UQ Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Paul Greenfield

In mid-2011 more than 6600 alumni in almost 100 countries took the opportunity to express their views of UQ by being part of an online survey. Thank you to all the respondents, whose answers will inform our efforts to offer alumni the programs and benefits that they want.

Hundreds invested extra time to write comments about their relationship with UQ, and many of these were particularly instructive.

Overwhelmingly, people had positive memories of their student experience and gave high ratings to the education that UQ now provides. For example, 94 percent felt proud to be a UQ graduate, 91 percent said they had an overall great experience as students, and almost 90 percent would recommend UQ to their friends. These ratings are a tribute to past and present staff, and to the quality of our alumni community.

On the other hand, alumni were generally cool about their present relationship with UQ. Only 40 percent agreed that they had a strong relationship with UQ, almost one-third were neutral about it, and the remainder disagreed with the proposition. Also, most people did not feel that they were a valued part of the UQ community.

Clearly, the University’s strong performance towards students is not flowing through to alumni. As engaging with alumni is integral to the University’s vocation, and we strive for all-round excellence, this is indeed a serious concern.

If you are someone who finds UQ’s performance towards alumni lacking, please be assured that alumni are valued as intrinsic to UQ, irrespective of whether they are quiet achievers, celebrities, or people who studied purely for the love of learning. When I take the University’s increasing success as the pervading theme of this magazine, I cannot isolate it from the work of countless people whose stories are not documented.

I was gratified by the magnanimity of the thousands of alumni who would consider volunteering, especially if it enables them to help students. Half of the respondents signalled interest in giving guest lectures or joining discussion panels, 42 percent were interested in being career mentors, 44 percent would consider assisting with UQ humanitarian projects, and more than a quarter were interested in inviting a new international student home for dinner.

I know that many hundreds of alumni already volunteer as adjunct academics, student mentors, fundraisers, advisors, reunion organisers, UQ Senators – the list goes on. It is now up to UQ to expand opportunities for people to serve in these roles and other ways.

More than half of our alumni live within an hour’s drive of central Brisbane, but altruism is not limited by borders or datelines. This is proven by the members of the new board of The University of Queensland in America Foundation, the dynamos running our 10 Asia-based alumni associations, and the residents of Vietnam who supported a group of current students who performed exceptional deeds for children of a community in the Mekong Delta.

A similarly generous disposition towards UQ students of today and tomorrow came through in alumni’s answers to questions about donating, with scholarships being the most popular target for people who were able and willing to give funds to UQ.

People shared valuable insights on activities that interest them, and their preferred avenues for receiving communication from the University. On the basis of this you should expect to see more email invitations and notices about seminars, cultural events and professional development.

Judging by answers relating to benefits and services they would like to receive, many alumni treasure knowledge and scholarship as ongoing links with the University. Their most popular choices were library access that is free or discounted (the latter is already available), and lifelong learning.

The take-out message for the University is that actions speak louder than words. Busy alumni took the trouble to tell us what they like and dislike about their relationship with UQ, with some even inviting the University to partner with them to improve offerings for their fellow alumni.

There is now a decisive onus on the University to digest the criticisms as well as the compliments to communicate better with alumni who want to maintain or reinvigorate contact with their alma mater, and to harness the enthusiasm and creativity of alumni who want to share their wisdom, energy and connections. Stay tuned.

New company Vaxxas Pty Ltd will enable Professor Mark Kendall from UQ’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology to continue his pioneering research and development of the Nanopatch.

The AUD$15 million investment is led by OneVentures, with co-investors Brandon Capital, the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund and US-based HealthCare Ventures.

The Nanopatch has thousands of small projections designed to deliver the vaccine to abundant immune cells in the skin, whereas the traditional syringe hits the muscle where these are sparse.

Early stage testing in animals has shown a Nanopatch-delivered flu vaccine is effective with only 1/150th of the dose compared to a syringe.

In addition to improving the efficiency of delivery, the Nanopatch has the potential to dramatically improve patient convenience and reduce the complications associated with needle phobia, needle-stick injuries and cross contamination, which are key global health issues.

The Nanopatch is designed for thermostability and to not need refrigeration, making transport much cheaper and easier, particularly to developing nations around the world.

Professor Kendall said in the developed world about 14 percent of a vaccine’s costs were in maintaining the cold chain – while in the developing world the impact was even greater.

Member of the Vaxxas Board of Directors Douglas E. Onsi said the Nanopatch had the potential to transform vaccine delivery for the pharmaceutical industry and for patients around the world.

By Erik de Wit

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

Courting the Greats from The University of Queensland on Vimeo.

Founder and Executive Director of the Hear and Say program, Dr Dimity Dornan AM, has been named the 2011 UQ Alumnus of the Year.

The 2010 Queenslander of the Year was honoured at the annual Courting the Greats gala dinner on September 24 at the UQ Centre, alongside the winners of the International Alumnus of the Year and the Young Alumnus of the Year awards.

Courting the Greats celebrates the achievements of UQ’s alumni community and pays tribute to those who have achieved distinction in their fields and recognition among their peers.

This year’s event also recognised five Graduates of the Year from the class of 2011 – each of whom received perfect grades throughout their degrees.

“The diversity of this year’s applicants was testament to the success of our graduates both here and overseas in a wide range of disciplines,” UQ Pro Vice-Chancellor (Advancement) Clare Pullar said.

Guests were entertained by ballroom dancers, the Emmanuel College Pipe Band, the School of Music’s Tropical Dance Orchestra, and also took part in a private viewing at the UQ Art Museum.

Dr Dornan, a speech pathologist, founded Hear and Say in 1992.

The not-for-profit organisation assists children with hearing impairments so they can learn to listen and speak through advanced hearing technology. She is also the Founder of Hear and Say Research Innovation and Hear and Say Worldwide.

Dr Yuichi Murakami and Edwin Khew were named the joint winners of the International Alumnus of the Year award.

The co-founder, CEO, and Managing Director of IUT Global Pte Ltd, Mr Khew is recognised as a leader in advancing clean energy and renewable energy sources in South East Asia.

Dr Murakami is a distinguished academic from Fukushima University who has dedicated his research career to understanding cultural differences between Australia and Japan. He and his students also generously raised funds for the Vice-Chancellor’s Emergency Student Welfare Fund following the January floods.

Also recognised at the event was Young Alumnus of the Year Dr Kala Mulqueeny, who has made a global impact as a lawyer, academic and teacher.

By Jan King and Allison Rock

Liz Bellward with Indah at Dreamworld's Tiger Island

When Liz Bellward was contemplating a career change, little did she know a day at the office would soon involve cuddling and caring for a dozen tigers.

With a business degree already under her belt, Ms Bellward was looking to take her passion for animals to the next level and enrolled in a Master of Animal Studies at UQ.

By mid-way through her degree, Ms Bellward was working for one of Australia’s best-known tiger tourism and conservation hotspots – Tiger Island at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast.

Ms Bellward described her time as a tiger handler as not only a professionally rewarding experience but also a personal one.

“There’s an honesty and innocence with animals that you don’t find with people,” she said.

“Having a cuddle with a 200kg tiger or having it chuff at you (a chuff is a friendly greeting) and experiencing their acceptance of you is the most incredible feeling in the world.”

Part of Ms Bellward’s work at Tiger Island was to assist with the conservation and breeding efforts of Sumatran tigers.

“There are only 300–400 of this species left in the wild and knowing I have been part of helping increase their numbers is very rewarding,” she said.

Liz Bellward swimming with Indah

Four years on and Ms Bellward is combining her skills in business and tiger handling in establishing Karma Cats – a not-for-profit organisation aimed at conserving endangered big cat species.

“I created Karma Cats because I saw an opportunity to participate in breeding programs for endangered species and raise money for conservation,” she said.

“Some zoos see ‘making money’ as a bad thing and as exploiting the animals, but you can make money without compromising the animals’ welfare and in many cases it enriches the animals’ lives in captivity.”

Since her time at UQ, Ms Bellward has maintained excellent relationships with UQ teaching staff, and her masters supervisor now joins her on the Karma Cats board.

Ms Bellward is currently looking for more funders to support her organisation.

By Caroline Bird

Cody Freeman

For Cody Freeman, what started as a hobby during his university days has since seen him go from international performer to educator to entrepreneur.

The professional balloon sculptor has featured on Channel 9’s kids’ TV show The Shak, entertained crowds at Brisbane Broncos games for the past three years, and created giant balloon floats involving lights and lasers.

His talent has taken him to the stages of Europe, Africa, India and Australia.

From the simplest animal to giant installations, Mr Freeman’s specialty is being able to create anything people ask for within a couple of minutes.

“If someone says, ‘I want an F-111 fighter jet’, I’ll be able to make it right there and do it fast,” he said.

Mr Freeman said his passion for circus stemmed back to his days studying at UQ.

“My friend and I started a small juggling club that would meet once a week in the Great Court to practise.

“Sometimes 15 to 20 people would turn up to juggle, spin and twirl.”

After busking overseas and experimenting with balloon art for two years, Mr Freeman started a job teaching at an international school in Goa, India.

There, he taught circus to the kids as an extra-curricular activity.

However, his time in Goa was cut short by a motorcycle accident and Mr Freeman was forced to come back to his home in far north Queensland, where he had months of recovery enabling him to focus on his balloon designs.

Most recently, Mr Freeman opened a Circus Training Centre in Brisbane’s West End called The Ice Cream Factory and established his own balloon-sculpting business – Twisted Designs.

“Our creations and entertainment aim to twist people’s imagination by making things out of balloons that you would never have believed possible,” he said.

“We’re combining science, art and entertainment to take balloon sculpture into uncharted territory.”

Mr Freeman credits his UQ science degree with allowing him to experiment with more complex balloon creations.

“I’m using some parts of my degree more than ever at the moment and will continue to use this knowledge as I start to incorporate more lights, signal processing and electronics to circus performances,” he said.

“Having a science degree means I can bring a different approach to doing things in the circus community and allows me to think more creatively.”

By Caroline Bird

The UQ in America Foundation has been established to boost alumni relations and philanthropy

The University of Queensland has officially launched its new American strategy at a special event at the Australian Embassy in Washington DC.

The function in June, which also formed part of the Global Challenges Lecture Series, coincided with the opening of a new University office on 15th Street, with dedicated staff to facilitate and support the University’s engagement initiatives in the USA.

The move comes as UQ advances its international agenda to expand linkages and partnerships with American businesses, government bodies, universities and alumni.

The University’s strategy in the USA will encourage and support research collaboration and commercialisation, foster student exchange, and rally the support of UQ’s USA-based community of alumni and friends.

The University of Queensland is currently involved in more than 2300 research projects with collaborators in more than 50 countries, $43 million of which involve a USA-based partner.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield said the strategy signalled the serious commitment of the University to deepening its collaboration with its USA partners.

“The new office in Washington DC will support us to build strategic research and educational collaborations and increase student and staff exchange with our American partners,” Professor Greenfield said.

“We want to continue to be a university that is connected with the global community and one that addresses the issues that are impacting on today’s world.

“To do this, we are strengthening our connections in America and establishing The University of Queensland in America Foundation as a separate entity, which will be dedicated to supporting the University in delivering excellence in teaching and the perpetuation of cutting edge research and discovery.”

(From left): Secretary of UQ in America Karen Van Sacker, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Advancement) Clare Pullar, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) Dr Anna Ciccarelli, Professor Paul Greenfield, Professor Debbie Terry and Associate Director (Education) UQ Washington DC Office Jen Nielsen outside the foundation building

The mission of The University of Queensland in America Foundation is to encourage sustained philanthropic support from alumni and friends, with the foundation established as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organisation.

“Strategic philanthropy has enabled The University of Queensland to dramatically increase its capacity to contribute to global problem-solving through support of the University’s eight research institutes and to offer life-changing education to the best and brightest students regardless of their background,” Professor Greenfield said.

“Truly great global universities have significant philanthropic engagement from their alumni and friends. A key factor leading to The University of Queensland’s success is due to our philanthropic supporters who have engaged their networks across the globe.”
The inaugural Chair of the foundation is the Chairman and CEO of Dow Dr Andrew Liveris.

Dr Liveris graduated from UQ with first-class honours in chemical engineering in 1975, and joined The Dow Chemical Company’s Australian offices in 1976. Throughout his career, Dr Liveris has maintained strong links with the University and was its 2005 Alumnus of the Year.

The Global Challenges Leadership event in Washington DC featured Director of UQ’s Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, Professor Robert Henry, who spoke about food security and biofuels.

In attendance were members of the UQ senior executive, American alumni and partners, and guests including former Premier Peter Beattie, who is an advisor and guest lecturer at Clemson University in South Carolina.

To learn more about The University of Queensland in America Foundation, contact Karen Van Sacker – k.vansacker@uq.edu.au

By Kathy Grube

UQ veterinary science alumnus Ivor Harris at the Auster emperor penguin rookery near Mawson station

Experiencing two weeks without sunlight while withstanding average temperatures of -20°C would be enough to send most Queenslanders packing.

But for UQ alumnus Ivor Harris, it’s all part of the challenge of living and working on the coldest, driest and windiest continent on Earth – Antarctica.

Whether it’s travelling on quad bikes along sea ice, getting up close to the largest royal penguin colony in the world, or catching baby fur seals for tagging, the veterinarian and former UQ staff member has come to call the isolated continent his second home.

Mr Harris has completed three tours as manager for the Australian Antarctic Division’s (AAD) Casey (2003), Mawson (2006) and Macquarie Island (2010–2011) stations – spending up to one year at a time at each base.

“Going to Antarctica had always been an ambition of mine and the idea of spending a year down there in a such challenging role and in such extreme environmental conditions was very attractive to me,” Mr Harris says.

“Even though I’ve now spent just under three years in total living there, I can confidently say I’m still not sick of it.”

Often referred to as “the freezer”, Antarctica has been visited by fewer than 200,000 people. Mr Harris is one of only a small number of Australians who live there in any given year.

AAD staff venture to Antarctica to carry out environmental management and research programs that are critical to understanding global change and human impacts on the continent.

Summer is the busiest time for researchers, with much smaller numbers staying to see out the harsh winter. With a mere four hours of twilight a day for two weeks and temperatures falling to -40°C on the coastline and -80°C inland, the season is considered the most difficult time of year in Antarctica.

“It was certainly challenging, not only because of the climate, but also due to the confinement and isolation of a small community,” Mr Harris explains.

“You can’t leave from March to November, because no planes can fly in or out.

“So, for nearly eight months we were physically alone, even though we had good electronic contact with the rest of the world.”

Despite the difficulties endured during the Antarctic winter, Mr Harris is continually drawn back to “the freezer” by his passion for the continent’s unique wildlife.

Ivor Harris inspects a rabbit-devastated coastal grass slope on Macquarie Island

“The animals you find there are such marvels of biological adaptation,” he says.

“Their sheer numbers on land is a remarkable trait of living in such a harsh environment and while they rarely see humans, they have little fear of people.”

Mr Harris has witnessed firsthand spectacular scenes that most of us only see in wildlife documentaries, including the “extraordinary experience” of standing amongst colonies of hundreds of thousands of emperor and king penguins.

“The noise, smell and huge size of the group are prominent at first, but as your nose and ears adjust you notice more of the characters and behaviours of the individual animals. You become more conscious of each penguin on its own rather than the vast group,” he says.

One aspect of Mr Harris’s work on Macquarie Island involved catching and handling fur seals to tag, micro-chip and retrieve skin scrapings for DNA analysis.

“Fur seals are one of the dominant predators of the Antarctic ecosystem. Understanding their health helps us understand whether the environment is under stress,” he says.

But traversing the unrelenting terrain of ice, rock and snow to get to the animals was sometimes no easy task.

“Vehicular sea ice travel requires a high level of awareness of the environmental hazards such as areas of thin ice, tide cracks in the ice and accumulation of deep snow on the sea ice, which can mask the danger underneath,” Mr Harris explains.

“It was scary at the time, but I look back on it now and think it was great fun.”

Knowing how to travel safely in Antarctica is just one of the skills taught in the intensive training undertaken by AAD staff.

Selection for a station manager role is very competitive and involves a number of steps including a week-long selection process in Tasmania focusing on survival skills, leadership exercises and psychological training.

“They really want to make sure you have the physical, emotional and mental attributes to cope with the isolation and confinement, as well as any people challenges that may emerge during the year,” Mr Harris says.

“I was very fortunate to be selected as a station manager on my first application. After being in the role once, it was easier to apply for the position on Mawson and Macquarie Island.”

In between his stints to Antarctica, Mr Harris works as a scientific officer with the rank of Major at the Army Malaria Institute at Enoggera in Brisbane, where he is responsible for operations and logistics, and is involved in anti-malarial drug development and veterinary supervision.

In recent years, he has also contributed to malaria elimination activities in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands as part of an AusAID-funded project.

Early in his career, Mr Harris worked as a UQ lecturer in veterinary science before taking on the role of Director at the central animal breeding house at the Pinjarra Hills farm.

His interest in microbiology and parasitology grew during his employment at the centre and he returned to his alma mater to complete a Master of Philosophy (veterinary microbiology) – researching novel ways of treating difficult types of biological wastes, particularly piggery and other animal effluents.

During his time on Macquarie Island, his expertise in this field was greatly sought after.

“Although I wasn’t at Macquarie on a scientific basis, I assisted in several biology projects where my professional abilities were put to good use, in particular for a pest control program for feral rabbits,” Mr Harris says.

Drilling ice to place a bamboo cane track marker at Casey Station

“But my studies in biological sciences also gave me grounding for a broader spectrum of research activities, which assisted me greatly in my work in Antarctica.”

When asked about plans to return to “the freezer”, Mr Harris’s response is telling.

“I’d love to go to the Davis station to complete all four of the Australian bases,” he says.

“Preferably in winter.”

By Caroline Bird

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

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The University of Queensland’s Institute of Continuing & TESOL Education (ICTE-UQ) has celebrated three decades of success with a week-long calendar of anniversary activities and events.

Established in 1981 as the first centre of its kind in Queensland and operating from a single teaching room, ICTE-UQ has grown to become an award-winning global institute offering a wide range of programs and services to more than 6500 participants from more than 60 countries each year.

ICTE-UQ has played an important role in assisting international students to commence UQ study and reach graduation through intensive preparatory, concurrent English language training, pathway and support programs.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield congratulated ICTE-UQ for its role in meeting the University’s internationalisation objectives and paving the way for broader alliances.

By Frances Wickerson

UQ students landscape at a primary school in Mo Cay, Ben Tre Province

A team of UQ students made the most of their mid-year holidays to pitch in at a primary school in a remote community in Vietnam.

The group from the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law partnered with local alumni to spend three weeks in the Mekong Delta after raising an impressive $45,000 to make the trip a reality.

The three-classroom primary school in Mo Cay, Ben Tre Province, houses approximately 100 children and is located in a part of the village which has no access to running water and the classrooms and its surroundings are affected by seasonal flooding.

The volunteers assisted in the refurbishment of the school facilities, in addition to teaching English at a second primary school. Projects included upgrading classrooms to avoid flooding, digging a well and creating a more hygienic toilet system, and ensuring safe children’s play areas.

UQ International Volunteer Project coordinator Celia Yeo, who accompanied the students on the trip, said the group worked side-by-side with the local community and UQ alumni based in Vietnam.

“It was inspiring to see members of the community, the students and UQ alumni all working together, happy to get their hands dirty for the good of the community and the children,” Ms Yeo said.

Students were selected for the trip in January and fundraised more than $45,000 before their departure in June. Upon their return the volunteers were enthusiastic about the difference the project made not only to the locals of Mo Cay but also themselves.

Second-year international hotel and tourism management student Erin Jentz said she volunteered to help the international community.

“I knew that the trip would be an experience of a lifetime but it was only after the trip that I realised how amazing the experience was,” Ms Jentz said.

“The best part of the trip was at the school’s opening ceremony seeing all the children together speaking English and exploring the primary school in awe. We felt proud to have helped and realised that we had made a difference in the lives of the people there.”

Postgraduate student Hamish Clift said the experience had added a new perspective to his learning experience.

“I study development economics, and I wanted to get firsthand experience working on a development-oriented project,” Mr Clift said.

“The project fulfilled this expectation and more and allowed me to work at a local level and get an understanding of what challenges and opportunities manifest themselves in such projects.”

To learn about upcoming projects, visit www.uqvolunteering.com

By Paula White

Welcome to the Summer 2011 edition of Contact.

UQ Chancellor Mr John Story

Attending the Courting the Greats dinner at St Lucia recently, I was struck by the collected achievements of our growing alumni network, which now numbers almost 200,000 people from every corner of the globe.

In addition to acknowledging our highest achieving graduates, the event provided an opportunity to reflect on the efforts of the extended community – alumni, students, staff, partners and friends – who rallied behind the University in the wake of the January floods. Part of that legacy is the positive impact of the Student Emergency Welfare Fund Appeal, which was supported by hundreds of people and combines with the physical transformation of refurbished buildings and facilities in recent months.

There is no shortage of hardworking and inspirational people with a UQ connection, and this year we have marked the achievements of several outstanding individuals with an honorary doctorate. They include leading businessman and philanthropist Graeme Wood, pioneering electrical engineer Else Shepherd, and music educators Max Olding and Pamela Page.

A person with many letters and awards to her name is the late Margaret Olley AC. In this edition we pay tribute to one of Australia’s favourite artists, who had a special connection to UQ. A retrospective of Margaret’s artworks, Life’s journey, brought thousands of people to St Lucia in 2009, and her generosity ensures her spirit lives on in art museums across the country, including our own.

One of the University’s first benefactors, Thomas Charles Beirne, would have been entertained by a debate which took place at Customs House in August. The event marked the 75th anniversary of the UQ law school, which bears his name and is now one of the country’s largest.

To ensure Contact keeps you connected with the University, I invite you to complete an online readership survey. This is the first such exercise since the magazine went online in 2009, and we welcome your feedback.

Thank you in advance for your input, and happy reading.

John Story
Chancellor

An occasion to remember: Max Olding and Pamela Page receive their honorary doctorates from Academic Registrar Linda Bird and UQ Chancellor Mr John Story

Renowned concert pianists Max Olding and Pamela Page shared the concert stage in Brisbane earlier this year for a performance of a different kind.

On May 29, the long-serving UQ staff members were not seated at the piano, but standing before Chancellor Mr John Story at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre to receive the University’s highest honour.

The pair’s contributions to music and music education in Australia were recognised with the degree of Doctor of Music honoris causa. It was a special occasion for the couple, who first met on stage in London 56 years previously when they tied for first place in the inaugural Royal Trust Fund Competition.

Both were studying in London at the time of their first encounter. Mr Olding had graduated from the University of Melbourne and won the ABC Young Performers Competition in 1952. Ms Page had given her first ABC broadcast at the age of four and completed concurrent AMusA and LMusA awards by 15 before moving to London to study at Trinity College. There she won the Maude Seton Prize as the most outstanding student.

Mr Olding says he was smitten at first sight, and the couple’s lifelong personal and professional partnership has contributed enormously to the musical life of Australia.

Ms Page joined UQ in 1968 to teach into the new Bachelor of Music degree, serving as a full-time staff member until 1996 before returning in a part-time capacity. Mr Olding joined the Queensland Conservatorium of Music and started teaching at UQ on his retirement. Though 82, he is still a familiar face in the corridors and piano studios on campus.

Head of the School of Music Professor Margaret Barrett said she was delighted to see the pair recognised for their enduring contributions to music.

“Max Olding and Pamela Page have given so much to music in Australia over many years – as teachers, performers and recording artists; through their service to the AMEB, and as adjudicators at so many competitions. It was very fitting that their contributions be recognised by the University in this way,” Professor Barrett said.

Mr Olding said the ceremony was an occasion of great personal significance.

“These awards mark the point at which the wheel has turned full circle. They are in a sense the culmination of the duality that has been the basis of a wonderful partnership, in both our personal and professional lives,” he said.

However, their journey is not over. A proud moment for the couple occurred last year when their talented UQ music student Oliver She won the prestigious ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year Award – the same prize Mr Olding had himself secured in 1952.

Mr Olding says his award-winning pupil is an extraordinarily talented and highly motivated performer who is unflappable under pressure – the attributes of someone who will make his mark in the music profession.

Oliver She performs Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto

Following the acceptance of their honorary doctorates on stage, Mr She was on hand to demonstrate the results of the pair’s fine teaching, performing Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto. The young musician joined with the UQ Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Warwick Potter, in a stirring showcase of pianism that was warmly received.

Throughout their long careers, the couple have performed in venues ranging from the Sydney Opera House to air force hangars. Their passion to communicate the joy of music and respect for each others’ musicianship have been defining aspects of their lives. Their involvement in music remains undiminished and their motto remains: “While we can, we shall.”

By David Mayocchi

A powerful series of UQ art exhibitions provided a rare opportunity earlier this year to discover the human face behind the asylum seeker debate.

Waiting for Asylum, Collaborative Witness, and John Young: Safety Zone were the result of a collaboration between the UQ Art Museum, the UQ Library and researchers in the School of English, Media Studies and Art History, and opened to coincide with Refugee Week in June.

The exhibitions were partly inspired by research Professor Gillian Whitlock is undertaking with asylum seeker archives held within UQ’s Fryer Library.

Using photographs sourced from Fryer, artists Ross Gibson and Carl Warner produced a specially commissioned work entitled “protection”, which comprises a grid of 60 enlarged colour photographs. Bands of blackboard paint were dragged across the images to represent the loss of identity experienced by asylum seekers.

“Many of these photographs are anonymous and yet they provide extraordinary insights into the Nauru detention centre as they were photographed by the asylum seekers themselves,” co-curator Dr Prue Ahrens said.

Collaborative Witness included works produced in the past decade by prominent artists including Rosemary Laing and Guan Wei.

John Young: Safety Zone paid tribute to a group of foreigners who saved the lives of 300,000 Chinese citizens by sheltering them in the city’s international zone during the “Rape of Nanjing” in 1937.

By Michele Helmrich

Associate Professor David Morrison, The Honourable Justice Margaret A McMurdo AC and Derran Moss

UQ’s TC Beirne School of Law has celebrated its 75th anniversary with a gala “Town and Gown” debate at Customs House.

The entertaining event brought together some of Queensland’s sharpest minds, with academics and legal practitioners engaged in a battle of words and wit on the theme: “It takes 75 years to make sense of the law”. Watch the debate here.

President of the Queensland Court of Appeal, The Honourable Justice Margaret A McMurdo AC, presided over the debate which was attended by almost 200 guests from the legal profession, The University of Queensland and the local community.

Among the guests were many eminent members of the Queensland judiciary, Federal Member for Ryan Jane Prentice MP, and Shadow Attorney-General Senator the Hon George Brandis SC.

The TC Beirne School of Law is the oldest and most successful law school in Queensland and one of Australia’s leading research-intensive law schools.

The school began as a “shadow” faculty on the establishment of the University in 1910, and became a fully functioning law school in 1936, thanks to a generous donation of £20,000 ($3 million in today’s money) from Brisbane businessman Thomas Charles Beirne.

In his welcome address, Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield acknowledged the valuable contribution made by the legal profession and the school’s past and present donors – in particular its namesake.

“I hope he would be proud of the procession of students and staff who have benefited from his generosity and vision,” Professor Greenfield said.

By Melissa Reynolds

A vision to more rapidly translate health research into breakthrough medicines was the driving force behind talks held in August between Queensland’s “Smart State” medical research institutes and one of the world’s top medical research universities.

A delegation from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) toured a number of Brisbane’s medical research and technology facilities at the invitation of Founding Chairman of The Atlantic Philanthropies, Mr Charles “Chuck” Feeney.

The Chancellor of UCSF, Professor Susan D Desmond-Hellmann, and the CEO of UCSF Medical Center, Mr Mark Laret, spent three days touring Queensland research facilities that have benefited from the support of The Atlantic Philanthropies.

The Atlantic Philanthropies has provided more than $AUD500 million in funding to Australia in the past 13 years, including in excess of $AUD250 million to Queensland. This support has helped build or expand 20 research facilities in Australia (13 in Queensland), with a built value of more than $AUD1.5 billion.

The tour included a visit to the construction site of the new $345 million Translational Research Institute (TRI), which received $50 million from The Atlantic Philanthropies and will be the first in Australia and the largest institute of its type in the southern hemisphere. Upon completion, the TRI will be among a handful of facilities worldwide that can research, trial treatments and manufacture breakthrough drugs in the one location.

TRI CEO and Research Director, and 2006 Australian of the Year, Professor Ian Frazer, discussed future collaboration opportunities with Professor Desmond-Hellmann during her visit.

TRI will draw together 650 researchers from its four partner institutions at the new facility to be located on the Princess Alexandra Hospital campus in Woolloongabba.

By Kathy Grube

Patrick Chambers at the construction site of the new Global Change Institute building

Two years ago Patrick Chambers was walking the corridors of the St Lucia campus as an undergraduate engineer.

Today, he’s working on one of the University’s biggest construction projects.

Following graduation, Mr Chambers started working for Medland Metropolis, where his passion for sustainability has been put to good use working on the development of UQ’s new Global Change Institute (GCI).

He said being involved in the project was an excellent opportunity to advance his knowledge and skills in sustainable engineering.

“The building aspiration is to be completely zero-net energy, and thus is an extremely challenging engineering feat,” he said.

“One of my most important philosophies is that of sustainability, so to be associated with a building that pushes the boundaries of conventional buildings is something I am very proud of.

“It feels great to be working on a site that I walked past every day during my student days and it will feel even better to be able to tell people that I was involved in its design.”

As part of his role on the project, Mr Chambers has constructed a 3D model of the complex to accurately gauge the building’s thermal performance.

“This involved constructing the building geometry, inputting material thicknesses, and thermodynamic properties for every single element of the building structure and façade,” Mr Chambers said.

“I also had to liaise with the architect and GCI staff to pre-determine energy distribution and usage in the building.”

In September, Mr Chambers, along with a Medland Metropolis colleague, presented a lecture to UQ architecture students on how to integrate mechanics with architecture, with a focus on the GCI building.

Mr Chambers said he had been interested in science from a young age, and in particular the difference between certain materials.

“I would continually break chopstick and rulers, trying to bend them as far as possible,” Mr Chambers said.

“I was interested in why they would bend and break differently.”

But it was his father’s passion for physics and mathematics that inspired him to study mechanical engineering at university.

“While studying, I began to appreciate how well Dad prepared me for this career path,” he said.

By Caroline Bird

Alumni Dr Sri Tiatri, Trina Fizzanty and Dr Nur Hygiawati Rahayu at the Global Challenges event in Jakarta

The University of Queensland extended its academic, government and alumni partnerships during a tour of Indonesia earlier this year.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Debbie Terry led a successful delegation in May.

The program included visits to partner institutions, meetings with senior Indonesian ministers, a suite of seminars and alumni functions, and briefings from Australian government agencies.

Among the highlights was the signing of a new UQ partnership with one of Indonesia’s leading research institutes – the Eijkman Institute of Molecular Biology. The visit to the institute included the inaugural joint UQ-Eijkman seminar, which featured a presentation about UQ’s dengue fever research by Professor Paul Young.

A new agreement was also signed between UQ’s Faculty of Business, Economics and Law and Indonesia’s largest and oldest national university, Universitas Gadjah Mada, complementing an existing Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions.

Dean of the UQ Graduate School, Professor Zlatko Skrbis, delivered the first Indonesian UQ Research Higher Degree seminar in Jakarta, followed by a talk from Indonesian UQ PhD graduate Dr Siti Zulaiha.

Professor Greenfield capped off the visit with a presentation entitled “Universities in the 21st century: their role in solving global challenges” to enthusiastic audiences in Jakarta and Yogyakarta.

The presentations were part of the UQ Global Challenges Leadership Series, which sees experts discuss major international challenges with alumni and partners around the world.

Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Greg Moriarty endorsed the UQ visit at an official reception hosted at his residence.

The tour coincided with the launch of the translated version of UQ publication Coral Reefs and Climate Change: A Guide for Education and Awareness by Mr Moriarty and Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad.

Mr Moriarty was also on hand to present UQ graduate Professor Endang Sukara, Vice-Chairman of the Indonesian Institute of Science, with the Australian Alumni Award for Excellence in Research and Innovation.

Following the Indonesian tour, UQ delegations visited Japan, Vietnam, India, Oman and the United Arab Emirates in October and November.

By Elspeth Muir

UQ linguists are playing their part to preserve Aboriginal languages

As the number of Aboriginal languages dwindles, UQ researchers are intensifying their studies to protect and document those that remain.

Research in Australian languages is a focus at UQ, with the University hosting one of the largest clusters of Aboriginal language academics in the country. The group includes researchers Dr Ilana Mushin, Dr Rob Pensalfini, Dr Myf Turpin, Dr Felicity Meakins and Dr Erich Round.

There were approximately 250 Indigenous languages before settlement and now only 20 remain. UQ linguists are involved in practical community-based research, which includes creating and releasing Aboriginal dictionaries, books and collaborating with schools.

“There is no doubt Aboriginal language continues to change,” Dr Meakins said.

“I’m hoping to document older language and test to see if younger people are speaking in the same way.”

Early next year, linguists from around Australia will meet at UQ to discuss current Aboriginal language research.

The 2012 Australian Languages Workshop will be hosted by the School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies and will be held at the UQ Moreton Bay Research Station from March 9–11.

By Dania Lawrence

New research has shown an increasing number of Australians choose to live alone

One in four Australian households are single occupancy homes, and it’s predicted that in the coming decades millions more will choose to live alone.

It’s a lifestyle that’s often labelled as a lonely existence, but for some people it’s a preference.

This rise in living alone is the focus of a recent study – the first of its kind – which was conducted by Executive Dean of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences Professor David de Vaus. Living alone is an increasingly common living arrangement in developed economies and the increase of Australian households being occupied by just one person is a pattern that has been growing steadily in all western countries since World War II.

Based on interviews with 4300 Australian households, the study discovered more than 40 percent of people will spend a period in their adult lives living alone but most of these spells will be short – about 2.5 years.

“For many, solo living is a transitional period within a more complex life course. Solo living comes between periods in group households, follows relationship breakdown or after other family changes like leaving home or after children leave,” Professor de Vaus said.

“This style of living does not signal a rejection of family living, but does reflect changes in the way in which people arrange their family life course.

“Today we delay marriage, have fewer children and are more likely to end relationships. All these make for periods of living alone.”

The study also found people who typically chose to live alone were not abandoned to a life of isolation, and usually re-entered some form of family living.

“Those who live alone do so because they want to; they do so for relatively short periods and then re-engage in family households,” Professor de Vaus said.

“Living alone springs partly from the fact that people in advanced economies are simply wealthier and healthier and can afford to live alone. They are also healthy enough in old age to manage on their own.”

By Kristen Bastian

UQ research has shown men and women respond to the common cold differently

Researchers from the School of Medicine have made an important discovery about how the immune system reacts to rhinoviruses responsible for the common cold.

The team, led by Professor John Upham, found young women make a stronger immune response to rhinoviruses than young men. These differences disappear after menopause, so are probably regulated by sex hormones.

Professor Upham said the discovery was crucially important for finding new ways of combating rhinoviruses.

“While these viruses are just a nuisance in healthy people, they can make people with asthma or other chronic lung diseases very unwell,” he said.

“In our efforts to find new ways to prevent these infections, we need to take into account the effects of hormones, and how they affect the immune system.”

The researchers are studying how the immune system worked – or didn’t work – in people with asthma, in addition to tracing the effects of hormones on the immune system, with long-term plans for development of a vaccine.

By Jan King

UQ's Dr Emma Collier-Baker has travelled to Indonesia to better understand the comparative psychology of orangutans and children

A UQ researcher will spend part of the next three years working in Indonesia to better understand the comparative psychology of orangutans and children.

Dr Emma Collier-Baker from the School of Psychology arrived in Jakarta in September to commence a joint venture between UQ and Universitas Indonesia.

Dr Collier-Baker is a comparative psychologist who has been investigating the mental capacities of children, great apes and other species for the past 10 years.

She has experience conducting behavioural research with captive primates in various institutions in Australia and around the world, and last year returned from five months of field work funded by an Endeavour Research Fellowship observing wild orangutans in the rainforests of Sumatra.

Her goal in Indonesia is to develop a primate cognition and child development laboratory, conducting non-invasive behavioural research with orangutans and other primates, and with children in a pre-school centre at the university campus.

Dr Collier-Baker said a major aim of the project was to see Indonesian students and staff become involved in the growing study of comparative cognition.

“They are ideally placed to do so in a country which is home to many primate species, including Asia’s only great ape,” she said.

“I hope with more Indonesian researchers involved we will not only see new contributions to knowledge but to conservation, by raising the profile of endangered species like the orangutan.”

By Kristen Bastian

A UQ researcher has designed synthetic compounds that mimic the antioxidant properties of red wine and chocolate

Red wine and chocolate are part of the working week for UQ researcher Dr Aaron Micallef.

Dr Micallef, from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, recently designed and prepared new compounds that mimic the activity of antioxidants found in the two popular products.

He hopes the compounds can promote the body’s natural antioxidant defences, neutralise damaging free radicals in the body and fight the onset of associated diseases such as heart disease and arthritis.

To mark National Science Week in August, Dr Micallef explained his research as part of a popular wine and chocolate tasting event at the Queensland Museum at South Bank.

Dr Micallef discussed antioxidants in wine and chocolate, their relationship to his AIBN research, and his role as an associate investigator for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology.

“I want people to realise that there are links between chemistry, chemical research, the foods we eat and our health,” Dr Micallef said.

“Free radicals are implicated in many processes in the body, such as inflammation, ageing and cancer. They can be very damaging, but we are conducting research into how we can use antioxidants to neutralise free radicals and prevent this damage.

“Eating foods rich in antioxidants can help mop up damaging free radicals in the body. It means we are taking the guilt out of pleasures such as red wine and chocolate.

“I have a soft spot for a good glass of red wine and dark chocolate myself, so the research is definitely very appealing.”

Reactive free radicals are believed to be the cause of the accumulated damage in cells that contributes to ageing and degenerative diseases. Antioxidants can protect against this damage, either neutralising the radicals directly or promoting the body’s natural antioxidant defences.

Dr Micallef said his synthetic compounds would have potential applications in fighting disease if they were found to mimic the protective properties of the antioxidants found in red wine and chocolate.

Called “Radical Wine and Chocolate”, the event featured guest speakers and tastings from Ballandean Estate and Sirromet Winery. Local chocolatiers from Bittersweet, Mayfield and Ballandean Estate were also in attendance.

By Erik de Wit

Interactive art: the new facade of St Leo’s College

The Director of Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art was on hand to officiate an opening of a different kind at St Leo’s College in June.

Tony Ellwood joined Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield and college council Chair Joan Sheldon to reveal a new public artwork entitled Correlate.

Artist Lincoln Austin won the commission to create a work celebrating the college’s 94-year relationship with the University and UQ’s recent Centenary.

Crafted from glass, metal and mirrors, Correlate replaces the entrance doors and panels and produces different optical effects depending on the time of day.

Mr Austin said his work engaged metaphorically with the student journey each college resident takes.

“St Leo’s exists primarily to provide residence and support for young men often leaving the family home for the first time to pursue their studies in a myriad of subjects,” Mr Austin said.

Detail of the Correlate work

“Correlate is something to be passed through and is a daily reminder to the students especially that they are leaving the University and arriving home.”

Rector of St Leo’s College Brother Vince Skelly said a growing number of artworks within the college grounds and buildings helped enrich the creativity and imagination of residents and visitors.

“Correlate embraces the visitor. As a person walks into the college foyer, it takes the colours, shapes and movements and reflects these and other realities; it really is quite exciting,” Br Skelly said.

Professor Greenfield said he welcomed the latest addition to UQ’s impressive and diverse art collection.

The project received financial assistance through Arts Queensland from the Art+Place Queensland Government Public Art fund.

By Maree Ganley

Leah Hobbs performs a dental examination at Tautu School on the island of Malekula

A school oval in Vanuatu was transformed into a makeshift dental clinic during a recent visit by a volunteer group from The University of Queensland.

UQ staff Leah Hobbs and Gloria Silcock were joined by final-year Bachelor of Oral Health students Ariel (Chieh-Ju) Shih and Megan Cable and Queensland Health dental therapist Christine Southall on the island of Malekula in June and July.

More than 80 percent of people in Vanuatu live in rural villages and access to healthcare is limited. Vanuatu recorded just six dentists, six therapists and zero hygienists in a study published in the International Dental Journal last year. The dentist/population ratio sits at a staggering 1:34,812, while the comparable figure for Australia is 1:1910.

The team brought 80kgs of donated equipment from Brisbane, including 6kg of toothbrushes.

“The doctors were so grateful as oral health has a very limited budget in Vanuatu and they do have to work with very basic materials,” Ms Hobbs said.

Ms Hobbs educated nursing staff on early childhood dental decay and implemented a program in an attempt to reduce disease. Children in the area will now receive a highly concentrated fluoride varnish when treated at Norsup Hospital.

The team also visited remote schools to screen students and educate on preventative care.

“We had 128 children brushing their teeth on the oval at Tautu School. The kids loved it!” Ms Hobbs said.

Ms Hobbs said the team had built some great relationships during their time in Vanuatu.

“On the final evening, the Norsup Hospital staff put on a traditional feast of coconut, chicken and yam laplap and banana pudding to say thanks. This was a great time to relax and to chat to all of the wonderful staff. They do a great job with the challenges they face.”

By Inga Read

An artist's sketch of the exterior of the Oral Health Centre under construction at the Herston campus

The University of Queensland has commenced construction on Australia’s most advanced oral health facility to be located at the Herston campus.

Lend Lease is managing the $120 million Oral Health Centre (OHC) project, which will incorporate dental clinics and research laboratories, state-of-the-art teaching and learning spaces and office space across seven levels.

The OHC will feature general and specialist dentistry clinics, advanced medical imaging facilities and operating theatres. It will also include a special needs unit operated by Queensland Health for dental treatment of medically compromised patients.

Head of the School of Dentistry, Professor Laurence Walsh, said UQ was delighted to have a highly experienced team of architects and contractors overseeing the project.

“Through their efforts we are now bringing to reality ideas which have been formulating for two decades. This world-class facility will allow the school to grow its teaching and research programs and clinical patient care activities over the coming years,” Professor Walsh said.

Managing Director of Lend Lease’s project management and construction business in Australia, Murray Coleman, said the OHC would set a new benchmark for oral health facilities in Australia.

“We are excited to be involved in this project and look forward to working with The University of Queensland to improve its health care precinct and the oral health services available to the community,” Mr Coleman said.

“This facility will set new standards in modern building design, creating a positive legacy for future generations.”

The OHC will be located on Bramston Terrace at Herston, adjacent to the Mayne Medical School building, with completion scheduled for late 2012.

The QS World University Rankings have again included UQ in the top 50 global institutions

UQ has been ranked as one of the world’s top universities for the eighth year in a row in the respected QS World University Rankings, released in September.

With a world ranking of 48, the University has been ranked as the premier institution in Queensland and one of the top nationally.

UQ’s score in these rankings was driven by multiple criteria including academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per faculty and faculty/student ratio. UQ scored 94.4 for its academic reputation, giving it a world rank of 45, a further improvement from its 54th ranking in 2010.

The QS academic survey was based on survey responses of almost 34,000 academics in 2011.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Max Lu said the ranking recognised the University’s strong investment in research infrastructure and high quality researchers and endorsed strong government and philanthropic investment.

The latest rankings come on the heels of the prestigious Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities released earlier in the year, in which UQ was listed as one of the world’s top 100 universities, with a world ranking of 86.

With UNESCO recognising 9760 universities in the world, and the International Handbook of Universities listing 14,000 higher education institutions in 183 countries, UQ is well and truly placed among the top one percent.

UQ's Centre for Innovation in Professional Learning (CIPL) was established in 2009

Thousands of school teachers across the country have been empowered to lead curriculum change thanks to the expertise of a UQ team.

Earlier this year a UQ syndicate including the Centre for Innovation in Professional Learning (CIPL) and the School of Education won the tender for the Leading Curriculum Change project – an online community that will share best practice and involve 2000 participants.

Established in 2009, CIPL acts as a reference point for government and professional groups who wish to tap into UQ’s experience to develop a continuing professional development program – typically in the form of a short course. The centre also conducts important research into sector and workforce change.

CIPL Director Professor Robert Hendy said UQ was drawing on its expertise across schools, faculties and institutes to provide opportunities in areas as diverse as engineering, business and healthcare.

To better map these offerings, CIPL launched a new website during Teaching and Learning Week in October to bring together more than 300 separate courses offered by 20 UQ groups in the one place.

“More and more people will have two, three or four careers during their lifetimes, and so a formal, ongoing commitment to develop one’s ideas and skills is becomingly increasingly attractive,” Professor Hendy said.

“Continuing professional development is also a way of allowing people to stay in touch with further learning, and to provide pathways to a more substantial study commitment such as a masters program.”

One of CIPL’s strengths is adapting traditional face-to-face short courses and scaling them to be distributed to large numbers online – such as the Leading Curriculum Change project, which is funded by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL).

Professor Hendy said ongoing research carried out by CIPL underpinned its operations and informed its strategies.

“Much of what we’re doing in the research domain is in fact changing the context within which individual sectors will operate,” he said.

“Therefore, we have a commitment to help those sectors evolve to acquire the skills and insights that they need.”

By Cameron Pegg

A funeral service takes place in Cherbourg in 1934

A surprise discovery made by UQ researchers came full circle during NAIDOC Week celebrations in July.

Postgraduate students Kim de Rijke and Tony Jefferies presented findings of their native title research in Cherbourg to coincide with a new exhibition honouring the life of prominent anthropologist Caroline Tennant-Kelly.

A large collection of Ms Tennant-Kelly’s papers were hidden for 20 years before Mr de Rijke and Mr Jefferies discovered them in a cattleman’s shed in northern New South Wales in late 2009.

Since then, funding from the Social Inclusion Division of the Attorney General’s Department has allowed the team to analyse and index the collection – almost 2000 items in all – and compile the research on DVD to hand back to local communities.

Mr de Rijke said Ms Tennant-Kelly’s documents shed light on the social and cultural practices of the Indigenous people she lived and worked with, particularly in Cherbourg.

“The ethnographic record from those years is scant and very little first-hand information was available regarding the conditions of cultural life at Cherbourg during the 1930s,” he said.

Caroline Tennant-Kelly and her husband in 1929

“These materials demonstrate both the maintenance and adaptation of Aboriginal cultural practices in a situation where the odds were stacked against them.”

The research team categorised the large number of documents and created an index that allows a search through place names, personal names, Aboriginal language names and certain key topics in native title.

“The collection is valuable for historians and contemporary commentators, containing first-hand accounts of major issues in Australian history that continue to today, including Aboriginal living conditions, social issues associated with urban sprawl and the experiences of refugees and other immigrants in numerous places across Australia,” Mr de Rijke said.

By Cameron Pegg

Samantha Zurvas

As the first-ever graduate of UQ’s new Master of Nursing Studies program, Samantha Zurvas is fast on her way to a rewarding career.

Ms Zurvas fulfilled a lifelong ambition of becoming a nurse when she graduated in July this year.

“I’ve always been interested in the healthcare field,” she said.

“I even started a nursing degree in 2004, but decided to take a year off.

“When I returned to university in 2005, I didn’t choose nursing and I still wonder why I didn’t, but I certainly never got over the interest in this career.”

After graduating with a Bachelor of Social Science in 2007, Ms Zurvas went to work for a newspaper on the Gold Coast for two years.

“Although I enjoyed working as a marketing analyst, I had never been able to get nursing out of my head,” she said.

“For two years I searched for the courage to start again and decided to enrol in a UQ Master of Nursing Studies (Graduate Entry) program.

“I had been looking for a long time for a program that could give me the amount of clinical learning I felt I needed to work confidently as a nurse.

“I chose UQ because it looked like a fantastic opportunity to combine my previous qualifications and get a Masters in Nursing in as little at 18 months.”

Since graduating from UQ a second time around, Ms Zurvas has started a specialty paediatric graduate program at the Mater Children’s Hospital.

“I am very interested in working in paediatric intensive care and gaining further education in this area,” Ms Zurvas said.

“Nursing offers many career options – I’m interested in education and leadership roles, or perhaps even becoming a nurse practitioner in the future.

“I finally feel like I am where I am meant to be and this is thanks to the opportunities made available through the new Masters of Nursing Studies program.”

By Lya McTaggart

UQ alumnus Kim Groves surveys the ancient Zapotec city of Yagul

Kim Groves has this simple but powerful advice for others wanting to make a difference in the world – “be courageous”.

It’s an approach that has paid off for the Spanish and development studies graduate, who recently swapped her apartment in Brisbane for a mosquito net in Mexico to learn more about the microfinance movement.

Since May, Ms Groves has been based in Oaxaca as a volunteer for Fundación En Vía (“On the path”), a group which provides interest-free loans for a diverse range of small businesses run by local women.

Loans in Mexico often carry very high interest rates, locking entire parts of the population out of the market. En Vía offers tours to show microfinance at work – using 100 percent of income to invest into local businesses and additional services such as free English classes.

Ms Groves’s fascination with the country began when she took a round-the-world trip following graduation in 2006. Inspired by what she saw and experienced, she returned to Brisbane and wrote her honours thesis on modern Mexican land reform.

After seeking out international volunteer opportunities earlier this year, Ms Groves found herself being quizzed by En Vía staff on webcam.

“I remember them asking me at the end of the interview if I needed time to think about making the commitment and buying the ticket to travel there. ‘I’ve already bought it’, I replied.”

One of En Vía’s customers with her weaving projects

Ms Groves said absorbing a new culture and language had been made easier thanks to the kindness and generosity of the local people. Highlights of her stay to date have included visiting Zapotec ruins at Monte Alban, cheering along at soccer matches and sampling the delights of Mexican cuisine (including grasshoppers!)

In addition to developing her Spanish skills, Ms Groves has been able to harness her love of photography while in Mexico, with her images featured on the En Vía website and used to promote the organisation’s work in the media.

She said being involved in a small non-government organisation had taught her the importance of being flexible and using initiative to solve problems.

“There are no fixed topic questions, or style guides out here. Among the volunteers we have a saying that we are working with a ‘moving target’,” she said.

Ms Groves said her experiences in Mexico had inspired her to undertake further study, and to seek out future development projects that assist women to succeed on their own terms.

“The women I work with inspire and surprise me constantly,” she said.

“I realise, being here, and hearing their stories, that ‘the path’ to development is often a difficult one. However, I have learnt with En Vía that when a woman is given a chance to walk it, she does so with pride.”

By Cameron Pegg

Mitjili Napurrula’s Uwalki – Watiya Tjuta from the Painting Country exhibition

UQ’s evolving collection of Indigenous art was on show to the public to coincide with NAIDOC Week 2011.

Painting Country explored an array of approaches and styles characteristic of Indigenous art and featured several new acquisitions donated to the University.

“Representation of Indigenous artists in the collection was boosted in 2010 by several gifts, including artworks donated by Christopher Thomas and Mark Alexander, and Patrick Corrigan AM,” UQ Art Museum Director Dr Campbell Gray said.

“The paintings reveal the artists’ enduring relationship with their homeland, and ongoing engagement with their culture and Country through art.”

Works by Donald Moko, Margaret Baragurra and Rusty Peters from Western Australia were shown alongside paintings by Desert artists Kathleen Petyarre, Lorna Napanangka and Elizabeth Marks Nakamarra. Queensland artist Dennis Nona from the Torres Strait was also represented.

“Regional differences are determined in part by the stories and iconographies specific to each place, passed down through generations,” associate curator Samantha Littley said.

“While these qualities may help distinguish the paintings of artists from particular regions, diversity exists within these conventions, with artists bringing their own experiences and individual aesthetic to their work.”

Ms Littley said several of the artists had moved away from their place of birth either by choice or as the result of intervention.

“In every instance, the artists included in Painting Country create work that connects to their Country, and keeps their culture strong,” she said.

By Samantha Littley

Pedder Dreaming by Natasha Cica

An edited excerpt from Pedder Dreaming, published by UQP

Together and apart, we Tasmanians have woven a dense web of myth around our heart-shaped home of islands. Pull on any thread, and quite a lot more than you’ve bargained for can unravel.

So how could I even think of writing about Olegas Truchanas – undoubtedly, the stuff of Tasmanian legend? How could I not?

Olegas Truchanas stands quietly among the 20th century’s most influential wilderness photographers, explorers, conservationists and democrats. He arrived in Tasmania from Lithuania in 1949, and across the next quarter of a century subtly but surely crafted the modern frame through which we now interpet the beauty and value of Tasmania’s wild places.

He climbed mountains, journeyed down rivers, and campaigned to save forests and lakes from destruction at a time when it was neither fashionable nor widely intelligible. His efforts to save Lake Pedder were at the heart of Australia’s first globally noticed environmental battle, a battle that was also fiercely personal: Olegas risked his livelihood by speaking out publicly against his employer, Tasmania’s powerful Hydro-Electric Commission, which planned to flood the lake, in a community where most people were more comfortable toeing the line.

Through his photography, Olegas brought an Old World sensibility, and sense of civil society, to a corner of the New World struggling to develop and express its own authentic self. In 1972 Olegas drowned on an expedition down the Gordon River in south-west Tasmania. True to form, he had travelled there to bear witness to its remarkable beauty, to document, and to protect. He died young, at the age of 48, but his work had already laid the foundations for the Green political organisations in Tasmania and far beyond.

The Sons of Clovis by David Brooks

Ern Malley? Again? The story of the Ern Malley hoax has surely been told often enough. Ern is, after all, an Australian icon.

Novels have been written about him. Worldwide, poems have been created in parody and homage. His work has influenced his country’s literature – indeed is accredited (at one and the same time!) with the origins of Australian postmodernism and (a little implausibly), with delaying the appearance of modernism in this country for at least 20 years.

His collected works sit almost at the centre of the most recent edition of The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Poetry. Writers and painters alike – Sidney Nolan and Randolph Stow amongst them – have stated openly that he gave them the freedom to be themselves. Not bad for a poet who never existed and, whose credentials, let alone country of origin, have never really been investigated.

How much of the real story has been told? Has it ever been told? Ah, but everyone thinks that they have the real story.

While I wouldn’t want to dismiss them all – Michael Heyward’s study, for one, is useful indeed, and any subsequent writer on this subject will be much indebted to it – previous renditions all seem to me to share the one basic, if quite understandable, flaw: they have taken the hoaxers – avowed liars – at their word, and their account is the story the hoaxers wanted people to believe.

But how much can you trust a hoaxer? Isn’t it possible the explanation of the hoax – the hoax’s peritext, as Gerard Genette would call it – was itself a hoax of some kind? It would hardly be the first time in the long and fascinating, still largely untold history of hoaxes – hyperliterature, as they might be called, or “fictive fictions”, or “writing without borders”.

UQ students Sarah Zito and Hideyasu Nakayama at the RSPCA shelter in Fairfield

In an Australian first, UQ’s Centre for Companion Animal Health will join forces with two major animal shelters to address the global issue of homeless and unwanted pets.

A shelter rotation collaboration with RSPCA and the Animal Welfare League Queensland has been established to educate UQ veterinary students about the unique issues experienced in shelters and pounds.

Made possible with the support of alumnus David Perel and his wife Margaret, the project will be complemented by a four-year RSPCA shelter research program that will provide evidence-based strategies to reduce the numbers of unwanted pets and rates of euthanasia.

“Despite efforts in Australia to reduce the euthanasia rates of animals entering shelters, the influx of unwanted companion animals into shelters has not decreased over the past seven years,” Centre Director Professor Jacquie Rand said.

“Hundreds of thousands of animals end up in shelters for different reasons and many, unfortunately, are euthanased.”

Professor Rand said the costs of managing unwanted pets were significant and increasing, with approximately $250 million spent annually in Australia alone.

“We urgently need to understand both the human and animal factors that are contributing to the problem,” she said.

All final-year UQ veterinary students will now spend several days at the RSPCA and the Animal Welfare League to better understand the daily issues faced by shelters.

There they will learn about infectious disease control, population management procedures and providing efficient and effective veterinary care in a shelter context.

“Veterinarians are at the front line in helping to prevent many pet problems which lead to them being surrendered in the first place,” Professor Rand said.

“As an example, early-age desexing is instrumental in preventing unwanted litters of kittens being born and an essential practice for veterinary students to learn.”

The collaboration brings together shelter workers, students, staff and veterinarians whose combined expertise will help develop strategies to reduce or prevent the influx of unwanted pets.

Master of Philosophy student Sarah Zito, who is leading the program’s teaching activities and conducting further research in shelter practice, said the collaboration provided a fantastic opportunity to have a positive impact on a global animal welfare problem.

“It recognises the need for evidence-based solutions, and the key role that university veterinary schools have in partnership with animal welfare organisations in developing effective strategies through high quality research and teaching,” Ms Zito said.

“It is vital that final-year veterinary students graduate with an understanding of the unwanted pet problem as it kills more companion animals than any disease. We hope that this understanding will motivate our graduates to be involved with improving outcomes for unwanted pets.”

Mr and Mrs Perel contributed $40,000 over two years towards the Shelter Rotation Teaching Program. The RSPCA have generously committed a four-year financial pledge towards the shelter research program – a partnership that will have far-reaching benefits for unwanted pets around the country.

By Julia Keith

Dr John Kastrissios at UQ Health Care Annerley

UQ Health Care Annerley’s Clinical Director, Dr John Kastrissios, has the soul of a country GP, but is helping to deliver a new era of patient care in metropolitan Brisbane.

His experiences of rural general practice growing up in the Queensland town of Mundubbera made general practice his career choice after graduating from UQ’s medical program in 1983.

“I was encouraged by the possibility of being able to practice in a really holistic way,” Dr Kastrissios said.

“General practice is the most varied and broad field of medicine and the most directly connected to people and communities.”

Over the past 26 years, he has enjoyed forging that connection with patients of the Springwood Group General Practice.

“It is a pretty regular occurrence to receive cards, flowers and chocolates from our patients. We have a wonderful relationship with them, which is really uplifting for all the staff,” he said.

There is a clear connection with Dr Kastrissios’s role at UQ Health Care Annerley which opened early this year. He is preparing the practice to deliver integrated, multidisciplinary, patient-focused care. The super clinic will also be a training hub for GPs, other health professionals and UQ students.

This model of care is based on the belief that effective collaboration between health professionals offers the best care for patients.

“The aim is to provide integrated, seamless care, delivered locally for patients and to train GPs who can go out and use the method in their own practices,” he said.

Through his role as Chair of the Greater Brisbane South Medicare Local, Dr Kastrissios is keen to provide GPs with the opportunity to train at Annerley.

“Medicare Locals have a mission to support integrated care and UQ’s super clinics can help deliver this,” he said.

“They offer the opportunity on a greenfield site with enough resources and space to undertake innovation. At the same time, we are building capacity for GPs to take on more meaningful and rewarding work.”

By Marlene McKendry

James Uta jams with award-winning singer Jessica Mauboy during the inaugural Yalari Horizons leadership camp held at UQ

Earlier this year the UQ Business School hosted 26 Indigenous high school students from across the country at the first Yalari Horizons leadership camp aimed at inspiring and supporting young achievers.

The event was held during NAIDOC Week at the St Lucia and UQ Business School downtown campuses where executives and celebrities, including many of Aboriginal descent, shared their success stories.

The camp aimed to inform students about the obstacles they may face when entering the business world and to inspire them to aim high so that they can overcome these challenges.

Four UQ MBA students hosted the camp as part of the Business School’s Social Economic Engagement Program, which encourages students to volunteer for community projects.

Seven Australian leaders spoke about their own backgrounds, struggles and achievements on their way to becoming successful in each of their fields.

Students were left inspired and moved by the speakers, particularly by a special performance and talk by 2006 Australian Idol runner-up and chart-topping singer Jessica Mauboy.

Ms Mauboy described her transformation from a shy aspiring singer in Darwin to an award-winning artist who spent the early part of 2010 working with leading producers and singers such as Snoop Dogg and Ludacris on her new album.

Another highlight of the event was a dinner hosted at Southbank Parklands where the students were addressed by Paralympic swimmer and former world record holder Karni Liddell.

Other speakers included Jack Manning Bancroft, the founder and CEO of Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME), Michael Combs, founder and CEO of CareerTrackers Indigenous Internship Program, and Neil Willmett, founder and Managing Director of Willmett Consultants.

“Each of the speakers were very honest and approachable and managed to connect on a deep level with the students,” Head of the Business School Professor Iain Watson said.

“I believe this camp was not only a great success but will have a lasting impact on the students’ lives and future career choices.”

By Danielle Burke

UQ alumnus and donor Dr Peter Sharwood

It was 5am in late December 2004.

Travelling home from the Sunshine Coast, UQ alumnus Dr Peter Sharwood had just heard news that the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia were even more serious than initially expected.

In less than two hours, he had assembled a surgical team from across the country ready to tackle the chaos that awaited them in the crisis zone of Banda Aceh.

This no-nonsense approach exemplifies the orthopaedic surgeon’s philosophy to “get involved” and “get on with it”, and the many contributions he’s made to those in need around the world since graduating.

Dr Sharwood is a Colonel in the Australian Army, and at the time of the Boxing Day Tsunami was Director of Health Services Reserve Agency Queensland.

“The situation in Banda Aceh was total chaos – the medical system had collapsed and we had no surgical instruments – it was like a war zone,” Dr Sharwood said.

“We had to beg, borrow and steal to get what we needed – we improvised!”

Working in a conflict zone was not a new experience for Dr Sharwood, who has served continuously in the army since 1965 with postings to Rwanda, East Timor, the Solomon Islands, Iraq and Afghanistan.

He has operated in radically contrasting conditions: from a well-resourced, 20-surgeon team at the American Air Force hospital in Iraq, to being the sole surgeon in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea.

“There was one surgeon and one anaesthetist – so you had to deal with everything that came in the door,” he said.

This included a patient who had been in obstructed labour and would have died without an emergency caesarean section – the first Dr Sharwood had overseen in 25 years.

That experience was very different to Iraq.

“It was horrendous – the injuries were appalling, shocking,” he said.

“However, to work in a hospital with seven general surgeons; five orthopaedic surgeons; two neurosurgeons; a maxillofacial expert; ear nose and throat surgeon; ophthalmologist and a urologist was a great privilege and an exhilarating experience.

“You never knew what you’d be doing next – I once operated for 27 hours – you just did it.

“All this under the constant threat of mortar and rocket attacks that occurred almost daily. You often wore ‘battle rattle’ (personal protective equipment with helmet) over your clothes.”

Dr Peter Sharwood operates during a deployment with the Australian Army in Iraq

Having seen such trauma, Dr Sharwood said the camaraderie of working with a great team, not to mention “a good sense of humour”, helped.

His interest in studying medicine was never in question. The fourth son of the Warden of St John’s College, Dr Sharwood lived at the University from the age of nine.

“Mum wanted me to teach – I wasn’t interested as I’d been around teachers all my life, and medicine was a natural choice,” he said.

At University, he enlisted in the Queensland University Regiment because “it paid well”, and by age 19 was a Commissioned Officer in the infantry.

Dr Sharwood’s approach to life and his career is illustrated with examples of getting involved and giving back to his community.

He has been recognised for his community service with an Order of Australia Medal, a Humanitarian Overseas medal and multiple active services honours.

He attributes his achievements to his wife, Monica, and to their family (the couple have four daughters).

Dr Sharwood donates to a number of causes and has for many years been a donor and treasurer for the restoration fund at Holy Trinity Fortitude Valley, his parish church.

He has also given to UQ’s annual Chancellor’s Fund and to St John’s College for many years, including assisting the college’s restoration after a fire in 2005.

“I genuinely believe that giving is necessary. You get more back from doing it and people are very appreciative,” Dr Sharwood said.

“I’m happy to support the University’s broadest fund as they are in the best position to know how my donations should be spent.”

By Melissa Jeffreys

Sarah Greenhalgh, Bachelor of Journalism

Earlier this year when most of Brisbane was either tucked up in bed or just starting their day, Sarah Greenhalgh was flying high above the city to keep commuters informed on the best routes to work.

Ms Greenhalgh spent four months working as the traffic reporter for Channel 9’s Today Show, and has recently secured a job at WIN TV Mackay and Whitsundays.

Her 4am wake-up call as a traffic reporter was tough at times, but Ms Greenhalgh said it was all worth it once she was cruising the skies above Brisbane.

“It was an incredible way to start the day,” she said.

“But it was a job that had its highs and lows. In my first two weeks I had to report on a fatal accident and it was difficult to keep the emotion out of my voice.

“Then there were times when I reported on incidents that were quite funny, like when there was a cow strolling down the East-West Arterial Road the night of the Katy Perry concert – we thought she might have been a big fan who had got a little lost.”

Ms Greenhalgh started work at The Australian Traffic Network at the start of the year while completing the final semester of her degree. In addition to reporting for the Today Show and 97.3FM each morning, she was also the traffic reporter for Nova, 4KQ and Hot 91 on the Sunshine Coast in the afternoons.

The busiest times for a traffic reporter are peak morning and peak afternoon, which meant she drove from her Paddington home to the aerodrome at Redcliffe twice a day.

Never picturing that she would be reporting on traffic from a helicopter, Ms Greenhalgh said not knowing the difference between the Ipswich Motorway and the Pacific Motorway soon changed.

“I have learnt in this industry that you need to take any job that becomes available and just run with it,” she said.

“In journalism, and the media industry as a whole, contacts are crucial. It’s not so much what you know, but certainly a case of who you know.”

Ms Greenhalgh said she had developed a particular interest in television reporting.

“It wasn’t until 2010 that I decided I wanted to do something in television, and when the chance arose to do a 10-day internship with Channel Nine at the Ekka, I jumped at the opportunity and applied,” she said.

By Kathy Grube

Jerico Fransiscus Pardosi

Jerico Fransiscus Pardosi is using his skills to reduce child mortality rates in a remote part of Indonesia.

He is currently working on an AusAID project in the Nusa Tengara Timur Province (Ende District) where a significant number of children die during birth or under the age of five due to unknown causes.

“These statistics are terrifying. There are inequalities accessing health services across Ende in relation to antenatal care and it’s important to do an in-depth analysis to determine the unknown causes of death in this region,” Mr Pardosi said.

Notably, the death toll for infants and children aged under five is three times higher in rural than urban areas in Ende District.

Research undertaken during his masters enabled Mr Pardosi to complete field work in Indonesia with the support of his advisors.

Mr Pardosi is currently a junior researcher for the National Institute of Health Research and Development in the Ministry of Health in Jakarta.

He leads antenatal care and birth delivery research in Karawang District, West Java, and also manages the Health Science Journal of Indonesia. He hopes to become a leading expert in the region in the field of maternal and child mortality research.

Mr Pardosi was also a recipient of 2010 UQ Indonesian Alumni Award.

The honour has allowed Mr Pardosi to share his experiences and build ongoing health research collaborations between UQ and the National Institute of Health Research and Development in areas including HIV-AIDS.

By Jessica Gallagher

Lucas Goh

Lucas Goh is protecting Australia.

Not as a soldier or an employee with the Australian Federal Police, but as a researcher preventing a fatal mosquito-borne virus from reaching our shores.

Although similar to Dengue fever in symptoms, the new virus, known as Chikungunya virus, causes fever, rashes and joint pain that can last for years.

A newly mutated genotype has recently been reported to cause chronic arthritis, gastrointestinal and neurological complications, is able to be transmitted from mother to child, and has been associated with some deaths.

And like dengue, there is currently no treatment and no vaccine.

Mr Goh, originally from Singapore, is a PhD student undertaking research in the development and evaluation of diagnostic tools for Chikungunya virus. He is undertaking his doctorate under the supervision of Associate Professor Roy Hall.

“We are aiming to develop antibodies for use in a diagnostic kit to detect and identify Chikungunya virus,” Mr Goh said.

“This would allow us to potentially generate antibodies for immunotherapy.”

The Chikungunya virus is currently present in Europe, Asia, India, Africa and some parts of the United States, but is exotic to Australia.

“We are working on counter measures in order to prevent an incursion into the country as there is an abundance of competent mosquito vectors that are able to transmit the virus, which could cause an epidemic in Australia,” Mr Goh said.

“During my PhD at UQ, I have undoubtedly improved myself both as a person and as a young scientist.

“I am very confident that the strong network of influential scientists I am working with will push me to newer heights.”

Mr Goh attributes the challenges of research and the satisfaction of success as the main contributors to deciding to pursue a research higher degree (RHD) in science.

“I knew that undertaking a RHD at UQ would not only drastically improve my writing, presenting, interpretational and analytical skills, but also play a part in helping me become a mature adult,” he said.

“The outstanding learning and research supervision from my advisors has provided me with the utmost support and assistance any budding scientist could ask for.

“Plus, UQ’s teaching and research excellence makes it one of the best universities to study at.”

By Carly Dengate

Benjamin Kay

Benjamin Kay is on a mission to protect the environment and help create a sustainable planet through education.

Combining his biology degree from the University of California and his marine studies from UQ, Mr Kay is working as a science teacher in Santa Monica, California.

On his lists of green accomplishments, Mr Kay has helped ban single-use plastic bags in Santa Monica, lobbied government to support clean waterways, and designed marine and environmental sustainability curricula for several organisations.

But he said his major goal was to develop easy ways to teach students the benefits of living sustainably.

“As early as high school I discovered I had a knack for transmitting information in a way that others could more easily understand, “ Mr Kay said.

In 2006, he and his students founded Team Marine and Heal the Bay Surfrider Club – groups of eco-minded students from Santa Monica High School who raise awareness about climate change, plastic pollution and overfishing.

As a result of the students’ efforts, Team Marine earned The Ocean Hero Award from the state environmental steering committee, the Wyland Foundation Grand Prize, and the Best Community Outreach Award presented by the Jane Goodall Institute.

So far, Mr Kay and his students have recycled more than 60,000 drinking containers to raise money for water purifying LifeStraws, which are distributed in developing countries to monitor the quality of drinking water.

They have also begun a gas-to-electric car conversion project.

“I teach not only to augment brain capacity and inspire my pupils to pursue science, but also to plant seeds of sustainability and instil a critical thinking lens regarding environmental issues,” Mr Kay said.

“My hope is that my enthusiasm for the marine environment and its long-term preservation will be contagious amongst the students, and that each year’s cohort will adopt the conservation ethic.”

Mr Kay credits much of his inspiration to two of his educators – a high school science teacher, who he still surfs with today, and his UQ thesis advisor, who he calls his “marine science guru”.

By Allison Rock

Simon Cullen

Journalism alumnus Simon Cullen has always been interested in politics.

Following graduation, Mr Cullen began his career as a casual reporter at ABC’s Brisbane office.

From there, he began his reporting crusade up and down the east coast of Australia, making a two-year stop in Bundaberg and spending time in Tasmania following state politics.

However, in 2009 Mr Cullen secured a full-time job reporting from the ABC’s Canberra Parliament House bureau and couldn’t be happier.

Since then, he has covered everything from carbon pricing, to health reform, and foreign affairs.

“I get to spend a lot of time with federal politicians and their staff, which can be a privilege and it’s how we get a lot of our stories,” Mr Cullen said.

“It’s exciting to be at the heart of where big decisions are made.”

By covering Australian politics, Mr Cullen views his role as a crucial public service – being able to report on policy, ethics, and questionable behaviour.

“Journalism is an important part of government accountability,” he said.

“We ask the questions on behalf of members of the public who don’t get the opportunity to do so.”

Another key part of his job is sifting actual policy from political spin.

“The best part about this job is being given access to people I otherwise wouldn’t be able to speak with,” he said.

Mr Cullen said Malcolm Turnbull’s downfall as the Federal Liberal leader and Kevin Rudd’s removal from Prime Minister were two of the most exciting events he had covered to date.

“The 2010 election campaign was a great opportunity to travel, criss-crossing the country and filing hourly reports for ABC Radio on what the leaders were talking about,” he said.

To sustain the constant demand for information, Mr Cullen has embraced the rise of multi-media reporting.

“It used to be the case that stories were first aired on the radio. Now they go online as soon as possible because the next radio bulletin could be 50 minutes away. It’s really changed the way we work,” Mr Cullen said.

To those interested in covering politics, Mr Cullen suggests starting out in regional areas.

“If I wasn’t reporting on political news, I’d like to cover issues that affect people living outside the big cities,” he said.

By Allison Rock

Christian Bartens

Christian Bartens spends his days showing others how data can be used to make smarter business decisions – when he’s not underwater that is.

The former scuba diving instructor turned entrepreneur moved from Germany 10 years ago to commence studies at UQ, and worked for Tourism Australia in the UK before setting up his own consultancy in Sydney in 2007 called Datalicious.

The company is now the Australian market leader in web analytics and offers a range of services from data warehousing to the planning and development of data-driven campaigns and websites. Datalicious’s clients include top brands such as Telstra, ANZ and Tourism New Zealand.

Mr Bartens said consumer data was invaluable to businesses, and provided clear competitive advantages if applied correctly.

He used the example of data agency Dunhumby in the UK that was bought by its client Tesco for a large sum due to the value of the intellectual property it had gathered.

“Companies that can capitalise on their raw data and figure out how to turn it into actionable insights win, simple as that,” Mr Bartens said.

“They’ll have the competitive edge, develop the best products and capitalise on their assets and customers in the most effective way.”

Mr Bartens said one of his favourite parts of the job was combining his passions for travel and business to present at conferences around the world.

“I enjoy interacting with the audience and teaching people new things. It’s a really gratifying feeling if you tell someone something new they didn’t know before.”

Mr Bartens encouraged entrepreneurial students to believe in their business ideas and stay focused on success.

“Keep trying, it’ll work out eventually but don’t expect the first attempt to be successful,” he said.

By Cameron Pegg

Dr Shirley Worland (front centre) with students and staff from Thoo Mweh Khee Senior College

Shirley Worland, Bachelor of Social Work, PhD

An eight-month contract as a volunteer teacher in a refugee camp on the Thai–Burma border has ignited a passion in Dr Shirley Worland to make education more accessible for marginalised people.

The UQ alumnus lived in Mae La Refugee Camp, Thailand as part of her PhD study into the national identity of the displaced ethnic minority, the Christian Karen.

During this period, she formed a close connection with the Karen people after spending time in their communities, and with those who have resettled under the UNHCR scheme to Australia.

In 2009, Dr Worland partnered with local Karen leaders to establish Thoo Mweh Khee Senior College (TMKSC) in Phopra, Thailand, which is providing a senior level of education for young adult refugees on the Thai-Burma border.

“We provide a two or three year program in English to the students who are from families that have fled the persecution in Burma’s troubled ethnic states,” she said.

“The refugee students, who are aged in their teens or early 20s, are not registered as residents in Thailand and therefore are not able to attend Thai schools for Years 11 and 12.”

The aim of the college is to provide a level of education that will enable students to secure gainful employment along the border or attend one of the international universities in Thailand by passing the International General English Diploma exam.

“TMKSC is located right on the border near where the renewed fighting has been taking place since the November 7th Burma election. Many of our students’ families are located in the villages in these areas,” Dr Worland said.

“Recently, the fighting has been very fierce just across the border from us and mortar fire and the sound of landmine explosions can be heard regularly.
“So many refugees have poured across the border and come to our school seeking refuge from the fighting and we are all trying to help as best we can.”

By Kathy Grube

Marcel Dorney and partner Emily Tomlins at the announcement of the 2010 Queensland Premier's Drama Award

The spotlight is on Marcel Dorney, who since graduating from UQ has taken the theatre world by storm.

His honours thesis on rehearsal techniques in political theatre groomed him well as a playwright.

“For the purpose, I wrote and directed my first play, Bulldog Front, at what’s now the Geoffrey Rush Studio, but was then the Cement Box Theatre,” Mr Dorney said.

Following university, Mr Dorney went on to receive the Lord Mayor’s Performing Arts Fellowship in 2002, enabling him to study at the Maly Theatre in St Petersburg, Russia.

He has worked as a professional playwright, director and performer and his work has been commissioned by Queensland Theatre Company (QTC), Merrigong Theatre Company, Hothouse Theatre, La Boite, Brisbane Powerhouse, and the Melbourne Next Wave Festival, and has also been published by Playlab Press.

His latest production, Fractions, about an ancient Egyptian female mathematician, received the 2010 Queensland Premier’s Drama Award and will be performed by QTC in November and December.

“To have one of my plays performed by the flagship theatre company in my home city is wonderful,” he said.

Mr Dorney said both the best and worst part of his job was that there was always a new challenge awaiting him.

His determined attitude has led him to undertake further study in the dramatic field.

“I’m currently completing a masters by research in directing at the Victorian College of the Arts,” he said.

The playwright has fond memories of his time at UQ, and said that it was there he learnt some of his most valuable skills.

“No one is coming to save you, you’ve got to do it yourself. Partly that was because funding to my discipline was being viciously cut at the time, and partly because the performing arts were fairly marginal in the wider university culture,” Mr Dorney said.

“The other thing that has stayed with me from UQ is always to tell the truth, whether or not everyone wants to hear it.”

Mr Dorney has also recently reconnected with his honours supervisor – former Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Professor Richard Fotheringham – who has recently become Chair of QTC.

The premiere season of Fractions plays at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre until December 10.

By Ingrid Rubie

Andrew Cameron assisting a local in South Ossetia

There’s never a dull moment for Andrew Cameron.

The award-winning nurse is currently in a remote village in South Ossetia (former USSR) distributing seed potatoes to those cut off by the 2008 South Ossetia War.

But it’s not unusual for Mr Cameron to go above and beyond the call of duty, which hasn’t gone unoticed. He is a recipient of the Gary Quayle Memorial Prize for Excellence in Research and most recently, was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal – the highest international distinction in nursing.

It was Mr Cameron’s drive that led him to become a nurse in remote areas of Australia, which, although at times challenging, was ultimately rewarding.

“I was the Director of Nursing at Mornington Island Hospital for seven years, which was an exceedingly difficult job, but I stuck with it and managed well,” Mr Cameron said.

He then became a registered midwife, working in a labour ward for two years.

“Not an easy road for a male, but I did it,” he said.

Always ready for a new challenge, Mr Cameron went on to work as the sole nurse in the historic township of Cue in Western Australia.

“While I was there, I was voted Australian Nurse of the Year in 2004. There are over 300,000 nurses in Australia, so I felt honoured to be the one chosen,” he said.

Over the past six years, Mr Cameron has worked as a nurse with the International Committee of the Red Cross and is often sent to conflict-affected countries including Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan, with the main objective to assist and protect victims of war.

“The best part of my job is the sense that I have helped someone – a family, or a community – even if in some small way,” he said.

Now in South Ossetia, a land still struggling after the war, Mr Cameron is working with all manner of unusual and complex problems.

“These are people who have not had the same opportunities as we have had, people who suffer in their day-to-day lives and who are victims of war,” he said.

So what’s next for the inspirational nurse?

“Some day I’d like to return to UQ and take on studies to do a PhD – before I get too old,” he said.

By Ingrid Rubie

A researcher at work at the AIBN. Donations to the Alister Rodgers Memorial Fund have helped produce batches of Hendra virus antibody

University of Queensland researchers have been able to produce batches of a potential therapeutic for Hendra virus thanks in part to donations made to the Alister Rodgers Memorial Fund.

UQ’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) received $40,000 earlier this year to produce batches of monoclonal antibody to help determine its efficacy.

Alister Rodgers died of Hendra virus in 2009 after his work as a vet in Rockhampton brought him in contact with an infected horse. He was the first person to receive the antibody treatment in a desperate bid to save his life.

The fund was established through the School of Veterinary Science by Dr Rodgers’ family to honour his life and raise money for research into the virus.

AIBN Director Professor Peter Gray said the financial support would greatly enhance understanding of the therapeutic potential and development of the antibody.

“It was an honour for the AIBN to be given the chance to continue research in the field using money from the memorial fund,” Professor Gray said.

“Donations are being used at the front line of disease research.”

By Nhi Pham

Professor Brian O’Keeffe is inspired by UQ’s emerging research

What inspires you at UQ? Is it innovations in medical research, or seeing students achieve their educational dreams? Maybe it’s initiatives in the arts or teaching excellence?

In 2011, alumni, staff and friends found their inspiration, donating more than $340,000 to the Chancellor’s Fund Appeal. Now in its 20th year, the University’s annual fundraising program shows donors’ inspirations are as varied as they are enthusiastic.

Alumnus Professor Brian O’Keeffe chose to support emerging research, finding inspiration in the University that helped him start his own career.

“It is wonderful to know that my gift will support students in their studies and benefit Australia and the world.

The future is in good hands,” Professor O’Keeffe said.

Helping parents raise and care for their children was a source of inspiration for fellow graduate Anne-Marie Hryniuk. Ms Hryniuk donated to Triple P, the University’s world-renowned Positive Parenting Program. A child safety professional, Ms Hryniuk has seen firsthand the benefits of educating parents.

“Children are precious, and by donating to Triple P, I have helped provide parents and care-givers with proven tools to raise children in a safe and caring environment,” she said.

By Nhi Pham

Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield with Emergency Welfare Fund recipient Ronald Musenze

The lives of UQ students affected by the Queensland floods in January are being rebuilt thanks to the overwhelming generosity of alumni and friends who donated to the Vice-Chancellor’s Emergency Student Welfare Fund.

More than 900 donors contributed more than $330,000 to the fund. Their donations have made an extraordinary difference to 400 recipients, including international students like Ronald Musenze from Uganda, whose home was inundated by floodwaters.

“Your support has gone a long way in helping me recover from the devastations of the disaster. I want to extend my sincere thanks to everyone who made it possible,” Mr Musenze said.

“The UQ community has shown a generous and united spirit that I haven’t experienced anywhere in the world.”

The Vice-Chancellor’s Emergency Welfare Fund has been set up permanently to help students affected by future disasters.

By Nhi Pham

An artist's impression of the Advanced Engineering Building

Engineering graduate Alan Grummitt said his UQ education helped him get to a position in life where he could afford to give back.

“I’ve never been a big giver, but I’ve donated to UQ regularly for the past 50 years,” Mr Grummit said.

Graduating in 1962, Mr Grummitt started his career purchasing a small engineering consultancy. It has since grown into an international, award-winning firm.

Mr Grummitt said he felt his UQ education had put him on an equal footing with engineers from around the world.

“Such high standards inspired me to support the institution that changed my life,” Mr Grummitt said.

Mr Grummitt’s recent donations have gone towards the Advanced Engineering Building, a new facility at the St Lucia campus that will transform engineering education when it opens in 2013.

By Nhi Pham

Dr Rosamond Siemon (left) celebrates with Dr Caroline Hendry at her graduation

Dr Rosamond Siemon’s scholarship for UQ kidney research came full circle recently when its first recipient, Dr Caroline Hendry, graduated in July after breaking new ground in the lab.

A prominent historian and author, Dr Siemon made an endowment for PhD scholarships at UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience after her son-in-law died from polycystic kidney disease.

“He suffered for 20 years before his death. I didn’t want my descendants, or anyone else, to suffer like that, so I thought I would do what I could to find a solution,” Dr Siemon said.

“We will never find answers without research.”

Dr Hendry was able to take kidney disease research a step closer to finding these answers thanks to Dr Siemon’s gift. Her PhD project involved an innovative risk that would not have been possible to carry out without the scholarship.

“It’s meant an awful lot to me,” Dr Hendry said of the scholarship.

“I felt a lot more responsibility and commitment because I knew it was somebody’s personal wish to bestow this money and see something good come out of it.”

Dr Hendry has recently commenced a research job in New York at the Mt Sinai Medical Center, working in a laboratory with world-renowned stem cell experts.

By Nhi Pham

The last Ailsa Stubbs-Brown leaves a powerful legacy with a $1.3m endowment for physiotherapy and medicine scholarships

Physiotherapy and medical students at The University of Queensland will benefit thanks to the foresight and compassion of the late Mrs Ailsa Stubbs-Brown (nee Munro), one of UQ’s first physiotherapy graduates.

Mrs Stubbs-Brown’s generous $1.3 million bequest will establish two perpetual endowment funds to support the Ailsa Munro Physiotherapy Student Scholarship and, in memory of her late husband and respected orthopaedic surgeon, the T.V Stubbs-Brown Medical Student Scholarship.

Part of the first group to graduate from UQ’s newly established physiotherapy course in 1941, Mrs Stubbs-Brown made an impact in the field, running her own private practice from 1955 to 1973. She worked at hospitals in Queensland and the UK, including the Nambour General Hospital, where she was employed as its first full-time physiotherapist and was instrumental in developing its physiotherapy department.

A trailblazer in the field, Mrs Stubbs-Brown was elected as President of the Australian Physiotherapy Association Queensland branch in 1973 – the first physiotherapist to fill a post traditionally held by a medical practitioner.

Mrs Stubbs-Brown remained closely connected to the University, working as a lecturer, demonstrator and clinical supervisor for nearly 30 years. Up until her passing in January last year, Mrs Stubbs-Brown continued to take an active interest in physiotherapy research undertaken at the University, donating more than $100,000 to various projects in the past decade.

Mrs Stubbs-Brown’s generous bequest for physiotherapy scholarships is the first of its kind in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Services, and shows her determination to continue making a positive influence on the field and a real difference to its students and the wider community.

By Nhi Pham

With services for the homeless and web-linked information kiosks for patients, UQ’s super clinics are already showing they are not a standard medical practice.

The University of Queensland launched two clinics at Ipswich and Annerley last year with $10 million in funding through the Federal Government’s GP Super Clinics initiative.

UQ Healthcare CEO Darryl Grundy said it was always UQ’s aim for the clinics to break new ground in general practice-based care.

“It was never about opening just another GP practice. It was an opportunity to help fill gaps in current services and well as champion new, patient-focused models of care,” Mr Grundy said.

“We encourage our clinicians to not just prescribe medication, but to prescribe information and our patient health info kiosks help facilitate this.

“The clinics also provide an opportunity to integrate this with UQ’s two core activities – health education and research.”

Because the clinics operate on a not-for-profit basis, patient numbers are not the driving force. This offers greater scope for a focus on integrated, multidisciplinary health care and education.

“We believe effective collaboration between health professionals offers the best care for patients and the unique UQ Super Clinic model provides an excellent opportunity for this,” Mr Grundy said.

At the patient-care level, the clinics focus on areas of specific local need, such as chronic disease.

“They support existing health services, which can find it difficult to provide the complex management needed by chronic disease patients, who need specialist and coordinated care by a range of health professionals,” he said.

In response, UQ Health Care Ipswich has arranged for patients with Type II diabetes, and at high risk of associated complications, to see a specialist sooner and have easier access to the other health professionals they need.

“The clinic saw the gap in services and now has an endocrinologist conducting sessions at the clinic to help meet this local need,” Mr Grundy said.

Working with the local medical community is central to UQ’s super clinic operations.

UQ Health Care Annerley is working to help local homeless people reengage with the community. By working with community service provider Oz Care to coordinate a range of services, planning is now underway for an integrated health centre, including dentists and allied health professionals.

Researchers are also putting the clinics’ new models of care under the microscope and developing future best practice.

By Marlene McKendry