discover, february 2013

JAMES COOK UNIVERSITYFEBRUARY 2013

www.jcu.edu.au/discover

Spider venomit’s not all bad

Sugar cane

it’s getting greener

Rugby leagueit’s in the eyes

Welcome to 2013 and, for those of you reading this in Orientation Week, university life.

Last year we celebrated James Cook University’s 25 years of teaching and research in Cairns, and it seems not so long ago we were blowing out the candles on our 40th birthday cake in Townsville.

These are important occasions – not just to celebrate our milestones, but also to acknowledge the staff, students, graduates, families and community members who make a university.

We like a party at JCU, so I’m pleased to say that this year we have more to celebrate – ten-year anniversaries for both JCU Singapore and our study centre on Thursday Island.

There are obvious differences between the bright lights of Singapore and the remoteness of Thursday Island, but there is also common ground – these are two vibrant, diverse communities, and they are at the heart of our stated intent to create a brighter future for the tropics worldwide.

Our study centre on Thursday Island is a small one, but it is enormously important to us and I believe it has a great future.

Enabling students in the Torres Strait to study education and nursing close to home is reaping great rewards, strengthening the community and expanding the career opportunities of talented locals.

Graduates from our TI centre are already at work in schools and hospitals across the Torres Strait and mainland Australia, as well as overseas. That’s something to celebrate!

In Singapore we mark our first decade as one university operating in two countries with three tropical-city campuses.

JCU Singapore is growing fast. After beginning with just 50 students in 2003, we have added new courses, purchased a new campus, expanded our research and postgraduate sector, and passed the 3,000 mark in enrolments.

When JCU opened its doors in these two very different locations, Singapore and Thursday Island, the same question was asked: how long are you here for?

Both those communities had seen educational institutions come and go, and were understandably somewhat wary.

We said at the time that we were committed for the long haul, and it’s a great pleasure to be celebrating our first decade in these two stunning locations.

2 FEBRUARY 2013

Sandra HardingVice-Chancellor

Spider secrets 4

What do a funnel web spider, bitter melon and an exotic fruit have in common? They could all help in the search for effective cancer treatments.

It’s in the eyes 7

Some rugby league players can predict an opponent’s change of direction. An honours student in sport and exercise science is investigating how.

Community spirit 8

JCU Singapore’s community engagement efforts have been recognised with a Community Spirit Merit Award, presented by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Top End mammals 9

Travelling across the Northern Territory with a truckload of stuffed animals has paid off for biodiversity conservation researcher Dr Mark Ziembicki.

Birthdays, birthdays 10

In 2012 JCU celebrated its first quarter of a century of teaching and research in Cairns. This year’s parties will be in Singapore and on Thursday Island.

Stopping hoppers 12

Research indicates that removing artificial water bodies, such as dams, could halt the cane toad’s march into Western Australia.

Hawaii Ironman 13

Two decades of competing in triathlons earned Dr Glen Deakin a place in the toughest race of his life – the 2012 Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.

Greener sugar 16

A three-year collaboration between farmers and researchers has revealed good news for water quality, the Great Barrier Reef and the sugar industry.

In print 18

An introduction to an infamous romantic, how the brain regulates athletic effort, and Australian world firsts: new books by JCU staff and alumni.

Volume 7 No 1

Discover James Cook University Editor: Linden Woodward Contributors: Gavin Broomhead, Paul Dymond, Suhaimy Hassan, Amber Hill, Liz Inglis, Caroline Kaurila, Cameron Laird, Jim O’Brien, Andrew Rankin, Narelle Reece, Pinky Sibal, Romy Bullerjahn, Sue Wellwood.Design: Twocan MultimediaAdvertising enquiries: [email protected]: www.jcu.edu.au/discoverISSN: 1835-2456CRICOS: 00117J

Cover: Professor Norelle Daly. Photographer Paul Dymond.

www.jcu.edu.au/discover 3

Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer, Wayne Swan, announced the project in Townsville.

JCU’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sandra Harding, said The Science Place would provide a teaching and learning facility connected to schools and communities across northern Queensland.

“This is a very exciting development for JCU and will have an enormous impact on the region’s communities and economy,” Professor Harding said.

“It will transform the way in which rural, regional and remote students at all levels experience science education.”

In addition to teaching and research facilities, The Science Place cluster will include sophisticated audio-visual and videoconferencing facilities for remote teaching, an outreach centre with interactive displays to engage with high schools and the community, and facilities for CSIRO Education NQ.

The Science Place, to be constructed on JCU’s Townsville campus, includes multi-storey buildings and lecture theatres. Work is expected to begin this year and to create more than 500 jobs during construction.

The Australian Government will inject more than $46 million from its Education Investment Fund (EIF) into the project. JCU will invest more than $32 million with smaller

contributions from collaborative partners.

“The Science Place is the latest in our building program,” Professor Harding said. “The bricks and mortar will be on our Townsville campus, but the teaching and research that it will support will be happening across the north and far north of the state.”

An $80 million project at James Cook University

will revolutionise science and health

education for rural, regional and

remote students.

Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan joined Professor Sandra Harding to announce the project.

The Science Place

Green warrior honoured PhD student Nandini Velho is officially a Green Warrior, receiving a Royal Bank of Scotland Earth Heroes Award for her advocacy for wildlife and forest conservation.

“Nandini has been a force of nature in advocating for wildlife and forest conservation in her native India,” her supervisor Professor Bill Laurance said.

“She works with the government at the local and national levels, and has built up a fantastic rapport with communities and decision-makers in India.”

“In addition to her PhD research she has done a great deal of writing for popular media on issues including conservation and hunting.

Nandini is having an impressive impact on nature conservation, and I’m delighted to see her win the very prestigious Earth Heros award.

The awards were presented at a ceremony in Hyderabad, coinciding with the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

“It’s an honour to receive the award, and it was also an excellent opportunity to meet influential people who were attending the Conference of Parties,” Ms Velho said.

In an investigation of the impact of diseases such as malaria on the management of India’s national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, Ms Velho found that in one tiger reserve more than 70 per cent of staff had suffered from malaria over a four-year period.

With the help of Mumbai’s Sumitomo Chemicals, she distributed insecticide-treated mosquito nets to all forest watchers in anti-poaching camps in Pakke Reserve.

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PhD student Nandini Velho.

4 FEBRUARY 2013

What do a funnel-web spider, bitter melon and an exotic fruit have in common? They could all help in the search for effective cancer treatments.On James Cook University’s Cairns campus, Professor Norelle Daly and a team at the Queensland Tropical Health Alliance laboratories are investigating whether

Unlocking a spider’s secret

Above: Another day at the office for Dr David Wilson, milking a funnel-web spider.

Left: Professor Norelle Daly is investigating the potential of peptides found in bitter melon.


peptides in the venom of funnel-web spiders and tarantulas can kill breast cancer cells.

“Peptides are small proteins, abundant in plants and animals,” explains Professor Daly, who moved to Cairns in 2012 after receiving an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship.

“The upside in using peptides in drug design is that they can be highly potent, but the downside is they can also be unstable, so they’re not the easiest things to work with.

“We’re most interested in highly-constrained peptides, which are found in some plant species and also in the venom of certain spiders, cone snails, scorpions and other animals.

These peptides have a knotted structure to provide stability, and it’s this stability that could be exploited in the treatment of diseases such as cancer.

Remarkably, the cyclic peptide research dates back to Africa in the 1970s, when Norwegian doctor Lorents Gran observed that African women used a medicinal tea to induce labour – the active ingredient identified as a peptide.

Professor Daly says her fascination with the potential use of cyclic peptides for drug design began while at The University of Queensland in 1995, working on plant peptides with renowned structural biologist Professor David Craik.

It’s very exciting to think that a protein from a plant or animal can help in the treatment of human ailments and diseases.

“

“A droplet of possibly life-saving venom, on the fang of a funnel-web spider. Photographer: David Wilson

With a two-year grant from the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Professor Daly works with fellow JCU scientist Dr David Wilson, who has expertise in milking funnel-web spiders to provide venom for peptide analysis.

“Venom is such an interesting source of peptides,” Professor Daly said.

“It targets receptors in the human body and is designed to immobilise prey, but the fascinating thing is that not all the components of venom are toxic to humans.

“A significant amount of work has already been done on cone snail venom, which contains small, knotted peptides, and one of those is already used to treat chronic pain.

“We’re now in the process of isolating molecules in spider venom to see how they react with cancer cells.

I find it fascinating that spiders are frequently treated with fear and contempt, but their complex mix of venom molecules may actually kill breast cancer cells and help save human lives.

Professor Daly stresses that a cure for breast cancer through her research is still a long way away,

but she is also exploring other interesting avenues.

“At this stage, we’re doing preliminary research into spiders which we hope will go somewhere, but we’re also planning to look into creatures such as snakes, scorpions, ticks and jellyfish to see if their venom molecules may also react to cancer cells.”

Aside from venom, Professor Daly is investigating the possible use of gac fruit in fighting cancer, and the medical potential of peptides in bitter melon.

“Everyone has been touched by cancer in some way, and I think it’s a really important disease to make progress on,” she said.

“People often ask me when a drug from our research might be available to treat breast cancer, but it’s too early to say at this stage.

“It’s not always the case that something works, and science is all about exploration – but the signs are promising.

One of the reasons I became a scientist in the first place was the variety and finding the unexpected. Working on a potential treatment for cancer through spider venom is just one example of that.

— Gavin Broomhead

Photographer: Paul Dymond

Gac fruit – a possible ally in the fight against cancer. Image courtesy of NSW Department of Primary Industries.

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6 FEBRUARY 2013

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JCU Singapore has received the Australian Chamber of Commerce’s (AustCham) Business Excellence Award for 2012.The AustCham Singapore’s Business Excellence Award is presented to an organisation, “which in the opinion of the judging panel has demonstrated the most outstanding performance in its field”.

The award was presented at the AustCham gala luncheon, attended by Australia’s Minister for Resources and Energy and Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson.

James Cook University’s Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Sandra Harding, said the award

affirmed JCU Singapore’s position as an institution of higher education in Singapore.

“Since we started our operations in Singapore in 2003, we have committed ourselves to deliver quality education and ensure that our business processes are

consistent with the demands of the Singapore education sector,” she said.

“I want to thank the staff and students of JCU Singapore whose efforts earned this award,” Professor Harding said.

The Head of JCU Singapore, Dr Dale Anderson, said he considered it vital for JCU Singapore to maintain a strong and vibrant presence in Singapore.

“In Singapore, as with most other Asian countries, education is regarded as one of the most important aspects of life,” Dr Anderson said. “It is our responsibility to provide the best possible educational offering to students who have chosen to enrol with us.

“We are delighted with this award from AustCham. But our journey does not stop here. We will continue to focus on the needs of our students and ensure they are provided with the best possible education programs available.”

Two JCU researchers have been awarded prestigious Australian

Laureate Fellowships for their efforts to protect coral reefs and

save disappearing languages.

The awards include almost $5 million in funding over the next five years.

Professors Alexandra Aikhenvald and Terry Hughes were among the 17 fellowship recipients announced by the Minister for Science and Research Senator Chris Evans.

Only seven universities across Australia received the awards.

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Chris Cocklin, said the awards confirmed the University’s leading role in research across a variety of disciplines.

“Professor Hughes is one of the world’s leading reef scientists, while Professor Aikhenvald is internationally acknowledged as a distinguished ethno-linguist,” he said.

Professor Alexandra Aikhenvald is a research leader at the Cairns Institute and is the Director of JCU’s Language and Culture Research Centre.

The Australian Laureate Fellowship will help her expand her work, which includes investigating correlations between languages and cultures, and analysing endangered languages in tropical areas, especially Papua New Guinea.

It will also be instrumental in creating a multi-disciplinary team of researchers with a focus on previously undescribed languages.

Professor Terry Hughes has been Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, based at JCU, since its establishment in 2005. He has previously been awarded two Federation Fellowships.

In his Australian Laureate project he will undertake a novel, multi-disciplinary program of research on coral reefs to better understand and

avoid dangerous ecological tipping points.

The research will cement Australia’s leading contribution to reef science, and will guide the management and sustainable use of ecosystems around the world.

Senator Evans said the 17 fellowships would allow some of the world’s most distinguished researchers to tackle the big issues the world faces in the 21st Century.

“The Laureate Fellowships give some of our best researchers the ability to tackle complex problems and undertake ground-breaking research

– research that will deliver real benefits to Australians,” he said.

Senator Evans said that the Australian Laureate fellowships were about boosting our research workforce by providing new opportunities in Australia for the world’s best researchers.

“The Laureate Fellowships allow us to attract some of the best international researchers and forge strong international links – a growing priority as we head further into the Asian Century,” he said.

“We also get to keep hold of our best and brightest researchers by giving them access to world-class facilities and allowing them to deliver world-class research right here at home.”

Excellence in Singapore

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Saving reefs and languages

Professor Terry Hughes, investigating ecological tipping points.

Professor Alexandra Aikhenvald researches endangered languages.

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Footy – it’s all in the eyesNorth Queensland Cowboys rugby league players Ashley Graham and Matt Bowen may have it, others may not – it’s the innate ability of some rugby league players to predict an opponent’s change of direction.

This anticipation ability is the subject of a James Cook University Sport and Exercise Science student’s honours research project.

Jonathan Connor has received the Toyota North Queensland Cowboys – James Cook University Honours scholarship to investigate the topic.

Jonathan said his project, Anticipatory skills of the stepping manoeuvre on rugby league players, involved identifying whether elite rugby league players could predict an opponent’s change of direction, or step.

He said the study would help determine who had this ability. “It will hopefully give evidence as to whether some players have an innate ability to extract information, or ‘read the game’ in layman’s terms.

“This will then be compared to the under-20 players as well as novices who have never played before.”

Jonathan said he would be using an eye tracker to measure a player’s focus and performance, measuring the point of gaze and the motion of an eye relative to the head.

“I’ll be using a small camera fitted to the head, similar to glasses, which measures eye movement,” he said. “Thanks to a $48,000 JCU research infrastructure grant, I’ve just taken delivery of a state-of-the-art tracker for use in this study.”

Eye trackers are used in research on the visual system, in psychology, in cognitive linguistics and in product design. “To my knowledge they’ve never been used in rugby league before,” Jonathan said.

The study aims to identify whether there is a link between a player’s ‘quiet eye’ (the ability to focus their attention and extract information, at rest) and their ability on the field to predict an opponent’s change of direction.

“More importantly, I hope to identify where the playmakers are looking and how long it takes them to identify a potential gap in the opposition’s defence.

“Also, I’ll be looking into where centres or fullbacks are looking, just before they make a break through the opposition’s defence.”

Jonathan said he was surprised by and grateful for the Cowboys–JCU scholarship, which is awarded annually by the Cowboys coaching staff to a project deemed significant to the squad’s performance.

“I plan to have results to present to the Cowboys later this season, and I hope to have it ready for publication this year,” he said.

— Caroline Kaurila

Can Matt Bowen predict his opponent’s next move?

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8 FEBRUARY 2013

Each year James Cook University honours twelve graduates for their outstanding contributions to society in Australia and internationally.

From those twelve the Chancellor chooses one graduate as the Outstanding Alumnus of the year.

The Chancellor’s choice for 2012 is Dr Evaster-Aderolili, who joined JCU’s Cairns campus in 1991 as a student and was later the first lecturer in economics.

Dr Evaster-Aderolili, who had previously worked as an economist in Uganda, was awarded her PhD in 1996 and joined the United Nations in 2001 as Economic Affairs Officer at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

She has been Chief Advisor on humanitarian matters and reconstruction in Southern Sudan, and Acting Director/Officer in

Charge for UNECA of the African Centre for Gender and Social Development.

Dr Evaster-Aderolili now heads the biggest program at UNECA, delivering research, policy advice and technical support to all 54 African countries in areas such as education, employment, health, gender, migration and youth.

JCU Singapore’s community engagement efforts have been recognised with a People’s Association and Community Spirit (PACS) Merit Award, presented by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Head of JCU’s Singapore campus, Dr Dale Anderson, received the award at a community gathering to celebrate Singapore’s National Day.

The PACS Awards recognise organisations that have supported the People’s Association and its grassroots organisations, Community Development Councils and grassroots leaders in reaching out to the community and bringing people together to build greater social capital.

JCU Singapore was nominated for the national award for showing

“tremendous support for the activities organised by Kebun Baru grassroots organisations”.

Dr Anderson said that he considered it vital for students and staff of JCU Singapore to bond with the local community.

“Over the years, we have established excellent synergy with the grassroots organisations in the immediate

vicinity of our campus and we have been working with the community leaders to not only partake in community events but also identify areas where our teaching and research expertise can be harnessed for the benefit of the local populace,” Dr Anderson said.

“Through our highly acclaimed psychology teaching and research program, for example, we have been able to establish a psychology clinic that predominantly caters to the needs of the people living in our surrounding neighbourhood,” he said.

JCU’s Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Sandra Harding said that the whole of the James Cook University community would be honoured by the award.

“This is a prestigious national award bestowed by the Singapore Government to deserving organisations that have made a difference to the community that they serve,” she said

“As an institution with a focus on the people of the tropics, this recognition from the people and government of Singapore is particularly pleasing.”

Professor Harding commended the staff and students of JCU Singapore whose efforts earned the award.

Community Spirit award for JCUS

Outstanding Alumni • Dr Ngiare Brown - Foundation

Chief Executive Officer with the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association

• Dr Rose Evaster-Aderolili - Chief of the Human and Social Development Program for UNECA

• Judith Ketchell - Executive Principal at Tagai State College in the Torres Strait

• Traven Lea - Special Adviser to the Australian Medicare Local Alliance

• Professor Ian Mackinnon - Executive Director of the Institute for Future Environments

• Bill Mitchell - Principal Solicitor at the Townsville Community Legal Service

• Professor Clive Moore - Head of School in History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics at UQ

• Dr Richard Smith - producer and director of natural history documentaries on ABC TV

Early Career Alumni Awards• Winsome Denyer - ABC journalist

• Dr Mariana Fuentes - turtle and dugong researcher

• Ali Jimmy Drummond - Indigenous nurse advisor

• Diane Ruhl - Associate in family law

alumni.jcu.edu.au

Outstanding Alumni 2012

Dr Rose Evaster-Aderolili caught up with friends after receiving her Outstanding Alumnus award.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong presents Dr Dale Anderson with an award for Community Spirit.

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An adjunct senior research fellow with JCU’s Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, Dr Ziembicki visited remote Indigenous communities, seeking help in documenting what he describes as one of Australia’s most pressing conservation issues.

“One of our problems has been that because northern Australia is so sparsely populated, the distances so vast, and the species in trouble are mostly nocturnal, we have limited understanding of where and when these declines have been happening,” he said.

To address this problem a collaborative research project between scientists and Indigenous communities was launched to document Aboriginal people’s knowledge of the region’s mammals.

“The use of stuffed mammal specimens proved an invaluable tool in our study because it helped stimulate discussions and ensure correct identification of each species,” Dr Ziembicki said.

Dr Ziembicki led the four-year study, working with leading biodiversity

conservation researcher John Woinarski, an Adjunct Professor at Charles Darwin University, and Professor Brendan Mackey, Director of the Griffith Climate Change Response Program. The project began when the three researchers were with the Australian National University and the Northern Territory Government.

Dr Ziembicki said the knowledge of Indigenous people was especially valuable in places like northern Australia where relatively little scientific study of native mammals had taken place.

“Aboriginal people who have maintained close connections to their lands have an intimate knowledge of their local environments,” he said.

“Many of the people we interviewed were concerned that the animals they once valued for food and ceremonial purposes could no longer be found on their lands.”“Where local people no longer hunt for their staple foods, they are also less likely to practise traditional land management techniques which benefited the animals.

“It suggests there is a close relationship between the decline of Indigenous knowledge and the decline of biodiversity.”

Dr Ziembicki said the findings, published in the January edition of Biological Conservation, reflected those of an earlier study in central Australia.

“In the mid-80s an extensive study that interviewed elders in central Australia mapped the widespread decline of mammals in that region. At that time the northern region was regarded as a refuge for mammals, but this study indicates we are now seeing those declines being repeated across the north.

“There is also evidence that mammals are disappearing even from our biggest and best resourced national parks.”While land clearing and intensive development are the major drivers of declining biodiversity worldwide, Dr Ziembicki said the landscapes of northern Australia were largely intact.

“In this area, the most likely contributing factors are the cessation of Indigenous land management techniques such as patch burning, combined with the effects of introduced predators such as cats, and widespread pastoralism.”

With other researchers, the team hopes to replicate this study across the north of Queensland and Western Australia, seeking a better understanding of the factors responsible for the declines and what can be done about them.

Dr Ziembicki said the challenge was to use Indigenous knowledge and science together to address contemporary environmental problems more effectively.

“This study demonstrates the value and capability of Indigenous knowledge and argues for its greater recognition, before we lose more of both our valuable biological and cultural heritage,” he said.

— Liz Inglis

Top End mammals — declining or stuffed?

Travelling across the Northern Territory with

a truckload of stuffed animals might not seem

the obvious route to investigating

the decline of native mammals,

but it paid off for Dr Mark Ziembicki.

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Aboriginal elders in northeast Arnhem Land discuss the status of mammals on their traditional lands with Dr Mark Ziembicki.

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The transit of Venus, chamber music, a tropical party and a new green space on campus all formed part of James Cook University’s celebrations through 2012 of our first 25 years in Cairns.

Although we can’t claim to have organised the transit of Venus, we did mark the occasion with public lectures on the phenomenon that the British Admiralty sent our namesake Captain James Cook to observe.

Former students and staff celebrated a quarter-century of teaching and research with a tropical-themed party and a number of reunions, including one for former student mentors.

The birthday celebrations also saw the Australian Chamber Music Festival come to Cairns for the first time.

Originally a Townsville tradition that combines great winter weather with internationally acclaimed performances, the Festival presented two Cairns concerts in partnership with JCU.

“The University is proud of its role in establishing the Chamber Music Festival in 1991,” Dr Stephen Weller, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and head of JCU Cairns said.

“We know there is a passionate audience for chamber music in Cairns, so we asked the Festival organisers to help us celebrate this important milestone.”

Former Governor-General, the Honourable Bill Hayden AC, officiated at the final 25th birthday celebration, opening Founders Green, which honours the vision and efforts of community members who made the establishment of JCU’s Cairns campus possible.

As Governor-General, Mr Hayden officially opened the campus on December 6th, 1995.

“The official opening, exactly 17 years ago, was the culmination of a great deal of effort by community leaders. The people of Cairns were both determined and generous in their campaign for a local tertiary education institution,” JCU’s Chancellor, Lt Gen John Grey AC, said.

Touring the campus, which on his last official visit consisted of just three buildings in a former cane field, Mr Hayden said his recurring thought was “from little things, big things grow”.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Sandra Harding said student numbers had quadrupled since JCU moved from the TAFE campus to its own site in Smithfield.

“When Mr Hayden visited the campus on this day in 1995, we had 967 students. Today we have more than 4,000 and are well on our way to meeting a target of 5,000 students by 2015.

“Perhaps most significantly, in 1995 we had just three postgraduate research students in Cairns. Today we have 187 postgraduate researchers, whose task is to generate new knowledge, new understanding. They are a crucial part of JCU’s mission to build a brighter future for the tropics.”

2013 will see 10th birthday celebrations for JCU Singapore and the study centre on Thursday Island.

If you are a former student or staff member of either of those campuses, please be sure to update your details on the alumni webpage.

alumni.jcu.edu.au

Birthdays, birthdays…

Petra Lovey (left) with Nancy and Stephen Lanskey at JCU’s 25th birthday party in Cairns.Photographer: Sue Wellwood

At the tropical-themed birthday celebrations, from left: Former Cairns campus heads Professor Scott Bowman and Professor Philip Courtenay, with Deputy Vice-Chancellor Dr Stephen Weller.

Joy Glennie and Stephen Weller welcomed the Australian Chamber Music Festival to Whitfield House.

Founders Green honours the earliest supporters of JCU Cairns.Kerri Jenkins and Trish O’Reilly joined the celebrations. Photographer: Sue Wellwood


Caroline de Costa, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at JCU in Cairns, is working with colleagues in Atherton and Canberra to investigate whether dark chocolate might protect against pre-eclampsia.

“Pre-eclampsia affects about ten per cent of pregnant women in Australia,” Professor de Costa said. “For many women it’s a mild condition, but in its severe form it can require early delivery. It can also become eclampsia, which is life-threatening.”A rise in blood pressure is usually the first indication of pre-eclampsia. Encouraged by previous research showing that a small, regular dose of dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure, Professor de Costa is investigating possible benefits in pregnancy.

In this study half the participants will be asked to eat 25 grams of dark chocolate each day, up to the 34th week of their pregnancy.

“There has been earlier investigation of dark chocolate in pregnancy, but in those studies women were asked to recall their chocolate consumption, or the researchers followed their reported chocolate consumption,” Professor de Costa said.

“Ours is the first randomised controlled trial, which is an important standard in clinical

research. We will randomly select half of our participants to receive a daily dose of dark chocolate, while a control group will be left to continue with their usual chocolate consumption.”

That, Professor de Costa admits, is the first catch: you don’t get to choose whether you’re in the chocolate-eating group, or the control group.

“Whichever group you’re in, you also need to keep an honest chocolate diary for three weeks of the study,” she said. “Honesty about chocolate consumption can be a challenge for some of us, but we do need our participants to keep accurate records.”

The research will be conducted among both public and private patients. Participants will be asked to do an initial interview, with follow-up contact by email or telephone.

Dr Clare Jukka, Head of JCU’s Clinical School in Atherton, will conduct the trial on the Atherton Tableland and Associate Professor Stephen Robson from the Australian National University will conduct it in Canberra.

With 80 Cairns women eating 25g of chocolate every day for months, Professor de Costa calculates she will need more than 450 kilos of dark chocolate.

“We’re very grateful to Mr Peter Piccone from our local IGA, who has offered to order extra stock for us, and to provide it at cost price,” she said.

Professor de Costa said potential participants could be assured that consuming a small amount of dark chocolate was safe for both mothers and babies.

“There has been extensive research on the effects of dark chocolate on blood vessels. We know it’s safe.

“What we hope to establish in this trial is whether it can also help reduce the occurrence of pre-eclampsia.”

Guilt-free chocolateGuilt-free chocolateFor those who struggle to justify their chocolate consumption, researchers at James Cook University have come up with an excellent excuse – they are seeking women willing to eat chocolate for science.

This study will investigate the possible benefits of a daily dose of chocolate during pregnancy.

Researchers Jemma Porrett (left) and Professor Caroline de Costa launched the chocolate study with help from retailer Peter Piccone.

To take part in the study you need to:

• be in the first trimester of your first pregnancy

• planning to give birth to your first baby in Cairns, Atherton or Canberra

• have no history of diabetes or hypertension

• have a BMI (body-mass index) under 30.

To find out more, contact your doctor or email [email protected]

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James Cook University’s Dr Ben Phillips is one of the lead authors of the study, which involved an international team of scientists.

Dr Phillips said the research showed that artificial water bodies installed by graziers acted as critical stepping-stones for the toad invasion.

“By removing these water bodies in key locations it is possible to halt the spread of toads,” he said.

Cane toads are currently spreading into the vast Kimberley region of northwestern Australia and will likely completely occupy this region within 10 years.

“This conquest has not gone unchallenged, but massive efforts by community groups over the past five years have done nothing to stop or even slow the invasion of toads,” Dr Phillips said.

“The reason for this failure is that toads produce 10 to 30,000 eggs at a time and can move very large distances, so removing enough individuals to slow their invasion is effectively an impossible task.”Dr Phillips said that by removing around 100 artificial water bodies, toads could be prevented from occupying 268,000 square

kilometres of their potential range in Western Australia, an area larger than Great Britain.

Stopping the progress of toads into Australia’s Pilbara region would protect numerous species, including endangered northern quolls and many species of goannas and snakes, which are badly affected when toads invade.

“While we have shown that it is possible to stop toads, actually doing so is going to require a lot of community support, as well as serious financial compensation to any graziers that are affected by modifications to their stock watering systems,” Dr Phillips said.

“We have shown that stopping toads is possible, but the exact details of how to implement our plan are still to be worked out.”

Cane toads, one of the world’s worst invasive species, have proven difficult to stop.

Since their introduction in Australia in 1935, they have spread to occupy more than 1.3 million square kilometres. Their spread continues across northern Australia at an accelerating rate.

— Caroline Kaurila

Associate Professor Russell McGregor’s Indifferent Inclusion has won the 2012 NSW Premier’s Australian History Prize.

The book maps the complex relationship between Indigenous and settler Australians during the middle four decades of the 20th Century.

In handing down their decision, the judges said the book was “critical to an understanding of 20th Century Aboriginal history and to an explanation of changing notions of Australian citizenship”.

“Indifferent Inclusion maps the changing ways in which Australian governments defined the concept of assimilation and developed more inclusive policies to incorporate Indigenous people into the Australian community, in

the period from federation to the 1967 referendum and beyond,” they said.

“(Associate Professor McGregor) suggests that inclusion was less a function of a political action than of a social and cultural campaign, as Aboriginal Australians challenged the apathy of European Australians and claimed a place within the nation.

“This book is filled with sharp insights into particular events and movements, and establishes a rich general context for this complex and important story.”Associate Professor McGregor said his next venture was a book on quite a different topic.

“The next one will be a history of Australian ambitions to develop

the north, from colonial times to the present day. The ambition to develop the north has been a recurring theme – sometimes more like an obsession – running through Australian history, and once again it is topical today.”

Indifferent Inclusion is published by Aboriginal Studies Press, the publishing arm of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS).

www.aiatsis.gov.au

Stopping thehoppers

It may be possible to stop the spread of

cane toads into new areas of Australia,

according to research published recently

in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

© iS

tock

Toads, coming to a waterhole near you.

A win for indifference


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Two decades of competing in triathlons earned Dr Glen Deakin a place in the toughest race of his life.

A senior lecturer in the Institute of Sport and Exercise Science, Dr Deakin was one of 80,000 triathletes vying to compete in the 2012 Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

This is the symbolic and spiritual home of the triathlon, and in 2012 the organisers launched the Ironman Legacy Program, designed to allow loyal Ironman athletes the opportunity to compete at Kona at least once in their lifetime.

“My commitment to the sport helped me get one of the 100 legacy spots offered worldwide,” Dr Deakin said. “I was a spectator at the Ironman in Hawaii 17 years ago, but this was my first as a competitor.”

Dr Deakin, whose many research projects include the impact of triathlon training methods on recovery dynamics and race performance, trained for up to 25 hours each week for the course’s gruelling 3.8km swim, 180.2km cycle and 42.2km run.

His role at JCU’s Cairns campus gave him a training edge as he had access to equipment similar to that used by athletes at the Australian Institute of Sport, including a Veletron cycle ergometer – a high-

tech training bike – hooked up to a large screen which, together, simulated the Kona course.

“It is an intimidating course that crosses lava fields where you have to both ride and run in very windy, hot and humid conditions with temperatures in the high 30s,” he said. “I wanted to be as well prepared as I could.”

Although Dr Deakin’s time of just over 13 hours was two hours slower than his usual pace, he was pleased with the result and grateful for the chance to compete in this iconic event.

“It’s the World Championship, so you expect a tough race, and it certainly was. The swim leg was slowed down by big swells, and for all but 10km of the bike leg we had headwinds up to 100km per hour. There were times when the wind was pushing bikes off-course.”

Did the simulator training help?

“It’s certainly an advantage to know the course, but obviously training indoors can’t prepare you for the actual conditions – horizontal rain on a 100km wind, you don’t get that in the gym.

“With such tough conditions, I can’t gauge my performance against the Australian events I’ve competed in, but it was an awesome race.”

Students in Jürgen Freund’s master classes have learnt some of the secrets of great nature photography, and put them into practice in spectacular locations.

The eight-day master class (the first was in June, the second in September) took the students out of the classroom and on location.

“It’s a pleasure to teach in inspiring places on the Atherton Tableland,” the Cairns-based photographer said.

“This region is famous for its diverse plant and animal life, and we had great fun getting up close to that. Our students came from around

Australia and as far away as the United States, so we were able to see the region through fresh eyes.

“The landscape includes extinct volcanoes, crater lakes, waterfalls, lush forests – you’re never far from a wonderful photograph.”

In addition to teaching the technicalities and practicalities of capturing your best shots in the wild, the program also covers legal, ethical, cultural and environmental issues.

[email protected]

www.juergenfreund.com

From the lab to the lava fields

Dr Glen Deakin training in the lab for the Hawaii Ironman.

Your best shot, naturally

Photographer: Jürgen Freund.

14 FEBRUARY 2013

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James Cook University’s Cairns campus and the Northern Pride have joined forces to inspire Far North Queenslanders to use educational opportunities to achieve their personal best.

The two organisations have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), with JCU sponsoring the Pride’s junior academy, and the Pride using its profile to encourage the region’s youth to make the most of educational opportunities through JCU.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Sandra Harding said there was already a similar agreement in place between the University’s Townsville campus and the North Queensland Cowboys, which worked well.

“Education is the key to everything you want to do in life – we understand that and we’ll use our profile to help build that,” she said.

“The Pride is a terrific organisation committed to rural, remote and Indigenous communities and

community development of populations and so, from our point of view, our goals are very much in line.

“We want to work together for the benefit of the Far North Queensland community.”

Learn Earn Legend! program manager Rod Jensen said the MOU would help break down barriers for young people in the region.

“I think it’s just fantastic. Rugby league is essentially a working-class game, and some people think higher education is not for rugby league people,” he said.

“But I don’t think that’s the case at all. Playing rugby league and going to university both have a sense of mateship and belonging, and it’s great that JCU is working with us.

“The kids in the JCU Northern Pride Academy are introduced to the idea of going to university, and the obvious benefits it can bring.

“All the work we do through our Take Pride program is about the longevity of the person, not just the player – and this partnership with JCU will help build on that approach.”

Former professional rugby league star Rod Jensen is putting his JCU Bachelor of Education degree to full use – by inspiring Indigenous school leavers to choose the right career paths.

Mr Jensen, who graduated from JCU in 2005, runs the Federal Government’s Learn Earn Legend! program through Northern Pride’s Take Pride community service.

The program encourages and supports young, Indigenous Far North Queenslanders to stay at

school, get a job, and be a legend for themselves, their family and their community.

Rod Jensen played for the North Queensland Cowboys in the 2005 National Rugby League grand final, and enjoyed a successful career in Australia and the UK.

He says he gets just as much fulfilment out of his new teaching and mentoring role as he did as a player.

“My aim is to use my standing in the community to make a difference, as a positive male Indigenous role

model for the older kids to look up to,” he said.

“Our program is about providing engagement and support for Year 12 school leavers to survive in the business world during those early stages of their careers.

“The schools impart the knowledge, and then the Learn Earn Legend! program guides them along the right path when they leave school.”

Mr Jensen says he is able to use his own real life experiences to inspire young Indigenous people as they take their first steps into the corporate world.

“I tell the kids how I left my home town of Ravenshoe as a 17-year-old in 1996 to go to Adelaide with ambitions to play professional rugby league, but with no money, no family and no friends down there – basically starting right at the bottom.

“I was earning just $5,000 as a professional rugby league player, so I did a business administration certificate, which got me a filing job in a law firm.

“We’ve all got to start somewhere, and I explain to the kids how it’s all about setting goals.

“It’s basically a mentor aspiration program. It gives the kids self-worth, and reassures them that they count in this world – I think that’s a really important message.”

Mr Jensen says his Bachelor of Education (Primary) from JCU Townsville has provided him with ongoing opportunities, especially linking his sporting career to his teaching aspirations.

“Throughout my degree, my lecturers were so supportive and provided me with great guidance,” he said. “They knew I was a professional footballer juggling a full-time degree, but were very accommodating and flexible.

“I now feel privileged to be doing the two things I love – sport and teaching – and helping young Indigenous people through those difficult first steps into adulthood, employment and further study.”

JCU teams up with Northern Pride

Graduate update: Rod Jensen

Rod Jensen on his way to scoring for the North Queensland Cowboys in 2005. Photographer: Gregg Porteous © News Ltd

Education graduate Rod Jensen at work Take Pride program.

Professor Sandra Harding with Northen Pride coach David Maiden and player Shaun Nona at the launch of the agreement.


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This is the only job I’ve had that’s made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I’ve always been fascinated by historical objects.

I’ve been interested in and surrounded by art all my life. My husband Ron is a painter and printmaker, and my two stepsons are involved in visual arts and film editing.

When I was younger, I focused on being an artist and had a few exhibitions, before getting the travel bug and heading to Europe and diverting into the world of libraries.

It was while I was overseas that I landed my first JCU job – in fact, I spoke to the University Librarian from a telephone booth in Paris. He didn’t seem terribly impressed.

I left JCU in 1999, eventually becoming Director of the Pinnacles Gallery in Townsville.

But I soon got bored of all the budget meetings and council argy bargy, and when I saw the council’s children’s librarian walking past my office dressed as a chicken I thought, ‘I’d much rather be doing that!’

I’ve never regretted becoming a librarian. We can often be seen as drab but I don’t see myself like that at all. Especially when I had a job where I could dress as a chicken.

This job popped up three years ago – and I knew it was perfect for me.

People often ask me why a creative person like myself is attracted to this field – it’s because the collections are highly visual, often containing rare and fragile items, and are evocative of significant people, places and events in our regional history.

I want to leave a good legacy. In an operation like Special Collections, I

have a strong sense of responsibility to take care of these collections and ensure they are available to researchers of all kinds.

This year we’ve begun to build an online repository of digital copies of the collections. These include photographs taken by the Reverend Frederic Charles Hall from 1902-1909 in the Georgetown area.

I find it inspiring that this talented man carried a large camera and heavy glass negatives with him wherever he went, whether he was on horse, bicycle, or walking.

Libraries are driven by the digital world and we are photographing our materials to open up access, but we would never get rid of anything. People, including myself, love to be in presence of the real thing.

We’ve also photographed two precious volumes of union meeting minutes from the Townsville Branch of the Amalgamated (1894-1909)

Society of Engineers, which are listed on the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World register.

Union minutes are such an important commentary on Australian society. I love the writing and fresh impression of the inky pages, how they are embossed by fountain pen. I think writing is a dying art, so I get a thrill to see those volumes.

Another important collection we have is on Salvador Torrents, a Catalan political activist who settled in Mena Creek in 1915. We have letters, notebooks, postcards and photographs that help create a picture of his life, including his strong political views.

Many of these amazing collections take a lot of time to maintain and we need support to help us open up access to them.

We also have Special Collections materials in the JCU Cairns library, focusing on the issues relevant to far north Queensland, including eco-tourism and environmental campaigns.

I can honestly see myself being here for a decade – that’s how long I think it will take me to develop a good knowledge of the full scope of the collections here. It’s an exciting journey to be on.

”— Bronwyn McBurnie spoke to Gavin Broomhead

Photographer: Andrew Rankin

Library staff have begun the mammoth task of making digital copies of items, to make fragile items accessible.

JCUJCUmy

Bronwyn McBurnieSPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARIAN

JCU TOWNSVILLE

Artist, traveller and keen historian, Bronwyn McBurnie is the Special Collections Librarian at JCU’s Townsville campus.

“

“People love to be in presence of the real thing.”

16 FEBRUARY 2013

Dr Paul Nelson, Senior Lecturer in Soil Science at James Cook University said the research measured how much nitrogen leached out of sugarcane paddocks into groundwater and streams.

“Sugarcane is a major crop in the wet tropics, and it relies on nitrogen inputs to maintain productivity,” Dr Nelson said.

“As agriculture expands and intensifies across the globe, it’s increasingly important that nutrient inputs, including fertilisers, are used efficiently. Insufficient or excessive use can reduce profitability and harm the surrounding environment.”

Dr Nelson said leaching was the main way that nitrogen was lost from northern Queensland farms, so the study examined the movement of water and nutrients through the soil, using a Gordonvale farm as the main focus.

Working with Dr John Armour, Principal Scientist with the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM), Dr Nelson found that industry-standard rates of nitrogen fertiliser use for sugarcane crops in the wet tropics resulted in low leaching loss.

“As part of the research we measured leaching losses of nitrogen over three years in a commercial sugarcane crop in the wet tropics.

Sweet news for water quality

Dr John Armour and technical officers Dale Heiner and Tracy Whiting installing water traps for the lysimeter system.

A three-year collaboration between farmers and researchers has revealed good news for both water quality and

the sugarcane industry.

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Phot

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: Bru

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“The good news is that we found very low losses of fertiliser to ground water, which means there is minimal leaching from crop to creek, and potentially to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.

“Fertiliser on our study sites was applied at recommended rates. This is the first time current, industry-standard rates have been tested in the wet tropics – and very little was lost from the root zone.

“This is great news for the environment, farmers, and the sugarcane industry in general.”

Dr Nelson said this work would not have been possible without the support of local sugarcane farmers, such as Bruce Corcoran.

“Local farmers like Bruce have been really supportive during this project, and are keen to take steps where possible to reduce run-off and further reduce any risk of leaching,” he said.

Mr Corcoran, who is also a coordinator for both the Mulgrave Landcare and Catchment Group, and Terrain Natural Resource Management, said it was rewarding to work with the research team.

“Our Landcare group members are keen to participate in any science project in our area that can help with managing our natural assets, and this was a particularly good one,” Mr Corcoran said.

“To our farmers’ credit, they were keen for us to be part of this. They wanted a reliable and accurate picture of any nutrient loss, so they could do something about it if necessary.

“The research team kept us informed throughout the project, and they also gave the Landcare group updates as they went along,” he said.

“The bonus part of the project for me was that it was about more than just nutrient loss. The research data has also given me good information about the local groundwater system and its dynamics.

“I was really happy to be part of the research and the results are positive, showing low leaching losses under good farming practices.”Dr Nelson said a challenge for the research team was the complicated task of measuring the amount of nitrogen leached out of the root zone. The DNRM’s Dr John Armour measured this loss.

“We installed 12 sampling devices called lysimeters, which collect water moving downwards through the soil,” Dr Armour said.

“We installed them at one metre depth, because if water moves below this depth it is unlikely to be taken up by roots.

“The lysimeters consisted of porous cups connected to a vacuum line which sucked the drainage water into reservoirs at the edge of the paddock for measurement and testing.”

The team also used a water balance model to provide an independent estimate of deep drainage.

“Basically, we looked at how much leaching should occur given the prevailing soil type, climate and crop stage,” Dr Nelson said.

“It was technically challenging to measure what we needed, and it required a lot of effort to keep it running, but we are very pleased with the accuracy of the results.”Follow-on research is underway. On the same Gordonvale farm where they conducted the sugarcane work,

the researchers are investigating the effects of riparian forest on nitrogen in groundwater.

On the Atherton Tableland they are trialling ways to slow down the formation of nitrate, the most easily leached form of nitrogen.

“We’re testing the effect of nitrification inhibitors on nitrogen leaching,” Dr Nelson said. “These inhibitors, added with the fertiliser, have been shown to reduce nitrate leaching in other parts of the world, but have not yet been fully tested in the wet tropics.”

— Gavin Broomhead

Dr Paul Nelson and technical officer Tracy Whiting checking measurements of leaching on a Gordonvale farm.

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18 FEBRUARY 2013

In print

This introduction compresses Lord Byron’s extraordinary life into manageable pieces and offers readers a guide to the main themes in his wide-ranging oeuvre, from the early poems that made him famous (and infamous) to his narrative tales, dramas and the comic epic left incomplete at his death.

Author of the most influential long poem of its era (Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage) and the funniest long poem in European literature (Don Juan), Byron’s effect on 19th Century writers, artists, musicians and everyday readers was second to none.

The Cambridge Introduction to Byron is one of a series of

Cambridge Introductions to Literature designed to introduce students to key topics and authors. Others in the series include Marlowe, Milton, Orwell, Proust and Twain.

The Cambridge Introduction to Byron

Richard Lansdown

Cambridge University Press

ISBN 978-0-521-11133-1

“Listen to the body.” That’s the advice of a James Cook University exercise scientist in a new book on how the brain regulates the way athletes distribute their efforts and pace themselves.

Pacing in Sport and Exercise: A Psychophysiological Perspective is co-written by Dr Andrew Edwards, Director of JCU’s Institute of Sport and Exercise Science, and Professor Remco Polman, Research Leader in Active Living at Victoria University’s Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living.

“The book combines exercise physiology with psychology for the first time, with research on how athletes manage effort during exercise and what limits their performance,” Dr Edwards said.

“People often assume that physical performance is restricted by limitations within muscle,” he said.

“However, the brain regulates the effort applied to a task by subconsciously reducing neuromuscular stimulation to prevent physical harm, while sensations such as thirst or nausea are signals that influence the conscious brain, evoking a behaviour change such as slowing down or stopping.

“Understanding the causes of fatigue enables us to appreciate how athletes can pace themselves

effectively in sport and exercise to have the best chance of meeting their performance goals.”

USA-based sports writer and coach Matt Fitzgerald said the book would help endurance athletes conceptually tie mind and body together to become better pacers, hence better racers.

The book discusses pacing across a wide range of sport and exercise contexts with advice for maximising performance and effectively monitoring training progress. It also provides information specific to children, overweight people and those with chronic diseases.

Pacing in Sport and Exercise: A Psychophysiological Perspective

Andrew Edwards and Remco Polman

Nova Publishers

ISBN 978-1-61942-420-3

Optimising training

An infamous romantic

“On your marks…” An Australian innovation.

What do the portable pacemaker, the circumnavigation of Greenland and the cardboard wine cask all have in common? All three are the achievements of Australian innovators and pioneers.

Great Australian World Firsts, by James Cook University lecturer Chrystopher J. Spicer, documents an abundance of great Australian ideas, inventions, feats and follies.

Some, like Kay Cottee’s journey around the world (the first single-handed, non-stop, by a woman) are well known. Others, such as the crouching start to a running race, (devised by stockman Bobby MacDonald) are not.

Great Australian World Firsts celebrates 30 Australian innovators, world leaders in fields

including sport, the arts, medicine, transport and exploration.

Exploring both the Arctic and Antarctic by air, manufacturing and marketing the one-piece bathing suit, developing the wire-guided missile and the car radio — yes, an Australian did each of those first.

“This is my ‘yes, anyone can achieve’ book for every Australian,” Mr Spicer said. He nominates electrician John Hoelscher (the first, with team-mate Lonnie Dupree, to circumnavigate Greenland) as his favourite among many firsts.

Great Australian World Firsts

Chrystopher J. Spicer

Allen & Unwin

ISBN 9781742376738



The Cambridge Introduction to

Cambridge Introductions to Literature

Cover image: Scenes from the Massacre of Chios (detail),

1822 (oil on canvas) by Eugene Delacroix © Louvre, Paris,

France / Giraudon / The Bridgeman Art Library.

• • •

This series is designed to introduce students to key topics and authors.

Accessible and lively, these introductions will also appeal to readers

who want to broaden their understanding of the books and authors

they enjoy.

Ideal for students, teachers and lecturers

Concise, yet packed with essential information

Key suggestions for further reading

Byronrichard lansdown James Cook University, Cairns, Australia

Author of the most influential long poem of its era (Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage)

and the funniest long poem in European literature (Don Juan), Lord Byron

was also the literary superstar of Romanticism, whose effect on nineteenth-

century writers, artists, musicians and politicians – but also everyday readers

– was second to none. This introduction compresses his extraordinary life

to manageable proportions, and gives readers a firm set of contexts in the

politics, warfare and Romantic ideology of Byron’s era. It offers a guide to the

main themes in his wide-ranging oeuvre, from the early poems that made

him famous (and infamous) overnight, to his narrative tales, dramas and the

comic epic left incomplete at his death.

This book includes:

• Life • Context • Works • Reception

The Cambridge In

troduction

to

Lansdown

ByronRichard Lansdown

The Cambridge Introduction to

Byron

Politics, warfare and the Romantic ideology of a literary superstar

are encapsulated in Associate

Professor Richard Lansdown’s latest

book The Cambridge Introduction to

Byron.


More than 200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students competed in the 17th National Indigenous Tertiary Education Student Games, held in Cairns.

Indigenous students from 14 Australian universities took part, with JCU fielding three teams – one from Cairns, another from Townsville, and a combined team with members from Cairns, Townsville and Thursday Island.

After four days of competition the JCU Cairns team won three of the four days of competition (basketball, netball, touch football and volleyball) and emerged as the overall winners.

The University of Western Sydney, who won the day on the netball courts, were in second place overall, with the University of Melbourne third.

“Hosting this event has been an honour and a real pleasure,” Deputy Vice-Chancellor Dr Stephen Weller, head of JCU’s Cairns campus, told the students at the closing ceremony.

“We know how critical education and leadership are to closing the gap between the health and prospects of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia.

We have here more than 200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who have spent this week in friendly but determined competition, making new friends and alliances, honing their leadership skills, and cheering each other on. That’s why we’re proud to host these Games.

ResultsNetball1st place: University of Western Sydney

2nd place: Newcastle University

3rd place: University of Melbourne

Most Valuable Player: Harley Foster, Flinders and Adelaide Universities Combined Team

Touch Football1st place: James Cook University, Cairns

2nd place: University of Western Sydney

3rd place: University of Queensland

Most Valuable Player: Neerim Callope, James Cook University, Cairns

Volleyball1st place: James Cook University, Cairns



Most Valuable Player: George Morseu, University of Queensland

Basketball1st place: James Cook University, Cairns

2nd place: University of Melbourne

3rd place: University of Western Sydney

Most Valuable Player: Neerim Callope, James Cook University, Cairns

Overall 1st place: James Cook University, Cairns



Overall Most Valuable Players Sarai Atkinson, Melbourne University

Neerim Callope, James Cook University, Cairns

Photographer: Paul Dymond.

Legends!

John Morseu shooting for JCU Townsville.

The University of Melbourne’s Sarai Atkinson and George Morseu from the University of Queensland earned a spot in every All Stars team.

The JCU Cairns team on their way to victory on the volleyball court.

The volleyball competition underway on the Cairns Esplanade.

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* Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2012.‡ Australian Government’s Excellence in Research for Australia national report, 2012.† The Good Universities Guide 2012 and 2013

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Ranked among the top 4% of universities worldwide.*

JCU recently received the highest ranking of ‘well above world standard’ for its research in environmental science and management, ecological applications and medical microbiology.‡

With main campuses in Cairns, Townsville and Singapore, JCU can provide opportunities for field-trips unlike anywhere else in Australia.

And our reputation doesn’t stop at education. JCU has consecutively received 5 stars in the Good Universities Guide, for graduate success in getting a job.†

Contact us today to find out more

1800 246 [email protected]

James Cook University A world leader in teaching and research

discover, february 2013

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