What's On at UWA

Research tissue poses a number of issues when it comes to immunohistochemistry. The tissue may be human or non-human in origin, but either way care needs to be taken to obtain robust and reproducible IHC results. During this seminar Jane will try to give you some of the information that you need to make your life easier when you’re dealing with research samples and also some of the tricks that she has learnt during her time as a lab manager of a multi-user research histology lab.

The TwinsUK Cohort is one of the most phenotyped and genotyped cohorts in the world. The cohort is a major international bioresource with much data openly. Professor Chris Hammond, who leads the eye studies at St Thomas’ Hospital, King’s College London where the cohort is based, will illustrate the successes and challenges of identifying genes and pathways involved in complex traits using these modern “omics” technologies. He will discuss his work on Glaucoma, using data from the TwinsUK resource. Glaucoma, the most common untreatable cause of blindness in the world, is an optic neuropathy which affects 10% of the population over the age of 80, and recent genetic studies have identified important pathways in optic nerve susceptibility to damage by raised intraocular pressure.

Be transported away from the everyday with our exciting line-up of Thursday 1.10pm, free lunchtime concerts. This year's revamped Lunchtime Concert series features the best of our students in solo and small ensemble performance.

THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics School of Mathematics and Statistics STATISTICS SEMINAR Title: Particle Markov chain Monte Carlo methods in marine biogeochemistry Presenter: Lawrence Murray CSIRO Mathematics, Informatics & Statistics Leeuwin Centre, Floreat, WA Date: Thursday 13 September 2012 Time:2.00 – 3:00 pm Location: Mathematics Lecture Room 3 (G.02, Ground floor of Mathematics Building (entrance from the James oval side)) Location Map Abstract: I'll report on progress in applying particle Markov chain Monte Carlo (PMCMC) methods for state and parameter estimation in the domain of marine biogeochemistry, motivated by a desire to quantify uncertainty in forecasts used for environmental management. Process models in this area combine physical ocean models with highly nonlinear biology, and may have significant dimensionality. Such models can be coupled to data using a state-space model framework, and Bayesian inference performed using PMCMC.

I'll highlight advances in dealing with some specific challenges that these cases pose: overcoming the absence of a closed-form transition density and ameliorating computational expense on modern GPU hardware. Along the way we draw out some general lessons as to the behaviour of PMCMC methods in the wild, and strategies for improving their performance on this difficult class of problems. All are welcome to attend the seminar No RSVP required. Enquiries: Gopalan Nair (08) 6488 3377; [email protected]

With another very dry winter just passing, we can see that one of the greatest impacts of climate change on Australia is the drying of the South-West of the WA. If we add this climate pattern to the growing pattern of resource development, population growth and overuse of some of our scarce water resources, we can see a major adaptation challenge that should begin with water resources law reform. We need a much better defined framework to share the growing water scarcity with the natural environment. Yet, as the National Water Commission stated in its report “The National Water Initiative – securing Australia’s water future: 2011 assessment”, September 2011, p.9, Western Australia has yet to enact water management legislation consistent with the National Water Initiative, the national policy on water law reform, that WA signed onto in 2006 and still broadly supports. This is still true. This presentation will canvas the water resources management situation for the South-West of WA, particularly for Perth’s water supply, and argue that Western Australia needs water resources law reform.”

An 'Inquiring Minds' lecture by Ian McArthur, Winthrop Professor and Head, School of Physics, The University of Western Australia.

This lecture is now at capacity and no more reservations can be taken.

"The Catholic Church and Fenianism, 1861-70: Some Irish and American Perspectives"

Professor Oliver Rafferty SJ, the 2012 St Thomas More College Chair of Jesuit Studies, will present the fifth in a series of six lectures on nineteenth century Irish history.

The Chair of Jesuit Studies is jointly recognised by the the University of Western Australia and the University of Notre Dame Australia, and aims to bring a leading academic from the worldwide Jesuit community to Perth each year.

Professor Rafferty is visiting from Heythrop College, University of London, where he specialises in Irish and Ecclesiastical history. He will present the concluding seminar in the series in the same locations, and at the same time, on Friday 21st September.

This FREE IELTS Masterclass™ is designed for anyone who’s preparing to take the IELTS test and will provide: • insights into common mistakes you can avoid • practical tips on how best to enhance your English • interactive tasks using the assessment criteria

It is a great pleasure to invite you to participate in the very 1st Symposium on Plant Signalling & Behaviour (SPSB 2012) to be held at the University of Western Australia on 16th-21st September 2012.

The SPSB 2012 was conceived out of a desire to support and advance this new and exciting research area by bringing together a diverse group of researchers who are working and are concerned with plants, but who are doing so from very different perspectives. The aim of the symposium is to build a transdisciplinary bridge for the new emergent knowledge and view of the plant world to be shared widely and flourish into rewarding collaborative explorations.

Within a hot cauldron of creative thinking, the SPSB 2012 aims at providing you with the opportunity to showcase your recent research findings, to advance our current knowledge and understanding of plants and to exchange ideas with colleagues on themes ranging from Plant Cell Biology & Signalling to Plant Sensory & Behavioural Ecology, and Theoretical Botany.

SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS - now OPEN!!

The Millennial or Gen Y Students – do they learn differently? One of the major challenges for students is the understanding of difficult concept and vast knowledge content in their course. This presentation will examine how can we motivate and inspire students through innovative teaching practices ranging from interactive visual curriculum map to peer learning through speed dating.

Honours, Postgraduate Students and Early Career Researchers are invited to join Sir Kenneth Keith ONZ KBE QC at this session for an informal conversation.

Sir Kenneth Keith has been a judge of the International Court of Justice since 2005. The Court is the principal legal organ of the United Nations. He is the first New Zealander to be elected to the Court.

Sir Kenneth is one of New Zealand’s most distinguished jurists. Between 1996-2003, he was a judge of the New Zealand Court of Appeal, and was appointed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. He was then one of the inaugural appointees to the New Zealand Supreme Court. He has also served as a judge of appeal for Samoa, the Cook Islands and Niue, as well as a judge of the Supreme Court of Fiji.He also sat as a member of the courts of arbitration in the Southern Bluefin Tuna and Rainbow Warrior Arbitrations.

Carol Kaplanian is in her final year of doctoral studies at the University of Western Australia. She is originally from Jordan and has worked in the area of trauma counseling amongst refugees. Her passion lies in understanding issues surrunding cultural violence against women, whereby she also holds a senior role within the Indigenous and Community Diversity Unit of Wa Police. Her work is exploring contemporary trends and crimes emerging amongst diverse comminities as well as developing a specialised manual which focuses on cultural violence against women in Western Australia

Dr Jon Prince, School of Psychology, Murdoch University, investigates how listeners combine pitch and time when listening to music. In his talk he will share findings from empirical research he has conducted on this topic.

A public lecture by The Right Honourable Sir Kenneth Keith ONZ KBE QC.

In 2006, Judge Kenneth Keith became one of fifteen judges of the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.

He has been a judge for 30 years, starting part-time in appeal courts in Western Samoa, the Cook Islands and Niue and later in Fiji. From 1966 to 2006 he was a member of the New Zealand Court of Appeal and the newly formed Supreme Court, as well as an occasional member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. He has also sat as an international arbitrator. He was a member of the law faculty of the Victoria University of Wellington, the New Zealand Law Commission, the United Nations Secretariat and the New Zealand Department of External Affairs.

Judge Keith will address the similarities and differences in judging arising from his experience and his earlier and continuing academic interests: the parties, the judges (from about 35 different countries and the methods of selection and election), the processes the courts follow, and the law they apply. He will also address the question of what can now be said about bringing law to bear on governments and developing the rule of law nationally and internationally.

All welcome!

Title: “Nitrogen – future challenges for agricultural science”

ABSTRACT: Fertilisers currently represent 15-20 per cent of the cost of production wheat grain. This cost will rise with the shortage of raw materials used to make fertiliser, the increasing costs in energy to mine and produce fertiliser, raising concerns as to the cost effectiveness of fertilisers, as observed following the spike in fertiliser prices in 2008/09. Over use of N can lead to eutrophication of waterways and to greater release of nitrous oxide, a key greenhouse gas, through unnecessary cycling of N through the nitrification and denitrification processes known to produce nitrous oxide. While most understand the concept of direct nitrous oxide loss, less is understood about the concept of indirect nitrous oxide release that is presumed to occur after fertiliser N leaves point of application on farm. Loss mechanisms that are factored into the indirect estimate N2O release include ammonia volatilisation, runoff of mineral and organic N and nitrate leached into groundwater. Because of the difficulties in determining indirect nitrous oxide emission these are likely to be based on estimates of on-farm N efficiency. For productivity including profitability, and improved environment outcomes the challenge is to better tailor fertiliser N inputs to ensure that soil plus fertiliser inputs more closely match crop demand for N. The talk will discuss new knowledge on a key nitrogen transformation that may have implications for managing N. It will consider recent developments in characterising soil organic matter that are expected to provide more robust estimates of net N mineralisation. The challenge is get new approaches for assessing properties of soil organic matter used as part of routine soil testing. In the case of N loss processes, a challenge is to produce simple calculators

How does a Venus flytrap know when to snap shut? How do flowers know when to show their pretty colours? Can plants actually hear the chatter of the neighbourhood? This seminar is a window open onto the realm of plants, one hour detour into the history of how we perceive them, what we know about them but most importantly, how plants themselves perceive and sense their world. Dr Gagliano completed a PhD in marine ecology at James Cook University in 2007 and was then awarded a postdoctoral research fellowship at Australian Institute of Marine Science, where she studied the physiological effects of climate change on coral reef fishes. In November 2009, she joined the Centre for Evolutionary Biology (CEB) at The University of Western Australia, where she is currently a postdoctoral research fellow. While continuing her work on marine life. She has since stretched the boundary of her scientific thought and ecological research into new directions, including the behavioural ecology of plants.

'What Matters to me and why' is a series of lunch time talks and conversations with UWA Academics. The talks explore personal stories of family, place, formative influences and how these things continue to shape people's lives and academic work.

The next conversation is with Paul Flatau, Director of the Centre for Social Impact. The Centre for Social Impact (UWA), thought leader in social investment and sustainable communities, is a joint venture between the national Centre for Social Impact and The University of Western Australia Business School.

Paul will share some of his story and then there will be the opportunity for questions/conversation. BYO lunch. Tea/Coffee is available in the meeting room (at the request of the Science Library, please do not carry coffee through the library).

The Science Library is towards the southern end of the campus just south of the Chemistry and Psychology buildings.

Prof Terri Young specialises in the medical and surgical management of paediatric eye disorders and adult/childhood strabismus and has developed a program with clinical geneticists to provide comprehensive care and evaluation of patients with genetic disorders with accompanying eye issues. She is the world’s leading researcher in myopia genetics and will outline work to date that is determining the genes involved to uncover the biological underpinnings of this condition.

Students reviewing each other's team work contributions or assessing self and peer classwork is an effective learning activity and assessment moderation and management process in academic settings. This Seminar will examine the uses of peer review for student learning, and explore two tools: the SparkPlus software and LMS Workshop tool, and their relative advantages and disadvantages for different needs, purposes and contexts.

Be transported away from the everyday with our exciting line-up of Thursday 1.10pm, free lunchtime concerts. This year's revamped Lunchtime Concert series features the best of our students in solo and small ensemble performance.