
Administration, which he completed in
2006, the year after he opened the
new University Club. He then became
one of the first students to enrol in a
Master of Business Innovation.
The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 5 May 2008 9

The sweet smell of success
The world supply of luxury
perfumes has been assured by
Chris Jones, a PhD candidate in
the School of Plant Biology.
While world supplies of natural
sandalwood are dwindling, perfumes
such as Obsession by Calvin Klein and
Opium by Yves St Laurent, which
contain the essential oil, can be made
using local Western Australian
sandalwood.
Once widespread throughout southern
WA, but almost wiped during clearing
of the grainbelt for farmland,
sandalwood or Santalum spicatum and
its northern relative S. album, are
making a comeback as plantation
trees.
“In WA’s Kununurra area close to 2,000
hectares of Santalum album have been
planted and more than 4,000 hectares
of S. spicatum have been planted in
the wheatbelt area of southern WA,”
said Chris, who is supervised by
Associate Professor Julie Plummer.
Continual harvesting has depleted
world supply and WA, with a growing
plantation industry, holds 50 per cent of
the world-traded market in this timber.
For his thesis, Mr Jones used a three
part approach to understand the
underlying causes of oil yield variation
in the plantation sandalwood, S. album:
genetic studies; extractable oil yield
and composition; and isolation of oil
biosynthesis genes.
Genetic diversity of S. album and two
other tropical species from the WA
Forest Products Commission
arboretum at Kununurra were
compared. Santalum spicatum, a
distant relative from the semi-arid areas
of southern and western Australia, was
used for comparison. Based on DNA
banding patterns, the collection was
categorised into 19 broad genetic
groups.
“Essential oil yields from these
genetically similar trees varied greatly
both within and between groups,
suggesting a significant environmental
influence,” Mr Jones said.
Ancestral lineages were compared,
with results suggesting low genetic
diversity within the Australian S. album
collection was attributed to incomplete
seed sourcing and highly restricted
gene flow during evolution of the
species.
Chris Jones measuring a Santalum album
tree in the sandalwood trials in Kununurra
Chris Jones in the plant propagation nursery surrounded
by Santalum album seedlings destined for Kununurra.
“Based on this study and others, S.
album may have come from an
overseas dispersal out of northern
Australia or Papua New Guinea three to
five million years ago,” Mr Jones said.
“Total extractable oil content varied
enormously between trees, but
individual chemical profiles were almost
identical, suggesting limited genetic
diversity in this region of the genome.”
In the future, high oil yields may be
selected for, along with shortened
harvest times, which were traditionally
40 to 60 years after planting: “We may
be able to shorten rotations to 10 or 15
years in high yielding varieties.”
Mr Jones explained that sandalwood
had a role in revegetating marginal
lands in WA, creating biodiversity in the
grainbelt and potential use for carbon
sequestration.
“It’s not just about using sandalwood
for perfume, incense and woodwork.
There are other uses for this versatile
tree.”
UWA, in collaboration with the WA
Forest Products Commission, was
awarded an Australian Research
Council linkage grant, enabling Mr
Jones to continue his research.
As the 2005 recipient of the Mike Carroll
UWA Travelling Fellowship, he spent six
months in the laboratory of Professor
Jorg Bohlmann, an expert in plant
biotechnology at the University of British
Colombia in Canada.
10
UWA NEWS 5 May 2008
The University of Western Australia

Winning words and pictures
Sublime poetry and a beautifully-illustrated children’s book are winning
acclaim for two staff members.
Professor John Kinsella’s latest anthology of poetry, Shades of the Sublime &
Beautiful, was launched at the Co-Op Bookshop last week. Published by Fremantle
Press in March and then in the UK by Picador in April, the book has been feted on three
continents.
In London The Guardian described his work as having “well-turned lyrics and pieces of
linguistic daring”.
In the US, Professor Kinsella was recently awarded the Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner
Award from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for his poem Requiem, published last
year. The award comes with a cheque for $US1,500. He has also been appointed an
extraordinary fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge University, for his outstanding
performance in the field of literature.
And, in Australia, Professor Kinsella has recently won the Christopher Brennan Award,
for “poetry of sustained quality and distinction.” Previous winners include Bruce Dawe,
Gwen Harwood, Faye Zwicky and Les Murray.
The post-doctoral fellow in creative writing in the School of Social and Cultural Studies
has been invited to this year’s Edinburgh International Writers’ Festival.
Another staff member, Law lecturer Ambelin Kwaymullina,
has had her children’s book, Crow and the Waterhole,
shortlisted for the Crichton Award for New Illustrators.
Published by Fremantle Press, it was written and illustrated
by Ms Kwaymullina, who is the daughter of Professor Sally
Morgan, from the School of Indigenous Studies, and
another literary prize winner.
The Crichton Award aims to recognise and encourage new
talent in the field of Australian children’s book illustration.
Only six titles are short-listed from hundreds of submissions.
Funding
from
the heart
Local heart researchers don’t
miss a beat at UWA
Cardiovascular research in Western
Australia has been given a tremendous
boost, with seven UWA researchers
awarded 2008 Heart Foundation Grant
Awards to further their studies into the
causes of heart, stroke and blood
vessel disease.
Dr Graeme Polglase, Associate
Professor Lawrie Abraham, Dr Bu
Yeap, Professor Hugh Barrett,
Professor Kevin Croft, Professor Frank
Christiansen and Dr Esther Ooi join this
year’s pool of more than 90
commended researchers Australiawide,
whose dedicated knowledge and
skills will lead to better understanding
of cardiovascular disease – Australia’s
biggest killer and greatest health
challenge.
Our UWA grant winners are:
Dr Graeme Polglase from the School
of Women’s and Infants’ Health, who
will use his experience at King Edward
Memorial Hospital to investigate how
exposure to inflammation in the womb
during pregnancy may lead to increased
blood pressure - a common and serious
consequence of preterm birth;
Dr Lawrie Abraham from the School
of Biomedical, Biomolecular and
Chemical Science whose research lies
in a particular gene associated with low
levels of good cholesterol HDL in the
blood;
Dr Bu Yeap from the School of
Medicine and Pharmacology’s
Fremantle Hospital Unit who will
investigate how diabetes affects fatty
acid accumulation in the absence and
presence of drugs used to treat
diabetes.
From the UWA School of Medicine and
Pharmacology’s Royal Perth Hospital
Unit, grants were awarded to:
Professor Hugh Barrett, who will
undertake metabolic studies on obesity,
focusing on the effects cholesterollowering
drugs have in reducing the
progression of cardiovascular disease;
Professor Kevin Croft, whose project
will examine, for the first time, the effect
of common dietary supplement Vitamin
E on drug metabolism in humans;
Professor Frank Christiansen, to
further his is investigating the role of
natural killer cells in the rejection of
human heart transplants;
And Dr Esher Ooi, who will study new
means of weight loss and fat-lowering
therapies including the use of
cholesterol-lowing drugs. Dr Ooi was
also presented with the Bendat Family
Foundation Perpetual Scholarship,
valued at $10,000. This additional
award will allow Dr Ooi to further her
experience in the treatment of, and
research into, heart-related diseases at
an overseas centre.
The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 5 May 2008 11

Flush Prosh
These girls in blue were likely to give their teachers a fright as they headed
off to afternoon lectures following the parade through the city streets.
Students were still tallying the takings from
the annual PROSH parade and sale of
newspapers when UWANews went to press,
but it was already $125,000.
This total tops last years $108,950 and all previous
totals since PROSH started in 1931.
Students are thrilled with the result for three charities
which benefit from the funds this year — The Dyslexia-
SPELD foundation, RSPCA, and Holyoake (Alcohol and
Drug abuse programs).
The paper, The Yearly Obligation, had a good response
from the public with only the usual small number of
expected complaints regarding a Perth Glory
advertisement.
As early as 4am students were flooding the Oak Lawn
to get their hands on stacks of newspapers and
collection tins, their inventive costumes brightening up
the pre-dawn.
The winner of the prize for best float this year was the
Music Students’ Society which chose a Wham theme.
Dressed all in white, and with a live band aboard the
float, they had commuters and students alike running
behind them, singing and dancing.
12
UWA NEWS 5 May 2008
The University of Western Australia

Ancient culture meets
nanotechnology
You might have thought the ancient culture of the
first Australians was incompatible with novel
science, but 24 Indigenous Year Nine students
found it blended easily into stories from the
Dreaming and the notion of respect for Country.
From metropolitan schools as well as from schools in Broome,
Carnarvon, Karratha, Kununurra, Port Hedland and Wongan
Hills, the students visited UWA for an inaugural school holiday
Indigenous Science Camp which had the added bonus of
activities such as star stories under a full moon at Bold Park
and shopping.
Nanotechnology and green chemistry were chosen for one of
the introductory sessions at UWA because they are the
sciences of the future with applications in every aspect of life,
according to Dr Scott Martyn, one of the organisers.
Groups were encouraged to consider science in relation to
water, earth, plants and animals. For example, the students in
the ‘plants’ group used liquid nitrogen in a flask to freeze-dry
roses and peppermint leaves before grinding them with a
mortar and pestle and finally extracting the oils for perfume
and DNA in one of the labs in the Molecular and Chemical
Sciences Building.
While they were finding and crushing plant matter, others used
muscle power on crayfish shells to learn about the natural
plastic they contain -- a material used in artificial limbs.
Get noticed
by Sally-Ann Jones
Another group discovered magnetic ferro-fluid and found out
about rocks containing ochres and iron while a fourth learned
there is much more to an ordinary egg than meets the eye.
Later in the morning they all enjoyed finding out about robots
and gyroscopes in Mechanical Engineering with more
inspirational science organised by Anatomy and Human
Biology.
Indigenous artists, scientists and engineers joined the camp to
demonstrate the relevance and importance of science and
technology to Indigenous people while students from several
faculties volunteered their time.
The University has been very successful in attracting
Indigenous students to study medicine, law and social work
but less so in encouraging them into science and engineering
because these studies are seen as less relevant to their
communities, said Dr Martyn, lecturer and science project
coordinator at UWA’s School of Indigenous Studies.
“We aim to show them that in fact science and engineering
are relevant because they can help solve problems such as
unemployment, lack of infrastructure and sustainability and we
want our Indigenous students to be leaders in their
communities,” he said.
“As the mining industry becomes more sophisticated, it will
need more industrial chemists and engineers. As the State’s
population continues to grow, resources such as energy and
water will need to be more carefully managed and the
biodiversity of
the land
conserved.
Who better to
fill these
positions than
Indigenous
men and
women who
live nearby and
who are
connected to
Country?”
6488 7793
uniprintjobs@admin.uwa.edu.au
www.uniprint.uwa.edu.au
The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 5 May 2008 13

RESEARCH GRANTS AND CONTRACTS
ACTEW AGL
Mr Peter Yeates, Centre for Water
Research: ‘MGRWT Scheme
Hydrodynamic Modelling’
—$170,007 (2008)
ANU ex ENVIRONMENT AND
WATER RECOURCES AND
CERF
A/Prof Michael Burton,
Agricultural and Resource
Economics, Faculty of Natural and
Agricultural Sciences:
‘Commonwealth Environmental
Research Facilities CERF -
Divergence Between Community
and Expert Valuation of
Ecosystems’ $286,000 (2007-10)
ARUP GROUP (includes
ARUP Energy and Ove Arup)
Dr Christophe Gaudin, Prof
Barry Lehane, Centre for Offshore
Foundation Systems,Civil and
Resource Engineering:
‘Turkmenistan’ $23,000 (2008)
AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF
SCIENCE
Dr David Coward, Physics: ‘Travel
Grant Scientific Visits to Europe
2008 and 2009’ $6,000 (2008)
AUSTRALIAN AGENCY FOR
INTERNATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT (AusAID)
A/Prof Carolyn Oldham, Ms B
Powell, External, School of
Environmental Systems
Engineering: ‘Institutional Support
for Education and Training in Water
Sanitation Timor Leste’ $200,798
(2008)
AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH
COUNCIL: LINKAGE
INFRASTRUCTURE
EQUIPMENT FACILITIES
Prof Dennis Haskell, Dr Toby
Burrows, Ms D Bird, Social and
Cultural Studies,
External,Humanities: ‘AustLit Phase
Two - Research Infrastructure for
Humanities and Education
Researchers’ $20,000 (2008)
Avon Catchment Council
NHT
Dr Daniel Murphy, Earth and
Geographical Sciences:
‘Benchmarking Soil Characteristics
in the Kulin and Hyden Districts’
$101,800 (2008)
BIOPLATFORMS AUSTRALIA
LTD ex NCRIS,NCRIS
NATIONAL COLLABORATIVE
RESEARCH
INFRASTRUCTURE
STRATEGY,WA
DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRY
AND RESOURCES
Prof Steve Smith, Centre of
Excellence for Plant Energy Biology:
‘Western Australian Metabolomics
Node’ $1,217,100 (2007-11)
CRC PLANT BIOSECURITY
Prof George Milne, Dr D Hardie,
Computer Science and Software
Engineering: ‘Simulation Platform
Technology for Predicting Spread of
Emergency Plant Pests EPPs’
$436,479 (2008-11)
CRICKET AUSTRALIA
Dr Sandy Gordon, Mr Daniel
Gucciardi, Sport Science, Exercice
and Health : ‘Cricket Australia -
Mental Toughness in Australian
Cricket - Inventory Validation’
$7,762 (2008)
CSIRO FLAGSHIP
COLLABORATION FUND
CLUSTERS
Prof Mark Cassidy, Prof Mark
Randolph, Prof Liang Cheng,
Centre for Offshore Foundation
Systems, Civil and Resource
Engineering: ‘Wealth from Oceans
- Subsea Pipelines for Reliable &
Environmentally Safe Development
of Ocean Hydrocarbon Resources
- Seabed Characterisation’
$548,140 (2007-11)
Prof Mark Cassidy, Prof Mark
Randolph, Dr Christophe
Gaudin, Centre for Offshore
Foundation Systems,Civil and
Resource Engineering: ‘Wealth from
Oceans - Subsea Pipelines for
Reliable and Environmentally Safe
Development of Ocean
Hydrocarbon Resources - Struct
Integrity’ $740,960 (2007-11)
Prof Mark Cassidy, Prof Liang
Cheng, Centre for Offshore
Foundation Systems, Civil and
Resource Engineering: ‘Wealth from
Oceans - Subsea Pipelines for
Reliable and Environmentally Safe
Development of Ocean
Hydrocarbon Resources - Seabed
Morphology’ $246,494 (2007-10)
Prof Mark Cassidy, Dr David
White, Dr Christophe Gaudin,
Prof Mark Randolph, Centre for
Offshore Foundation Systems, Civil
and Resource Engineering: ‘Wealth
from Oceans - Subsea Pipelines for
Reliable and Environmentally Safe
Development of Ocean
Hydrocarbon Resources - Pipeline
Hazards’ $460,000 (2007-11)
Prof Mark Cassidy, Prof Hong
Hao, Centre for Offshore
Foundation Systems, Civil and
Resource Engineering: ‘Wealth from
Oceans - Subsea Pipelines for
Reliable and Environmentally Safe
Development of Ocean
Hydrocarbon Resources - Pipeline
Reliability’ $251,200 (2007-11)
CURTIN UNIVERSITY EX
WATER CORPORATION
Dr Jason Antenucci, Centre for
Water Research: ‘Characterisation
of NOM in Highly Coloured Surface
Waters’ $35,000 (2008)
Department for Planning
AND Infrastructure
A/Prof Carolyn Oldham, Prof
Charitha Pattiaratchi, Prof Paul
Lavery, School of Environmental
Systems Engineering, External:
‘Research Study into Seagrass
Wrack Movement at Geographe
Bay’ $356,000 (2008)
DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES &
FORESTRY (DAFF)
Dr James Findlay, Dr Euan
Harvey, Mr J Hender, Dr J
Seager, Mr D Ellis, Plant Biology,
External: ‘Assessing the Feasibility
of Stereo Video and Evaluating
Monitoring Options for the SBTF
Farm Sector’ $33,636 (2008)
FUTURE FARM INDUSTRIES
EX RIRDC
Dr Geoff Woodall, Earth and
Geographical Sciences: ‘Improved
Direct Seeding Establishment of
Commercial Native Plants Through
Improved Germination Moisture
Management and Weed Control’
$250,024 (2008-10)
NATIONAL WATER
COMMISSION
Dr Peter Davies, Faculty of Natural
and Agricultural Sciences: ‘National
Synthesis of Australian River
Restoration Projects’$25,000
(2008)
RPS ENERGY UK
Prof Mark Cassidy, Centre for
Offshore Foundation Systems:
‘InSafe JIP - Improved Guidelines
for the Prediction of Geotechnical
Performance of Spudcan
Foundations’ $124,500 (2008)
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN WATER
CORPORATION
Dr Desmond Lord, Plant Biology:
‘The Engagement of a Contractor
to Provide a Review of Environmental
Investigations’ $16,200 (2008)
South West Catchments
Council NHT
Dr Mark Westera, Mr Peter
Barnes, Plant Biology: ‘Baited
Remote Underwater Video
Monitoring of Fish Assemblages in
Cape Leeuwin Cape Freycinet and
Flinders Island’ $93,000 (2008)
STAFF ADS
Classified advertising is free to staff. Email staffads@uwa.edu.au
FOR SALE
HYUNDAI GETZ GL: 2003, green,
manual. 3 doors 5 seats hatchback.
Full service history including
comprehensive 100,000k service
recently completed with 4 new tyres
fitted, very fuel efficient. Great little
car, good condition – price
negotiable for quick sale due to
overseas trip. $8,600. Contact
0433 026 133 or 9315 4505.
TO LET
BUSSELTON: “Driftwood Cottage”.
New holiday house right in town.
Only 250m to the beach or town
centre, but quiet and secluded
under big peppermint trees. Sleeps
8, with big spa in main bedroom,
fully self contained and you only
need to bring linen. 10% discount
for UWA staff. Can be viewed at
http://www.stayz.com.au/29356
South West Catchments
Council NHT
Prof David Pannell, Agricultural
and Resource Economics: ‘Support
Role for a Pilot Project to
Investigate the Applicability of the
SIF3 State Salinity Investment
Framework Model to the South
West NRM Region’ $20,000 (2008)
TIMBER QUEENSLAND ex
FOREST AND WOOD
PRODUCTS
Mr John Beale, Architecture,
Landscape and Visual Arts:
‘Advanced research into floor
performance issues’ $53,000
(2008)
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
ex JDRF DIABETES UK &
BHF
Dr Timothy Jones, UWA Centre
for Child Health Research:
‘Adolescent Type 1 Diabetes Cardio
Renal Intervention Trial AdDIT’
$1,133,693 (2008-12)
UNIVERSITY OF
MELBOURNE EX ARC
DISCOVERY
A/Prof Andrew Lynch, Social and
Cultural Studies: ‘Medievalism in
Australian Cultural Memory’
$80,209 (2008-11)
UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH
WALES ex ARC Discovery
A/Prof GH Kingston, A/Prof
Hazel Batemen, Prof Kenneth
Clements, Dr Lance Alexander
Fisher, Dr Susan Thorp, Business
School, External: ‘Security in
Retirement Forecasting and
Managing Macro Investment Risks’
$65,644 (2008-10)
UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA
EX FOREST AND WOOD
PRODUCTS
Mr John Beale, Dr G Siemon,
Architecture, Landscape and Visual
Arts, External: ‘Impact of Sapwood
on the Properties and Market
Utilisation of Plantation and Young
Hardwoods’ $30,000 (2007-08)
Contact Nick Gibson on 0413 622
269, 9305 9059, or nick.gibson@
uwa.edu.au for more details.
NANNUP: Holiday rental property.
Beautiful secluded house set on 6
acres. Sleeps 7/8. Fully fitted
throughout to a high standard.
Contact Nicky Davison on Ext
3003, 9380 6508 or nicky.davison@
uwa.edu.au. Also see website:
www.kanjarralodge.com.au
FRENCH PYRENEES: Holiday
rental property. Characteristic rental
property in the small French village
of Rodes at the foothills of the
French Pyrénées. 40 minutes from
Perpignan and 2.5 hours from
Barcelona. Sleeps 7. Fully fitted
throughout. Contact Nicky Davison
on Ext 3003, 9380 6508 or nicky.
davison@uwa.edu.au. Also see
website: www.voletsbleus.co.uk
14
UWA NEWS 5 May 2008
The University of Western Australia

PROMOTION BRIEFS
Provided by Elizabeth Hutchinson, Executive Officer, Promotions and
Tenure Committee, Human Resources
PROFESSOR
Professor John Watson (Financial Studies, UWA Business School)
Professor Watson’s area of research is in small and medium business
enterprises and entrepreneurship, and his work has attracted international
scholarly recognition. He is involved with the Diana International Group of
entrepreneurship scholars whose researchers are from some of the leading
North American universities such as Harvard Business School and Boston
University, and through the Group was invited to join the editorial board of a
new international journal in female entrepreneurship. He is also a regular
presenter at the Babson Conference which is the world’s premier
entrepreneurship conference allowing only the authors of the top 15% of
paper submissions to participate.
SENIOR LECTURER
Dr Defeng (David) Huang (School of Electrical, Electronic and
Computer Engineering)
Dr Huang’s research is related to the “last mile” issue in telecommunications,
especially by wireless means. He has worked extensively on developing
effective algorithms and protocols for broadband wireless communications.
His research contributions have been recognised internationally, with his
appointment as editor for the IEEE Transactions on Wireless
Communications in 2005, and his senior membership of the IEEE.
ASMR MEDICAL RESEARCH WEEK®
June 2 - 8, 2008
ASMR Medical Research Week
Western Australian Scientific Symposium
Haydn Williams Lecture Theatre, Curtin University of Technology
Wednesday June 4 9am – 5pm
Registration (FREE) and Call for Abstracts
Abstracts are invited by all undergraduate and postgraduate students as
well as postdoctoral fellows and researchers
Abstract deadline: May 12
Details: Jacky.Bentel@health.wa.gov.au
Prizes for presentations of original research have been
generously donated by:
Department of Health, Government of Western Australia $2,000
Department of Health, Government of Western Australia $2,000
Curtin University & Western Australian Biomedical
Research Institute (WABRI) $1,000
Edith Cowan University (DVC Research) $1,000
Lung Institute of Western Australia (LIWA) $1,000
Murdoch University (DVC Research) $1,000
School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine,
University of Western Australia $1,000
University of Western Australia (PVC Research) $1,000
WAIMR (Western Australian Institute for
Medical Research) $1,000
Women’s and Infants Research Foundation $1,000
Tri-Med $1,000
OrthoCell $500
Australian Neuromuscular Research Institute (ANRI) $500
NOTICES
Friends of the Library
Tuesday 13 May 2008 at 7:30pm for 8pm
Library Meeting Room, Ground Floor,
Reid Library Building
Professor Cheryl Praeger
Just about every part of modern society is underpinned by mathematical
technology, and the only way to benefit from and manage the information/data
explosion is by building smarter mathematics. But how smart are
mathematicians? How can we measure what makes a mathematician “good”?
Cheryl Praeger is Professor of Mathematics at UWA. She holds a Federation
Fellowship of the Australian Research Council, and her research group has
received several million dollars of research funding over the last few years.
Cheryl graduated with a BSc with honours and a University Medal from the
University of Queensland in 1970, DPhil from the University of Oxford in 1973
and a DSc from The University of Western Australia in 1989.
Professor Praeger was selected in 2004 as being in the top 1% of most
highly cited research mathematicians worldwide, having published more
than 250 research articles and 3 books. She is the first Australian-based
mathematician to serve on the Executive committee of the International
Mathematical Union, the peak international mathematics body.
Please note that the ground floor entrance to the Library, nearest to
the carpark, will be open from 7.30pm - 7.45pm.
Members: Free Non-members: $5.00 donation
Institute of Advanced Studies
Public Lectures May 2008
Aboriginal Spirituality
Noel Nannup, Indigenous Consultant
13 May 2008 Alexander Lecture Theatre at 6pm
All welcome, no RSVP required
In this lecture noted Aboriginal Heritage Consultant Noel Nannup will discuss
spirituality of Aboriginal people, particularly of the Noongar people of
Western Australia. The role of spirituality, often referred to as “Dreaming”
covers a wide range of connecting threads, including the connection to the
land and the way people live their lives. This lecture will include discussion of
Aboriginal stories that are central to understanding the identity of Aboriginal
people today.
Elvis Is Titanic
An Institute of Advanced Studies Literary Event with author Ian Klaus
19 May 2008, @ 6pm Alexander Lecture Theatre, UWA
All Welcome, no RSVP required
In this special literary event, author Ian Klaus will discuss his book Elvis is
Titanic and will talk about the passions and influences that informed his
work.
Elvis is Titanic is the fresh, funny and insightful story of the semester he
spent teaching US history and English to war affected Kurds. Following
9/11, and trading duty for intimacy, Klaus volunteed to teach the ‘American
Way’. Drawing on popular culture to cut through cultural inconsistencies and
challenges, the line between enlightening and enlightened blurs.
Centre for Integrated Human Studies
Public Seminar Wednesday 14 May 5.30–7pm
Eternal/infernal economic growth
Can economic growth continue eternally, or is it already infernal?
5.30 – 7pm, Seminar Room 1.81, School of Anatomy and Human Biology
REDUNDANT EQUIPMENT
CONDITION refers to the general condition of the item (1=as new, 2=good, 3=serviceable, 4=unserviceable). AGE refers to the nearest year.
Schools are reminded that all university equipment available for sale must be advertised in UWA news. Receipts should be PeopleSoft account coded 490
(computing with barcode), 491 (non-computing with barcode) or 493 (items with no barcode). If equipment has an existing barcode please contact extension
3618 for details. Preference will be given to School bids. Please identify your bid as School or private.
ITEM PRICE AGE COND SECTION CONTACT
3 x DELL PowerEdge 2500 Rack Mount Servers $250.00 each or best offer 6 2 Oral Health Centre of WA dmaddock@ohcwa.uwa.edu.au
or Tel: 9346 7641
The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 5 May 2008 15

the last word …
A tasting of 2008 activities
a flavour sensation
Susan Takao
Manager, Institute of Advanced Studies
The Institute of Advanced Studies at UWA is known
for attracting dynamic scholars, writers, artists,
activists and others who are working internationally
from all fields of inquiry.
As well as fostering the excitement of cross-disciplinary
research, the IAS is committed to sharing that excitement with
the community at large through our public lectures,
masterclasses and workshops.
In March, IAS launched its inaugural Humanities Lecture
Series, Visions, Dreams, Freedom in partnership with the
Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Mark Bould,
Reader in Film and Literature at the University of Western
England, kicked off the series with a public lecture on The Very
Modern World of Fritz Lang followed by a screening of the
classic silent film Metropolis. Mark also held a masterclass for
postgraduate students as part of his visit.
Others participating in this year’s series include indigenous
heritage consultant and story teller, Noel Nannup, lawyer and
author Alice Pung, academic and former Premier of Western
Australia, Geoff Gallop, and author Chloe Hooper. Leng Leng
Thang, a leading scholar from the National University of
Singapore, will also give a lecture on Cos Play with those
attending in Costume going into a draw for an I-pod Touch.
The series will conclude with a lecture by Princeton
University’s Eduardo Cadava. Eduardo, based in an English
Department, is noted for his scholarly work across disciplines.
A major symposium Putting Health First will be held in August.
This innovative program will focus on key areas facing health
policy and showcase cutting edge researchers, journalists,
activists and health professionals including UWA’s Fiona
Stanley, Helen Milroy, Carmen Lawrence and Billie Giles-Corti
as well as John Dwyer (Australian Health Care Reform
Alliance), Cobie Rudd (ECU), Catherine Lumby (UNSW), John
Richardson (Monash) along with Lt General John Sanderson,
Maxine Drake, Mick Gooda, Michael Pervan and Judy
Edwards.
A public lecture What in the World Does Ethics Have to do
with Health Research?: Some Musings on Whether Morality is
Local or Global by noted American bioethicist Professor Eric
Meslin will be held the night before the symposium.
Eric Meslin is also one of seven 2008 IAS Professors-at-Large.
The requirements of a Professor-at-Large are to enliven the
intellectual and cultural life of the University.
Professors-at-Large are not necessarily academics—they may
also be writers, public intellectuals, and artists. These eminent
visitors provide a variety of activities while in residence at
UWA. Ongoing research with a host department, participation
in symposia, offering of masterclasses for postgraduate
students and public lectures are just some of the activities our
‘PALS’ do.
The other 2008 Professors-at-Large are Brian Wilson, Head of
Biophysics and Bioimaging at the Toronto Cancer Institute;
Peter Phillips, Head of Political Studies at the University of
Saskatchewan; Sylvester (Jim) Gates, Director of String and
Particles Physics at the University of Maryland; Anne Worrall,
Head of the School of Criminology, Education, Sociology and
Social Work, at Keele University, UK; Ken Freeman, Duffield an
E3 Distinguished Professor, Research School of Astronomy
and Astrophysics ANU; and Professor Michael Huston,
Department of Biology, Texas State University.
Some of the other upcoming IAS activities for 2008 are a
multi-disciplinary symposium on Driving Change in the
Disability Sector with a public lecture Disability and digital
cultures: brave new worlds or just new forms of injustice? by
Professor Gerard Goggin (UNSW) this month and the second
annual symposium, Thinking Society, Thinking Culture, a
wonderful forum of works-in-progress by both academics and
postgraduates, in September.
These are just a taste of what’s on at the Institute of Advanced
Studies in 2008. And speaking of taste sensations, renowned
chefs Michelle Garnault and Stefano di Pieri will also be part of
the IAS schedule this year.
For more information on IAS programs please visit our website
www.ias.uwa.edu.au or give us a call at 6488 1340.
UWA NEWS
EDITOR/WRITER: Lindy Brophy, Public Affairs
Tel: 6488 2436 Fax: 6488 1020
Email: lindy.brophy@uwa.edu.au
Hackett Foundation Building, M360
Director of Public Affairs: Doug Durack
Tel: 6488 2806 Fax: 6488 1020
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UWA NEWS 5 May 2008
The University of Western Australia