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Today's date is Friday, March 29, 2024
Events for the public
 July 2013
Saturday 06
13:00 - EVENT - Berndt Museum Family Focus Day Website | More Information
As part of WINTERarts at UWA, join us for a family focus day at the Berdt Museum to celebrate our new exhibition Little Paintings, Big Stories: Gossip Songs of Western Arnhem Land. There will be storytelling, performance, a special talk by Dr John Stanton and hands-on activities in the Gallery. For a full program of events visit www.lwgallery.uwa.edu.au. Free event, all are welcome.
Monday 08
7:45 - EVENT - Kids Holiday Program : Years 4 - 6 Educational Holiday Program. Open to everyone. Website | More Information
Educational and recreationally based program for Years 4 -6. Daily from 7.45 - 5.00 pm including breakfast, lunch, morning and afternoon tea, all activities and high mentor to child ratio. $80 per child/day casual or $75 per child/day for 3 or more in one week. Great program and lots of fun.

12:00 - SEMINAR - �Canadian Research in Respiratory Health Care Delivery� : A presentation on the latest research on Alpha1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, pulmonary function testing and respiratory health care delivery issues. Website | More Information
By Professor Kenneth R. Chapman, Director, Asthma and Airway Centre of the University Health Network; President, Canadian Network for Asthma Care; Director, Canadian Registry for Alpha1 Anti-trypsin Deficiency. 12 noon for light lunch, 12.30pm – 1.30pm presentation
Tuesday 09
9:00 - CONFERENCE - ALSA Clayton Utz Conference 2013 : Championship Mooting Competition Website | More Information
The conference will see law students from around Australia, New Zealand and the broader Asia-Pacific battle it out in the international championships of six prestigious legal competitions. His Honour Chief Justice French of the High Court of Australia will be the keynote speaker at the Closing Gala of this year's ALSA Conference on Monday 15 July. His Honour will also preside over the Grand Final of the Championship Moot to be held earlier that day.

19:00 - TALK - Friends of the UWA Library speaker : Becoming a Historian More Information
Suzanne Welborn will discuss her personal journey through seven decades of enormous cultural, sexual and economic changes in the lives of Australian women, as a journalist in Perth and London, a wife and mother and as a historian including the way puzzles of her childhood influenced her writing of history.

About the Speaker

Graduate 1958 BA UWA

Journalist West Australian 1960-62

Woman Writer for the Melbourne Herald Cable Service 1962-64, London

Graduate 1981 MA UWA

Books by Susan Welborn:

Lords of Death: a People, a Place, a Legend (1982), (winner WA non-fiction award) republished as Bush Heroes: a People, a Place, a Legend (2002)

Swan:the History of a Brewery (1987)

Sandgropers Solicitors & Silks (1998)

Freehills A History of Australia's First National Law Firm (2011) shortlisted for the Ashurst Business Literature Prize (2011) in Sydney

Members: free Non Members: $5 donation
Wednesday 10
16:00 - EVENT - CWR Presents : Surface water convergence and divergence due to wind vorticity Website | More Information
Using a numerical model, FANTOM3D, horizontal circulation observed at the head of Tokyo Bay on the 10th of August 2001 was shown to appear in conjunction with surface water convergence.

The effect of negative wind vorticity and other components, such as river discharge and heating/cooling on the water surface, were investigated but results suggest that horizontal circulation was predominantly induced by wind vorticity.

The influence of positive and negative wind vorticity on horizontal circulation was categorized into three regions using the Rosby number: Region 1 (positive vorticity) – Coriolis and nonlinear Ekman pumping; Region 2 (negative vorticity) – Coriolis downwelling; and, Region 3 (negative vorticity) – nonlinear Ekman pumping.

PS* This seminar is free and open to the public & no RSVP required.

****All Welcome****
Friday 12
15:00 - PUBLIC TALK - Artist's Talk: The Mechanism of Life (after Stephane Leduc) : Public talk with Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr Website | More Information
At the very same time that Bergson developed his concept of Élan Vital in his book Creative Evolution, others attempted to do away with the metaphysical notion of vital force. One significant endeavour was taken by Stephane Leduc, who set out to prove that life is merely a chemical process.

In his 1911 book The Mechanism of Life, Leduc proposed a series of chemical experiments showing the emergence of life-like phenomena of different degrees of complexity. Using seductive imagery of mainly diffusion and osmosis Leduc attempted to prove the mechanistic aspects of life and challenge Vitalism.

With the recent advent of Synthetic Biology where the engineering mindset towards biology is set to dominate approaches to life, we see a rehashing of similar stories from a hundred years ago. One such story is the creation of the basic unit of life, the cell, out of non-living materials. The so called protocells are becoming a major field of study complete with the hyperbole rhetoric about their potential applications.

This piece will reappropriate one of the simplest protocell protocols offered by Leduc, working with the diffusion of two concentrations of solutions that create transitory cell-like droplets. The droplets resemble cells with membrane and nuclei, they last for a few moments before succumbing to entropy and dissolving into a murky liquid, “much like life.”

This protocol is automated using another hyped technology: three-dimensional printing. There is much discussion about 3D printing technology as the next industrial revolution - something that parallels the assembly line of Fordism at the time Leduc was working on the Mechanism of Life. The promise of 3D printing technology is in its core based on information transfer as the business model; the focus is on the instructions/data as the currency while the materiality is merely an optional manifestation. This is problematic as at the very same time, the 3D printing industry suggests the ability to print actual life, or at least parts of the living. This very seductive scenario of printing life from scratch is played off in this work against the unstable, uncontrollable and transient nature of the protocell droplets as a material. What would capture the public imaginary? The precise movement of the machine? The perfect arrangement of the droplets? Or the off-putting murky outcome of entropy?

To a large extent this piece deals with issues of cultural amnesia and reimagining; pointing attention to the use of certain visuals and expressions to persuade, hype and then disappoint. In a time when the idea of creating synthetic life is in the forefront, it is important to culturally probe current and past approaches to the idea of the Mechanism of Life. The printed “protocells” are unstable and temporary and take on forms that appear organic and then disappear. More than a proof on the mechanism of life, they are a suggestion for a humble approach to the question of what life is and how far are we willing to make life into a raw material for our own ends.

Oron Catts is Director of SymbioticA, The Centre of Excellence in Biological Arts School of Anatomy Physiology and Human Biology, The University of Western Australia. Catts is an artist, researcher and a curator at the forefront of the emerging field of biological-arts, whose work addresses shifting perceptions of life. Dr. Ionat Zurr is an artist, researcher and the Academic coordinator at SymbioticA. Catts together with Zurr formed the internationally renowned Tissue Culture and Art Project (TC&A) in 1996.

The work The Mechanism of Life (after Stephane Leduc) was collaboratively created with Corrie Van Sice. Her work applies concepts of bio-mimesis to the production of fabrication methodologies, which identify the inherent potential for matter to become functional, and human curiosity’s creative influence on natural systems. Van Sice earned her Masters at New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, the self-proclaimed “center for the recently possible,” and worked as Materials and Processes Engineer at the popular 3d printing company, MakerBot Industries. She has partnered with synthetic biologists at Brooklyn’s citizen science lab Genspace, and began work with Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr via the Finnish Bioart Society at the Kilpisjärvi Biological Station in the fall 2011.
Tuesday 16
18:30 - EVENT - Chinese Languages Courses: Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced & Business : 10 Week Course Website | More Information
The Confucius Institute will be running our 3rd intake of our Chinese Language courses. We offer an ongoing series of Chinese language classes from Beginners to Advanced levels and Business Chinese.

Our language courses are designed for those with an interest in travel, business and friendship. Our teachers are qualified Chinese language teaching professionals with many years of experience.
Wednesday 17
16:00 - EVENT - CWR Presents : Spectral detection of stress-related pigments in Samphires of Western Australia Website | More Information
Wetlands in north-western Australia have significant national and international value since they sustain a large number of endemic Samphire, species growing under saline, waterlogged, and dry conditions. We investigate the ecophysiological aspects of these succulent species using a combination of spectral measurements, pigment concentrations and environmental variables.

We correlated samphire tissue pigment concentrations with climatic data and determined the relationships between pigments and field spectroradiometer readings for Tecticornia indica, one of the dominant samphire species in WA. Tecticornia plants with visually different colour contained different pigment concentrations and reflected differentially the visible light, in particular at wavelengths between 500 and 700 nm.

The reflectance data obtained by the spectrometry indicated that spectral detection of pigments could be used to identify changes in plant pigments, as well as other changes in vegetation status produced by different stress drivers. This methodology offers a rapid/reliable approach to describe natural ecosystems and evaluate the impact of human activities in marshes and wetlands ecosystems.

Biography:

Victoria, Completed a PhD in Agronomy Sciences from University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her study area is the Ecohydrology of arid zones. Since 2011 I have worked with Dr Erik Veneklaass and Tim Colmer at the School of Plant Biology (UWA) on a project related to vegetation dynamics in areas affected by mining activities in the Pilbara’s region. she has work at different spatial scales, from leaf and plant and plot scale using both glasshouse and field experiments and remote sensing technologies.

PS* This seminar is free and open to the public & no RSVP required.

****All Welcome****

Thursday 18
14:00 - GUIDED TOUR - Crawley Campus Tour - July 2013 : An enjoyable and informative walking tour around UWA's stunning Crawley Campus Website | More Information
The Prospective Students Office is providing a guided walking tour of UWA's Crawley Campus in the July school holidays (18 July 2013).

These tours are for prospective students (and their parents) who would like to find out more about studying at UWA whilst taking in the beautiful gardens and buildings at the Crawley campus.

The tour finishes at the Admissions Centre & Prospective Students Office where you will be able to collect course brochures.

Tours run for approximately one hour. Please bring a jacket and wet weather gear if necessary.

18:00 - PUBLIC LECTURE - Courageous integrity Website | More Information
The 2013 Vincent Fairfax Oration by Tony Cripps Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Bank Australia.

Tony Cripps will talk through his banking experiences in markets across different continents, and how financial services should change and respond to meet the political and regulatory challenges and societal expectations of today.

The Vincent Fairfax Oration, part of a wider program funded by the Vincent Fairfax Ethics in Leadership Foundation, was established as a way of engaging leaders from different sectors of society in discussion, debate and on-going conversations about ethics and leadership. The Oration focuses on ethics and leadership as they apply to topics of relevance to Australian society.

The Vincent Fairfax Oration is presented by The University of Western Australia and the Centre for Ethical Leadership, Melbourne Business School.
Monday 22
12:00 - SEMINAR - Medical Research Seminar Series : "Understanding childhood susceptibility to otitis media: genetic and environmental risk factors" Website | More Information
LIWA invites you to a free seminar on: "Understanding childhood susceptibility to otitis media: genetic and environmental risk factors" by Dr Sarra Jamieson, Genetics and Health Division, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research. A light lunch will be served from 12.00pm with a 12.30pm – 1.30pm presentation.
Tuesday 23
8:50 - SYMPOSIUM - Symposium of WA Neuroscience : Free symposium for neuroscientists, clinicians, students and the public Website | More Information
The Symposium of WA Neuroscience (SWAN) will be held in association with the Neurotrauma Research Program of WA on Tuesday the 23rd of July, 2013 at The University of Western Australia in the MCS lecture theatre (G33).

This year SWAN will comprise four sessions. The first of these is titled CNS Disorders with guest speaker Dr Penny Flett. The second session will focus on Neuromuscular Research and will include invited speaker Dr Nigel Clarke from the University of Sydney. The third session encompasses Visual and Basic Neuroscience and will feature Dr Olivia Carter (University of Melbourne). The final session will encompass Stroke, Acquired Brain Injury and other CNS Injuries, featuring Clinical Professor David Blacker and insights from the community to facilitate communication between neuroscientists, care providers and patients.

Students and early career researchers will be presenting their research and competing for cash prizes. Registration is free but required for catering purposes; registrations close on the 8th of July. To register, please email [email protected].

We hope that you will join us for a day of high quality neuroscience presentations, then relax at the Sundowner afterwards.

18:00 - ALUMNI EVENT - The 2013 George Seddon Lecture : Is Central Perth Getting Better? – A View from Seddon Perspectives Website | More Information
The Annual George Seddon Lecture series will be presented this year by Peter Newman, John Curtin Distinguished Professor of Sustainability, Curtin University.

The lecture will present perspectives on the liveliness, greening, residential qualities, regeneration projects, foreshore and railway barriers, and transport. It will be illustrated with photos from the George Seddon and David Ravine book A City and its Setting compared with perspectives today taken by photographer Michael Lewi.

The lecture will be followed by an informal reception.
Wednesday 24
16:00 - SEMINAR - CWR Presents : Identifying performance benchmarks in Ghanaian agriculture through efficiency analysis. Website | More Information
Agricultural production in Ghana is mainly carried out by smallholder farmers on a subsistence basis. Smallholders constitute about 95% of the farming population and produce 80% of the annual output.

This study investigates the level of technical efficiency of farms using a sample of 294 households from the Upper East region of Ghana. Bootstrap DEA methods are used to estimate technical efficiency and the factors affecting efficiency are examined. This is the first study that uses bootstrap DEA methods in efficiency analysis of agriculture in Ghana.

Results from the application of the nonparametric DEA frontier models show that mean technical efficiency is low and there is significant variability in efficiency among the sample farms. The results imply that agricultural productivity can be increased substantially through improvement in technical efficiency.

From a policy point of view educational status and use of hired labour have been found to hold the greatest potential for improving technical efficiency in Ghanaian agriculture.

Keywords: Bootstrap DEA, Ghana, policy, smallholders, technical efficiency

Short bio,

Luke Abatania commenced his PhD research in the School of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Western Australia (UWA) in March 2009.

Abatania’s background is in Agricultural Economics and his research focus has been on the adoption and impact of improved technologies on farm household welfare. His current research interests are in productivity and an efficiency analysis of smallholder agricultural production.

Abatania has worked as an Agricultural Economist/Research Fellow at the following organisations in Ghana: Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (1992-2006), International Food Policy Research Institute (2006-2007), University of Ghana (2007-date). He was also a part-time lecturer at the University for Development Studies in Ghana (2002-2004).

Abatania holds a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Ghana. He submitted a thesis to UWA in June 2013 for the award of a PhD degree and is currently awaiting the result.

PS* This seminar is free and open to the public & no RSVP required.

****All Welcome****

Friday 26
14:00 - ORATION - Three Minute Thesis Competition Final : An 80,000 word thesis would take 9 hours to present - their time 3 minutes! Website | More Information
The task for the 10 finalists is to give an engaging talk on their PhD topic and it's significance in language that everyone can understand - in just 3 minutes. The audience will vote for its People's Choice.

18:00 - EXHIBITION OPENING - HERE&NOW13 : An exhibition of 11 contemporary Western Australian artists Website | More Information
Join the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery on Friday 26th July 2013 at 6pm for the opening of HERE&NOW13 - an exhibition of 11 Western Australian artists with disability.

Featured artists include Katrina Barber, Patrick Carter, Clive Collender, Aquinas Crowe, David Guhl, Tim Maley, Julian Poon, Jane Ryan, Robert Turpin, Lisa Uhl and Robin Warren.

HERE&NOW13 is presented in partnership with DADAA - a not-for-profit community arts and cultural development (CACD) organisation, focusing on creating significant positive social change and opportunities for people with a disability or a mental illness.

The Campus Partner for the exhibition is the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research.

The opening event is a great opportunity to hear about the exhibition, the partnerships and to meet with the artists and their mentors.

Light refreshments and drinks will be served.

Exhibition runs until 28 September 2013.
Wednesday 31
18:00 - PRESENTATION - Becoming an Engineer with UWA - 31 July 2013 More Information
'Becoming an Engineer with UWA' info evening: Prospective students and their parents are invited to attend one of our info sessions to learn more about how to achieve an engineering career with UWA.

 August 2013
Thursday 01
13:10 - PERFORMANCE - FREE Lunchtime Concert : Visiting Alumni Artist: Ashley Smith (clarinet)Buffet-Crampon Artist Website | More Information
Free 50min Concert every Thursday during Semester at 1:10pm

18:00 - VISITING SPEAKER - 2013 Salek Minc Lecture : Engaging Possibility: Access Programs at MoMA Website | More Information
Carrie McGee from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will present the annual Salek Minc Lecture for 2013 on Thursday 1 August 6pm at the UniClub Theatre Auditorium.

Carrie McGee and her colleagues at the MoMA have won international respect for their unique efforts to make the MoMA’s extensive resources, collection and programs accessible to visitors with disabilities.

In this lecture Carrie will discuss the development and outcomes of MoMA’s programs, including the world-renowned MoMA Alzheimer’s Project, in order to validate the notion that high quality arts programming positively impacts the physical, intellectual and emotional lives of those who participate.

The 2013 Salek Minc Lecture is co-presented by the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery and the Institute of Advanced Studies.

For more information visit: http://www.lwgallery.uwa.edu.au/publicprogram/salekminc/_nocache

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