Marine ecologists have revealed mangroves might be threatened by a limited number of crustaceans, molluscs and other invertebrates for each ecological role.
The international study found that low functional redundancy, or number of species performing similar roles in mangrove forests, suggests even a modest loss of invertebrates could have significant consequences.
Professor Shing Yip Lee from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Adjunct at Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University
“Mangrove forests have been disappearing at alarming rates worldwide,” said Professor Shing Yip Lee from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Adjunct at Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University.
“The ecological functions and services they provide depend upon the relationships between their individual plant and animal components.
“There is no viable mangrove forest without a healthy community of invertebrates sustaining it.”
Although mangrove ecosystems support a broad range of specialised invertebrates, little is known about the effect of deforestation and human impact on the functional diversity and resilience of these resident fauna.
To address this question, the team compiled a dataset of 209 crustacean and 155 mollusc species from 16 mangrove forests around the world. They found that mangroves, when compared with other ecosystems, are among those with the lowest the number of animals serving same ecological role.
“A high functional redundancy is a sort of ‘ecological insurance’ for a given forest, since if one species is lost, another can fulfil its function, ultimately keeping the ecosystem viable,” Professor Lee said.
“The low redundancy of the mangrove invertebrates suggests that these coastal vegetations are one of the most precarious ecosystems in the world in the face of the recent anthropogenic changes.”
The authors classified the species into 64 functional groups based on feeding habits, behavioural traits, and micro-habitat.
More than 60% of the sites tested showed no functional redundancy, meaning only one species filled each particular functional niche.
From left, Australian Rivers Institute’s Dr Jan Warnken, HDR student Ms Shafagh Kamal and Professor Shing Yip Lee
“Even a modest loss of invertebrate diversity could have significant consequences for mangrove functionality and resilience because invertebrates in a mangrove forest are crucial for nutrient cycling and for providing oxygen to the tree roots, Professor Lee said.
“Without local invertebrate fauna, mangrove forests will not be able to function, robbing humanity of their many beneficial services. For this reason, a few small mangrove patches with a higher number of invertebrates filling each ecological niche, such as those in Hong Kong and Mozambique, may serve as critical biodiversity reservoirs critical for future conservation efforts.”
Studying the functional diversity of the resident animal populations is crucial for determining the vulnerability of mangrove forests to environmental change and for designing effective conservation and restoration plans.
“At present, the health and resilience of mangrove forests around the world are assessed through their overall increase in area. But this approach doesn’t consider the real viability and functionality of those forests.
“Our findings suggest that faunal functional diversity may be a better measure of mangrove resilience than the conventional indicator of forest size.
“Mangrove management and rehabilitation projects need to take into account not just the increase in size of a mangrove, but also the stability and redundancy of its faunal component.”
Professor Carolyn Evans, Vice Chancellor and President, Griffith University
At Griffith University we recognise the critical role that universities play in achieving the sustainable development goals in line with Griffith’s objective to create a brighter future for all. We embed the sustainable development goals in all we do in teaching, research, engagement, and beyond the goals, align with our deeply held values around First People’s recognition, environmental responsibility, diversity and inclusion and social justice.
Through this series I’ll explore some of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals with Griffith experts and partners, we’ll examine what each of the goals is about what must be done to address them and how we can learn from the work on these goals already being carried out around the world.
Professor Evans
For our first video, we’ll discuss Sustainable Development Goal 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. With me today to discuss this topic are Professors Sue Harris Rimmer and Professor AJ Brown. Professor Rimmer is an expert on human rights law and the Director of Griffith’s Policy Innovation Hub, co-convener of the Griffith Gender Equality Research Network and leader of the Climate Justice theme in our Climate Action Beacon. Professor Brown leads the Public Integrity and Anti-corruption Research Program in our Centre for Governance and Public Policy and is an expert on Whistle blower protection he’s also a global board member of the world anti-corruption organisation Transparency International. Sue Harris Rimmer, AJ Brown welcome.
So, can you start Sustainability Development Goal 16, what are some of the key elements in that as far as your work is concerned?
Professor Susan Harris Rimmer
I mean all the Sustainable Development Goals are very interlinked but I feel like this one is the underpinning goal for them all because the ability to sustain human thriving is very much dependent on a state of peace. And we have found that out through the pandemic too, that you need this underlying stability in which to thrive. So Goal 16, the first target is to prevent violent deaths through conflict so this is a what you might say is the heart of the United Nations is to prevent war and to stop armed conflict and to stop those armed conflicts that breach the humanitarian laws I suppose, so that’s the first goal is very important to my work on international humanitarian law the laws of armed conflict and transitional justice to stop cycles of violence that lead to violent deaths, particularly civilians. And then the second goal which is also very important to me which is about ending the abuse and trafficking of children across borders which is also a theme in the Security Council. Then the third one which is very important to us all of course, is about responsive and inclusive decision making. We’ve seen how that’s panned out in the pandemic that you need institutions that have, I guess, enough of care of the body politic that they represent those people so they can make good decisions on their behalf and where you don’t get that kind of inclusive representative governance, you get policies that don’t value citizenship. So these they’re the three elements of the of this Goal that I’m most interested in but I do see it as underpinning human thriving generally.
Professor Evans
Indeed. And AJ, you particularly work on strong institutions so what does this goal have to say in terms of your work?
Professor AJ Brown
Well I mean as you said it is an underpinning goal because it’s the second last goal out of all of the global Sustainable Development Goals, the last one is partnerships and collaboration between sectors and institutions and countries and regions, but all of the goals and the partnerships all rely on peace, security, stability, and strong institutions. So it’s about sustainability in terms of safety and security at an individual level within communities in terms of crime and protecting human rights and safety of women, children, any vulnerable community but all of that hinges upon having good governance systems. And so the targets for Sustainable Development Goal 16 that really relate to that range from everything from inclusive participatory institutions to protection of the rule of law, through to fighting bribery and corruption, stopping not just trafficking of people but stopping trafficking of money because actually the undermining of governments around the world that is most corrosive very often is brought about through bribery, through corruption, through loss of revenue through crime. It’s actually a really tough Sustainable Development Goal because everything else sounds wonderful and everything else should, in theory, be easy to work on. In theory, it’s not but in theory whereas Sustainable Development Goal 16 because it’s about stopping war, stopping conflict, intervening or finding ways to defuse political conflict around the world and actually fighting crime including leaders who are stealing from their own people. It’s highly political and sort of highly fraught and therefore in many ways it’s not only underpinning but in many ways it’s one of the most challenging of all the goals.
Professor Evans
And AJ, when you think about the point in time we’re at now at and look around the world, what are some of the big issues that where Sustainable Development Goal 16 might make a difference or might be relevant?
Professor Brown
Well I think twenty or thirty years ago we were hoping for a world in which peace and justice would just prevail, you know, there was sort of a magnificent consensus around liberal democracies triumphing and war going away, and of course, not everybody believed that and we see a world that’s very fragmented, very fractious, very conflict ridden, so there’s enormous reasons why worrying about peace and security around the world is really big issue. And we live it in a time when multilateralism generally, has been weakening, so the ability of people to collaborate, to address some of those big peace and security issues is really, by no means guaranteed. It hangs in the balance. But we also see such an enormous divide range right across the world of countries from highly corrupt regimes through to regimes that may not be corrupted in and of themselves, but which are facilitating international money flows that enable international crime to occur. And many develop advanced democracies are complicit in those international systems. So it’s really like we’re finally waking up to the fact that we do live in one world that it’s an international system that we live in, that you can’t just isolate these things in individual countries and say one country is really clean and the other country is really dirty, because everybody’s actually involved in this sort of these networked problems.
Professor Evans
And so I’m sure you’d agree that that we do live in the one world and that a problem anywhere has repercussions everywhere but what are some of the big issues that you’re seeing at the moment that are relevant to Goal 16?
Professor Harris Rimmer
The U.N. Secretary General tried to call on all U.N. member states to actually declare a moratorium during the pandemic. So this was this ambitious idea that while the world is facing a global pandemic is not the time for armed conflict, can we pause surely a pandemic will stop some of these conflict situations from escalating and that I’m afraid didn’t happen in Tigray and Syria and Myanmar and other places, Afghanistan. So what you also saw during this period where the U.N. was trying very hard for states to step up was we saw humanitarian responses having to be reframed because suddenly there wasn’t the ability to access places. What does a refugee camp look like during COVID-19? How do you evacuate people without causing them further risk of infection? Incredibly complicated issues for humanitarian access and safe corridors so that’s been a mind-blowing challenge for the humanitarian community, so I’ve been very focused on how people are transversing that and I’ve also been very interested in this idea of the pandemic itself creating conflict in the sense of vaccine diplomacy and that exacerbation of inequality in and between countries that’s been really highlighted as a result of COVID. But, at the same time, we’ve got to start thinking this was a non-traditional security threat so we’re thinking about the ability of our security organizations around the world including the Security Council at the U.N., to really deal with non-traditional security threats. They’ve been so focused on terrorism, but actually, it was a pandemic that’s caused the most damage to most countries. So you know where is the actual risk to our security coming from? Maybe we have a very narrow idea of even in this Goal, very focused on conflict deaths whereas in my work would say actually I think intermittent partner violence is what we call ‘the shadow pandemic’ is as important as narrow definitions of armed conflict. But the other issue, this is the first year ever the security council has been thinking about climate change as a security risk. Now that’s a bit slow if you ask me, and if you think about the pandemic as also being a symptom of zoonotic diseases be exacerbated by climate change and human wildlife interactions they’re the kinds of debates we need our security institutions to be having. So I’ve been thinking about that very hard and as yet I do not have the solution.
Professor Evans
But I think that’s the way we’ve got to travel. Well, we won’t necessarily be able to come to all the solutions in our short chat today but, I think it’s important that we focus on where progress has been made too. We can spend a lot of time and we should spend a lot of time thinking about the problems and the complexities which you both outlined beautifully here, but where have we seen some good examples where countries or institutions or international organizations have made progress at AJ?
Professor Brown
Well it’s interesting there are elements of the sort of the ‘building back better’ concept which at an international level you can see both international institutions and national governments following through on. It’s very tough and it’s going to take much longer, but they’re following through on it with the work that I do with Transparency International and I’ve had the privilege of having a fair bit to do with the leadership of T.I.’s next strategy for fighting corruption for the next 10 years. What’s very clear is that there’s a lot of leadership and support from international financial institutions the International Monetary Fund has had a project going which civil society has been part of throughout the pandemic called tracking the trillions because Goldman Sachs has sort of estimated that the total cost of fiscal stimulus for the world to fight COVID economically in 2020 was about six trillion dollars and the total cost of corruption in terms of theft, bribery, income loss through bribery around the world as estimated by the World Economic Forum to be about five trillion dollars. So if we if we successfully clamp down on corruption we would actually have been able to pay for the economic response to the pandemic. It would give us that sort of resilience but I was quite amazed that as people were blowing the whistle on the problems to do with the pandemic right back at the beginning, that people recognize the value of individuals who step up from within institutions to point to the breakdown of or slow responses in what governments or other agencies are doing. Everywhere from China with the late Dr Liang who was vindicated by the Chinese authorities when he was mistreated for having tried to sound the alarm very quickly and the Chinese government have more or less said no actually he did the right thing, he was a hero. Through to our own domestic response when hotel quarantine has gone a bit dodgy and we can extrapolate from hotel quarantine in the pandemic to a million other problems even after the pandemic, to the things that should worry us about keeping government honest and performing well. People can worry about the bureaucracy but it just takes one person to put up their hand and say no hang on a minute, we’ve got a problem here and suddenly governments move and things change. So there is, I think hope, in the context of the pandemic but more broadly to see when things get really tough when we’re really focused on people’s well-being on a crisis situation suddenly the things that really matter leap out at people and that includes the ability of people to speak up and the need for institutions to respond quickly, fairly, equitably, spend their money wisely and get the job done quickly. So there are lessons from this period of history I think for being able to achieve peace justice and stronger institutions.
Professor Evans
That’s wonderful and I suppose also that we need courageous individuals, but we also need strong institutions. That the two are required at the same time and good researchers working and excellent with the strong institutions and the courageous individuals indeed or what gives you cause for optimism Sue?
Professor Harris Rimmer
Well absolutely. I think as a result of the pandemic you have people aren’t really understanding the value of good governance to their lives and the very valuable work public services do around the world. But for me, that the I suppose the shining light is this idea that prevention is so important. So pandemics have been a risk in every risk analysis I’ve seen from every government and every multilateral institution for decades but our business continuity planning, our strategies, were not developed, not scenario planned in the way that we do for war, for example, so I’m hoping now there’s this much stronger level of granularity around our planning around non-traditional threats and the value of prevention. So I’ve seen that come through from the current U.N. system very much focused on complex conflict prevention work, on preparedness on you know, this rules based order idea, needing rehearsal, needing scenario planning. We saw the U.S. come out with a really major conflict prevention strategy for the first time, so these are these for me are elements of hope that we will shift our international system from being reactive to being preventative, into seeing human security as the goal rather than much more limited traditional national security.
Professor Evans
So lots of causes for optimism, lots of individuals and institutions that have made a good contribution but also, a very long way to go before the aspirations of Sustainable Development Goal number 16 are met. Sue Harris Rimmer, AJ Brown. Thank you very much.
Carolyn graduated with degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Melbourne and a doctorate from Oxford where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Carolyn taught law at Oxford and Melbourne Universities. Prior to commencing at Griffith, Carolyn held the positions of Dean of Law, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Graduate and International) at the University of Melbourne. Carolyn works in the areas of law and religion and human rights and was awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholarship in 2010 to work on comparative religious freedom.
In 2019, Carolyn was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and became a member of the organisation, Chief Executive Women. In 2019, she became Chair of the Innovative Research Universities group.
Professor A J Brown is leader of the Centre for Governance & Public Policy’s public integrity and anti-corruption research program, and professor of public policy and law in the School of Government & International Relations.
A 25-year veteran of developments in Australia’s integrity systems, since 2010 he has been a boardmember of Transparency International Australia, the world anti-corruption organisation, and in 2017 and again in 2020 was elected to Transparency International’s global board, where he led the development of its worldwide strategy ‘Holding Power to Account, 2021-2030’. Since 2005 he has led six Australian Research Council projects into public integrity and governance reform, including two establishing the Australian Constitutional Values Survey, three into public interest whistleblowing, and the 2020 Australian Research Council Linkage Project report, ‘Australia’s National Integrity System: The Blueprint for Reform’. In 2012, his biography of Michael Kirby: Paradoxes & Principles was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award, Walkley Book Award and National Biography Award.
He was the 2017-18 President of the Australian Political Studies Association, and a member of the Commonwealth Ministerial Expert Advisory Panel on Whistleblower Protection (2017-2019). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.
Professor Susan Harris Rimmer is the Director of the Griffith University Policy Innovation Hub. She was previously the Deputy Head of School (Research) in the Griffith Law School and prior to joining Griffith was the Director of Studies at the ANU Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy.
With Professor Sara Davies, Susan is co-convenor of the Griffith Gender Equality Research Network. Sue also leads the Climate Justice theme of the new Griffith Climate Action Beacon.
Susan is the 2021 winner of the Fulbright Scholarship in Australian-United States Alliance Studies and will be hosted by Georgetown University in Washington DC.
Following the success of last year’s virtual Open House campaign, Griffith University is offering both an in-person Open Day event this year and a six week online Open House event, encouraging prospective students to try one or even both modes.
First year Biomedical science studentShirinahSharif saidGriffith’s 2020 Virtual Open House event was pivotal in her decision-making process last year.
“Although I couldn’t explore Griffith’s medical facilities in person, attending Griffith’s Virtual Open House answered all my questions and really helped me to sort out everything I needed to do smoothly,” she said.
“I wasn’t sure how the Virtual Open House would work, since I always thought that these things were better in person, but it actually worked quite well.
“All sessions were recorded and available for a bit of time after the live session in case I couldn’t make it to one, and it really helped flesh out what I wanted to do.”
“I was able to avoid topics that weren’t relevant tome, andpick and choose the topics I was interested in, like — how to apply for a scholarship,GriffithLIVEHealth webinars, and I also checked out the FAQ for medical students to get a better idea of my future pathway.
“It helped me pick Griffith as my university of choice. I knew what my journey to medicine would look like, and I knew what steps I’d have to take to get to my end goal.”
Shirinah’sTopThree Tips for thoseattending virtualOpen House events:
Plan out your schedule
Don’t be afraid to ask questions
Make the most of the resources provided.
Griffith’s Virtual Open House event runs from Monday 12 July toFriday20 August, while in person Open Days will be held on Sunday8 August atGold Coast, South Bank and Nathan campuses.
“The pandemic led to a host of innovations, including within the university sector and we had such incredible feedback about the opportunities offered by our Virtual Open House event last year that we decided it was the perfect complement to this year’s on campus Open Day,”Griffith Vice Chancellor and President, Professor Carolyn Evans said.
“Witha choice of options, you’ll be able to accessexpert advice on your study options, your way.
“At both events, you’ll findinformation about our degrees, as well as essential details on student support services, admission pathways, applying to study and scholarships.
“If you’re looking to study, get a taste of life at Griffith, see our campuses and facilities, join in-person and online information sessions, and chat with our study adviserseither online or in person.”
Watch the following video to get a taste of what’s on offer at Griffith for prospective students:
Griffith University dental students are providing free clinics for people experiencing homelessness and high school students with limited access to regular oral health care.
Gold Coast based fifth-year Master of Dentistry student Ryan Kungl founded the Clinics For Communities program after learning how hard it was for people experiencing homelessness that required emergency dental treatment.
“Unfortunately, large oral health disparities exist in Australia and worldwide,” Ryan said.
A group of Griffith dental students after one of the clinics for people experiencing homelessness.
“Through discussions with local people who are experiencing homelessness and homeless service provider partners, I identified a need for emergency clinics for patients without access to the public dental system.
“Our goal is to continue to educate people experiencing homelessness on their eligibility for free essential dental care through outreach, while concurrently providing emergency dental clinics.”
Clinics For Communities is a collaborative effort between Griffith dental and social work students and staff, and local homeless service provider partners.
Much of the work includes emergency dental treatments such as removing unsalvageable teeth, performing the first step of a root canal therapy or filling large cavities.
“It is extremely important to help anyone, particularly those less fortunate, alleviate dental pain so they can carry on improving their lives with one less setback,” Ryan said.
“As dentists, it is our privilege to form close relationships with our patients and have a dramatic and positive influence on their wellbeing and quality of life.”
Ryan has previously provided outreach work in Uganda, assisting with dental hygiene education and treatments for more than 1000 children in the African country.
Meanwhile Olan Hartley, who is also studying a Master of Dentistry, runs Esesson Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation providing free dental care for high school children in South East Queensland.
Dentistry students also volunteered to help children in need access dental care.
These children are identified as being on extended waitlists or attending special needs schools that have limited access to regular oral health care.
Many are refugees, special needs children or children from low socio-economic backgrounds.
“Our goal is to make sure the children that are part of our program receive timely, quality and comprehensive care,” Olan said.
“We believe if we can establish good habits and address dental concerns prior to adulthood, we will cause a ripple effect into the future for the children’s quality of life.”
This year, Esesson Foundation, led by Griffith alumnus and CEO Dr Ajitha Naidu Sugnanam, has managed the Free Dental Care for Underprivileged Children program.
“We have clinic days at private community practices on a minimum of once a month, with the aim of treating 100 children comprehensively in 2021,” Olan said.
The practices include Emotive Smiles Dental at Jindalee, Mint Dental at Mudgeeraba and Harbour Town Dental at Biggera Waters.
Olan said the initiative would not have been possible without the assistance of Griffith dental students giving their time to provide oral hygiene instruction and preventative education, clinically assisting in surgery and keeping children engaged with activities while they wait for treatment.
“So far, we have managed to provide a very positive first dental experience for many of these children,” she said.
“Griffith dental students generously volunteer their time to support clinical days and volunteer dentists provide hundreds of hours doing treatments ranging from emergency care, restorations, to root canals.”
Griffith University Cultural Sensitivity Warning: The following profiles and announcement may contain images, and the name of a deceased persons essential to service and engagement. Students, Staff and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community are warned that there may be words and descriptions that may be culturally sensitive, and which might not normally be used in certain public or community contexts outside of the practical delivery of these Awards and the Announcement of this year’s winners for 2021. We have spoken with the family and received permission from family to share the nomination and image of this person in celebration of their life.
Sixteen inspirationalGriffith Universityalumni have beenannouncedas the academic group winners ofthe2021Outstanding Alumni Awards.
The alumni from around the globe will now progress as finalists for the overall University Outstanding Alumni Awards, to be announced in September.
Ahmed Athif
Arts, Education and Laws Outstanding International alumnus for 2021, Ahmed Athif, was determined that no child should be left behind in the education system in the Maldives.
Beginning his career as a teacher, Ahmed recognised that the current curriculum had limitations to cater for students with learning difficulties or special needs and worked to influence public policy on the issue.
“I couldn’t actually believe it myself, when I won,” he said.
“I was just thinking ‘Yes, my work has been internationally recognized by the University that I graduated from. It gave me strength and hope. This kind of encouragement gives fuel for my journey.”
Alumnus Captain Jan Becker AM co-founded Becker Helicopter Services, which started in a humble tin shed in 1996. She was chosen as Griffith Sciences Outstanding Alumnus for 2021.
Captain Jan Becker AM
“When I found out I’d won the Outstanding Alumni Award I was really elated becauseGriffith University has such a large pool of talent, especially in the science technology and aviation sector,” Jan said.
“I was really proud. Hopefully that inspires somebody else to kind of get out there and make a difference.”
Another deserving winner, Dr Bih-O (Becky) Lee, is an academic researcher in Taiwan who completed her PhD in 2008 under the supervision of Professor Wendy Chaboyer.
Dr Lee was thrilled to receive the news that she had been named the 2021 Griffith University Outstanding International Alumnus for the Health group.
“I felt fantastic and so happy at that time,” she said.
“I repeat the sentence in my heart ‘I am always honoured to be part of Griffith University and Wendy’s student’.”
Andrew Hebbron
Andrew Hebbron won the 2021 Outstanding Alumni Award for Griffith Business School, recognised for dedicating his career to healthcare and public policy, first as a paramedic and now as the Chief Superintendent West Moreton district for Queensland Ambulance Service.
Griffith University congratulates all academic group winners:
Deputy Director Advancement and Head of Alumni Relations, Joanne Nyland, was awed by the incredible impact Griffith alumni were making to their professional fields and communities around the globe.
“Choosing only one winner from each award category was an incredibly difficult task for the judging panels, as there were so many very worthy nominees,” Ms Nyland said.
Ms Joanne Nyland
“Alumni continue to demonstrate the values of Griffith University, and these awards area snapshot of their extraordinary achievements in their fields of endeavour and in their community.
“It’s a privilege to be able to recognise them with these awards.”
Nominees were assessed on their alignment with the broad selection criteria including their sustained remarkable success in, and contribution to, their chosen industry/profession and their substantial contribution to the community at local, state, national or international levels.
Also assessed was their demonstration of outstanding character with attributes in alignment with the values of Griffith University.
Two leading Griffith University nursing experts have been recognised for their contribution to nursing research by the prestigious Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (Sigma).
Head of Griffith’s School of Nursing and Midwifery, Professor Ann Bonner, was one of 20 inducted into Sigma’s International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame and ARC DECRA Fellow Dr Jamie Ranse was one of three nurses to receive the Emerging Nurse Researcher for 2021 award.
Joining Griffith during the early stages of the pandemic last year, Professor Bonner said being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021 was a privilege.
“Being recognised by international peers that my research is of value not only in Australia, but also elsewhere, makes me feel so honoured,” she said.
Professor Ann Bonner.
“It is also thrilling to be inducted alongside many other eminent researchers, including my fellow Australian colleagues.”
Professor Bonner began her career at Westmead Hospital in Sydney, training as a nurse there as she came from a disadvantaged background and could not attend university.
“I then could support myself to go to university as a part-time student to complete my Bachelor, Masters and then PhD while working as a full-time nurse,” Professor Bonner said.
Combining teaching, clinical practice and research, she developed a passion for improving healthcare for people with kidney disease — a disease affecting 10 per cent of the Australian population.
“My research primarily focuses on improving healthcare services and the way all health professionals — not only nurses — provide healthcare to people along the chronic kidney disease trajectory, from slowing the progression of this disease to improving the care for people with kidney failure who might be receiving dialysis or after kidney transplantation,” Professor Bonner said.
She advises early career researchers to use their PhD as a launching pad for their future research career but not to walk the path alone.
“Collaborate with other researchers, join their teams by adding your own skills and experiences,” she said.
“These researchers may or may not be in your own organisation, don’t be afraid or hesitant to contact researchers whose work you are interested in or has some alignment with your own.
“Research is not a sprint, it is a marathon, and small incremental steps and achievements will gradually pay dividends in both personal satisfaction and career development.”
Dr Jamie Ranse
At age 13, Dr Ranse received his first taste of working in health as a volunteer first aid worker for St John Ambulance Australia.
He also provided health care at junior football games, sporting events, festivals and concerts as a teenager, with his interest eventually leading to a career in emergency nursing.
“As an emergency nurse, I noticed the impact that mass gatherings and disasters had on our ambulance services and emergency departments,” Dr Ranse said.
Dr Jamie Ranse.
“I started to question what the best ways were to minimise the impact of mass gatherings and disasters on emergency health services.”
With little literature or experience to guide policy or decision-making available at the time, Dr Ranse has spent the past decade researching the area to assist in the development of an evidence based approach to inform policy and guidelines locally, nationally and internationally.
To achieve this, Dr Ranse worked in partnership with communities, government, non-government, industry, and academic organisations.
“The collaborative nature of my work ensures that the outcomes of my research are translated to practice and better understandings of mass gatherings and disasters impact on health services by industry partners,” he said.
While the show features all the familiar tunes and memorable moves, audiences can expect a couple of twists in this re-imagined production.
A young cast of musical theatre students is breathing new life into the show, tackling issues like gender inequality, toxic masculinity and homophobia head on.
According to Bachelor of Musical Theatre student Beau Wharton, “it’s not your parents Grease or a sing along — this is gritty, fun and real.”
Beau is playing Miss Lynch – a role traditionally played by a female performer.
“I have been working hard to make sure that it’s not a parody and trying to find the truth in the character,” they said.
Hailed as one of the greatest movie musicals of all time, the show has won generations of fans with its hit songs, high energy dance numbers and iconic cast of characters.
Beau said it was exciting to update the show for a new generation of theatregoers.
“We’re not sugarcoating anything about the show, but we’re coming at these themes and stories from different angles than audiences are used to,” they said.
“It’s not about sweeping things under the rug. It has been a very well thought out and collaborative process of finding the best way to tell this story in 2021.
“To get into the rehearsal room and basically build this show from the ground up has allowed us to relate to the characters and put our own stamp on it.
“For all of us who want to push for a more accepting and tolerant society, studying at Griffith and being part of the musical theatre program has allowed us to open up these conversations.”
Carla Beard
Fellow musical theatre student Carla Beard is playing one of the T-Birds — a role usually played by a male performer.
“It’s great to break free of traditional male/ female casting,” she said.
“I think our generation is having all of these conversations, and the arts tends to be on the front foot of all of these social movements.
“It’s nice to know after we graduate that we can demand more from the industry.”
The creative team is led by Melbourne-based theatre director Alister Smith, musical director Heidi Loveland and choreographer Dan Venz.
Mr Smith said the creative team had worked with students on a modern interpretation of the show, leaning into the satire and making use of gender-diverse casting.
“Grease is a musical comedy satire that challenges social rules and the generation gap by exploring sexuality and gender equality through the eyes of these 1950s teenagers,” he said.
“A huge part of re-imagining this revival has been cross-casting the gender of several characters, refocusing the lens of the story and giving modern audiences a way of re-experiencing the show.”
Heidi Loveland
Ms Loveland said the production had also dialed up the music — capturing the raw, rebellious mood of the original Broadway show.
“This music is so iconic and everyone has a memory and a connection to it, but as soon as you start investigating the lyrics you realise that this music is about protest and rebellion. It is teenagers standing up saying ‘this is our time’.”
Ms Loveland said it had been inspiring to work with the musical theatre students to reinterpret the script and score for modern audiences.
“Looking at Sandy’s transformation, it was really important that it was about self-fulfillment, as opposed to peer pressure or trying to please a man,” she said.
“We’re lucky that we have a group of really strong-minded students who have engaged with the script and the lyrics to create an honest and vital show.”
Head of Performing Arts Professor Paul Sabey said the Queensland Conservatorium was committed to addressing social issues through performance.
“The arts have the potential to bridge different perspectives and encourage people to think about the challenges facing our society — from gender equity to social injustice.”
The blockbuster production will feature a double cast of more than 70 students, involving the entire musical theatre cohort, accompanied by musicians from the Queensland Conservatorium.
Grease runs at the Queensland Conservatorium Theatre, South Bank from 5 — 14 August. Tickets are available at the Queensland Conservatorium website.
Griffith University-led research is discovering the genetic diversity of Chickpea/Ascochyta Blight, the major pathogen threat to Australia’s billion-dollar chickpea industry.
Published in Microbial Genomics, the collaboration with the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, South Australian Research and Development Institute and Curtin University has catalogued the genetic sequences of the causal fungusAscochyta rabiei within all major chickpea production regions across Australia and identified the most destructive members.
Lead researcher Dr Ido Bar, from the Centre of Planetary Health and Food Security.
“Ascochyta rabiei is a necrotrophic fungus that kills the living cells of its host chickpea plant and then feeds on the dead matter, which leads to huge amounts of fungicides are being sprayed onto the crops multiple times every year,” said lead researcher Dr Ido Bar, from the Centre of Planetary Health and Food Security.
“Ascochyta blight can result in complete chickpea crop failure and is evolving fast, causing increased disease even on our most resistant chickpea varieties.
He said the increased severity of the disease was likely caused by adaptation within the fungal population to select for fitter and more aggressive individuals.
Six years of monitoring has established a comprehensive collection ofthousands of members of the fungal population from all major Australian chickpea production regions, which researchers are now using to search for the sections within the fungal genome that enable it to aggressively infect the plant causing severe disease and subsequently compare results with other regions of the world.
Co-lead researcher Professor Rebecca Ford, from the Centre of Planetary Health and Food Security
“Understanding the molecular diversity within the fungus populations and the frequency and distribution of population members that have adapted to overcome host resistance across agroecological regions is key to adapting farming practices and in managing the disease,” said co-lead researcher Professor Rebecca Ford, from the Centre of Planetary Health and Food Security.
“This research found that AustralianA. rabieipopulation is far less genetically diverse than in other populations worldwide, yet contains very aggressive varieties, able to cause severe damage on our currently grown chickpea species.
“As a result, we are now able to identify and supply the most aggressive members of the fungal populations to chickpea breeders to help them select for the most resistant new varieties.
“This research is a crucial first step to identifying specific areas within the fungal genome that lead to severe aggressive disease and studying the way the fungus attacks the chickpea host, both of which are essential to better inform management practices, such as when and what fungicides to spray.
Dr Bar said the discovery of distinct genetic sequences associated with high and low aggressiveness would enable the development of molecular tools to help in early detection of the pathogen.
“This will aid in the development of disease management and control strategies and providing crucial information to the national chickpea breeding program.”
“While we’ll always be one step behind the fungus, this work allows the chickpea industry to develop the knowledge and tools to reduce the risk of Ascochyta Blight disease and helps ensure the industry prospers into the future.”
A trio of emergingGriffith University health scientists have been named as Queensland Young Tall Poppies for 2021.
The awards are an initiative of the Australian Institute of Policy and Science and recognise excellence in research along with enthusiasm for communicating science beyond the walls of the laboratory.
The concept of using “the power of food for good” motivated Associate Professor Ball to become a dietitian and pursue a career in research.
Dr Lauren Ball.
Her PhD looked at the way general practitioners provided dietary advice to patients and now Associate Professor Ball leads Griffith’s Healthy Primary Care research team.
“Having a poor diet is the leading risk factor for being unwell throughout life, regardless of the country you’re in, or the age that you are, or the backgrounds that you have,” she said.
“We focus on helping people improve their diet as this is going to give them the biggest bang for their buck in terms of improving their own health.”
Associate Professor Ball’s research has three different areas of focus, including how to best provide patient-centred care and helping health professionals with their own personal diets.
The third area of work, called Shaping Systems, aims to put healthy lifestyles at the forefront of health care.
“We want to reorient the health system away from a treatment focus towards a prevention focus so that we keep people well throughout their lives.”
“It’s humbling and inspiring knowing that the work that we’re doing is really hitting the mark,” she said of receiving the Young Tall Poppy award.
“It shows me that by having a vision and working towards that vision, you can have a real impact.”
Dr Adam Taylor
Dr Taylor is working on a vaccine to prevent Chikungunya virus, a mosquito-borne virus that causes severe pain in 90 per cent of people who catch it.
Dr Adam Taylor.
“Chikungunya virus has spread rapidly around the world over the last few years, impacting many continents and causing outbreaks up in the millions of cases,” Dr Taylor said.
“It’s got a big strike rate, (so) if you get the virus you’re highly likely to have symptoms of debilitating arthritic and muscle pain.
“A lot of these patients that are infected experience chronic manifestations of these pain symptoms.”
Dr Taylor’s work looks at the movement of viral proteins within a cell.
“When these proteins are restricted in their ability to move around the cell, that weakens the virus and makes it not able to replicate as efficiently,” Dr Taylor said.
“It also restricts the ability of the virus to cause disease.
“What we’ve created with this knowledge is a live attenuated vaccine candidate for Chikungunya virus and we’re in the stages now of developing that vaccine for entry into human trials.”
While recognition of his work, he said receiving the award also helped to shine light on Chikungunya virus.
Dr Laura Diamond
As an undergraduate engineering student Dr Diamond became enamoured with biomechanics.
“I didn’t know anything about biomechanics but one of my professors in my final year encouraged me to do a research project in this space,” Dr Diamond said.
Dr Laura Diamond.
“I’d always been interested in health and I was totally captivated by the fact that I could use the understanding I had in engineering but apply it to the human body.”
Her research looks at how biomechanics can provide non-surgical, non-drug interventions to improve outcomes for those suffering from osteoarthritis of the hip.
“We were interested in finding out whether or not we could change the way people with hip osteoarthritis move and in doing so, modify the loading at their hip joint as a potential strategy to alleviate their symptoms and potentially slow the progression of their disease,” Dr Diamond said.
Her work now aims to develop ‘smart’ wearable technology to help people with hip osteoarthritis to move differently during their everyday activities.
“This cost-effective technology will empower people with hip osteoarthritis to self-manage their condition and drive their own symptom relief,” she said.
Dr Diamond said she was both honoured and proud to be recognised.
“I hope that I can live up to the suggestion that I will be one of Australia’s next scientific leaders and also hope that I can use this platform to inspire young girls and women who are thinking about a career in STEM,” she said.
A week out from the start of the Games, Bachelor of Psychological Science student athlete Cassiel Rousseau met with Manager of Griffith Sports College Naomi McCarthy OAM, to discuss his return to study after competing at his first Olympics.
Selected in the 10 metre platform event, Brisbane based diver Cassiel said without the support of the Griffith Sports College he’d find it hard to juggle everything required to complete the required courses in tandem with his intense training and competition regime.
“It’s good to have a future outside of your sport,” he admitted.
“Knowing that once you leave your sport, you have something else that’s not just diving, really helps.”
“I’m not really good at studying but Griffith has really helped me complete study along with diving in the Olympics. I’m not good with time management, so Griffith Sports College really helps with that.”
Cassiel is being modest, says McCarthy, a dual Olympian who won Gold in waterpolo in 2000 and in her role at the sports college has helped steer hundreds of athletes just like him, along the journey of elite sport and study opportunities.
“Cass is a talented and committed athlete who has developed significantly as an athlete over the time I have known him,” she said.
“It’s fantastic to see him selected in his first Games!”
“He has taken the opportunity to balance his training and competition commitments with a degree and he is progressing through study well. It’s great to be able to support him to do this.
“We recognise that talented athletes like Cassiel can’t always make exams or prac placements like regular students, and they deserve flexibility and someone looking out for them while they juggle the intense work required to perform at such a high level, with the commitment of study towards a career after representative sport.”
Swim fans leave their best wishes for Cassiel ahead of the Games.
“At the moment, we do about, I think, 30 to 35 hours a week, two to three hours in the morning, and then two to three hours in the night. So it’s pretty full on,” Cassiel said of his training.
“We have some gym time doing weights on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. In the mornings, we usually do dry land and water. And then same thing in the afternoon with mainly water, but sometimes we go into dry land, do some trampoline stuff. conditioning and dry board pit with a bunch of stuff.”
He’s come a long way from someone with a very real fear of heights.
Cassiel at one of his final training sessions at Brisbane Aquatic Centre before flying to Tokyo
“I was a gymnast at first and then I turned to acrobatics as a sports Acrobat and that definitely helped me transition into diving.
“I had a fear of heights so the thought of diving never really crossed my mind. I thought about possibly hitting a platform!
“Ten minutes beforehand I didn’t want to do it but my sister was trialing diving.
“I told them I wasn’t going to do it, but she dragged me up and forced me to come to the trial day.
“We were supposed to leave on the 26th or 27th but we thought it would be better to leave on the 22nd with everyone since it’s a charter flight and there will be less risk of catching COVID with obviously, all the athletes being tested prior to leaving for the Olympics.
“I never thought I could make the Olympics and even now it hasn’t hit me, but once I get to Tokyo, definitely I’ll be excited.”
