Issue 581 (March 2009) - Office of Marketing and Communications

UQNEWS, MARCH 2009 ➔ 10IN BRIEFTEACHING WINUQ Business School’s JulieWalker beat 2500 lecturersacross Australia to take out theUniJobs 2008 Lecturer of the Yearaward last month.The Associate Professor, whohas taught company accounting atThe University of Queensland for 20years, said she was surprised anddelighted by the win.Deputy Vice-Chancellor(Academic) Professor Debbie Terryopened the event with a shortspeech congratulating Dr Walkerand acknowledging her contributionto the lives of UQ students andgraduates.UniJobs Executive DirectorJarrod Kanizay said more than60,000 votes were cast nationwide.THAI HOSPITALITYUQ’s School of Tourism has playeda pivotal role in brokering thedevelopment of the Thai-AustralianTourism and Hospitality Centre.The establishment of the centrelast year has been essential tocapacity building of the vocationalhospitality and tourism workforcein Thailand – an area the Thaigovernment has identified as criticalto the country’s economic growth.A delegation of 20 Thairepresentatives travelled to Australiain August where they participatedin an intensive two-week executiveeducation training and developmentprogram hosted by the School ofTourism.WatercentresecuredUQ researchers will participate ina new $60 million National Centrefor Groundwater Research andTraining announced by the RuddGovernment.Minister for Climate Change and Water,Senator Penny Wong, and Minister for Innovationand Research, Senator Kim Carr, said thenew centre, led by Flinders University, was animportant investment in helping secure Australia’sfuture water supplies.The UQ component of the research will be ledby Chair in Hydrology, Professor David Lockington,whose team will focus on the groundwaterdynamics and biogeochemistry of key coastalenvironments from local to regional scales.Other key UQ investigators will be ProfessorLing Li, Associate Professor Catherine Lovelock,and Associate Professor Massimo Gasparon.“Australia’s extensive coastline has anincredibly diverse range of terrestrial andshallow water conditions and habitats, whichare home to complex and sensitive ecosystemsof rich biodiversity, and are subject to majordevelopment pressure as well as climate changeimpacts,” Professor Lockington said.The $60 million centre has $30 million jointfunding from the Australian Research Council andthe National Water Commission, with $30 million inadditional contributions from the 20 organisationsinvolved. Partners include the University ofNew South Wales, the Australian NationalUniversity, CSIRO, Geoscience Australia, and thegovernments of NSW and South Australia.UQ Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)Professor David Siddle welcomed the AustralianGovernment’s recognition of the importance ofgroundwater research, and said UQ’s inclusionreflected on its high quality research into thecoastal and marine interface.STOCK.XCHNGMARSUPIAL RESEARCHA UQ PhD student has beenawarded a Community Coastcaregrant to research squirrel gliders andthe effects of “island syndrome”.Sarah Bell from the School ofBiomedical Sciences will studythe marsupial on island locationswhich have fewer predators, butalso display lower levels of geneticdiversity and adaptation.The study will be the first toprovide information on populationsof the animal in this context, andmay be applied to other speciesto reduce any further loss inbiodiversity within Australia.