Murdoch University Explore April 09

THE MURDOCH UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY MAGAZINE

Graduates overcome challenges to tackle new careers Dreams of being teachers and chiropractors come true

April/May 2009 Vol 5 / ISS 4

Students come up trumps for stumps Murdoch University students have again shown their dominance on the cricket pitch, winning the second annual cricket match against staff.

the title again but the game didn’t initially go

The VC XI (staff) and the GP XI (students) battled it out at the Murdoch Sports Ground in March for the right to call themselves best on field. Murdoch Guild Sports and Recreation came up with the idea for the annual match to help foster camaraderie between staff and students. Manager of Sport and Recreation Adrian Fisher said the match followed the style of Twenty20 so it was a “pretty fast-paced and exciting match”. The GP XI, made up predominantly of University cricket team members, may have won

lunch and got off to a very shaky start, losing a

their way – they found themselves at 3-0 within the first two overs after a few excellent catches from their opponents. After the initial collapse, the students rallied and settled in at the crease before being bowled out for 107 runs. The VC XI strapped on the cricket pads after couple of wickets early. Consistent bowling and fielding by the GP XI meant the VC XI team were pretty much on the back foot for the entire 20 overs. The VC XI managed to score 8 for 89. Vice Chancellor Professor John Yovich said it had been a great day, despite his team’s loss. “The event is a great way to bring staff and students together and promote and build a stronger relationship between the two,” Professor Yovich said.

Vice Chancellor Professor John Yovich checks on the state of play.

Addressing the need for teachers Explore magazine is for the Murdoch University community. It is produced by the Office of Corporate Communications and Public Relations. The views expressed in Explore are not necessarily those of the University.

Managing Editor Tanyia Maxted

Editor Denise Cahill [email protected] Telephone: 9360 2474 Facsimile: 9310 4233

Writers Photography Freya Contos Brian Richards Denise Cahill Liv Stockley Evelyn Duffy The Sunday Times Wendy Pryer The West Australian David Cohen Community Newspaper Group Tanyia Maxted Design Mark Preston

©2008 Murdoch University

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Murdoch University’s School of Education is working with the Department of Education and Training (DET) to address the increasing need for highly qualified Early Childhood and Primary teachers in the Kimberly and Pilbarra regions. The program offers students in the NorthWest the opportunity to enrol in Murdoch’s fully accredited Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood and Primary) part-time and externally. Program coordinator Dr Anne Price, Murdoch’s Education lecturer in Curriculum and Professional Development, said this means participants can continue to live and work in their communities while undertaking their teaching degree. “Murdoch University and the WA Department and Education and Training are collaborating to upgrade the qualifications of Australian Indigenous Education Officers (AIEOs), Teacher Assistants (TAs) and as a new initiative Child Care Workers to meet this growing need,” Dr Price said. “As part of the program we’re providing mentoring support and the provision for Recognition of Prior Learning to the students on a case by case basis, depending on their individual experience and levels of skill. “On completion of the four year fulltime

Anne Price with Jane Morris (Aboriginal and Islander Education Officer, Cable Beach Primary School) and Libby Mathews. equivalent course, students will be fully qualified teachers and able to teach from Kindergarten to Year 7.” DET is supporting successful applicants with a scholarship, and on completion of their degree students will have 50 per cent of their HECS debt paid. Recently, Dr Price and her colleague Libby Mathews visited the first cohort of scholarship students in Broome, Port Hedland, Karratha and Tom Price. “The visit provided us with an important opportunity to meet the students face to face,” she said.

“It gave us an opportunity to assist them with their first assignments, help them get on line and develop networks with each other, as well as visit several of the local schools. “It was good to see first hand how the communities work—one student in Broome had just about the whole of Broome city puzzling over a question in the first maths unit and discovering the wonders of an Earth population website!” The program is set to be extended into next semester with a new round of applicants starting mid year.

THE MURDOCH UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY MAGAZINE

Teaching dream comes true for mum, daughter There was a time when Julie Lander thought she would never realise her dream of becoming a teacher, let alone achieving the goal with one of her daughters. But in March, Mrs Lander, 48, and her 22-year-old daughter Marisa Johnson graduated from Murdoch University with teaching degrees. Graduation completed a remarkable career change for the mother-of-four, who chose to leave her work in business management to become a mature-age student after attending a university open day with her daughter in 2004. Mrs Lander said teaching was a passion she had had since she was four, but one she had been discouraged from pursuing at an early age. She said her daughter had been keen to study and pushed her to give the career change a go. “It was very, very tricky, but without the support of family I wouldn’t have been able to do it because they were really good at pulling together,” Mrs Lander said. “If it wasn’t for that I would have probably burnt out by the end of second year.” Mrs Johnson, who studied secondary teaching in Perth at the same time, said she was exceptionally close to her mother. The pair exchanged notes and encouraged each other, particularly during their final year at university, at a time when Mrs Johnson was planning her wedding around full-time study and teaching practicals. Both have found teaching positions in

Julie Lander and Marisa Johnson celebrate after getting their teaching degrees at Murdoch University. Kalgoorlie since completing their degrees. Mrs Johnson said she had loved every

become qualified teachers. “We really need country people to go and

around, more for the kids’ sake than anything,” she said.

moment of sharing the university experience

learn teaching and go back home because we

with her mother and encouraged others to

really need the teachers that are going to stick

The West Australian.

In a world first, Murdoch University’s Dr Halina Kobryn and her research team are creating a hyperspectral marine habitat map of the entire 300 kilometre-long Ningaloo reef system.

Wealth from Oceans Flagship research, which

This airborne survey method has enabled researchers to map connected underwater reef environments over large areas of coastal water, as well as classifying the habitats and calculating ocean depth. “Previously there were no detailed marine habitat maps for the area, which are needed to appropriately monitor and manage the marine park,” Dr Kobryn said. “What we have undertaken is the largest coral reef survey in the world using hyperspectral instruments, covering 3400 sqkm.” Dr Kobryn’s hyperspectral mapping project is one of five linked components in the CSIRO’s Ningaloo Collaboration Cluster and the CSIRO

remote sensing techniques offer an efficient

Coral reef map a world first

The detailed hyperspectral mapping of Ningaloo captures a birds-eye view (left), the depth of the water (centre) and the varied underwater habitat types.

April/May 2009 / Vol 5 / Iss 4

Article and photograph courtesy of

is investigating the ecological, social and economic values of the Ningaloo Marine Park and adjacent regions. “Creating this detailed baseline habitat map of Ningaloo Reef (to 20m depth) and coastal areas has been challenging as habitats are very diverse,” she said. “Our results show that hyperspectral and cost-effective approach to mapping and monitoring coastal habitats over large, remote and inaccessible areas, which are typical of Australia’s vast marine domain.” BHP Billiton funded the initial $250,000 data-acquisition project, and the CSIRO Flagship Collaboration Fund has funded Dr Kobryn’s team in further research, a postdoctoral position and field trips. The CSIRO will now be able to create models from the Murdoch University data to map habitats and biodiversity along the 3400 sqkm of reef.

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Murdoch University awards three Honorary Doctorates Adjunct Professor Alexander George

Murdoch University has honoured a retired High Court judge, an almost 40year veteran of the ABC and a flora expert with Honorary Doctorates. At the March 3 graduation ceremony, recognised botanist, author and historian Adjunct Professor Alexander George was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science. Professor George’s career spans more than 40 years, including a 12-year stint in Canberra as the Executive Editor and Acting Associate Director for the Flora of Australia Project with the Australian Biological Resources Study. Since 1999, he has been an Adjunct Associate Professor with the School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, as well as running his own consultancy.

At the March 17 ceremony, retired High Court judge the Honourable Michael Kirby AC CMG was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree – one day before he turned 70. Mr Kirby recently retired from the High Court after 13 years. His commitment to equity and social justice has been well recognised, having served as the foundation Chairman of the Australian Law Reform Commission between 1975 and 1984. Mr Kirby was also the first openly gay High Court judge, famously outing himself in a 1999 entry of Who’s Who. He has strong ties to Murdoch University and since 2006 has travelled to Western Australia to give an annual lecture to Law school staff and students. At the March 24 graduation, the man considered the doyen of oral history, Adjunct Professor Bill Bunbury, received an Honorary Doctor of Literature degree. Professor Bunbury had an almost 40-year

career with the ABC, where he became known for his work as producer for the Radio National programs Hindsight and Encounter. These documentaries played a valuable role in the preservation of Australia’s social history through recorded interviews with everyday Australians. The former Murdoch University Adjunct Professor in Media and Communications, and History has also published 11 books and is working on several more. Murdoch’s Vice Chancellor Professor John Yovich said all three had made enormous contributions to their field and left a legacy for others to be inspired and learn from. “Murdoch University is honoured to recognise the work of Mr Kirby and Professors George and Bunbury,” Professor Yovich said. “I congratulate them and we are grateful for the role all three have played in enriching Murdoch and for the contribution each has made in their chosen field.”

The Honourable Michael Kirby AC CMG

Adjunct Professor Bill Bunbury

Ex-premier opens up exclusively to Murdoch students Former WA premier Alan Carpenter has exclusively told Murdoch University students that he no longer blames himself for last year’s state election loss.

Willagee MP Alan Carpenter said he still sees opportunity to be an agent for change as a backbencher.

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“I have recovered my objectivity,” the Labor MP for Willagee told journalism, public relations and politics students during a special March lecture organised by Murdoch’s journalism program — in which he outlined why he had overcome a sense of guilt about losing. “If we had gone full term we would have been slaughtered — we would have lost more seats. “We had an opportunity (with an early election date) and we didn’t get there.” The former Albany Advertiser, Channel Seven and ABC journalist said The West Australian’s campaign to replace Troy Buswell with Colin Barnett had spelled trouble for his government, and he believed that once the media had installed a new Liberal leadership it would not let it fail. Mr Carpenter also explained his early election call on the fact that he couldn’t envisage any good news for his government in the interim, and that as time went on his government’s prospects would have deteriorated.

He spoke of his distaste for what he called cynical, hostile, unethical and dishonest members of the state’s media, whom he claimed did a disservice to the people of WA. A misrepresentation in The West Australian over his agenda on renewable energy and climate change had forced him to lodge an official complaint to the Press Council, he said, which was upheld. The backbencher also claimed that untrue allegations during his time in office had left him feeling helpless as “anything can be said about you and there’s nothing you can do about it”, and that media political coverage had impacted on his family and what he termed his “equilibrium”. As a minister in the Gallop government, Mr Carpenter described how he would watch with anger at how Mr Gallop was treated by journalists — and believed that the former premier’s treatment at the hands of some media played a big role in his departure from public life. He claimed this set the tone for his own difficult relationship with the media, and both he and his government had suffered for it. “I take solace in the fact that I was right,” Mr Carpenter commented on his opinion of The West’s last editor Paul Armstrong and his subsequent fall from grace and dismissal by the new management earlier this year.

The one-time politics student admitted that going into the 2008 election he never had a Plan B for either himself or fellow journalist Reece Whitby, whom he had persuaded to leave television news to stand as a candidate. Mr Carpenter said he still felt guilty about convincing the father of four that both he and Labor would win, and thankfully Mr Whitby had been able to return to Channel Seven, where he now worked as a producer rather than as a frontline reporter. He considered his achievements as premier to include raising the school leaving age to 17, and initiating major capital works such as the new state basketball centre, Medibank and Members Equity stadiums. Mr Carpenter expressed his frustration, sadness and a sense of personal loss at seeing his political agenda jettisoned when the Liberals took office — watching while his vision, policies and planned capital works to take WA “beyond rocks and gas” were “snuffed out” by the new government. However, he said that as a backbencher it was still possible to be an agent for change and that he was not ready to give up politics. The Murdoch lecture has subsequently been quoted on ABC and 6PR morning shows, and on the news site inmycommunity.com.au and in The Melville Times.

THE MURDOCH UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY MAGAZINE

Monica finds balance between chiro and yoga Keeping mind and body in balance with yoga helped Monica Gauci through five years of chiropractic study at Murdoch University. Monica finished with a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Chiropractic, earning First Class Honours and realising a long-held ambition to be a chiropractor. A yoga teacher for 25 years, Monica believes the prime reason she was academically successful was her ability to balance her life with her studies. Monica got up every morning before 5am to do her daily hour-and-a-half yoga practice and was at university by 8.30am. She never missed a lecture, believing it kept her engaged in the course. Monica never studied after 6pm or 7pm at night – that was time for her and husband Gregor Maehle, with whom she has owned Leederville-based yoga company 8limbs for the past 12 years.

Monica has wanted to be a chiropractor for 15 years. “I had been to a chiropractor before and I thought it was a wonderful art,” Monica said. “It just complements yoga so much because it focuses on the spine.” But before Monica could even enrol in the course, she first had to gain her TEE, which required her to pass chemistry, a subject she had never studied. “I think that was the hardest bit,” she said. Monica had previously enrolled in a Bachelor of Science degree at Adelaide University when she was in her 30s. But she ended up travelling, and when she landed back in Perth, there wasn’t a chiropractic course in WA. Monica, who now practices as a chiropractor at Doubleview Chiropractic, delivered the Valedictory address at her March graduation ceremony. She has also won the Ross Gillmore Award for Excellence in Diagnostic Imaging and has twice been awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Commendation for Academic Excellence.

Supple does it: Murdoch graduate Monica Gauci is living proof of the benefits of healthy living while studying.

Celebrating cultural diversity Bangladeshi, Nepalese and Indian cultures were celebrated at Murdoch University during Harmony Week. The Bangladesh-Australia Association of Western Australia held a Banglar Mela (Bangladesh Fair) on Bush Court in mid-March. Cultural performances, including songs, dance and a festive procession were included in the festivities. There was also a children’s face painting competition and storytelling. Harmony Week celebrates Western Australia’s rich cultural diversity. WA has the highest proportion of overseasborn residents of any Australian state or territory. Photo courtesy of The West Australian.

April/May 2009 / Vol 5 / Iss 4

Colourful dancers promoted diversity and harmony at the Murdoch University celebrations.

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International Japanese Study turns celebration at chiro graduation coalminer The March 3 graduation ceremony was a special occasion for 17 Japanese chiropractic graduates who travelled to Perth to attend the ceremony. In the graduation party was Toshifumi Kuwaoka, the President of NET Co, who helped establish the Bachelor of Health Science (Chiropractic) course in Japan along with the Japanese Federation of Chiropractic Professionals. Mr Kuwaoka visited Perth in 2004 to sign the contract to offer the course in Japan jointly with Murdoch. He enrolled in the course in 2005 and completed the Bachelor of Health Sciences

(Chiropractic) degree at the end of last year. Faculty of Health Sciences Project Manager Dr Mi Kyung Lee said the BHSc (Chiro) course was specially designed to meet the needs of Japanese chiropractors. “The course was initially developed from what was known as the Chiropractic Standardisation Course in Japan, with the aim of providing an opportunity to formally upgrade education qualifications in chiropractic in Japan,” Dr Lee said. “Students are recognised for their prior training in chiropractic and can complete the degree part-time over three years. “BHSc (Chiro) graduates can then choose to either practise as a chiropractor in Japan or enrol in the Bachelor of Chiropractic degree, a two-year full-time course leading to the internationally qualified chiropractic licence.”

into a chiropractor Bill Hayward has gone from working as a coalminer to graduating from Murdoch as a chiropractor. He believes he is the first Indigenous male chiropractor in Western Australia, graduating last year with a Bachelor of Chiropractic and Bachelor of Health Science. Mr Hayward spent 30 years as a coalminer, working for Griffin Coal Mining in Collie in the State’s South-West from 1973 to 2003, before deciding to go to university at the age of 55. Now 61, Mr Hayward said a “100-year-old doctor in Bunbury” had inspired him to study to become a chiropractor. “He advised me to make some changes and I told him I had always wanted to be a chiropractor and he told me I should do it,” Mr Hayward said. But before he could enrol, Mr Hayward had to do extensive tests and a five-person panel interview. He also had to do a bridging course in chemistry. Mr Hayward recalls his first cell biology lecture as being like hearing a foreign language. “The lecture was on protein and it was way above my head,” he said. He had a tutor – Bryn Elphick – who helped him through his years of study. Mr Hayward threw himself into university

Bill Hayward: Trained and ready for work life, taking a role as guild representative for the final three years of his study. Mr Hayward, who in his youth played football in the South-West league as well as for WAFL club Swan Districts, is also a trained massage therapist with more than 20 years’ experience. “I enjoyed massaging — I got a workout while I was helping other people and it kept me fit,” he said. He worked as a volunteer at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, which he described as an amazing experience. He is deeply proud of his achievement of becoming a chiropractor after five years of study. Mr Hayward said he hoped to be a role model for Indigenous people and mature‑age students and work as a chiropractor in Aboriginal health. “But this is proving difficult due to the public health system excluding chiropractors,” he said.

The Japanese chiropractic graduates travelled to Perth to attend the March 3 graduation ceremony. Mr Kuwaoka is pictured centre.

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THE MURDOCH UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY MAGAZINE

Groundbreaking improved theory of evolution developed by Murdoch scientists In a year that celebrates the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of ‘On the Origin of the Species’, Murdoch scientists claim DNA junk is essential for evolution - signalling one of the biggest advances in evolutionary theory since the 1930s. They have developed an improved theory of evolution – a groundbreaking hypothesis which finally reconciles evolutionary theory with the fossil record. Developed by 75-year-old PhD student Keith Oliver and Program Chair of Biomedical Sciences Dr Wayne Greene, it’s called the Genomic Drive hypothesis. In a co-authored report, due to be published in the prestigious BioEssays journal in May, the researchers argue that transposable elements (TEs) – or what is colloquially termed jumping genes, ‘selfish’ or ‘junk’ DNA, have a critical role in ensuring the survival of biological lineages. Without this DNA junk, a species is effectively frozen and faces eventual extinction, while species with genomes with high TE activity or strong presence of identical TEs possess a greater ability to evolve, diversify and survive. For example, as primates, some 46 per cent of the human genome is comprised of TEs, while other mammals such as rodents and bats are known to possess around 40 per cent. These TEs are generally suppressed in the ordinary body cells of most species but are allowed to reactivate in reproductive cells for the potential benefit of the next generation. Their activity can also be triggered when

they suddenly hop between species or by stress. TEs do their survival work by reformatting and rearranging DNA genomes to sometimes create significant adaptive mutations that undergo natural selection. Dr Greene is a senior lecturer in Molecular Genetics and said current evolutionary theory, which assumed biological lineages evolved by the slow accumulation of adaptive mutations, did not tally with the fossil record. However, the ‘Genomic Drive’ theory provided a significant explanation for the way new species arose abruptly and periodically, he said. The theory also fitted with fossil records which showed intermittent and long periods of stasis – where many species stood still or remained the same. Mr Oliver said the hypothesis argued that significant evolution could not take place without the activity of TEs. “Although we are standing on the shoulders of others that have worked on TEs, we believe this is the strongest and most comprehensive case ever put forward on the role of TEs in evolution,” Mr Oliver said. “If our theory proves correct it would be one of the biggest advances in evolution since the 1930s, when Darwinism and Mendelism were reconciled in NeoDarwinism.” Dr Greene said species that were devoid of TEs were more at risk of extinction because they simply lacked the capacity to adapt, change and diversify. “If you don’t have this junk in your genome then you can’t evolve and are stuck, thereby remaining in what is termed evolutionary stasis,” Dr Greene said. “This would explain why almost all species control their TEs rather than eliminate them. “And of course having these TEs in a genome doesn’t mean a lineage will necessarily diversify — what it does mean is that it has a much greater potential to do so.” Mr Oliver said an example of evolutionary

In the news: PhD student Keith Oliver (left) and Program Chair of Biomedical Sciences Dr Wayne Greene. stasis occurring in species without TE activity could be seen in the living fossil, the coelacanth, once thought to have been extinct for 63 million years. The coelacanth, which had been found off the coast of South Africa and Indonesia, had inactive or low levels of TEs and had been in stasis for 400 million years. In another example he referred to the tuatara, where just two species had been found off the coast of New Zealand. Like the coelacanth, the tuatara was characterised by very few jumping genes and has been unchanged for 220 million years. Dr Greene said Genomic Drive theory provided an explanation for many unanswered questions such as why species suddenly appeared in the fossil record, why some groups

of organisms were species rich and others species poor, and why some species changed little over millions of years. Successive waves of TE activity in a lineage potentially explained alternations of rapid evolution and stasis. He said some species — such as bats which ‘came out of nowhere’ in the Eocene Period – suddenly appeared in the fossil record. This was in keeping with evidence that TE or jumping gene activity occurred in sudden episodic bursts. Dr Greene said an example of how TE activity affected the richness of a lineage was seen in rodents and bats. These were species-rich orders of mammals and, unusually for modern mammals, both harboured highly active TEs.

Vexing question provides the passion for discovery A question that has vexed Murdoch University PhD student Keith Oliver for over 40 years provided the impetus to research an improved theory of evolution. Mr Oliver, who began his PhD on the role of transposable elements (TEs) in evolution in January 2007, has long been sceptical of orthodox evolutionary theory. Already holding degrees in biological

science and philosophy, Mr Oliver has written several essays pointing out deficiencies in orthodox theory, but was unable to offer an alternative. Mr Oliver started seriously reading about the role of TEs – otherwise known as junk DNA or jumping genes - about five years ago and began to see them as the missing piece of the puzzle.

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While many biologists regard TEs as ‘parasitic’, ‘selfish’ or ‘junk’ DNA, Mr Oliver became increasingly convinced of their vital role in a species ability to evolve and survive. Mr Oliver and Dr Green supported their hypothesis with extensive published material on TEs, then compiled a list of the TE content found in the genome sequences of different species and cross-checked

the TE activity in the various species. “I feel very good about this because it finally addresses the deficiency in evolutionary theory that has long been apparent to me,” Mr Oliver said. “Some of these were also pointed out by palaeontologists.” Mr Oliver expects to complete his PhD in 2010.

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Attorneys General debate the merits of a Human Rights national act at Murdoch “The debate was a good way to get as many people engaged with the topic as possible and to encourage them to add their voice and make a submission before the consultation period ends in June,” Ms Copeland said. Mr McGinty argued in favour of a national human rights act while Mr Porter was against. “Mr McGinty argued the primary reason we need such an act was because it builds a culture of human rights in the community which goes much broader than court decisions and affects decision making right from the bottom, all the way up,” she said. “But Mr Porter said having a human rights bill would give judges more power that he Attorney General Christian Porter debated Jim McGinty on human rights at Murdoch.

Retiring State Fremantle MLA and Labor powerbroker Jim McGinty squared off against current Western Australian Attorney General Christian Porter recently at Murdoch to debate whether Australia needs a national human rights act.

Organised by the Southern Communities Advocacy Legal and Education Service (SCALES) and the Murdoch University School of Law, the former and current Attorney General presented arguments for and against the issue. SCALES Community Legal Centre Clinical

believes should stay with a democratically elected parliament.” Mr McGinty also mentioned during the debate his impending retirement from politics after 19 years. “He made mention that the debate may have been his last evening as a parliamentarian,”

Director Anna Copeland said the Federal

Ms Copeland said, and The West Australian

Government was currently undertaking a

newspaper announced his resignation the

national consultation and was considering

following morning.

whether to enact a National Human Rights Act as part of the process.

More than 100 people attended the event in the Freehills Lecture Theatre.

New TV ad takes global view Murdoch’s global relevance is reflected in a new television ad. Created by brand planning agency Meerkats in conjunction with Murdoch’s Office of Corporate Communications and Public Relations, the ad features real families in five countries talking about how people working together can make a difference. Marketing Manager Helen Moorhead said that at the heart of the University’s 2009 brand campaign – of which the ad is one component – was the promise that Murdoch was the place where free thinkers came to succeed. The ‘Discoverers welcome’ message would continue to be a central theme of the campaign, she said. The commercial was shot on location in Morocco, India, Spain, Japan and Australia. It airs on SBS, and channels 7,9 and 10.

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Marakesh was one of the locations for the TV ad shoot, featuring a Moroccan family.

Murdoch’s Children’s Performance Group’s next production is in May.

Interactive performance for children Murdoch University Children’s Performance Group will present their tenth annual children’s theatre production in May, Lit by Limelight: The Adventures of a Little Tin Soldier. Writer and director of the performance, Associate Professor Jenny de Reuck, said the colourful array of toy characters was aimed at primary school-aged children. “The story is based on the toys in Amelia’s dollhouse, and the Nexus Theatre will again offer audiences a magnificent set, lavish costumes, original music and a script that blends physical theatre with an appealing story-line,” Professor de Reuck said. “As with all our productions, we seek not merely to entertain, but to educate as well, in the true spirit of theatre in education.” This year’s interactive production features a settler’s cottage somewhere in Perth during the late nineteenth century, and the Fremantle Fairies, wicked Pie Rats of Rottnest and Little Tin Soldier are sure to delight and entertain. Performances will run daily in the Nexus Theatre at Murdoch’s South Street campus from Monday, May 25, to Friday May, 29. For more information, or to book tickets ($5.50 per child), contact Janet Payne on 9360 2504 or [email protected].

THE MURDOCH UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY MAGAZINE

Ancient knowledge preserved in Thai leaves Knowledge in ancient documents is being teased out by a group of Murdoch University researchers in a race against time.

Associate Professor Lance Fung and Ning Chamchong review the manuscripts on screen.

History, culture, stories and medicine are in thousands of inscribed, preserved palm leaves from Thailand that are centuries old. Associate Professor Lance Fung from the School of Information Technology is working on the Preservation of Palm Leaf Manuscripts Project with Ning Chamchong from the Mahasarakham University at northern Thailand. They say the initiative is as exciting as it is ambitious. “The palm leaf manuscripts are anything from a couple of hundred to nearly a thousand years old,” Professor Fung said. “They are an invaluable source of information to learn about the dynasties, folklore and natural medicines of ancient southeast Asian societies. “There’s already a lot of interest in alternative therapies — these palm leaves could add to the treatments people need, using the knowledge and wisdom of a long gone era.” The palm leaves are written in ancient Thai

script, and there are thousands of them – but the need to record the information they have is urgent. “They have been at the mercy of natural elements and insects and their ink is smearing — they are coming to the end of their natural life,” Professor Fung said. “But it’s our aim to develop a system that will retrieve information automatically and intelligently from digital versions of the leaves.” The project is a joint initiative between Murdoch and Mahasarakham University, where Ms Chamchong is currently working towards a PhD. “The digitised documents are enhanced and extracted by a character-recognition program to recognise the writing,” Ms Chamchong said. “Some of the manuscripts are written in different ancient Thai scripts, and some are black ink on black leaves: that’s why the project is very challenging.” Recognising the Thai language is a challenge; it has 44 letters and doesn’t use punctuation or vowels. The intelligence system will begin with background processing, segmenting the characters on the leaves, translating them into modern Thai text and then decoding their secrets.

OnTrack, hit with Rockingham students Murdoch’s OnTrack enabling course is proving to be a hit with the Rockingham community this year. The 12-week on-campus preuniversity course is designed to assist people to meet university entrance requirements. Students who successfully complete OnTrack are offered a place in a Murdoch course at the Rockingham Campus, or at one of the University’s two other campuses. Murdoch’s OnTrack Coordinator Jim Meckelberg said the course helps develop the generic skills, knowledge and values required for successful study at university. “It offers students an opportunity to become familiar with life on a university campus,” Mr Meckelberg said. Mr Meckelberg said OnTrack was first run at the Rockingham campus in 2008 and 95 per cent of students who completed the course were

offered undergraduate places. This year 34 students enrolled in the program at Rockingham — which commenced in February — and enrolments had more than doubled from last year’s intake. Murdoch University Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Gary Martin said he was delighted that the Rockingham community had responded so enthusiastically to the course. “Murdoch University has a long history in establishing and offering alternative entry pathways for students seeking entry to study on its campuses,” Professor Martin said. Students currently enrolled in OnTrack at Rockingham are set to complete the course in time for entry to Murdoch University in second semester this year. OnTrack runs at the Peel and South Street campuses of Murdoch University during second semester, and it is estimated that around 200 students in total will complete OnTrack in 2009.

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OnTrack and on their way to success at uni: (Left to right) Andrew Bongiovanni, Samantha Hanson, Mitchell Smith, Hyrum Peihopa, Michelle Latter, Angela Brown and Bridget Edwards.

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Theatre’s role in day-to-day living Murdoch’s new drama project will provide opportunities for people with mental illnesses to build selfesteem, confidence and self awareness. Murdoch’s Lecturer in Theatre and Drama Studies, Dr Serge Tampalini, said the project was the result of close collaboration with Day to Day Living’s Community Mental Health Worker, Chris Kwok. “We will be aiming to assist Day to Day Living’s clients using drama as a form of expression, as well as adding to their skill sets,” Dr Tampalini said. Mr Kwok said while this was not drama therapy, he hoped his clients would benefit from the self-esteem, confidence, self-awareness and social aspects of learning drama within a group environment. “Should the project be successful, we will look at organising spin-off activities and projects such as further workshops or possibly assisting our clients in organising a small production,” Mr Kwok said. “Day to Day Living is a funded program of the Commonwealth Government, and we provide many opportunities like this for people with mental illnesses to participate more fully in the life of the community.”

Dr Serge Tampalini (left) is working with Chris Kwok from Day to Day Living.

Communicating climate change A Murdoch journalism lecturer is helping develop new national guidelines for communicating complex sciences such as climate change. Carmelo Amalfi was among 100 scientists, communicators in government and industry, journalists, students and sceptics who attended a ‘hot air’ symposium organised by the Australian Science Communicators in Perth in March. The one-day event was held during the national climate change forum Greenhouse 2009. Good communicators, preferably with journalistic training and publishing experience,

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are increasingly needed to articulate difficult and often controversial developments in health and medicine (including stem cell therapy, genetically engineered crops and cloning), computer science, cosmology and particle physics and palaeontology. The symposium focused on specific challenges of communicating in a sceptical world — the uncertainty and complexity of science, the role played by scientists and science communicators in achieving balance in reporting, and difficulty of engaging people. The next symposium will be held in Brisbane in August as part of the 10th International Congress for Ecology. The third hot air symposium will be held in Canberra in November and will look at how we can be better engaged rural and urban communities in the science of climate change.

Gold medal for crop protection research Dr Shashi Sharma, Adjunct Professor in the School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, has been awarded a prestigious international award for his research on crop protection. Professor Sharma, also Director of Plant Biosecurity at the Department of Agriculture and Food, received the award at the International Conference on Grain Legumes organised by the Indian Society of Pulses Research and

Dr Shashi Sharma receives the award from Dr Abdul Kalam. Development (ISPRD) at Kanpur, in India. He received the ‘ISPRD Gold Medal’ from Dr Abdul Kalam, former President of India, in recognition of his outstanding contributions in the field of crop protection. Professor Sharma is a renowned nematologist and has made significant contributions to pulses research and development. At the conference he chaired a session on integrated Crop management and delivered a talk on plant parasitic nematodes and their management in grain legumes. During his visit to India he also gave lectures on the role of biosecurity in global food security.

THE MURDOCH UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY MAGAZINE

Social justice work reaps rewards Senior law lecturer Mary Anne Kenny has been awarded this year’s Sir Ronald Wilson Leadership Award. Ms Kenny received the award for her work with people from marginalised groups, such as asylum seekers and refugees. She was previously the Director of Southern Communities Legal and Education Service (SCALES), a pro bono law clinic run by Murdoch University which provides free legal advice, information and representation to low income people living in the Kwinana and Rockingham areas. Ms Kenny continues to work with SCALES on refugee and immigration cases on a voluntary basis. She was one of the principal founders of the Centre for Advocacy Support and Education for Refugees, currently the only community legal centre in Western Australia providing specialist legal assistance to refugees. In 2006, Ms Kenny was appointed to the Law Reform Commission of WA. She said she was honoured to receive the award, and had the privilege of hearing the late Sir Ronald Wilson speak about issues of social justice, child poverty, Indigenous health and mandatory detention of children – an issue which has become close to her heart over recent years. “I am deeply honoured by this award named in honour of the late Sir Ronald Wilson,” Ms Kenny said. “It is an occasion for the Western Australian community to pay tribute to a person who led a truly remarkable life.” She thanked Murdoch University for allowing her to do the work she enjoyed and thanked her colleagues from the School of Law and the staff at SCALES. The award honours the lifelong work of the late Sir Ronald Wilson, who was one of WA’s most distinguished public servants, a respected lawyer, judge and social activist.

New book sheds light on Jakarta’s shady underworld Gangster politics in Jakarta is the focus of a new book by Dr Ian Wilson from Murdoch University’s Asia Research Centre. Dr Wilson says that preman, or gangster, culture has been around for a long time in Indonesia, but has recently undergone a significant transformation. “In recent years preman have attained a new level of influence,” Dr Wilson said. “Fractious local politics, inadequate law enforcement, and the driving forces of poverty and unemployment have opened up a wealth of opportunities for thugs, allowing them to gain varying degrees of formal and informal power. “Preman can now be found not only in street corner gangs but also in mass organisations with thousands of members.

Dr Ian Wilson is studying Indonesia’s gang culture.

“Some well-connected gangsters are even running as candidates in national elections to be held this year.” Dr Wilson said preman associations with political parties, radical Islamic groups and figures within the military have contributed to the thugs’ aura of impunity. He said many used these connections as a cover for establishing protection rackets and profiting from gambling, prostitution and narcotics. “The key to tackling the growing power of gangs is to address the underlying reasons why urban youth are drawn to them; as a way out of grinding poverty, chronic unemployment and social marginalisation. “For many youth, gang membership is one of very few options available to them.” Another factor contributing to the power and appeal of gangs is the poor public image of the police.

“Due to rampant corruption, the public does not trust the police,” he said. “During recent police anti-thug campaigns, for example, there was a 300 to 400 per cent increase in complaints against the police, especially over the request for bribes or extortions. “This simply serves to confirm the popular perception that the police are often little better than thugs themselves.” In his book, to be published by Routledge Press later this year, Dr Wilson draws upon extensive fieldwork to provide a detailed analysis of the complex political economy of gangs in Indonesia’s capital. He outlines the key political, economic and social factors that have resulted in the transformation of gangster organisations into a potent and predatory social force, and also gives a rare insight into the internal workings of gangs and the lives of gang members.

Tackling social accountability in international aid Investigating the difficulties of advancing good governance in development policy will be the focus of a new project being undertaken by Murdoch University’s Asia Research Centre. AusAID’s 2008 Australian Development Research Award has provided $289,400 over two years to Dr Jane Hutchison, Emeritus Professor Richard Robison, Associate Professor Caroline Hughes and Dr Ian Wilson. The team will use case studies to assess how large organisations and powerful networks can affect the performance of reform projects in

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developing nations. Dr Hutchison, Murdoch senior lecturer in politics, said her part of the study would investigate the demand for shelter security for the poor in Metro Manila. “The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has proposed a US$495 million slum eradication project that includes the provision of secure land tenure in existing informal settlements or in resettlement sites, basic infrastructure and services, the construction of social housing and livelihood support,” Dr Hutchison said. She said her case study would examine the reasoning behind the project approval being stalled by the Philippine government and the exclusion of some national government lands. “We’ll be asking how the ADB sought to influence public and private centres of authority

to support the project and why they adopted the approach they did, what obstacles the ADB faced, and how public and private centres of authority have chosen to respond,” she said. “We will also examine how well urban poor communities have been represented in negotiations and at what stages.” The other case studies will examine social accountability and the World Bank in Cambodia, led by Professor Hughes, and Governance and the informal street economy in Jakarta, led by Dr Wilson. The team will work in collaboration with four colleagues from the Netherlands’ Institute of Social Studies and Gajah Mada University, Indonesia, who will draw out the larger implications for policy reform that emerge from this relational understanding of power.

eco news

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Researchers meet first babies born in study Murdoch researchers recently met the first babies born into the ambitious Peel Child Health Study.

Participants in the Peel Child Health study recently met with Murdoch researchers, including Chair in Nursing Professor Anne McMurray (left) and Study Manager Martinque Sandy (right).

The newborns, ranging in age from a few weeks to a couple of months, and their mums recently met with researchers and other study participants at Murdoch’s Peel campus. As part of the study, researchers aim to track hundreds of children from conception through to teenage years, giving experts unparalleled insight into child development. Study manager Martinque Sandy said the study would question how biological, social, environmental and emotional factors affect child health and development. Researchers put the call out last year for women living in the Peel region who were 18 weeks’ pregnant and willing to be part of the long-term study. So far, about 50 mothers have signed up but Ms Sandy said they hoped to attract about 2000 women over the next two years. “It was a fantastic opportunity to get them together and it was also tangible proof to us that the research project has been actualised.” Ms Sandy said.

Improving investigations into human rights abuses Murdoch graduate Elfansuri Chairah spends his days trying to prevent human rights abuses in Indonesia through his work as an investigator with the Komnas HAM (National Human Rights Commission). As Chief of the Research Division, Mr Chairah has been immersed in the monitoring of the April Indonesian elections. Komnas HAM closely monitored trouble spots such as West Papua and Aceh, to prevent expected human rights abuses from occurring before, during and after the historic elections. Mr Chairah directly attributes his studies at Murdoch between 2006 and 2008 to an improvement in the investigative procedures used to inquire into human rights abuses in Indonesia. Before beginning his studies at Murdoch, Mr Chairah worked with a team of investigators on human rights inquiries into atrocities in East Timor and West Papua. His work involved investigation of a massacre at a local cemetery and various other atrocities. He said Komnas HAM was set up by

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Suharto in 1993 and though its independence has been doubted, it was very successful. After Suharto stepped down in 1998, the commission received more independence and then undertook inquiries into abuses in East Timor and East Delhi. Despite the years of hard work put into those inquiries, Mr Chairah was disappointed that much of the gruelling investigative work did not result in prosecutions because of a lack of evidence. “The investigation was not good enough to bring the perpetrators to justice,” he said. “So to improve things, particularly to achieve more prosecutions, we needed to change that,” he said. Mr Chairah decided to further his studies with the sole aim of improving investigative procedures and standards regarding the collection of evidence in Indonesia. With a scholarship from AusAID, he arrived in Western Australia in June 2006 to complete his Master of Arts in Development Studies. Mr Chairah said he chose Murdoch because it was the only university offering development studies in Western Australia at that time and his research on the internet revealed Perth was a nice, quiet place to live. His Murdoch studies involved a project

which examined the Western Australian Equal Opportunity Commission’s 2002 investigation into indirect discrimination in the provision of public housing to Aboriginal people by Homeswest. The housing inquiry resulted in numerous recommendations to the Department of Housing and Works to prevent further indirect discrimination in the rental of Government housing to Aboriginal people. Mr Chairah said the project not only gave him an insight into the significance of the Commission’s work but also provided a template for human rights commissions throughout the world. He said the inquiry would provide an entry point in strengthening Komnas HAM’s investigative capacity regarding unlawful discrimination in Indonesia. Upon returning to Indonesia after completing his studies in July 2008, he set about writing new standard operating procedures for National Human Rights Commission investigations in Indonesia. He said his Murdoch studies had directly contributed to the new protocols, which he believed would improve evidence gathering and prosecution of human rights abuses in his country.

Studying at Murdoch helped graduate Elfansuri Chairah develop new protocols to improve evidence gathering and prosecution of human rights abuses in Indonesia.

THE MURDOCH UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY MAGAZINE

Dr Peter Cole

Computer games reap rewards for IT Dean Dean of Information Technology Associate Professor Peter Cole has been made a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society (ACS). ACS Fellows Committee Chairman Bob Cross said the award was only bestowed on people who had made a significant contribution to information and communication technology. “Associate Professor Cole was instrumental in bringing major organisations in the games and digital content industry to Perth,” Dr Cross said. “Working with the Department of Industry and Resources (DoIR), he raised awareness of the state at the Australian Games Developers Conference. “He met with Interzone in 2006 and facilitated meetings with DoIR, resulting in it setting up a base in Perth that employs 60 people. “In 2007, he met with the Floor Co – a Tokyo-based games developer – and it established a studio in Perth.” Dr Cross said Associate Professor Cole had been an enthusiastic supporter for the formation of the Australian Council of Deans of ICT and was now President.

Genetic expert digs deep for answers Dr Mike Bunce works in the narrow caves of Margaret River to uncover ancient DNA.

Murdoch University’s ancient DNA expert Mike Bunce has been digging for the fundamental answer to how Western Australia’s SouthWest would have looked 30-40,000 years ago. Working with palaeontologist Dr Gavin Prideaux and other collaborators, Dr Bunce said the DNA they were uncovering would offer a new perspective on the ancient WA landscape.

“Before humans arrived in Australia there were a lot of megafaunal species that no longer exist today, such as the giant and short-faced kangaroos and the diprotodon,” Dr Bunce said. “All evidence suggests that the arrival of humans, their use of fire, hunting and use of land, drastically altered the landscape and that this is linked to the local extinction of many species. “The aim of our work in the South-West caves is to build a genetic inventory of WA’s past biodiversity and answer some questions about how biodiversity in the region has changed over time.

“Up to 5000 years ago, species like the Thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) and the Tasmanian devil were found in Western Australia, so by overlaying modern and fossil DNA we will gain important insights into the evolutionary history of these species. “The holy grail of this kind of work is to characterise the DNA of the long-extinct megafaunal species.” Dr Bunce said this kind of research pushed the limits of DNA survival, so the team was desperately trying to find a cave with the right conditions to support the long-term preservation of genetic material.

Josephine wins world cycling crown

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Murdoch University primary education student Josephine Tomic recently won the inaugural five-event omnium crown at the world track cycling championships in Poland. The Western Australian teenager beat Canadian Tara Whitten and Yyonne Hijgenaar of the Netherlands to take out the gold medal. Competitors need to be skilled in both sprint and endurance, as they compete in five events: a 200m flying start time trial; a 5km scratch race; an individual pursuit; a 10km points race; and a 500m time trial. Josephine won the event at both the state and national titles, earning the right to compete at the world championships. Her proud mum Mimi Mills said Josephine, who is overseas, was an endurance specialist – her pet event is the 3km individual pursuit

(12 laps of the velodrome). She said the 19-year-old went into the demanding event with a cold but still managed to record a personal best time in the sprint. “It’s a huge event – it has to take place over eight hours,” Ms Mills said. “She was shattered at the end of it but over the moon.” Josephine is studying primary and early education part-time at Murdoch and is in the elite athlete support program Ms Mills, a Murdoch graduate herself, said her former triathlon state champion daughter started cycling at age of 14. “Cycling was her weakest link in the triathlon,” she said. “She had been doing a lot of swimming and running training and she got shin splints so she thought she would try cycling and she just fell in love with it.” Josephine also won the bronze medal as a member of Australia’s team pursuit squad.

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Feral fish threat as pets dumped

(Back left to right) Leukaemia Foundation marketing and communications coordinator Margo Vearing, Hairess manager Karine Allison, (and front) Hanna Cho and Martin Hayes.

Students perform hair-razing acts for charity More than 20 Murdoch students shaved or coloured their hair recently to raise cash for the Leukaemia Foundation’s World’s Greatest Shave. The event, organised by the Murdoch Student Law Society (MSLS), helped raise about $2000 for people living with leukaemia, lymphomas,

myeloma and blood-related disorders. World’s Greatest Shave is one of Australia’s biggest fundraising events, with more than 100,000 people annually pledging to shave or colour their hair. MSLS social justice rep Matt Gugiatti said the Society launched a social justice committee last year to promote a social justice culture on campus and to keep Murdoch law students engaged in social justice and human rights issues.

They also plan to support other charitable fundraising events in the future. “Getting involved in charitable events is a great opportunity for students to get to know each other, have fun and contribute to the community and a good cause,” Matt said. Karine Allison, Manager of campus hairdressing salon Hairess, provided her hairdressing expertise free of charge for the event.

First animal scientists graduate Murdoch’s first animal scientists have graduated from the School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences.

Left to right: Kristen Mamo, Josh Sweeny, Kevin Bell, David Miller, Pia Humphry and Harriet Pugh at the graduation.

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The four-year degree focuses on the agricultural sector, particularly the ethical and sustainable production of food and fibre from sheep, beef and dairy cattle, pigs and poultry. “Given that agriculture is a rapidly changing industry, traditional food and fibre production systems must now embrace the new DNA technologies,” said course coordinator Dr David Miller. “Agriculture must also meet demands from the public for assurance of food safety and quality, and general concerns about ethics of food production and animal welfare.

“Old practices will be modified and new standards set, offering a wealth of opportunities to these Murdoch graduates, who are well prepared.” Murdoch’s animal science graduates are qualified to work in all areas of agriculture, including government departments, rural supply and stock companies. They can also work as farm advisers and consultants, in research funded by government and industry agencies, in biosecurity and quarantine, and in schools, colleges and universities. Graduate Harriet Pugh is travelling and plans to return to the family farm while Pia Humphry is on a working holiday and John Sweeny is doing a PhD studying sheep diseases. Victoria Surridge is working on the family farm and Kristen Mamo is teaching biology at a rural high school.

Native fish are under attack from large goldfish that have been dumped in WA’s waterways by irresponsible pet owners. The fish stir up trouble by disturbing bottom-soil nutrients, sparking algal blooms in South-West rivers. Alien fish also introduce parasites, such as tape and anchor worm, while competing for food and eating the young of local species. “Goldfish can grow up to 50cm in the wild and they are now in a lot of systems,” fish scientist at Murdoch University’s Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research, David Morgan, said. “We are trying to put together a strategic plan for controlling feral fish. “We want to take control because at the moment there is nothing really being done about the problem.” He said guppies had been dumped in internationally recognised wetlands on Christmas Island, and thousands of kilometres away dumped fish were threatening two blind fish species in Exmouth caves. Swordtails were outnumbering native species in the Irwin River, near Dongara, and redclaw crayfish were causing problems in the Ord River. “One of the worst feral fish is the mosquito fish because they take the tailfins off native fish,” Dr Morgan said. “Across the state, there are brown trout and rainbow trout, redfin perch and silver perch from over east, and yabbies.” Thirteen species of exotic or aquarium fish had been released into WA waterways, he said. A South American tropical species of aquarium fish, the pearl cichlid, devastated major WA waterways in 2006. The Department of Fisheries used explosives to blow up the fish, but the species still posed a threat to the Swan River because of its ability to survive in saltwater. “If people want to get rid of fish they should take them to the aquarium or humanely kill them by freezing,” Dr Morgan said. Article reprinted courtesy of The Sunday Times

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Remembering Rwandan victims A minute’s silence was observed at Murdoch on April 7 to send hope to survivors of the Rwandan genocide. Staff and students from Murdoch University and from Murdoch College lit candles in a remembrance ceremony on campus on the fifteenth anniversary of the atrocity, led by Professor Craig McGarty, Associate Professor Mick Broderick and Dr Amanda Third. A message of hope from the Murdoch College students to the people of Rwanda was then filmed. The Murdoch University-supported 100 Messages of Hope website was previewed to the students, showing stories of Rwandan survivors filmed by Murdoch researchers offered online, to inspire other Rwandans to overcome their trauma. The 100 Messages of Hope work is part of Murdoch’s ongoing research activity by filmmakers and psychologists to help heal the hurt. See the stories and messages of support at www.rwanda15.org.

Murdoch students dive into whale rescue mission Murdoch students joined the massive volunteer rescue effort for nearly 90 long-finned pilot whales stranded at Hamelin Bay in the State’s SouthWest last month. As well as helping with the rescue operation, students from Murdoch’s Cetacean Research Unit (MUCRU) helped the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) and local veterinarians collect tissue samples from the whale carcasses. These may be used to confirm the species and gender of the whales. MUCRU PhD student Holly Smith said previous studies elsewhere had shown that pilot whale pods are made up of males, females and calves from one extended family in the same group, which was unusual for whales and dolphins. “Such a social structure provides some support for why the pods strand in such large numbers, but the reason for these strandings remains unclear,” she said. The 87 long-finned pilot whales and a dolphin were found washed up on the beach at Hamelin Bay last month. A huge rescue effort was mounted, with volunteers, wildlife officers and veterinarians working to herd the whales back out to sea. But more than 70 whales and the dolphin died. Ms Smith said that despite the unfortunate event, it was heartwarming to see the community come together for the common cause of trying to achieve the best outcome for the whales. “DEC staff, Murdoch University students, Dolphin Discovery Centre and Westwhales volunteers, Perth Zoo and local veterinarians and community members all played important roles in the rescue attempts,” she said.

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Murdoch University students helped take samples from whale carcasses.

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Camel surgery poses new challenge for vets Tanami, a 465kg Arabian dromedary camel standing more than two metres high, was operated on at Murdoch’s Veterinary Hospital in March in a new challenge for the skilled surgery staff. Owners Elaine and Karl Nolte sought the assistance of Murdoch’s Production Animal Medicine Group when their local vet discovered Tanami had an undescended testicle, which would require major surgery for its removal.

Mrs Nolte said most camel examinations and procedures were done in the paddock, so this was also a new experience for Tanami. Dr Herbert Rebhan, Registrar in Production Animal Health, said that before the surgery the camel’s owners spent a month improving his response to commands, practised going up and down ramps, and loading and unloading him into his float. Once at the hospital, Dr Rebhan assisted with the complex presurgical and surgical preparations, as well as the recovery. First, however, the surgical team led by Associate Professor David Murphy had to modify the operating theatre to account for Tanami’s very different frame.

“The biggest challenge was positioning Tanami on his back, due to his hump and long neck,” Dr Murphy said. “After we anaesthetised him, we used an overhead winch system, which we regularly use for our equine patients, to bring Tanami into the operating theatre and then carefully positioned him on the table for surgery.” Several bolsters around the camel’s body and haybales wrapped in surgical cloth placed beneath his head and neck were used to modify the surgical table to allow for the camel’s hump. “To our knowledge, general anaesthesia and surgery on a dromedary camel on its back has not been reported before,” Dr Murphy said. Dr Chris Quinn, Resident in Veterinary Anaesthesia, said the anaesthetic methods were adapted from their experience with horses, which are a similar size, and alpacas, which have a similar anatomy. “We met the challenges of Tanami’s size, the length of the procedure and other complications by employing techniques and drugs that have not previously been used specifically for camels,” Dr Quinn said. The surgery began with a keyhole approach to the abdomen using a laparoscope to try to locate the testicle, another first for camels, which was successfully completed through an abdominal incision. Tanami recovered well from the operation and the Noltes took him home three days after the procedure. The story was covered in a photo essay in The Sunday Times, and in a pic story on perthnow.com.au.

Tanami during surgery (left) and with his owners Elaine and Karl Nolte (above) Pictures courtesy of the Sunday Times.

Dr Katrin Swindells with one of the animal mannequins.

Murdoch vets need sponsors for mannequins Murdoch’s Veterinary Hospital is seeking sponsors for animal teaching mannequins to provide students with realistic teaching, practice, and assessment opportunities. Dean of the Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences School, Professor John Edwards, said the goal was to ensure that Murdoch’s veterinary graduates were ready to work with patients as soon as they graduated. “This means providing them with a lot of hands-on experience while they are students,” Professor Edwards said. “These very life-like and sophisticated mannequins are similar to the human mannequins used in nursing and medical students’ teaching courses. “Students need a significant amount of practice before they can work with live patients and our commitment to animal welfare means that we limit the use of animals for teaching purposes. “By integrating a number of animal mannequins into our clinical teaching courses, we can use these tools to ensure that students are both confident and competent before proceeding with animal patients.” Staff will be able to use the mannequins to demonstrate a wide variety of treatment options and procedures and directly assess students’ clinical competence before they are given the opportunity to perform a procedure on an animal. Students would also be able to regularly practise their skills on the mannequins to help build confidence. Development Officer Kristin Mannix said the Veterinary Trust was inviting people to support the program with a gift of $5000, which would be acknowledged with details on the mannequins. Enquiries about making a donation can be directed to [email protected].