What's On at UWA

The Westerly Centre, Philip Mead (Chair of Australian Literature), and the Association for the Study of Australian Literature will hold an event to celebrate the life and work of one of the most respected and admired scholars and teachers in Australian literary studies, Bruce Bennett, who sadly passed away in April this year.

The Prospective Students Office is providing a guided walking tour of UWA's Crawley Campus on the Foundation Day long weekend Monday public holiday (4 June 2012).

These tours are for prospective students 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 will include a stop at the Admissions Centre & Prospective Students Office, where you will be able to collect information and course brochures, and find out more about what life is like for our students.

Parents are also welcome to attend.

Tours run for approximately one hour and are available at various times throughout the year after business hours, in the school holidays, and on public holidays, so there is bound to be a time that suits you and your family!

The lecture will focus on the as yet unsuccessful attempts of the opposition to unite, and the determined campaign of the regime to crush the revolt by force. Dr Spyer will give background details and an assessment of both the regime and the insurgency, and will ask why it has been that unlike in other countries which experienced civilian uprisings in 2011, in Syria, the regime has so far managed to survive. Dr Spyer visited Idlib Province Syria in February and will provide evidence and information gathered in the course of that visit as part of the lecture.

Our emissions of carbon dioxide cause some global warming, and it has indeed warmed over the last century. But this doesn’t prove that our emissions are the main cause of that warming—there might be other, larger, natural forces on the temperature. The key question is: how much warming do our emissions cause?

We check the main predictions of the climate models against impeccably sourced, publicly-available data from our best and latest instruments. We find they got them all wrong: they exaggerated the warming of the air and oceans, they predicted a very different pattern of atmospheric warming, and they got the short-term relationship between outgoing radiation and surface warming backwards.

The latter two items are especially pertinent, because they show that the crucial amplification due to the water feedbacks (mainly humidity and clouds), that is assumed by the models, does not exist in reality. This amplification causes two-thirds of the temperature rises predicted by the models, while carbon dioxide only directly causes one third. This assumed amplification is in the models is because it was assumed in turn that our CO2 caused (nearly) all the observed warming since 1750. Now we know the models are wrong and the amplification does not exist, so presumably this assumption is wrong too.

Bio:

Dr David Evans used to consult full-time for the Australian Greenhouse Office (now the Department of Climate Change) from 1999 to 2005, and part-time 2008 to 2010, modeling Australia’s carbon in plants, debris, mulch, soils, and forestry and agricultural products. He earned six university degrees over ten years, including a PhD from Stanford University in electrical engineering (the field most advanced in dealing with feedbacks and complex systems). The evidence supporting the idea that CO2 emissions were the main cause of global warming reversed itself after 1998, causing him to move from being a warmist to a skeptic.

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

                                         ****All Welcome****

Prospective students are invited to attend one of our info sessions to learn more about how to achieve an engineering career with UWA. These sessions will explain course details, career opportunities, prerequisite subjects and how to apply, as well as providing the opportunity for attendees to ask questions and meet Faculty staff.

Whether you're coming to the end of your time at high school and are considering your university study options, or you already have an undergraduate degree and are looking to re-skill or complete postgraduate study, our 'Becoming an Engineer with UWA' information sessions will provide you with the information you need to get your career in engineering headed in the right direction.

If you can't make it to this session, further sessions will be held July - November.

Please visit the website for more information and to register your attendance.

Where do native bees live in contested urban environments? How has the colonisation and urbanisation of Perth affected native bee populations? What is the nature of the human/bee interactions and what cultural roles do they play? In the context of a global honey bee crisis, Australian colonisation, and disappearing habitats, a current art/science residency is investigating the nature of bee populations in urban areas. Whilst there is much publicity surrounding the global disappearance of the European honey bee, little attention has been paid to native bee populations and habitats.

Native and European bees are particularly important in pollinating local flora and contribute to the unique biodiversity of the South West region. They also hold unique significance for the Nyungar community. Despite the importance of native bees, little is known about the ecological and cultural consequences of Perth colonisation and urbanisation on these insects. The relationships between bees, humans and the colonisation and urbanisation of Perth are complex. Although there are over 2,000 described native bee species in Australia, 800 of which occur in WA, most are solitary and rarely seen. Nests and habitats are destroyed through landscaping, gardening and land clearing activities. There is also concern over the displacement of native bees by feral European bees.

This talk describes a project involving artists Susan Hauri-Downing and Tarsh Bates, and the Centre for Integrative Bee Research (CIBER) at UWA which combines the different perspectives of art and science to explore human/bee interactions, ecologies and place. We will also discuss the roles of artists within science research groups and show some preliminary outcomes of the residency.

In the debate about Shakespeare’s authorship that began in the nineteenth century the absence of evidence has sometimes been taken as evidence of absence. However, in recent decades a great amount has been unearthed concerning Shakespeare’s life and times. There can now be little or no doubt that Shakespeare wrote the plays attributed to him. Nevertheless, since some illustrious thespians of this day have sought to question Shakespeare’s authorship through the medium of the recent film, Anonymous, it is worth reconsidering the phenomenon of conspiracy theories in general and those surrounding Shakespeare in particular. Hence the title of my talk: Anonymous or Synonymous: the question of Shakespeare’s authorship revisited.

About the Speaker

Christopher Wortham is Emeritus Professor of English at UWA. Since his retirement he has worked part-time as Professor of Theatre Studies and English Literature at the University of Notre Dame Australia (Fremantle). He is also Cathedral Scholar at St George’s Cathedral, Perth. Among his recent publications are an introductory essay to the volume entitled ‘This Earthly Stage’: World and Stage in Late Medieval and Early Modern England (2010) and a chapter on ‘Meanings of the South’ in European Perceptions of Terra Australis (2011).

Free parking is available via Entrance 1, Car Park No. 3

If glass door is unmanned, please enter via spiral staircase to 1st floor, then go down the stairs to the ground floor meeting room.

Members: Free Non Members $5 donation

Water management is a key issue confronting government, the mining industry and the wider Pilbara community.

This presentation will focus on three current developments in Pilbara water management: preparation of water allocation plans (mainly for the coastal alluvial groundwater resources); the Department of Water and an inter-agency working group considering the issue of providing for the on-use of mine dewatering surplus; and preparation by the Environmental Protection Authority of a guidance note on environmental and water assessments relating to mining operations in the Fortescue Marsh area.

Biographical note

Alex Gardner is Associate Professor of Law at The University of Western Australia where he teaches Administrative Law, Environmental Law and Water Resources Law to undergraduate and postgraduate students. He is also Adjunct Professor at the Australian National University College of Law where he teaches Water Resources Law to postgraduate students. In 2010 he began teaching in the interdisciplinary postgraduate program of the International Water Centre and in 2011 he began teaching Water Law in the University of Queensland postgraduate law program.

Alex researches in Natural Resources and Environmental Law, with a special focus on Water Resources Law. He is the lead author with Richard Barlett and Janice Gray of Water Resources Law, July 2009. He is also one of three legal academics participating in the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training, established in 2009 with funding from the Australian Research Council and the National Water Commission: http://www.groundwater.com.au/ . Alex maintains an environmental law practice, assisting the Environmental Defenders Office (WA) for many years as well as private firms and companies. In recent years, he has advised the Government of Western Australia on water resources legislative reform and, in alliance with consulting firms, has advised the Australian Government on issues in the Murray Darling Basin. He is a senior sessional member of the State Administrative Tribunal of Western Australia.

Lauren Butterly graduated with First Class Honours from UWA Law School and completed her honours dissertation in the area of water law. Following graduation, Lauren served as the Principal Associate to Chief Justice Wayne Martin of the Supreme Court of WA and then worked in the Resources team of Blake Dawson’s [now Ashurst] Sydney office. In January 2012, Lauren was invited to take up a research and teaching appointment at UWA Law School. Her research focuses on the legal and policy challenges of addressing cumulative impacts of the water used by mining operations in the Pilbara.

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

****All Welcome****

DMA candidate Clare Tunney will be giving her final lecture-recital on the Bel Canto Cello next Thursday 14 June (5pm) in the Eileen Joyce Studio.

Entry is free, all welcome!

Join us for an exclusive evening with Western Australia's award winning film Producer Nelson Woss as he shares his in-depth journey on the 'The making of Red Dog'.

Nelson will share the trials and triumphs of filming with Koko, cast and crew in WA’s wild outback before joining Dr Erica Smyth, Chair of UWA’s Centenary Trust for Women, for a one-on-one ‘on the couch’.

The night will also feature Nelson's 'sizzle reel' of never before seen footage and Koko's red carpet experiences plus a special viewing of Koko's screen-test.

Following the presentation (7.00pm) guests are invited to join Nelson for a drink in the University Club (a cash bar is available at the club).

Tickets: $30 adults, $20 concessions, $10 students U/15. Part proceeds to the Shenton Park Dog’s Refuge Home

To ensure a seat please book early. RSVP's close Monday 11 June 2012.

Special thanks to our event sponsors: Addwealth and ArthurG.

A free public forum hosted by UWA Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Johnson.

Keynote Speakers:

The Hon Greg Combet AM, MP Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Minister for Industry and Innovation

and

Winthtop Professor Malcolm McCulloch, FAA FRS, Premier’s Fellow and research leader at UWA’s Oceans Institute.

With the carbon pricing scheme due to come into effect within weeks, Federal Minister Greg Combet offers an insight for West Australians on Australia’s Clean Energy Future and the economic benefits for the State. Minister Combet will outline the carbon price mechanism and discuss action being undertaken within the Asian region to develop a clean energy economy.

A leading climate change expert, Professor McCulloch’s research has helped to define and quantify the impact of climate change and human activity on our coral reefs.

This event is free and open to the public.

This talk will first discuss the thermal structure and hydrodynamics of Kranji Reservoir, a small and shallow tropical reservoir located in Singapore.

In particular, it highlights the dominant role of surface heat flux in lake heat budgets and diurnal thermal stratification. It also demonstrates the importance of tributary inflows and dam releases as a dominant component in water budget. Diurnal cycles of thermal stratification/destratification and substantial horizontal redistribution of heat were observed in Kranji Reservoir. To model the physics and water quality of Kranji Reservoir, we use the ELCOM-CAEDYM model, an integrated 3-D hydrodynamic-ecological model developed by the Centre for Water Research, University of Western Australia.

ELCOM-CAEDYM is a complex model and model calibration is often time consuming, since running on a single CPU core usually takes several hours or days to complete a simulation run. With cloud computing technologies, however, we managed to parallelize the execution of model simulations automatically on multiple computing nodes on a cloud platform and achieved significant speedup of the model simulations. We further carried out a global sensitivity analysis using Monte-Carlo method and identified the most influential CAEDYM model parameters. For more details, please refer to http://pdcc.ntu.edu.sg/camawq/.

Short bio of presenters: Dr Zikun Xing is currently a research fellow in School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His research interests include thermal structure and hydrodynamics of lakes and reservoirs, water quality modeling, etc. Cheng Liu is currently a research associate in School of Computer Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His areas of expertise include Peer-to-Peer Network, High-performance computing, Compiler, etc.

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

****All Welcome****

Speaker: Australian Laureate Fellow, Winthrop Professor Michael Tobar, Physics, The University of Western Australia.

Michael Tobar knows the importance of time. His cutting edge research involves measuring time to improve international clock technology as well as undertaking space research to test the fundamental rules of physics. In this presentation Professor Tobar will give an over view of this work along with his research with the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) mission on board the International space Station. This project will send the first ever laser-cooled atomic clock in space and will usher in a new era of precision timing in space. The Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space has the potential to revolutionise global positioning systems, navigation, geodesy and precision tests of physics such as Einstein’s theories of relativity and fundamental constants.

This lecture is an Inspiring Australia initiative presented by the Institute of Advanced Studies at The University of Western Australia and Scitech.

This public lecture is free but please reserve a seat by visiting http://www.trybooking.com/24149.

Early registration is suggested.

Nigel Helyer will discuss six recent projects, that focus upon the role of memory and site in establishing identity such as GhosTrain and three, including Vox on the Rox, that develop the concept of 'audio portraits' and sonic cartography into the arena of art and science. Nigel Helyer (a.k.a. Dr Sonique) is a Sculptor and Sound Artist with an international reputation for his large scale sonic installations, environmental sculpture works and new media projects. His practice is actively inter-disciplinary linking creative practice with scientific Research and Development.

www.sonicobjects.com

Winthrop Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Visual Arts, Simon Anderson invites interested members of the public to view an exhibition of architecture and landscape architecture students’ work from first semester this year. The display is a result of the studio projects undertaken by students enrolled in all years from first year to fifth year (including honours students). Works include drawings, plans, models and digital projections.

LIWA invites you to a free seminar on: "eResearch and the opportunities of applying digital technology in healthcare research" by Professor Jennifer Harrison from iVEC@UWA. Time: 12 noon for light lunch with 12.30pm – 1.30pm presentation

The 2012 Vincent Fairfax Oration on "Leadership" will be given by Gail Kelly, CEO and Managing Director Westpac Group.

Gail Kelly began her banking career in 1980, and by 2001 had held various senior management roles in a broad range of areas including retail and commercial banking, strategy, marketing and human resources. Gail has spent the last ten years as CEO of two Australian banks, St. George Bank from 2002 to 2007 and Westpac since 2008.

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.

Sir Vincent Fairfax was a leading member of the Australian business community. Sir Vincent believed that senior leadership roles brought responsibility in one’s business life and to the broader community and that ethical leadership should not be left to chance but be developed.

The Fairfax Oration is presented by The University of Western Australia and the Centre for Ethical Leadership, Melbourne Business School.

Cost: Free, however booking is essential. Book through the Octagon Theatre Box Office: (08) 6488 2440, Mon–Fri, 12.15pm–4.00pm.

In this lecture bioethicist Professor Louis Charland will examine medical highlights of the history of passion and emotion and then consider several arguments why the passions must be reinstated in Western psychiatry. The passions, it turns out, are not only central constituents of any adequate theory of long-term motivation, but also a precious example of why it is so important to resist the upward reductionist intellectualist pressures of our current, predominantly cognitive, psychiatric culture.

This lecture is presented by the Institute of Advanced Studies at UWA and the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotion.

Louis Charland is a Professor in the Department of Philosophy, a joint appointment with the Faculty of Health Sciences and a cross appointment in the Department of Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, at the University of Western Ontario. Professor Charland was previously a member of the Biomedical Ethics Unit and the Clinical Trials Research Group in the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University, Montreal. While at McGill, he taught in the Master’s Specialisation Program in Bioethics and served on the Research Ethics Board of the Douglas Psychiatric Hospital. Prior to this, he taught philosophy and bioethics at the University of Toronto, where he served as a Research Associate at the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics. He also worked as bioethicist at the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children.

Professor Charland has also worked as a research and program evaluation consultant for the Government of Ontario’s Premier’s Council on Health Strategy, a “think-tank” created to plan for the future of healthcare in Ontario.

This lecture is free, no RSVP required.

The 2012 George Seddon Lecture will be given by Winthrop Professor Klaus Regenauer-Lieb Director, The Western Australian Geothermal Centre of Excellence (WAGCOE).

Geothermal energy from hot sedimentary aquifers (HSA) is recognised by the International Energy Agency as amongst the most cost-effective low emissions energy source. Over the last three years the Western Australian Government together with an unincorporated partnership comprising CSIRO, UWA and Curtin University has made significant investment into the development of HSA technology and funded research undertaken by the Western Australian Geothermal Centre of Excellence.

Professor Regenauer-Lieb will present the outcomes of this research and showcase a number of novel technologies for the application of geothermal energy in not only electricity generation but also energy use displacement through ‘direct heat’ use applications.

The annual George Seddon Lecture is presented by the UWA Friends of the Grounds and the Institute of Advanced Studies.

This is a free public lecture, however seats are limited. Please RSVP your attendance to [email protected] or 6488 1340 by 22 June 2012.

*The lecture will be followed by an informal reception.

It is commonplace to purport that Islamic art is non-representational because of a religious ban on figurative expressions. Although this statement is far from being comprehensive or entirely true, the opposition to the figurative arts is a constant feature in the landscape of Islamic art throughout the centuries and this is one of the reasons why portraiture never fully develop as a specific genre. However, a few notable exceptions exist and they will be explored during the talk together with an introduction on the reputed religious ban and to which extent the figurative arts blossomed in a secular environment.



Stefano Carboni was appointed the 11th Director of the Art Gallery of Western Australia starting in October 2008. Previously he was Curator and Administrator in the Department of Islamic Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Visiting Professor at the Bard Graduate Center in New York. He joined the curatorial staff at the Metropolitan Museum in 1992 after completing his graduate studies in Arabic and in Islamic Art at the University of Venice and his Ph.D. in Islamic Art at the University of London. At the Metropolitan Museum he has been responsible for a large number of exhibitions, including the acclaimed Venice and the Islamic World, 828-1797 (2006-2007).

His publications include authoring and editing several exhibition catalogues, among which are Glass of the Sultans (2001); the prestigious Barr Award winner The Legacy of Genghis Khan. Courtly Arts and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353 (2002); and Venice and the Islamic World; another major publication is the catalogue of the Islamic glass collection in the National Museum of Kuwait (Glass from Islamic Lands. The Al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait National Museum, 2001).

He lectured widely in the museum and outside and taught courses in Islamic Art and Curatorial Studies on a regular basis at the Institute of Fine Arts (NYU), Hunter College (CUNY), and the Bard Graduate Center for the Decorative Arts in New York