What's On at UWA

SPICE Events are designed to expose high school science teachers to exciting new science by increasing interaction between teachers and researchers at UWA. They provide the opportunity for teachers to engage in current research and learn new ideas for the classroom, and usually contain a range of activities including hands-on lab sessions, field trips or presentations showcasing cutting-edge research. We expect the heightened engagement and interaction between teachers and tertiary scientists to have a significant impact upon the enthusiasm of teachers for science.

See website for dates and further details.

SPICE Events are designed to expose high school science teachers to exciting new science by increasing interaction between teachers and researchers at UWA. They provide the opportunity for teachers to engage in current research and learn new ideas for the classroom, and usually contain a range of activities including hands-on lab sessions, field trips or presentations showcasing cutting-edge research. We expect the heightened engagement and interaction between teachers and tertiary scientists to have a significant impact upon the enthusiasm of teachers for science.

See website for dates and further details.

In my paper I will present the exhibition "jenseits des menschen, beyond humans" I curated in 2010 for the Berlin Medical History Museum of the Charité, putting new works by the Berlin based artist Reiner Maria Matysik as part of the Interventions series on show, which was initiated in 2009 by the Museum to offer contemporary art a space for experiment and to promote dialogue between the arts and the sciences. "jenseits des menschen" was the result of the productive collaboration of two Berlin science institutions: the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Charité's Medical History Museum. The pathological specimens collection of the renowned physician Rudolf Virchow and the ruin of his lecture hall were the points of departure for this artistic interrogation of medical science's image of man, which the museum's permanent exhibition "On the Trace of Life" charts in the history of medicine from the eighteenth century to the present day. In contrast to the museum's view of man which is historical, the intervention by Reiner Maria Matysik turned toward future evolutionary designs for humans in a human-made biotechnological future. His work became well known particularly through his models of post-evolutionary organisms, which are situated between Matysik's vision of "active" evolution, that is, evolution controlled by humans, and the future forms of living "biological sculptures" created by the artist.

The artist's motivation in creating these prototypes of future organisms stems from his conviction that the rapid advances in modern molecular biology and genetic engineering will have dramatic consequences for the process of biological evolution, as well as for art, that can hardly be assessed at present. The exhibition "jenseits des menschen" brought together three aspects of Reiner Maria Matysik's multi-layered oeuvre in a new synthesis. From his extensive series of post-evolutionary organisms three exhibits were selected for a very distinctive space, the museum's lecture hall ruin; they were suspended from the roof on steel cables and hang above the heads of visitors. In the second area of the exhibition the artist focused on the future of human evolution and for the first time worked with modelling wax. In the third section Matysik saw new ground: with the support of the Deutsches Institut für Zell- und Gewebeersatz and using the techniques of tissue engineering, the artist created for the first time a "living sculpture" from his own cells, which was exhibited in the museum as a specimen.

Ingeborg Reichle, born 1970, studied art history, archaeology, sociology, and philosophy in Freiburg i. Br., London, and Hamburg, working toward her 2004 Ph.D. dissertation on "Kunst aus dem Labor. Zum Verhältnis von Kunst und Wissenschaft im Zeitalter der Technoscience". Between 1998-2005 she held a research position at the Art History Institute, Humboldt University Berlin and the Hermann von Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik and between 2005-2008 a research position at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences in the interdisciplinary working group "Die Welt als Bild". Since 2008 she has been the scientific coordinator of the interdisciplinary working group "Bildkulturen". For over 10 years she has guest lectured at various international institutions including the School of Visual Arts, New York, the Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, and the Life-Science Lab, DeutschesKrebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg; 2007 guest professor at the Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.Publications (selection): Kunst aus dem Labor. Zum Verhältnis von Kunst und Wissenschaft im Zeitalter der Technoscience (2005), Verwandte Bilder. Die Fragen der Bildwissenschaft (2007, ed. with S.Siegel and A. Spelten), Visuelle Modelle (2008, ed. with S. Siegel and A. Spelten), Maßlose Bilder. Visuelle Ästhetik der Transgression (2009, ed. with S. Siegel), Art in the Age of Technoscience. Genetic Engineering, Robotics, and Artificial Life in Contemporary Art (2009), Atlas der Weltbilder (2011, ed. with Christoph Markschies, Peter Deuflhard, and Jochen Brüning). In 2010 she curated the exhibition "jenseits des menschen - beyond humans" for the Berlin Medical History Museum of the Charité.

The PICSE Science Investigation Awards (SIA) are an opportunity for Year 8, 9 and 10 students to investigate a topic and hypothesis of their OWN CHOICE to find out answers with a hands-on and fun approach to science. Winning investigations receive cash prizes of up to $500.

Simply pick a topic that interests you, pose a hypothesis, carry out experiments and work towards answering your question using scientific methodology (it’s really like Myth Busters!).

You then present your findings as a poster (presentation board) and report. These are entered into the awards at your school. The top three investigations from each year group entered from your school will then be selected to attend the PICSE UWA Science Investigation Awards at UWA. These investigations will then be judged by scientists and industry representatives.

The Science Investigation Awards are open to any student in years 8, 9 and 10 from any school in the Great Southern and Perth Metropolitan areas of Western Australia. Schools need to contact PICSE UWA and submit their Expression of Interest details (see website).

Return forms to Belinda Pope ([email protected]) by April 27th 2012 to enter.

Teachers can also get involved by attending the Science Investigation Awards Teacher PD.

The dynamic inventor of the vaccine Nanopatch, Prof. Mark Kendall, will talk about the development and enormous potential of this revolutionary technology for vaccine delivery. You can also explore the Incredible Inner Space exhibition, which includes an amazing microscope image of the Nanopatch.

The Australian Microscopy & Microanalysis Research Facility is proud to present this public lecture and exhibition as part of the joint Australian Conference on Microscopy & Microanalysis, Asia-Pacific Microscopy Conference and the 2012 International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.

Where: the Riverview Lecture Room at the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre When: 6.00–7.30pm 6th Feb 2012.

It is free and booking is not required

A Public Lecture by Dr Nina Fedoroff, Distinguished Professor, King Abdullah University of Science & Technology and Evan Pugh Professor, Penn State University.

The climate is warming. Water tables are falling around the world. Biodiversity is under ever-increasing pressure. The amount of arable land hasn’t changed in more than half a century - yet the human population continues to grow. Food prices remain near all-time highs.

How do we double the food supply while decreasing the ecological and water footprints of our agriculture? This is perhaps the most profound challenge of the 21st century. In this free public lecture, Dr Nina Fedoroff will discuss these challenges.

Nina V. Fedoroff received her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the Rockefeller University, and has served on the faculties of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, the Johns Hopkins University and the Pennsylvania State University, where she was the Director of the Biotechnology Institute and the founding Director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.

Dr Fedoroff was a recipient of the 2006 National Medal of Science, the highest honor awarded to US scientists. She served as the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State and to the Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) from 2007 to 2010. She is also President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

This lecture is co-sponsored by The UWA Institute of Agriculture and the Institute of Advanced Studies.

Cost: Free, no RSVP required.

The Australian Brain Bee Challenge (ABBC) motivates young people to learn about the brain – and has been created to inspire students to pursue careers in neuroscience research.

As Australia’s only neuroscience competition for high school students, the ABBC is an event that will have you expanding your hemispheres!

The Brain Bee Challenge is a test of knowledge about important facts concerning intelligence, memory, emotions, sensations, movement, stress, aging, sleep, Alzheimer’s disease and stroke.

SPICE Events are designed to expose high school science teachers to exciting new science by increasing interaction between teachers and researchers at UWA. They provide the opportunity for teachers to engage in current research and learn new ideas for the classroom, and usually contain a range of activities including hands-on lab sessions, field trips or presentations showcasing cutting-edge research. We expect the heightened engagement and interaction between teachers and tertiary scientists to have a significant impact upon the enthusiasm of teachers for science.

See website for dates and further details.

SPICE Events are designed to expose high school science teachers to exciting new science by increasing interaction between teachers and researchers at UWA. They provide the opportunity for teachers to engage in current research and learn new ideas for the classroom, and usually contain a range of activities including hands-on lab sessions, field trips or presentations showcasing cutting-edge research. We expect the heightened engagement and interaction between teachers and tertiary scientists to have a significant impact upon the enthusiasm of teachers for science.

See website for dates and further details.

A event run in the July school holidays for prospective UWA students. Dates and program yet to be confirmed.

Campus Challenge aims to provide high school students with the opportunity to experience different aspects of university life through participation in academic, sporting, recreational and social activities on campus at The University of Western Australia.

The main objective of the camp is to enable students to make vital decisions about their future tertiary education by exposing them to all aspects of university life.

Behind the scenes at Tokyo's Sony ExploraScience interactive science museum - a summer of science performances, blogging, media releases and workshop planning

The Seminar: A large body of work has been produced in the laboratory of Prof. Newsholme detailing the importance of amino acids to insulin secretion. While long-term exposure to high glucose induces oxidative stress in beta cells, conflicting results have been published regarding the impact of ROS on acute glucose exposure and their role in GSIS. Although beta cells are considered to be particularly vulnerable to oxidative damage, as they express relatively low levels of some peroxide-metabolizing enzymes such as catalase and glutathione peroxidase, other less known glutathione-based antioxidant systems are expressed in beta cells at higher levels. Specific interactions between RNS and ROS may be the cause of the vulnerability of pancreatic beta-cells to oxidative damage. While this presentation will provide background information as to the importance of metabolic integration of nutritional and endocrine signals in the beta cell for insulin secretion, the emerging role of amino acid availability for glutathione synthesis and for the maintenance of beta cell function and viability during periods of metabolic disturbance will be described.

The Speaker: Prof. Philip Newsholme was educated at the University of Birmingham and University of Oxford, UK. He then was involved in Postdoctoral training at the Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Davis, CA, USA and Department of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, UK under the supervision of Prof Donal Walsh and Prof Nick Hales, respectively. Philip Newsholme moved to University College Dublin, Ireland in 1993 to take up a lectureship in Biochemistry and where he set up a research team investigating nutrient, endocrine and immune regulation of insulin secretion and also metabolic adaptions to exercise in healthy and diabetic individuals. This area of research is critical to understanding the pathophysiology of Type-2 diabetes. Philip was promoted to the position of Associate Professor of Metabolic Science in 2007 and was appointed to the Position of Head of Biochemistry in UCD Dublin in September 2008. Philip Newsholme moved to take up the position of Professor and Head of School, Biomedical Sciences, Curtin University, Perth WA, in September 2011. He also collaborates with colleagues in industry via Food for Health Ireland (FHI) and also collaborates with scientists in AstraZeneca (Manchester, UK). Prof. Newsholme is hoping to develop collaborations with companies in Australia, working in the areas of metabolic health and nutrition.

A public lecture by Robert J Glennon, The Morris K. Udall Professor of Law and Public Policy, Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona.

Australia and the United States are both facing a water crisis. Recent and severe droughts, especially in Western Australia and in Texas, have demanded an unprecedented response from governments and water users. Excessive groundwater pumping has lowered the water table in many aquifers as current uses are simply unsustainable. The economic costs to farmers and industry have been immense: fields fallowed, jobs lost, and projects cancelled. In both countries, there is a profound disconnect between supply and demand.

Using the National Water Commission’s September 2011 biennial report on the implementation of the National Water Initiative as a reference, this talk will offer a comparative look at how the United States is responding to the water crisis. The US has embarked on major reforms at the same time as it has pursued surreal “solutions,” including weather modification, and smugly assumed that business-as-usual will suffice.

Australia and the US share a need for more energy, but it takes a lot of water to produce energy and, conversely, a lot of energy to pump, treat, move and deliver water. Western Australia has made a major push to desalinate ocean water as has the US, but desalination is not a cure-all for the water crisis.

Glennon argues that neither the US nor Australia can engineer its way out of the problem with the usual fixes or zany—but very real—schemes. Both countries must make hard choices and Glennon’s answer is a provocative market-based system that values water as a commodity and a fundamental human right.

Professor Glennon serves as Water Policy Advisor to Pima County, Arizona; as a member of American Rivers’ Science and Technical Advisory Committee; and as a commentator and analyst for various television and radio programs as well as print and online media. His current book Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What To Do About It (2009, Island Press), provides both a frightening and wickedly funny account of the tragedy—and irony—of water in America. In 2010, the Society of Environmental Journalists awarded it the Rachel Carson Book Award for Reporting on the Environment and Trout magazine gave it an Honorable Mention in its list of Must-Have Books published on the environment. 'Unquenchable' will be available for sale at the lecture.

Cost: Free, no RSVP required.

Ocean disasters of the last decade have brought to public awareness the significant consequences and threat to life on earth posed by tsunamis, climate change and industry accidents. In this public lecture, three expert commentators will offer their expertise on the future of disaster management in our ocean:

**Larry Madin: “Scientific response to BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill: lessons learned” - Dr Laurence Madin, Vice President and Director for Research at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA, will speak on the ongoing impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil discharge into the Gulf of Mexico, and possible solutions to the disaster. “While the Gulf spill has shocked and horrified us all, it also has energised the research community to understand the effects and find ways to minimise current and future impacts,” says Dr Madin.

**Robert Nicholls: “The role of science in managing the risks of coastal flooding” - Professor Robert Nicholls is an internationally renowned expert on sea-level rise based at the University of Southampton in England. His main research interests are long-term coastal engineering and management, especially the issues of coastal impacts and adaptation to climate change, with an emphasis on sea-level rise.

**Charitha Pattiaratchi: “History, successes and regrets of Tsunami alert systems” - Winthrop Professor Charitha Pattiaratchi is the Australian Coordinator of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System, and a Professor of Coastal Oceanography at The UWA Oceans Institute and School of Environmental Systems Engineering. His research interests are in coastal physical oceanography and coastal sediment transport, with emphasis on field experiments and numerical modelling.

This public lecture is presented by the Institute of Advanced Studies and the Oceans Institute at UWA.

Prof. O’Brien gives an illustrated talk linking together his careers of being Professor of Space Science in the USA during the Apollo era in the 1960s, the first Director of Environmental Protection and first Chairman of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in WA 1971 -1977, and his strategic and environmental consultancy 1978 to date with his return to academic circles and recent discoveries about inescapable lunar dust, “the Number 1 environmental problem” on the surface of the Moon for humans and robotic expeditions. He lectured the astronaut class of 1964 that contained many Apollo astronauts including Buzz Aldrin. He is Principal Investigator for 4 Dust Detector Experiments and a Charged Particle Lunar Environment Experiment, left on the Moon to make measurements of the environment of the Moon at Apollo 11, 12, 14 and 15 sites. Global awareness of the environment and the fragility of “Spaceship Earth” was fostered by Apollo photos of the blue and white planet in the blackness of space. Many details of drama, humour, tragedy, global and personal excitement are presented for discussion and questions. For example, Brian was in Mission Control in Houston for the extraordinary human drama of trying to save the Apollo 13 astronauts lost in space.

The aim of this research is to examine Australian and Malawian students' connections between scientific and cultural knowledge through a story box activity and the production of short films.A total of 39 films were produced by students from Years 7-10 from a regional Aboriginal student group, a multicultural Perth group and a group in Malawi. This presentation will showcase student films, data on student perceptions of scientific and cultural knowledge and evidence on the impact on students of producing and viewing films that connect science and culture.

Round 1 (Online Quiz): During Brain Awareness Week 12-18 March 2012 and the following week 19-23 March 2012 - see website register and for further details.

The Australian Brain Bee Challenge (ABBC) motivates young people to learn about the brain – and has been created to inspire students to pursue careers in neuroscience research.

As Australia’s only neuroscience competition for high school students, the ABBC is an event that will have you expanding your hemispheres!

The Brain Bee Challenge is a test of knowledge about important facts concerning intelligence, memory, emotions, sensations, movement, stress, aging, sleep, Alzheimer’s disease and stroke.

Join Dr Bob Muir from ChemCentre as he blows apart the myth that chemists spend all their time in the lab wearing white coats and ignoring the outside world.

COST: The Bayliss Youth Lecture is free but bookings are essential and places are limited.

BOOKINGS: To book, visit http://bayliss2012.eventbrite.com.au

The Royal Australian Chemical Institute Inc (WA Branch) established the Bayliss Youth Lecture series to pay tribute to the late Eminent Professor Sir Noel Bayliss, Kt, CBE, FAA, FRACI for his contribution to chemistry and education, his encouragement of young students to study chemistry.

Future dates for the Bayliss Youth Lecture 2012 will be announced shortly (including schools and regional venues). Any enquiries or venue suggestions should be directed to Associate Professor Simon Lewis at [email protected].

*(to the tune of ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’)

Fire stick farming of hunter-gathers preceded the development of agriculture. Fire continues to be a major land management technique and contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. In the last two decades satellites have provided at regional and global scales unprecedented amounts of data on active fires and burnt areas. Most anthropomorphic in origin, some from lightening.

Dr Richard Smith will present data on the satellite monitoring of fire in the agricultural areas of southern Australia, the Tropical Savannas of northern Australia and the Tropical Rainforests of Indonesia. He will discuss their application to the abatement of greenhouse gas emissions.

Bio 1961-present:

BSc (Agric) London University, Dip. Agricultural Economics (Oxford), PhD (Agronomy) UWA. Farm Management Consultant (Broomehill, WA), Senior Lecturer Agronomy (University of New England. NSW), Irrigation Research leader (CSIRO, Griffith, NSW), Research Associate Remote Sensing (NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre), Manager Satellite Remote Sensing Services, WA Government.

In retirement Rottnest Volunteer Guide and with the Floreat Uniting Church, Community and Economic Development of the Mowanjum Aboriginal Community, near Derby.



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

****All Welcome****

I present an overview of some results from Australian national surveys of public beliefs about climate change, and other studies of some of the social processes underlying the public's understanding of climate change. I argue for the general views that beliefs about climate change are socially and psychologically motivated, that people systematically distort what they think other people think about climate change, and that 'environmental' behaviours are motivated as much by non-environmental factors as by environmental ones. These conclusions describe a difficult situation in which to communicate climate change science.