She spends her days ‘working’ in a virtual world, with her physical office space changing to wherever she feels like going, as she advises high profile businesses and government advisors on climate change adaptation strategies.
Chloe works as an information analytics specialist for climate adaptation firm Climate Planning.
It’s a dream career for the passionate environmentalist, who graduated from Griffith University in December 2015.
“We travel a lot; we work from home or wherever we are in the world,” she said.
“It’s a big change not working in a traditional office, but I love that our team is helping to bring awareness to the issues of climate change.”
In just nine months Chloe has assisted in managing coastal hazards at Kingston Beach in Tasmania, assessed the climate change adaptation governance of all 77 local governments in Queensland through Informed.CityTM and is currently helping to develop a joint disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation plan for the Government of New Caledonia.
An example of a visual tool created by Chloe.
Her role with the organisation is around data analysis and transforming big data into visualisation tools.
Chloe owes her successful career to the internship she did with the company whilst in her fourth year of studies at Griffith University.
“I knew climate change adaptation was where I wanted to be, so I sought out Climate Planning because it was the only planning firm in Queensland that specialised in that type of work,” she said.
“I made myself known to the company and after my initial internship I was offered part time work, followed by full-time when I graduated.”
Chloe said internships should be viewed as a vitally important part of university studies as it gives an unprecedented insight into your chosen industry.
“I had no experience before the internship and I was definitely craving it,” she said.
Read how other students are graduates are kickstarting their careers:
Science student Cameron McEvoy has been named Griffith University’s Games Champion to promote the University’s official partnership with the GoldCoast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018).
Cameron was a clear choice as Griffith’s Games Champion as he embodies the partnerships purpose of combining study and sport in order to achieve great things.
Cameron’s role will raise awareness of the University’s ongoing partnership with the Games and the experience of a lifetime that it offers the broader Griffith University community.
As an Official Partner of GC2018, Griffith University staff and students enjoy unrivalled opportunities to become closely involved in the biggest sporting event to be held in Australia this decade.
“I’m excited to have been working with Griffith University to highlight this partnership with GC2018 and help promote the unique opportunities available to the Griffith community,” says Cameron.
“There is a great vibe on campus around the Games and I am happy to be part of it. Between the benefits available through the partnership, the construction of the new Aquatic Centre on campus and the Commonwealth Games Village being built across the road, GC2018 is very real for the Griffith community.
“Griffith University has been a great supporter of my swimming career. It has given me the opportunity to follow my passion in the pool while also studying for my future.”
Cameron’s role as Griffith University’s Games Champion follows his appointment as an Official Ambassador for GC2018 in September.
Science student Cameron McEvoy is congratulated by Vice Chancellor and President Professor Ian O’Connor, following the official announcement.
Griffith University Vice Chancellor and President Professor Ian O’Connor said Cameron’s new role will bring to light the depth of the University’s commitment to GC2018 and the broad opportunities it has opened for students and staff.
“The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games has become an integral part of the student experience at Griffith University on so many levels,” Professor O’Connor said.
“It not only offers unique opportunities for work experience at a major international event, but it aligns closely with Griffith University’s commitment to excellence.
“We are proud to call Cameron Griffith University’s Games Champion as he epitomises the ideals we hold dearly at this University.
“Cameron has shown a firm commitment to study while managing the pressures of performing at an elite sporting level. His drive and passion for excellence is a true inspiration, and these are qualities shared by all of us at Griffith University.”
When we talk to human resource (HR) managers about what constitutes a job, most point to the many different tasks their organisation expects employees to fulfill as a part of their role. Managers are told to make jobs interesting and the focus of managers and academics has been on allocating tasks that are interesting and meaningful.
But every job contains a mixture of interesting and boring – non-preferred – tasks (like attending some meetings and filling out forms). So the question toask is “how do employees complete tasks that they are not interested in?” and “What impact do these tasks have on the employee’s overall work performance?”AndCentre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing(WOW) Higher Degree Research student member, Vishal Rana, is doing just that.
Mr Rana(pictured left) suggests most organisations expect employees to engage in Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB): when employees going out of their way to help colleagues or voice their concern that things are not going the way they ideally should. Vishal’s research is questioning what happens when employees experience too many non-preferred work tasks (NPWTs), and whether having to do so prevents them from engaging in OCBs.
In a seminar delivered on Tuesday (11 October), Vishal proposed two ways that may mediate the relationship between NPWTs and OCBs: the relational, and task, crafting dimensions of job design.
“Job Crafting Theory suggests that employees are active architects, not merely passive recipients, of jobs, taking initiative to alter their roles and tasks. This then invites broader considerations of the ways in which they complete their jobs and provide meaning and identity to their work,” explains Vishal.
While his 2016 survey of 136 second-year Bachelor of Business university students (aged 18-46) revealed new understandings of the role ‘task crafting’ plays in the execution of NPWTs and OCB, preliminary analysis of the data does not support the team’s hypothesis that a ‘relational crafting’ had a mediating role.
Speaking to the third part to of his study, Vishal added:
“The stronger an employee’s perception that tasks are non-preferred ones, the weaker their motivation to participate in OCB; but this was anticipated.”
“Conducting field, laboratory and longitudinal work to test the validity of our findings is a next step, as is an exploration of whether other outcomes such as stress, also inform the relationship between NPWT and OCB.”
Further information about the findings can be found by contacting Vishal directly: [email protected].
(This story was authored by Vishal Rana and Clare Inwood with edits 16 December, 2016 by Peter Jordan).
When Griffith University launched an accelerated online Master of Financial Planning just over 12 months ago, career professionals were immediately drawn to its flexible fast-track options.
Now students are also revealing the rewards of an intense and personalised learning experience that has been enriched by the online tools at work.
“We’re giving constant and immediate feedback to students and they’re responding rapidly using multiple online channels like Yammer and our Blackboard discussions,” Kirsten MacDonald, Program Director, Master of Financial Planning, says.
“From the lecturer’s point of view, we get to take on board useful new information about what students want and need during their studies, and the directions they want to take. We’re able to effectively personalise the delivery of the program as a result.”
As part of the Master of Financial Planning, Kirsten MacDonald recently taught a 6-week course in personal risk management to an online class of about 40 students, many with a financial services background but also including professionals from entirely different industries.
“We already know how much students value lecturers who engage with them and are there to help and answer their questions, and we know that disengaged students make for a poor learning experience for students and a poor teaching experience for lecturers.
Enhanced access to expertise
“With this online program, we have built on that knowledge, using online tools to move it up a notch.
“Students are going beyond the surface levels of learning to deeper levels largely through an enhanced access to the expertise of the lecturer.”
Kirsten MacDonald, who researches financial education at Griffith Business School, also highlights how students are learning from each other.
“No longer does the lecturer talk at the students in the traditional way; now it is much more about group learning where professionals from different walks of life are exchanging knowledge and experiences and offering their takes on the problems and challenges that come up during discussion.
“This completely dispels ideas about online learning being a lonely experience, and that’s definitely been part of the feedback we’ve got from the students. Their perceptions of what they were going to get before they enrolled was immensely different to their online experiences.
“I’ve had feedback from them saying ‘I had no idea an online course could be so interactive. It’s a new learning experience’.”
The innovation space will provide state-of-the-art facilities and equipment for students pursuing a design career.
The art and design studio, workshops and an outdoor studio allow students to take their concepts from design to prototype under one roof.
Griffith University Vice Chancellor Professor Ian O’Connor said the new space would cater for students enrolling in two new degrees at the QCA’s Gold Coast campus in 2017.
“We are providing spaces and facilities for an excellent educational experience to attract and retain students who will succeed at university and become graduates of influence.”
Vice Chancellor Professor Ian O’Connor and Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate, who was presented with a bust created by the team at the new QCA design studio.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate and Vice Chancellor Ian O’Connor officially opened the new space today.
Professor Paul Mazerolle, Pro Vice Chancellor (Arts, Education & Law) said the new facilities were ‘world class’.
“Students now have access to the very best facilities and equipment across a whole range of creative pursuits, from 3D printing to creative design and fashion,” he said.
“We have made a significant investment to ensure that our students and researchers are right at the cutting edge.”
The new design studios were several years in the planning and took six months to build at a cost of $3 million.
Stacey Coburn, Patricia Liebke, Jai Sudholz, Lisa Flower, Kellie Mayo and James Pearce will now turn their thoughts to the final phase of the prestigious competition which involves the submission of a video pitch before midnight this Friday (October 14).
The overall winner of a full MBA scholarship worth $50,000 will be selected by a judging panel including Pro Vice Chancellor (Business), Griffith University, Professor David Grant, Associate Professor Fleming, Griffith MBA alumnus, David Morgan and the editor of Queensland Business Monthly, Natalie Gregg.
Responsible leadership at work
“The overall standard of entries has been very high and selecting six finalists was extremely challenging,” Associate Professor Fleming said.
“Our finalists come from backgrounds in infrastructure, architecture, media, clinical education, industrial relations and the recycling industry. It was particularly exciting for us to see how responsible leadership is at work in each of these sectors, as demonstrated through their various submissions.”
QBM Griffith MBA Responsible Leadership Scholarship finalist, Jai Sudholz.
The six, who hail from Southeast Queensland, central Queensland, Victoria and NSW, were decided after adjudicators considered reflective essays submitted by all the contestants who took part in last week’s MBA masterclass at Griffith’s South Bank campus.
Entrants were asked to describe and explore their future leadership and business practices in 600 words or less, based on the theories and concepts presented by four Griffith lecturers at the masterclass.
Professor Nick Barter, Academic Director, Griffith Online, delivered the opening lecture where he focused on sustainability and community and emphasised why business organisations need to increasingly understand how they shape the world around them.
Professor of International Business, Sara McGaughey, explored the numerous and very different versions of distance at work in international business today, from cultural distance to administrative distance, and from geographic to economic.
Attributes of business leaders
Professor of Organisational Behaviour, Peter Jordan, analysed the personal attributes that business owners and chief executives bring to responsible leadership, including integrity, honesty and inclusiveness.
Associate Professor Robin Roberts, Griffith Agribusiness Project Leader, took contestants on a journey to Vietnam for a demonstration of research in action and how its economic outputs can impact on some of the poorest communities.
QBM Griffith MBA Responsible Leadership Scholarship finalist, Patricia Liebke.
Professor David Grant welcomed all contestants, both those who attended at South Bank and those who participated through a livestream, into the Griffith Business School community.
He highlighted the ‘rich educational experience’ on offer to MBA students at Griffith, and put the spotlight on the MBA’s core values of responsible leadership, sustainable business practices and global connectivity with an Asia-Pacific focus.
Natalie Gregg of the Courier Mail described the partnership with the Griffith MBA as a ‘natural fit’ for Queensland Business Monthly which tells the stories of business leaders and entrepreneurs who make up the Queensland business sector.
The overall winner will be announced in the October 28 edition of Queensland Business Monthly. A half scholarship worth about $25,000 will be awarded to the runner-up.
QBM Griffith MBA Responsible Leadership Scholarship finalist, Stacey Coburn.
The Griffith University Muslim Students Association will host the third annual ‘Understanding Islam’ competition in the Centre for Interfaith and Cultural Dialogueat its Nathan Campus on Friday, October 14.
The competition aims to help students and staff better understand Islam as a religion.
“This event is important for Griffith in creating an environment where students from different cultures and religions feel comfortable and loved while interacting with each other,” Zulfiqar Hasan Khan, GUMSA President, said.
Bring harmony among different faiths, races and groups;
Promote religious understanding among the students; and
Facilitate Muslim students in performing their rituals and activities.
The competition is open to any non-Muslim Griffith student and staff member, who will be required to read a short Islam guide book and then take an open book quiz.
“The event is in line with Griffith University’s commitment to promote the respect of individual rights and ethical standards as well as recognising and valuing diversity,” Zulfiqar said.
There are prizes ranging from $100 – $1000 gift cards on offer and all participants receive a free gift hamper, during a multicultural dinner on Friday at the venue previously known as the Multi-Faith Centre.
Learn more about Islam
In previous years, participants have “left feeling very welcome” and “more knowledgeable.” They have also looked forward to “building greater understanding” and learning “more about Islam as a belief and practice”.
Zulfiqar, a Bangladesh native currently undertaking his PhD at Griffith University, describes the event as a showcase for Griffith and an example for other universities to follow.
GUMSA hosts several activities throughout the year such as Prayer Arrangement, start and end of semester celebrations and free dinner every day of Ramadan. They also have a range of Islamic books in the Nathan campus prayer room and advise students on the best Halal food places.
Interested students and staff shouldregister byThursday (October 13).
The emotions that arise when Colin Helsen talks about Griffith University convey much about what drives this internationally successful businessman.
More deeply, they represent what is possible through commitment, sacrifice and, as Colin admits, sheer bloody-mindedness.
From life as an electrician in the small New Zealand town of Kaipoi (population 10,000), Colin has taken his Griffith qualifications to the top of the international gaming industry.
“I have my Griffith certificates framed and hanging on the wall in my office. Apart from my family, they are the most important achievements of my entire life. Through them, I got my shot at a better life.”
Colin is now Vice President and Managing Director (Utility Products) for global gaming giant Scientific Games.
It is the latest executive role for a man who over the past two decades has run gaming businesses and helped develop and introduce new technology — particularly automatic card shufflers — in casinos in Asia, South Africa, Europe, the US and aboard cruise ships.
However, long before becoming such an important figure for gaming icons such as QuickDraw, Shuffle Master, Bally and now Scientific Games, Colin took a few gambles of his own.
One was in moving the Helsen family to the Gold Coast in 1988. Another was study.
“I just wanted to prove I was good enough”
“I saw an ad and it asked: Did you miss the chance to go to university?” recalls Colin.
“I’d dropped out of high school and got an apprenticeship back in New Zealand. I thought I’d done my dash in terms of education.
“I just wanted to prove I was good enough. It took me a long time and I had to defer a few times because of work, but I never failed anything in the degree. I loved it.”
A year before graduating — a ceremony he still regrets that work forced him to miss — Colin joined QuickDraw in a Gold Coast-based travel and training role.
“The knowledge that I was doing a degree got me through the door and into that job. I got a shot on the strength of my Griffith studies. I’ve found that over and over in my career.”
While this role and others to follow were exciting, the demands were many. One year Colin spent 270 days away from home.
After Shuffle Master acquired QuickDraw in 2001, Colin decided to begin a Masters through Griffith. He also transferred to the US as Technical Training Manager at the company’s head office in Las Vegas
Rising to become Western Regional Manager in the US, the company then created a position in Australia so Colin and his family could return to Australia.
Following a stint in Sydney, in 2007 Colin returned to Las Vegas to take on the prestigious role of running the company’s shufflers department.
Time to come home
When Shuffle Master was acquired by Bally in 2013, Colin knew it was time to come home to the Gold Coast.
He did so the following year and now works remotely while still travelling extensively. This has continued since the subsequent acquisition of Bally by Scientific Games.
“It’s been quite a journey,” he says. “I thought I’d be a sparky forever. I had a good job in the electrical industry and was making money.
“But there was always something nagging at me, a need to do more, and my family have been incredibly patient and forgiving as I pursued my dreams.
“Griffith helped me too. I can’t measure how much, just that the qualifications I gained have opened so many doors around the world.
“I’ve always said: if you want it; you have to make it happen. Never give in.”
Read the Gold Coast Bulletin’s story on Colin here.
Griffith University has moved up in the latest NTU Rankings, placing it equal 11th among Australian universities.
This compares with equal 15th position in 2015.
From a global perspective, Griffith University has improved its position by 38 places over the past year to 382, placing it among the top 400 universities in the world for the first time in the NTU Rankings.
The University has improved its positionin the NTU Rankingsby 78 places in the past two years.
The NTU Rankings, otherwise known as the Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities, is released each year by National Taiwan Universityto evaluate academic performance by research universities in scientific research.
The ‘Holy Grail’ of fruit fly traps has been launched, dramatically boosting Australia’s potential for agricultural production in what is already a multibillion dollar industry.
Griffith University and agricultural product company Agnova Technologies collaborated to produce Fruition, the nation’s first non-toxic response to fruit flies.
Griffith’s Professor Dick Drew, who has dedicated his career to fruit fly research, developed the trap over 30 years of investigation.
Brought to market by AgNova Technologies, the trap attracts and catches femalefruitflies before they lay eggs in fruit and offers the potential for a brighter future for Australia’s $4.8 billion horticulture industry.
There are more than 50 major pest fruit fly species known and their worldwide economic impact on crop production, international trade and quarantine services is huge.
Professor Drew, of Griffith’s International Centre for the Management of Pest Fruit Flies (ICMPFF), says the fruit fly trap and lure is unique because it contains a synthetic attractant for the first time and is being mass produced for commercial use.
Fruition has recorded high levels of success in field trials, both in terms of the number of fruit flies being attracted and crop yield improvements. The productwas launched this week at Griffith University’s Nathan Campus.
Eco-friendly and cost-effective
“Other traps, primarily attracting male flies, already exist and have been used in horticulture for years. But the environmentally-conscious, commercially-effective fruit fly trap that everyone dreams about has proven elusive until now,” he says.
Professor Drew says the new trap and lure cut crop losses in a Gatton mango orchard to commercially acceptable levels during trials, and even more significant results have been achieved at a nearby feijoa fruit orchard when the trap and lure were combined with an effective protein bait treatment.
Ninety per cent of the fruit flies attracted by the trap and lure are females and 90per cent of those are mature egg-bearing fruit flies, which are the main threat.
Griffith has signed an exclusive license agreement with AgNova Technologies Pty Ltd following five years of work between the partners on the project.
Professor Drew says the company’s involvement was vital to the project’s underwriting and success.
“It is rare for companies to want to come in and give their support to turning research outcomes into commercial products,” he says.
Andrew Glover, business manager with AgNova Technologies, says the company believes Fruition will have a real impact on the fruit fly problem and help growers produce better, more marketable fruit.
“Growers are already using monitoring traps and protein baits for immature and developing flies, but there has been nothing available to protect fruit from egg-laying females seeking fruit to lay their eggs until Fruition,” he says.
Knowledge in fruit fly behaviour
Mr Glover says the work by Griffith University isworld class, backed by a strong background of knowledge in fruit fly behaviour in orchards.
The Queensland fruit fly, known as Bactrocera tryoni and found across Australia’s mainland, is also seen as the greatest biosecurity hazard stopping Australian farmers accessing major international markets like China.
The new trap has major implications also for quarantine surveillance and detection.
The agreement between the two organisations was shaped by Griffith Enterprise, the University’s commercialisation office, which facilitates a greater connection between business-led innovation and leading research, and has been doing so for several years.
Background
Professor Drew’s ICMPFF team at Griffith University is the only fruit fly research group worldwide with a knowledge of the species, their geographic distributions and host plant records, based on more than 40years of experience in fruit fly research, ecology and field biology.
