PROFESSOR Kateryna Longley, the Executive Dean of Social Sciences Humanities and Education won the Telstra State Award as Western Australian Business Woman of the Year in the Shell Community and Government Sector category.

MURDOCH’S Division of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences will provide the Executive for the Australian Society of Parasitologists Council for another year - only the second time in the Society’s history that the Executive has been voted in for a second successive term. Professor Andrew Thompson, Ms Marion MacNish and Dr Simon Reid will continue as President, Secretary and Treasurer respectively until the next conference in Hobart in September 2002.

Dr Anthony Armson from the Division of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences will be the new Director for Australian Society for Medical Research, starting at the next ASMR Board meeting in November. He replaces Dr Cassandra Lawson, also from Murdoch University.

PRO Vice Chancellor (Research) Val Alder has recently been invited to chair the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Career Development Awards. This year Professor Alder joined the editorial board for the journal Experimental Eye Research and the publication audit expert group at the Australian Vice Chancellors Committee (AVCC). Professor Alder is also a current member of the Standing Committee On Research (SCOR) at the AVCC.

THE Asia Research Centre has successfully attracted four high profile members to its board. They are:

The Hon Dr Geoff Gallop, MLA, Premier;

Mr Denis Glennon, AO, Managing Director, Environmental Solutions International Ltd;

Dr Brian Hewitt, Managing Director, Clough Engineering Group; and

Dr Paul Schapper, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Department of Commerce and Trade.

DR Hendy Cowan, ex-deputy Premier, will chair the board of the State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre (SABC).

DR Una Morgan from the Division of Veterinary and Biomedical Sicences has been elected to the National Innovation Awareness Council. This council was recently formed to assist the Federal Government in raising community awareness of the importance of innovation, science and technology. The Council will also provide advice to the Government on implementing the $35 million National Innovation Awareness Strategy announced in the Innovation Statement “Backing Australia’s Ability”.

PROFESSOR Richard Hobbs has been appointed to the newly-formed Environment Action Council, which will, amongst other things, oversee the preparation of the next WA State of the Environment Report.
He has also been invited to join the Board of Editors for the leading international journal Society for Conservation Biology. He will be responsible for reviewing papers on vegetation dynamics and management, invasive species, ecosystem rehabilitation and restoration, and landscape ecology.

BASKETBALL BASIS OF SUPERSTAR FRIENDSHIP: ROLE MODEL DOCUMENTARY
The inspirational friendship between four prominent Australians and their love of basketball will be explored through a TV documentary currently in production at Murdoch.
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RESEARCH: INDIGENOUS HISTORY OF CAMPUS
Indigenous knowledge will soon be incorporated into Murdoch University’s history.
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NEW RESEARCH BREAKTHROUGH WILL HELP CANCER SUFFERERS
WESTERN AUSTRALIA’S Solbec Chemicals has entered into a $1 million research and development contract with Murdoch’s Division of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences to verify the effect of the company’s new anti-cancer drug BEC.
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VICTIM JUSTICE ALTERNATIVE TO HARSH SENTENCES IN NEW STUDY
An alternative to harsh prison sentences is being trialled in a groundbreaking study at Murdoch University.
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SEEDS OF HOPE: DIEBACK RESISTANT ORCHARD OPENED
A seed orchard of clones of dieback resistant jarrah trees was recently established in Manjimup, Western Australia.
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WILDER SIDE OF COCKBURN SOUND UNDER THREAT
BOTTLENOSE dolphins may be closer to the brink in the heavily industrialised Cockburn Sound than previously believed, according to Masters student Hugh Finn.
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CARBON SINK IN OCEAN
Harnessing the power of an Australian algae may provide a powerful new way to absorb excess atmospheric carbon in a project underway at Murdoch University.
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CAN SEAGRASSES BE RETURNED TO COCKBURN SOUND?
THE seagrass meadows of Cockburn Sound may soon return, thanks to new research by Environmental Science PhD student David Tunbridge.
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INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES
Conferences for 2001
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