Did you scribble on a desk in the Physiology Lecture Theatres at the St Lucia campus some time in the past 48 years?

Chances are your graffiti might have been saved for posterity in a new foyer art installation in the newly refurbished building.

The installation was among the sustainability features incorporated in the $6.94 million project.

Senior designer from Cottee Parker Architects Scott Bagnell said the Tree of Life installation incorporated salvaged 1960s lecture theatre desk tablets and chair frames.

“This was an important element to maintain as part of the ongoing story telling of the building’s history and engagement of University students into the future,” Mr Bagnell said.

A range of recycled materials were incorporated into the refurbishment including light fittings made from chair frames and foyer furniture from floorboards and roof beams.

By Jan King

Contact Video from The University of Queensland on Vimeo.

The University of Queensland’s new 1.22 megawatt solar power system is “one of the most globally significant pieces of solar research infrastructure anywhere in the world”, according to lead researcher Professor Paul Meredith.

On completion in June, the project became Australia’s largest flat panel photovoltaic solar power system.

“This is only one project in a large portfolio of solar research that UQ currently has,” says Professor Meredith, from UQ’s Global Change Institute and School of Mathematics and Physics.

“We have very important work in developing the next generation of solar photovoltaic cells and we recently announced we will lead the research program on the solar thermal power plant to be built by the Solar Dawn consortium at Chinchilla in western Queensland.

“This project, and all our others, place UQ as one of the premier solar research institutes in the region if not globally.”

The new solar power system, comprising more than 5000 panels across the rooftops of four large buildings at St Lucia, performs a dual role of generating “green” electricity for the University while providing a world-leading piece of research infrastructure.

The array has drawn significant attention from industry, government and other researchers, and firmly positioned UQ as a research leader in solar power and renewable energy more broadly.

The roof of the multi-storey carparks at St Lucia forms part of Australia's largest flat panel photovoltaic solar power system

The array project forms one element of the new UQ Energy Initiative which was established this year to integrate existing strengths across the spectrum of energy research.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield said the UQ Solar Array provided between five and six percent of peak electricity demand at the St Lucia campus. From July to October, the system had already cut $100,000 from the University’s electricity bills.

“The University is focused on reducing carbon emissions and increasing its use of renewable energy,” Professor Greenfield said.

“As well as being part of the University’s functional energy infrastructure, the solar array will underpin research in diverse fields including physics, engineering, economics and sustainability.

“The project is enhanced by its strong industry partnerships, including research agreements with a number of world-leading companies in renewable power.”

This asset will be shared with the community, by giving industry, researchers, school students, teachers and any other interested people access to a website showing live and historical data about the power generated from the UQ array.

UQ’s partners in the solar energy research space are:

• Brisbane firm Ingenero, which installed the array, and worked on its design and engineering
• Trina Solar, which supplied the panels and will be part of several research projects, one involving the first large-scale field test of a prototype device that increases the efficiency of solar panels
• ASX-listed, Brisbane-based RedFlow, which supplied an industrial-scale bromine battery bank that is connected to a 339kW section of solar panels on one of UQ’s multi-storey carparks
• Electricity wholesaler and retailer Energex, which donated state-of-the-art equipment to allow monitoring and analysis of the power feed from the UQ solar array
• The Queensland Government’s Office of Clean Energy, which provided $1.5 million towards the overall cost of the UQ Solar Array

In addition to the rooftop panels, UQ has installed a ground-mounted, seven-metre-by-six metre 8.4 kilowatt concentrating photovoltaic array (CPV) that tracks the sun each day as it moves across the sky.

Ingenero donated the CPV array to allow UQ researchers to undertake detailed comparisons with a different type of solar technology.

Designing and installing Australia’s biggest rooftop PV solar power system drew on the combined resources and significant expertise of UQ academics, working with industry leaders.

UQ’s Property & Facilities division and the School of Mathematics and Physics worked closely with engineering consultants Aurecon, Ingenero and leading photovoltaic company Trina Solar from China.

UQ’s Global Change Institute has recently opened the Solar Research Resource Centre at St Lucia, providing a facility industry, school and community groups can visit to learn about the UQ Solar Array and renewable power.

The UQ Solar Array is almost 25 percent larger than any other flat panel PV system in Australia.

UQ Property & Facilities Deputy Director Geoff Dennis said the total $7.75 million cost included the array, construction of the visitor resource centre, the data management web interface and ancillary research programs.

The cost of the photovoltaic design and installation was $4.825 million, equating to a competitive $3.95 per watt.

Mr Dennis said UQ was boosting its solar energy production at other sites including Heron Island, Gatton and Stradbroke Island.

Construction on the St Lucia array was completed in June, after setbacks due to the January floods, and Queensland Energy Minister Stephen Robertson officially launched the project in July.

By Fiona Cameron

Margaret Olley in conversation (2009) from The University of Queensland on Vimeo.

The University of Queensland joined with the Australian arts community earlier this year to mark the passing of singular artist and philanthropist Margaret Olley AC.

Awarded a UQ honorary Doctor of Letters in 1999 in recognition of 50 years of service to the arts and philanthropic endeavours, Ms Olley passed away in Sydney on July 26 at age 88.

At a special memorial service at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Governor-General Quentin Bryce was among those who paid their respects. Ms Bryce discussed how she had visited the artist at her home just a few days before she died, and how they had discussed a Picasso that was to be gifted to the National Gallery of Australia.

Reflecting Ms Olley’s love of music, the service incorporated performances by didgeridoo player William Barton, pianist Alexey Yemtsov, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. In attendance were many artists and gallery directors including Betty Churcher, Edmund Capon, John Olsen and Ray Crooke. Also present were the two Archibald Prize-winning portraits of Olley – William Dobell’s entry from 1948 and the radically different likeness by Ben Quilty that was named this year’s winner.

Lismore-born and Somerville House educated, Ms Olley was best known for painting still lifes and interiors of her own house and landscapes.

Following some initial controversy, the 1948 Archibald Prize-winning portrait became a sensation and attracted visitors in their thousands. Ms Olley reacted to this early fame by escaping to Europe for four years. While there she worked and studied in London, before moving to Cassis in the South of France. Following studies at La Grande Chaumiere school in Paris she held a critically successful one-woman exhibition, but returned to Australia in 1953 citing homesickness.

In the 1960s, Ms Olley enjoyed a series of artistic successes, winning multiple regional awards in areas as far apart as Redcliffe in Queensland and Bendigo in Victoria.

As prolific as she was popular, Olley’s work can be found in the majority of public galleries in Australia. A 2009 retrospective staged at the UQ Art Museum – Life’s journey – set attendance records for the gallery. Focusing on pen and ink watercolours, it provided visitors a unique insight into the artist’s world from the early 1950s to the 1970s. The works were drawn from national, state and private collections (including the artist’s own), and featured scenes captured in places as diverse as Paris, Papua New Guinea and the old gold mining town of Hill End.

Ms Olley’s work looked to a modernist French tradition that generally pre-dated cubism. She particularly admired artists including Fantin-Latour, Bonnard, Vuillard and Gauguin.

Her many achievements included being awarded Australia’s highest civilian honour in 2006 – the Companion of the Order of Australia – for service as one of Australia’s most distinguished artists, for philanthropy to the arts, and for encouragement of emerging artists.

University of Queensland Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield said there “will never be another Margaret Olley”.

“Although tiny in physical stature, she was a towering figure in Australian art, philanthropy, and cultural and public life,” Professor Greenfield said.

“The UQ Art Museum is one of the many institutions that she enriched with her generosity and her vision. Among other things, Margaret sponsored the inaugural UQ National Artists’ Self-Portrait Prize in 2007, and gifted the winning painting, by Ben Quilty, to the University.”

Ms Olley was an astute businesswoman, and as her wealth grew she became a generous donor to institutions including the Art Gallery of New South Wales. In 2009, she gave the gallery $1 million towards the purchase of Cezanne’s famous landscape Bords de la Marne.

“Giving is part of the receiving,” she once said. “It’s a natural turn of the wheel.”

Ms Olley lived permanently in Sydney from about 1980 and her iconic Paddington home was filled with colourful objects, furniture and art collected from her travels around the world. The jury is still out on how to best create a lasting memorial to Olley’s incredible life and work, although a photographic survey of her house was recently completed, with plans for an interactive website.

She may not have been the nation’s most critically acclaimed artist throughout her long career, but she was arguably the most loved.

“Visitors to our art museum adored Margaret and her art,” Professor Greenfield said.

“Generations of artists, arts administrators and art lovers were saddened by her death. However, we will never really lose her, because Margaret Olley lives on in the art, through the younger artists she mentored, and in her extraordinary portfolio of gifts to galleries and museums all over the country.”

By Fiona Kennedy. Additional reporting courtesy The Australian

Volunteers help clean the running track at the UQ Athletics Centre

“A positive outcome of the flooding has been greater community acceptance of the University as being an integral part of it, and not so much a world set apart from everyday problems.”

So wrote UQ publication University News, discussing the inundation of the St Lucia campus in the 1974 Australia Day floods.

Fast forward to January 2011 and UQ was again both the recipient of community help and an important resource for others.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield said although the St Lucia and Gatton campuses sustained damage in the extensive flooding, most of the University’s teaching and research buildings were untouched.

The flood peak of 4.46 metres in Brisbane on January 13 was below the 1974 highwater mark of 5.45 metres.

In low-lying areas, sporting facilities, some research infrastructure, two childcare centres and International House were damaged.

Customs House temporarily lost power and there was some flooding at the Pinjarra Hills and Indooroopilly facilities. While the Gatton campus was isolated and became a temporary home to 55 people, the Herston and Ipswich campuses were not affected.

“The University is grateful to its dedicated staff, students, contractors and volunteers who helped recovery operations to proceed at a faster pace than expected so UQ was in an excellent position to resume operations within a week of the floods,” Professor Greenfield said.

Griffith University, Southern Cross University and the University of the Sunshine Coast generously provided assistance with routine tasks to free UQ Property and Facilities staff for flood recovery efforts.

The University’s students, staff and alumni also took to the streets assisting people in nearby suburbs and regions.

UQ researchers contributed intellectual firepower, providing expert media commentary and investigating the floods’ effects on the community and environment — just as their predecessors had in 1974.

By Jan King

Spreading the word

UQ utilised a variety of traditional and new media to keep staff, students and the general public updated during the January floods.

The UQ homepage was transformed into a resource centre with regular updates and answers to frequently asked questions for staff and students. The University also established an SMS inquiry service and two 24-hour flood hotlines which received more than 1000 calls.

UQ communications staff regularly posted messages and news releases via the @uqnewsonline Twitter account, and also loaded daily photo updates to UQ’s flickr page, which peaked at almost 50,000 views per day.

With Summer Semester classes ready to resume, two UQ News TV stories were also produced to share the latest images and information with viewers around the world.

In a spectacular result, UQ has been assessed above world standard in more broad fields of research than any other Australian university.

The inaugural Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) exercise rated 21 broad fields of UQ discovery at well above and above world standard (the highest two ratings). (Read Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and International) Professor Alan Lawson’s perspectives here).

Run by the Australian Research Council (ARC), ERA is the first assessment of its kind in Australia to evaluate research in higher education institutions using a combination of indicators and expert review.

ERA evaluates research in eight discipline clusters, identifying areas that are internationally competitive, and those where there are opportunities for development and further investment.

The 2010 ERA round captured research undertaken between 2003 and 2008, with the ARC publishing the much-awaited results in February.

In ERA’s broad categories, UQ’s research in biomedical and clinical health sciences, biotechnology, engineering, biological sciences, environmental sciences, chemical sciences, and physical sciences was rated well above world standard (rating 5).

The broad fields of research in which UQ was rated at above world standard (4) were: economics, education, law and legal studies, history and archaeology, technology (engineering and environment), mathematical sciences, philosophy and religious studies, language, communication and culture, studies in creative arts and writing, built environment and design, psychology and cognitive sciences, studies in human society, medical and health sciences (public and allied health), and commerce, management, tourism and services.

None of UQ’s broad research areas were rated lower than world standard (3).

Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield said credit for UQ’s impressive results went to researchers and support staff, who had demonstrated they could match the world’s best.

“ERA shows that outstanding quality is a hallmark of researchers in all of UQ’s major fields,” Professor Greenfield said.

“The outcome also reflects the impact of strategic investments in UQ discovery by the Queensland and Australian governments, philanthropists, business and the University itself.”

The ERA results confirm UQ as one of the nation’s most comprehensive research universities: it is active in 24 out of a possible 25 broad fields of research.

Only two other universities — Melbourne and Sydney — matched this assessment.

“UQ’s goal is for all its research fields to be well above or above world standard, and the ERA results will be used to lift performance in areas that show room for improvement,” Professor Greenfield said.

In the 101 specialised categories in which UQ was assessed, 97 were rated at world standard or above.

The University’s engineering research was one of many stand-out areas. It received only the most prestigious ratings – scoring well above or above world standard – in all nine fields in which it was assessed.

Twenty-eight of UQ’s specialised research areas were in the top band (full list below), with a further 42 assessed at above world standard.

UQ scored well above or above world standard rankings in all categories in physical sciences (four categories), education (four categories), language communication and culture (four categories), and technology (three categories).

UQ medical and health sciences put in a particularly strong showing, with research in cardiovascular medicine and haematology and neurosciences rated well above world standard.

In biological science, five categories were judged to be at the highest level: ecology, evolutionary biology, genetics, plant biology and zoology.

UQ’s specialised areas rated at above world standard include oceanography, information systems, architecture, urban and regional planning, curriculum and pedagogy, accounting/auditing and accountability, marketing, anthropology, archaeology, political science, social work, psychology, cognitive sciences, law, art theory and criticism, performing arts and creative writing, communication and media studies, linguistics, literary studies, and history.

The next ERA assessment will be conducted in 2012, covering research output from 2005–2010.

By Fiona Cameron

UQ’s highest-ranked fields of research (specialised fields)

Specialised fields at UQ acknowledged as “well above world standard” are:

• Astronomical and space sciences
• Banking, finance and investment
• Business management
• Cardiovascular medicine and haematology
• Cultural studies
• Ecological applications
• Ecology
• Economic theory
• Environmental biotechnology
• Environmental engineering
• Evolutionary biology
• Genetics
• Industrial biotechnology
• Macromolecular and materials chemistry
• Materials engineering
• Mechanical engineering
• Medicinal and biomolecular chemistry
• Nanotechnology
• Neurosciences
• Numerical and computational mathematics
• Plant biology
• Quantum physics
• Resources engineering and extractive metallurgy
• Sociology
• Specialist studies in education
• Statistics
• Theoretical and computational chemistry
• Zoology

When The University of Queensland opened its doors more than a century ago, a proud residential college tradition had already begun.

In fact, UQ’s oldest college is also its largest, with the Gatton campus housing students since 1897 when it was known as the Queensland Agricultural College. Today, the University has 11 colleges, each with a unique mission and history.

King’s and St Leo’s provide accommodation for men; Grace, Duchesne and Women’s are all-female colleges; with Cromwell, Emmanuel, the Gatton Halls of Residence, International House, St John’s and Union supporting students in a co-educational environment.

In 2011, St John’s and Emmanuel will mark their centenaries, with others set to follow in the coming years.

On the eve of his college’s 100th anniversary, Emmanuel Principal Adjunct Professor Stewart Gill cites the words of founding Chairman Ernest Northcroft Merrington, whose vision was to create an environment which provided a holistic education to its residents.

“Merrington talked about an education for life, not for livelihood – and that model has continued down throughout our history,” Adjunct Professor Gill says.

“It’s really about developing a community of well-rounded scholars living together, who are involved in the things that add to the quality of their experience of their university education – exposure to music, the opportunity to play sport together, learn and have fun together.”

King’s College Master Greg Eddy says the academic support offered to residents is another important part of the experience, with older students and graduates often occupying the role of mentors.

Giving back

Director of International House Dr Carla Tromans says rather than the “bastions of privilege” depicted in popular culture, residential colleges embrace diversity, are supported by philanthropy, and help provide a university education to students from all walks of life.

Dr Tromans cites her students’ involvement in community work – a program working with refugee children in Indooroopilly and a building project in the Solomon Islands being two recent examples.

Many college scholarships and bursaries are funded largely by donations from former students, including the Fulcher Yalari Indigenous Scholarship established at King’s this year.

St John’s is believed to have supported one of Australia’s first Indigenous university students, with records showing Joseph Crofts from Charters Towers studied engineering on a scholarship in the 1940s.

Before they were established at the St Lucia campus in the 1950s, several colleges were based on River Terrace at Kangaroo Point near the CBD. Others were located at Wickham Terrace, Toowong and New Farm.

With UQ colleges now providing a home for thousands of students each year, the roll call of former residents is impressive. Prominent alumni include Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and Queensland Governor Dr Penelope Wensley (Women’s), Queensland Chief Justice Paul de Jersey and MIM Chair Bruce Watson (King’s), former Premier Peter Beattie (St John’s), and Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan (Emmanuel).

Mr Eddy says old collegians continue to make invaluable contributions to their communities long after graduation as mentors, tutors and also financial donors.

Alumni funded the Centenary Building and McCulloch Watson Terrace at King’s, which were officially opened in March and provide additional residential space and facilities including a gymnasium.

While college operating expenses are generally covered through fees, most rely on the generosity of alumni to support scholarships and bursaries, and to cover building and development costs.

At times, this support is a lifeline.

The January floods were particularly devastating for International House, which was among the worst hit areas on the St Lucia campus. Eighty rooms and the Director’s residence were extensively damaged and an appeal for assistance was launched in January.

Generous donations have helped with the recovery effort and around 100 students are expected to return in July to revamped rooms and a refurbished kitchen and dining hall. With 140 places unable to be filled however, the college is facing a tough year, and will draw on the support of the local community and the global International House network.

Dr Tromans says International House’s proud multicultural community will remain strong despite the setback, with the college’s popular Soirée festival due to take place on September 23.

Friendly rivalry

Sporting contests have played an important part of college life from the very beginning – as it happens, the first Warden of St John’s, Edward Morgan Baker, was an Oxford Blue in rugby union and represented his country no less than nine times.

Reverend Baker didn’t take long to encourage healthy competition among the college community, and staged the first cricket match between St John’s and King’s students in 1913.

Intercollegiate sporting contests today include swimming, tennis, cricket, several football codes, netball, basketball and hockey. Longstanding rowing rivalries also play out each year on stretches of the Brisbane River fringing the St Lucia campus.

One of UQ’s best-known sporting events is the Great Court Race, which was first staged to celebrate the University’s 75th anniversary in 1985 in the presence of the Duke and Duchess of Kent. Based on a tradition established at Cambridge where students race around a courtyard as the clock strikes twelve, the annual event involves sprint races and inter-college relays which are hotly contested each year. Also attracting large crowds is the Francis & Kassulke Cup, which has seen King’s and St Leo’s battle for bragging rights on the rugby field since 1920.

Australia’s elite sporting community comprises many college alumni including former coach of the Australian cricket team John Buchanan (King’s) and Australian rugby union player Nathan Sharpe (Emmanuel). At least eight Wallabies are known to have lived at a UQ college on their way to wearing the green and gold.

Cultural traditions also play a central role in college life, with Choralfest, Bandfest and Dancefest seeing hundreds of residents take to the stage each year to showcase their talents. Some colleges, such as St John’s, even have their own musician-in-residence.

Emmanuel, meanwhile, is one of only two Australian university colleges with a pipe band – much to the delight of Adjunct Professor Gill, a proud Scot. The band represents UQ at events across the country, with students also able to study on exchange at the University of Glasgow.

Centenary celebrations and beyond

Emmanuel’s pipe band will be kept busy during the college’s anniversary festivities, which culminate with their Centenary Weekend in September. The program includes a gala ball on September 10, with the Founder’s Day Centenary Service taking place the following day. The events mark the college’s founding in 2011, with the first students admitted in 2012.

St John’s will mark 100 years of history on November 8, and hold its Centenary Ball in March 2012, a week after Easter. Long-serving Warden Reverend Professor John Morgan hopes by this time the college’s renovated chapel will sport a new pipe organ, which is currently under construction in England thanks to a generous donation from a friend of the college.

With several other colleges set to observe their own milestones in coming years, there hasn’t been a better time for former residents to reconnect and help build on the proud traditions they have helped to create.

By Fran Molloy

A proud history

Gatton Halls of Residence Founded 1897  Motto: Una adolescamus (Together we grow)
Emmanuel Founded 1911  Motto: Fiat lux (Let there be light)
St John’s Founded 1911  Motto: Esolutus iterum vinctus (Freed and rebound)
King’s Founded 1912  Motto: Veritas vos liberabit (The truth shall set you free)
Women’s Founded 1913  Motto: Capimus ut dividamus (We take so that we may share)
St Leo’s Founded 1917  Motto: Dominus illuminatio mea (The Lord is my light)
Duchesne Founded 1937  Motto: Robur in luce veritatis (Strength in the light of truth)
Union Founded 1947  Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (No one wounds me with impunity)
Cromwell Founded 1950  Motto: Ubi spiritus, ibi libertas (Where the spirit is, there is liberty)
International House Founded 1965  Motto: That brotherhood may prevail
Grace Founded 1970 Motto: My grace is sufficient

Karri Hartley's shortlisted photo

An image of a tiny bird from a remote island in British Columbia has seen a UQ researcher shortlisted for a top photography prize.

Environmental science honours student Karri Hartley returned in April after spending a month studying the song sparrows of Mandarte Island, which sits in the waters of the Strait of Georgia northeast of Victoria, Canada.

Ms Hartley’s image of a five-day-old chick fitted with a combination of coloured ID tags, was one of the top 25 submissions in the 2010 Australian Museum Eureka Science Photography Prize, and was on display earlier this year in Melbourne’s Federation Square.

On three-to-five day expeditions which lasted from dawn to dusk, Ms Hartley and her colleagues worked out the location of each bird nest on the island.

Once they were found, the team secured newborn chicks, outfitting them with tags and taking blood samples.

The 30-year study, led by Professor Peter Arcese of the University of British Columbia, is unique because each sparrow is essentially part of a giant family tree.

Each bird has been identified in a similar way since 1975, producing a complete social and genetic pedigree for the researchers to examine; a kind of Who Do You Think You Are? for the birds of the island.

“Due to the negative impact of humans, many animal populations are being reduced, threatened or endangered with extinction.  This research can help us understand the preservation needs of at risk animals,” Ms Hartley said.

“It’s important because the findings can point to management actions for other small populations threatened with extinction.”

Ms Hartley said her shortlisted photo captured her twin passions of conservation and communicating science to the wider community.

“Through photography we can bridge the gap between science and art and in doing so, show that the two aren’t irreconcilable. Photography evokes emotion instantly, and it provides the public with an insight to science they may never have seen before,” she said.

Other shortlisted entries included remarkable photographs of stars and nebulae, and insects devouring their prey.

After graduating in 2011, Ms Hartley hopes to find a position that can harness both her research and photographic skills.

By Allison Rock

Indigenous art from far north Queensland entranced thousands of visitors when they visited the St Lucia campus for a special Centenary exhibition recently.

On show from August 11 until November 28, Before Time Today was the first comprehensive survey of art from the remote Aurukun region, and included almost 100 different works brought together from collections around the country.

UQ Art Museum Acting Director Michele Helmrich said the exhibition was inspired by links between Aurukun objects collected by the UQ Anthropology Museum from the 1950s, and contemporary works recently acquired by the University.

“The main experience we tried to create was the relationship between past and present,” curator and Senior Lecturer in Art History Dr Sally Butler said.

“There’s something exciting about looking at the historical precedents for the contemporary art and the new works that have come after. It also helps to focus on the innovation of the contemporary artists as they’re not just copying the past, they’re doing all sorts of new things.

“Even the artists hadn’t seen a lot of these old works for a long time, if ever, so just putting them back into dialogue with the present was significant.”

The artworks included large sculptures of animals and spirit figures, eye-catching canvas paintings, and fields of iconic red-and-white “law poles”.

“Because they’re 3D objects, they have a real presence and one of the main aesthetic features is the art of characterisation,” Dr Butler said.

“You get a sense of them almost having a personality, even if they’re a fish or a dog or a ceremonial figure. It’s a really lively presence of culture.”

The entire first floor of the museum was dedicated to the show, with visitors able to explore works from different clans and across mediums as they navigated the space.

A busy schedule of public events saw participating artists lead tours of the exhibition, and local school children take part in weaving workshops.

Dr Butler said the regeneration and reinvention of Aurukun artistic traditions – particularly carving – made it one of the most dynamic Indigenous art movements today.

She used the example of senior artist Arthur Pambegan Jnr – now in his 70s – who had recently started configuring ceremonial paintings in new ways.

“Arthur Pambegan has taken his body paintings and turned them into these canvas paintings that are unlike anything else in Indigenous art. It’s pure Aurukun,” she said.

Traditional sculptures were now being created not only out of wood, but also aluminium and bronze.

Another innovation is the use of “ghost nets” – remains of fishing nets which have been washed on to the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and are used to weave new, colourful creations using traditional techniques.

“The ghost nets are very typical of the way Aurukun artists are prepared to innovate to keep their culture alive,” Dr Butler said.

“The weaving tradition is on the brink of extinction all around Australia but they have used fishing nets as the start of an environmental initiative and as an imperative for reinvention.”

Traditional woven items were also on display, along with a documentary film depicting ceremonial dances and the history of the Aurukun peoples, who experienced first contact with Europeans in the 1600s.

A new UQP publication, produced to accompany the exhibition, includes chapters from leading scholars on Aurukun art and culture and the curator of the Aboriginal Art Museum in the Netherlands.

Before Time Today was one of the major events of UQ’s Centenary celebrations. It followed the successful Our Way exhibition, also curated by Dr Butler, which was featured on the cover of the Winter 2007 edition of Graduate Contact and toured internationally.

The Aurukun survey capped off a remarkable year for the museum, which also hosted a touring exhibition of Sidney Nolan’s ANZAC paintings, showcased the radical video art of Russian collective AES+F, and pitched a giant inflatable artwork outside the James and Mary Emelia Mayne Centre.

By Cameron Pegg

Browsing the news, checking emails and eating breakfast are early morning priorities for many people.

But not Professor Craig Franklin. The first thing he does at home in Brisbane each day is check on the whereabouts of 13 estuarine crocodiles — which are spread across Cape York in far north Queensland.

After numerous trips to the remote Wenlock River region, Professor Franklin’s research team from the School of Biological Sciences has attached satellite trackers to the crocodiles, allowing their individual movements to be monitored remotely, in precise detail.

“Each colour here is a different crocodile, and each point is a position fix,” he says, pointing to the Google Earth image that he scans so intently each morning.

“The amazing thing about this new technology is its accuracy. You can go right in and find a spot like this here – a high-activity zone. You can see, even along creek beds, exactly where the crocodiles are.”

It’s all about the science for the researcher and his colleagues, but their involvement with the Cape’s ecology has also thrust them into a high-profile battle involving the State and Federal Governments, the “wildlife warrior” Irwin family, Indigenous groups and a bauxite mining company.

Professor Franklin and his team work on the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve, a 1350sq km area of spring-fed wilderness wetlands about 80km north of Weipa.

The Irwin family – which runs the Australia Zoo tourist park north of Brisbane — bought the Cape York land in 2007 with the help of a $6.3 million Federal Government grant, and runs it as a conservation and scientific reserve in memory of Steve Irwin, the conservationist and international media star who died in 2006.

After the Irwins acquired the Cape York property as part of the National Reserve System, it seemed the land and its wildlife would be protected forever — but then in 2008, lease applications were lodged with aims to establish one of the world’s 10 largest bauxite mines there. In October the project was put on hold, with the mining company citing political and environmental issues.

The Queensland Government’s Wild Rivers legislation, first passed in 2005, was designed to protect the ecological integrity of Cape York and its river systems, and the Wenlock was declared as a wild river this year.

Terri Irwin said her late husband regarded the area around the Wenlock as “the most beautiful place on earth”.

Professor Franklin and his team have been working in the area for seven years, but began a long-term research project — now on its second linkage grant from the Australian Research Council — in 2007.

He said the Wenlock River had the richest freshwater fish diversity of any Australian river, and supported a critically endangered population of spear-tooth sharks, about which almost nothing was known.

The area is also home to the endangered freshwater sawfish, rare birds and threatened, highly vulnerable plant species.

“The Wenlock River is hugely important because of its impressive biodiversity,” Professor Franklin says.

The area is largely uncharted scientifically, but one startling early discovery is that the area’s spring water is naturally acidic.

“What’s fascinating is that if you look at the pH, it is approaching the phenomenon of acid rain that has been seen in the northern hemisphere,” Professor Franklin says.

“Here we have almost equivalent pH levels occurring naturally, yet life is abundant and the organisms have evolved to cope.”

He said the team hadn’t even scratched the surface in terms of the discoveries waiting in these springs and the surrounding rainforest.

Professor Franklin said crocodiles were a threatened species on the Cape, and their numbers and densities remained low after being almost hunted to extinction in the 1970s.

His team’s research has also shown that estuarine crocodiles travel far larger distances than was previously known. They make lengthy journeys in open sea, riding tidal flows right around the top of Cape York and between Pacific islands.

Through the intensive capture and tagging procedures – which require enormous planning, logistics and manpower – the team attaches satellite transmitters, which function for a year to 15 months before falling off.

But Professor Franklin said a long-term study – using acoustic transmitters inserted under the crocodiles’ skin – was needed to provide detailed data on the effects of environmental change.

He said working on Cape York was “exciting, but challenging”.

As well as the political and mining issues, the area’s remoteness and inaccessibility during the wet season can make for gruelling work.

Indigenous groups on the Cape remain divided over the Wild Rivers legislation, but Professor Franklin said there was plenty of local support for conservation and research.

“A big part of our work is educating people, local residents. So we — Terri Irwin and myself — give talks to schools and community groups wherever possible,” he says.

Professor Franklin said the Irwins deserved praise for their commitment to conservation on Cape York, noting the family privately funded maintenance on the reserve.

“It is purely because they believe it is an area that deserves our protection, which I strongly agree with.”

Professor Franklin said the overriding factor for him is the area’s enormous scientific potential.

“I feel extremely privileged, and humbled, to be able study there, with the support of such committed partners,” he says.

“It is very clear that the flora and fauna are related to the unique water composition of the region. This is a totally new discovery to mankind and deserves much further research.”

To follow the crocodiles by satellite, visit www.uq.edu.au/eco-lab

By Fiona Cameron

Video by Jeremy Patten

Carly Starr with a pygmy loris in the wild

Malaria, landmines, elephants and a diet of frogs has not kept PhD student Carly Starr from becoming an expert on a Cambodian animal not unlike a possum.

Ms Starr has become the first western researcher to study the wild pygmy loris, a small nocturnal primate found only in parts of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and China.

The 27-year-old has recently returned from field studies in Cambodia, where she first began her search for the pygmy loris in mid-2006.

She hopes to complete her thesis on the creatures in January as part of her studies at UQ’s School of Animal Studies.

Former Khmer Rouge soldiers and Indigenous people joined Ms Starr in her search, keeping an eye out for elephants and landmines in the dense forests where the nocturnal animals with the big eyes live.

Covering the ground was often done on domesticated elephants and sleeping tended to be in hammocks strung up in trees.

The party kept close to river systems for water and fish, while rain brought out frogs to supplement a diet otherwise consisting of rice and tinned foods.

Ms Starr said her early days in Cambodia were among the hardest because she did not speak the language.

“At first it was very hard and it was very isolating. But that didn’t last long. People were very warm and inclusive. They would string their hammocks next to you and keep you company when we weren’t out following the animals in the forest,” she said.

Ms Starr said life in the field initially seemed daunting, but she quickly adjusted.

“When you are there, it seems normal. You go through the motions. It’s when you come back here that it seems more adventurous,” she said.

But the most difficult thing for Ms Starr was contracting malaria, forcing her to be evacuated to a hospital in Thailand.

During recuperation in Brisbane, Ms Starr realised she had come too far to give up on her studies.

Ms Starr said she had become very fond of the pygmy loris, saying it was “cute and cuddly”, even though it could secrete a toxin known to cause anaphylactic shock from its upper arms, rub it on its teeth and bite potential threats.

“When you shine a light on them they freeze so it is easy to catch them,” she said.

Ms Starr began studying the pygmy loris after hearing how little known the animals were while doing a rodent survey in Cambodia. Pygmy lorises are threatened because of the demand for their use in traditional medicines.

The research showed pygmy loris numbers were rapidly declining in Cambodia. With this in mind, Ms Starr said she hoped to work for organisations dedicated to conservation.

By Erik de Wit

Scholarship winner David Muller (right) with renowned virologist Professor Paul Young

A University of Queensland postgraduate student award that comes as the direct result of an occasional glass of beer or wine, a barbecue, a back deck and a good chin wag between neighbours has been awarded for the first time.

The Rodger Dallas Morgan Postgraduate Research Travel Award has been awarded to PhD student David Muller for his research on a protein involved in dengue fever infection.

“The award provides conference travel funding for a latter stage virology PhD candidate enrolled in the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences,” Mr Muller said.

“It’s an opportunity to present my work to an international audience that I otherwise wouldn’t have had.”

What sets this award apart from the myriad of others is the way it came into being – a generous bequest from Rodger Morgan in his will to his next door neighbour and good mate, Paul Young.

As it turns out, Paul Young is a Professor in virology at UQ and one of the world’s leading authorities on dengue fever.

“I first met Rodger in 1997 when he moved into the house next to us in Ashgrove. His enthusiasm for life was contagious and we soon became friends,” Professor Young said.

“An electrician by trade, he had a natural ability to turn his hands to most things practical – a talent he shared when the need arose!

“After retiring as an electrician he worked as a janitor, gardener and handyman at a number of different Schools in Brisbane’s West

“Rodger was also remarkably well read, with particular passion for Australian poetry.

“We shared many an afternoon or evening on our back decks with beers in hand, discussing a wide range of topics over the barbecue.”

Professor Young said it was during these long afternoons that his neighbour became fascinated with the research he was conducting in the lab at UQ, looking at ways to combat dengue fever.

“Dengue is a global scourge, particularly in many developing countries within the tropics, and an increasing problem in northern Queensland,” he said.

“Rodger’s standard comment whenever we saw each other was, ‘made any breakthroughs lately?’,” Professor Young said.

And it’s becoming increasingly evident that some form of breakthrough is needed.

In its most recent estimation, the World Health Organization (WHO) said 2.5 billion people were at risk from dengue – that’s two fifths of the world’s current population.

And, according to the WHO, the only way to currently prevent dengue virus transmission is to combat the disease-carrying mosquitoes.

But it’s not just developing countries that have to worry. As of the end of May, Queensland Health figures show there have been almost 950 confirmed cases of dengue in north Queensland since December last year.

David Muller’s PhD research is focusing on a particular viral protein, called NS1, found in the blood of people infected with dengue virus.

The late Rodger Dallas Morgan. A scholarship named in his honour aims to help eradicate dengue fever

One of the goals of his research is to better understand the timing of its appearance during the course of the disease, information that’s been crucial in the development and application of better diagnostics.

“A rapid diagnostic assay based on work from our laboratory is currently being used across the world to provide early diagnosis of dengue infection,” Mr Muller said.

In the year before his death from cancer, on a trip through South East Asia, Rodger Morgan experienced first hand the devastating effects that disease in all its forms can have on the community, particularly young children.

Professor Young said this experience left a lasting impression on his good mate, and galvanized him to help do something about it.

“He had a natural affinity for children and they with him. He had no children of his own but many, including my two daughters, were the grateful recipients of the time he devoted them,” Professor Young said.

When Mr Morgan died of cancer, it came as a surprise to everyone – especially Professor Young – that he had left such a substantial bequest to his neighbour with no instructions, other than it was to be targeted towards his research.

“Typical of Rodger, it wasn’t done with any fuss but with a great deal of feeling,” Professor Young said.

Wanting to get the most out of the bequest, and in line with Rodger’s own lifetime commitment to encouraging and mentoring his young charges, Professor Young asked the University to put the money into a trust that would support the $2000 annual prize – created in honour of his bighearted neighbour – for many years to come.

Professor Young said it was difficult for PhD students to find the money to travel overseas and present their work at international conferences; the award providing exceptional students with that chance.

“This way we will be able to support PhD students in virology with much needed travel money, helping to build the numbers on the ground trying to solve these infectious disease problems.”

Mr Muller used the funds from the award to travel to the 4th Asian Dengue Research Network Meeting, held in December in Singapore.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for me and I was thrilled to be able to present my work at an international conference,” he said.

“It also gives me the chance to see where dengue research is heading in the future and how I can become a part of that.”

By Travis Taylor

The Queensland Places website was created as part of Q150 celebrations

Amateur and professional historians alike now have access to a major new resource with the launch of queenslandplaces.com.au

The new public resource was developed by UQ with the support of the Queensland Government and contains entries on all the cities, towns, suburbs and villages in Queensland that have had populations of 500 or more.

University of Queensland Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield said community enthusiasm had breathed life into the new website’s images.

“UQ is delighted by the response of people all over the state who dug into their slide collections in order to share their view of Queensland places with people everywhere,” he said.

“Thanks to these slide contributors, UQ is able to present high-quality research – conducted over seven years – in a format that is as engaging as it is educational.

“I congratulate Professor Peter Spearritt and his team at the Centre for the Government of Queensland at UQ, along with staff of the UQ Library, and the key government personnel who delivered queenslandplaces.com.au“.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said data in the website included black and white photographs and postcards to colour slides from the 1950s-80s, which have been specifically digitised and preserved for this project.

“This exciting new website has over 1100 entries, from the 19th century boom towns of Gympie and Cooktown to the new suburbs of the 21st century,” she said.

Users of the website can access the website by name of settlement or a key word search for names of places, events and themes, from the border gates at Coolangatta, to the mines of Mount Isa, and to the Torres Strait Islands.

“This is a great educational resource for teachers, students, family historians, visitors to Queensland, and everyone interested in our history, culture and ongoing development,” Ms Bligh said.

With over 500,000 words and over 5000 illustrations, queenslandplaces.com.au is a major contribution to Queensland’s 150th anniversary celebrations.

UQ sculptor Dr Rhyl Hinwood

UQ sculptor Dr Rhyl Hinwood has unvelied her lastest masterpiece – a special sculpture for St Leo’s College.

The very large “Tree of Life” artwork occupied Dr Hinwood’s time for six months and was placed in the courtyard at the residential college in May.

The sculpture is traditionally symbolic of the life process of growth, development and regeneration and is an appropriate inspiration for students at this formative stage of their lives.

The tree is based on the non-deciduous Moreton Bay fig Ficus macrophylla -- a symbol of everlasting life, reflecting the religious experience at St Leo’s College.

Dr Hinwood said the fig’s buttressed roots symbolised the underworld and from them, the tree grows into the world of time.

“Rector Brother Vince Skelly has a goal to make St Leo’s a place of beauty where the imagination can be inspired,” she said.

“The trunk symbolises earth and the world axis, the link between heaven and hell and the attainment of knowledge.

“The branches symbolise the heavens with the sun, the moon, and stars and the different edible fruits are native to tropical and sub tropical rainforests such as the Queensland nut, the Bunya Pine, Davidson plum and the tamarind -- just as the student residents of the college have come from homes widespread in the state and neighbouring countries.

“The carved vine encircling the trunk of the tree creates a spiral -- a sequence of cycles which characterise the revealed world and rise to attainment of a higher plane.”

The artist chose to depict the native vine Paristolochia praevenosa because she learned the vine was an important breeding place for the endangered Richmond Birdwing Butterfly.

“In order to preserve this species of butterfly, we are encouraged to grow this vine, which is now no longer present in the wild,” Dr Hinwood said.

This is Dr Hinwood’s third artwork for St Leo’s College with a former piece including the entry marker of a carved Helidon freestone mounted on a Harcourt granite base, the same granite used in the foundations of UQ’s Great Court.

“Each new project has its own challenges and leads me into research that is relevant to the site and the commission brief,” she said.

Dr Hinwood was commissioned as UQ sculptor in 1976 and since then, has created more than 300 artworks for The University of Queensland.

In 2001, Dr Hinwood was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Philosophy for her outstanding contribution to The University of Queensland and to the visual arts in Queensland, and in 2006 was appointed a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia.

Her work is also included on the Registers of Queensland Heritage and the National Estate.

Story by Eliza Plant, video by Stewart Gould

An image from Saving Sight, Saving a Nation

UQ journalism lecturer Heather Stewart jumped at the chance to follow an Australian volunteer eye clinic team to East Timor last year, and has published her first book about the experience.

Saving Sight, Saving a Nation captures the blindness epidemic in East Timor via a series of stunning photographs, and was launched by leading ophthalmologist Dr Bill Glasson in October.

The book highlights the work performed by the East Timor Eye Program (ETEP), a volunteer effort aimed at eradicating preventable blindness in the fledgling nation by 2020.

Taking photographic equipment, in addition to an audio and camera crew, Ms Stewart independently traveled to Dili and joined the eye clinic team at the ramshackle hospital in the city to record their work.

“It was a shock by any standards to see how Dili was still struggling despite having independence,” Ms Stewart said.

“I was determined to come back to Australia and tell the story about how desperate blind people are in East Timor and give credit to the volunteers who are trying so hard to help.”

On her return Ms Stewart generated content for ABC News and Lateline about the state of camps in the major regions housing over 100,000 displaced East Timorese. Her feature about the ETEP also appeared on the Channel Nine Sunday program.

“I was expecting Timor to be further advanced and I really felt for the displaced people and was grateful they gave me a chance to tell their story,” she said.

The ETEP uses volunteer teams from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, International Centre for Eyecare Education and the ProVision Optometry Team, who provide services to help and prevent curable blindness in the East Timorese population.

Project founder Dr Nitin Verma, an opthalmologist based in Hobart, said more than 30,000 patients have been seen by the group and more than 3,000 operations have been carried out.

“I can tell you that the joy that you get when the bandage is remove and the patient has seen and the smile that you get is all that you want, and it hasn’t faded,” Dr Verma said.

Ms Stewart followed the eye clinic team for a week in Dili and also visited Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao’s home to interview him and his wife – Australian-born first lady Kirsty Sword Gusmao.

A few days later there was an assassination attempt on his life and President Jose Ramos Horta, highlighting the political instability in East Timor and the plight of the Timorese.

“It made me realise even more how important it was to come home and tell the story that something good was happening in East Timor,” Ms Stewart said.

Saving Sight, Saving a Nation is available in eye surgeries across Australia and East Timor, with all proceeds donated to the Timor Eye Clinic Program.

Kubo Yoshinobu with the water harp

Visitors to Brisbane’s Roma Street Parkland can now participate in a unique cross-cultural experience, but only if they are prepared to listen.

A purpose-built Japanese water harp, known as a suikinkutsu, was officially opened on January 30 by Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Michael Keniger, and is now a permanent part of the parkland.

The harp is the centrepiece for a “sound garden” designed by UQ’s Dr Kumi Kato, local architect Will Marcus and Mr Kubo Yoshinobu, a specialist suikinkutsu builder from Japan who travelled to Brisbane specially for the construction.

The harp consists of a buried earthenware pot, which is tipped upside down and has a hole drilled at the top. When drops of water fall through onto a permanent layer of water at the base it creates a subtle musical effect which differs depending on the weather.

Mr Kubo also assisted Dr Kato with a similar installation in a Tasmanian forest in 2005 – believed to the first of its kind in Australia.

Dr Kato said the Australian harps were unique, as they weren’t built as part of a traditional Japanese garden, but instead were created to encourage conservation and the importance of dialogue across cultures.

“The Tasmanian water harp was built to celebrate the natural beauty of the region and the people’s dedication to forest conservation,” she said.

“The Queensland water harp is designed to address the importance of listening – not only to our changing environment but also to each other.”

The sound garden’s design also draws on Indigenous knowledge, and will in time incorporate a design of the Rainbow Serpent in honour of the local traditional owners, the Turrbal People. Indigenous elder Joe Kirk performed a traditional smoking ceremony as part of the opening proceedings.

Dr Kato thanked Roma Street Parkland staff and members of the Brisbane community who pitched in to make the project possible, with Mizu Japanese restaurant providing a traditional lunch to workers throughout the construction process, and artists Ken Kikkawa and Kat Leehy contributing to the design.

In a related project, Dr Kato is gathering an archive of the “sounds of Queensland” for Q150 celebrations.

Queenslanders can nominate their favourite sound at www.ecco.org.au/150sound/, with 150 to be chosen and then professionally recorded as a unique record of the state’s cultural history.

Story by Cameron Pegg, video by Jeremy Patten with footage courtesy Simon Wearne