PhD student Sothy Khieng has recently published an article entitled ‘Funding Mobilization Strategies of Nongovernmental Organizations in Cambodia’. The objectives of this paper are to map strategies for resource mobilization of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in different sectors in heavily aid-dependent Cambodia and analyse the past and future trends of each of the evolving strategies. The study involves using two survey databases of NGOs’ key funding sources and trends in a 10-year period from 2006 to 2016. While grants and donations are still dominant, one out of five NGOs surveyed engage in earned-income activities, a trend which is expected to increase in the next 5years. The article’s publication details are: Khieng, S. (2013), ‘Funding Mobilization Strategies of Nongovernmental Organizations in Cambodia, VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 1-24. doi:10.1007/s11266-013-9400-7. The article is available online here.
Cycling approximately 200km over two days is all in the name of charity for Professor Scott Baum from Griffith University’s School of Environment, as he gears up for the third annual Rio Tinto Ride to Conquer Cancer.
Professor Baum will be joined by thousands of men and women on the route from Brisbane to the Somerset region and back again, as he aims to raise his target goal of $6000 for the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR).
Riders will travel through Queensland’s scenic countryside over August 17- 18, 2013, with the funds raised from this epic event contributing to breakthrough cancer research and the discovery of new therapies at QIMR.
Breast Friends for a Cure
Professor Baum will be a member of ‘Breast Friends for a Cure’, a team comprising cancer survivors, their husbands, friends and relatives.
“The team’s motto ‘riding for the wellbeing of current and future generations’ sums up the feelings of all the team members,” he said.
“With one in two Australians diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime we are doing this to give hope to current sufferers and to those who might be diagnosed in the future.”
Professor Baum said the event has provided him with a call to action that also has personal significance.
Giving back
“In 2009 my wife Briony was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent nearly two years of treatment, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery,” he said. “Her successful treatment was in large part due to the fantastic work that Queensland scientists are undertaking to beat this disease.
“The groundbreaking research being conducted at the QIMR helped my wife and her friends and we want to ensure that this research continues.
“Committing to the ride and raising money is our way of giving something back.”
This is the third annual Rio Tinto Ride to Conquer Cancer event in Brisbane and the surrounding area. Throughout their journey, riders will be supported by hundreds of volunteers and crew members, providing them with food and hydration, portable restrooms, safety on the road, comprehensive medical services and an overnight campsite complete with tents and hot showers.
To see who has already supported Professor Baum,please visit:http://br13.conquercancer.org.au/site/TR/Events/Brisbane2013?px=1004273&pg=personal&fr_id=1110
Now that I’ve got your attention with this unusual declaration – joy? Teaching? In the same phrase? Surely not! I want to set forth some reasons why I teach. And yes, I want to affirm the joy I get from teaching. Not every day – a whole week can go by without a smidgen of hope – but enough for me to be teased back to the campus for one more tryout in the classroom.
First, I teach because I believe I have something positive to share with my students and also with my colleagues. I enjoy the courses I teach (policy and legislation, disability studies) because they tap into the wellspring of a lifetime of personal and professional experiences.
I did many other things before I landed on the doorstep of Griffith. I was a recruitment clerk in the Australian Public Service before moving to Canberra to be a research officer for a while. I then grew into a social worker before evolving into a social policy advisor (my all time favourite job at that time). I worked for politicians and parliamentarians, bureaucrats and bullies, and consultants and charlatans. I met with families enduring the most extraordinary hardships with grace under pressure. I worked alongside people with disabilities who taught me much about effort, perseverance and creativity. I sat in meetings with advocates and adversaries . . . all in the quest of being useful, doing my bit to make a difference for the better.
A wealth of experience for my teaching
As you can imagine, I gathered many experiences – some good, some bad, some indifferent, but all of which are now fodder for my teaching practice. Before entering the professional workforce, I had some basic skills in listening, thinking and writing. However, the breadth of my work experiences transformed those foundational skills into higher order skills of consultation, critical analysis and persuasion. This transformative process continues.
I come now to the second reason I like teaching. I am discovering that my students are significant contributors to my continuing personal and professional transformation. I don’t want to gild the lily here. I do find some students rather daunting and intimidating (is it wise to admit to this in a space that students might read?). But more often than not, the more daunting students are the ones who have much to teach me.
These students remind me – not through the spoken word – but through the silent (if occasionally sullen) act of turning up each day in their own lives, about the power of persistence, perseverance and tenacity. To be honest, I am gobsmacked by their daily “take it or leave it” courage in tackling their studies. So many of my students have too much to deal with: single-parent responsibilities, carer duties, poverty, migrant homesickness, refugee trauma and adjustment, domestic violence, chronic illness. And still they come to class, hand in their assignments, and sit their exams.
I am moved to write this piece today because during the first four weeks of this second semester, I felt myself wilting under the Sisyphus-like mountain of developing new course materials, updating old course readings, negotiating marking assistance, managing the Learning@Griffith Discussion Board with an unexpectedly large online student enrolment, attending to committee responsibilities, keeping up to speed with my writing schedule, and so on and so forth. You know how it goes.
But then this morning, a student posted a comment on the Discussion Board. She wrote “I LOVE this course!” Her jubilation was infectious.
Suddenly, I was happy. I felt the joy of teaching again.
In an opinion piece for The Strategist, Adjunct Researcher Rod Lyon discusses whether or not low-yield weapons are uniquely dangerous – more likely to be used than their larger siblings, less amenable to positive control by national leaderships, and an invitation to nuclear arms races and escalation ladders. Read the full article here.
Griffith University researchers have taken part in an international study which has discovered a fast but accurate means of identifying changes to the biodiversity of a region.
And the secret lies in crushed up insect “soup”.
Traditionally, many thousands of hours have been spent by researchers gathering, classifying and recording insects and animals in order to understand the natural ecology of a region. Any changes to the biodiversity of that area could then be determined only by more labour-intensive collecting and recording.
Metabarcoding
Research published today in the journal Ecology Letters, however, shows that a process known as ‘metabarcoding’ is much faster and yet still as reliable as standard biodiversity datasets assembled with traditional labour-intensive methods.
Griffith University’s Professor Roger Kitching, Dr Louise Ashton, and Dr Aki Nakamura took part in the study, along with scientists from UK, China, and Malaysia.
Chair of Ecology in Griffith’s School of Environment, Professor Kitching said the breakthrough means that changing environments and endangered species can be monitored more easily than ever before.
“Every living organism contains DNA, and even small fragments of that DNA can be used to identify species,” Professor Kitching said.
Insect soup
“Each soup combines hundreds to thousands of insects caught using insect traps, but this poses no threat to endangered species because the numbers captured still amount to only a tiny fraction of their overall populations. We can then extract the DNA of all those insects from the ‘soup’.”
Because the process uses sequencers that are relatively cheap, the process can be repeated often, say weekly or monthly.
“If the environment changes for the better or for the worse, we will know about it because the mix of DNA present in the “‘insect soup”’ will also change,” Professor Kitching said.
“Thereby we have a rapid, sensitive and inexpensive warning system if the state of nature in that place changes.’
‘Metabarcoding’ is already being used to reliably inform policy and environmental management decisions.
Leech soup
In one instance, the World Wildlife Foundation and Copenhagen University have applied metabarcoding to bloodsucking leeches as a means of monitoring endangered mammals in Vietnamese and Laotian rainforests.
By creating a ‘leech soup’ it was possible to build a list of mammals in the area and know more about whether park conservation is working.
The research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council UK, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Queensland Government, the National Science Foundation of China, and the Yunnan provincial government.
‘Reliable, verifiable, and efficient monitoring of biodiversity via metabarcoding’ has been published in the journal Ecology Letters. (http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/ele.12162)
New hope is on its way for the fight against breast cancer as Griffith Health Institute(GHI) research aims to target the disease with immune-based therapies.Breast cancer occurs when abnormal cells in the breast grow in an uncontrolled way.
In2009, breast cancer was the most common cancer in Australian women (excluding nonmelanomaskin cancer), accounting for 27.4 per cent of all new cancers in women.
Now Dr Trina Stewart from GHI’s Molecular Basis of Disease program and the CancerResearch Centre, is aiming to target breast cancer stem-like cells using immunotherapy.
“Cancer stem-like cells are a particularly nasty subset of tumour cells that have thepotential to form a whole new tumour and be responsible for cancer recurrence and
metastasis. We already know that these cells are resistant to primary therapies such asradiation and chemotherapy so we need to target them in other ways.”
Dr Stewart’s research has shown that these breast cancer stem-like cells are moresensitive than other tumour cells to certain immune-based therapies which stimulatespecific molecules on their surface and lead to tumour cell apoptosis or ‘cell death’.
Applying for an NHMRC grant
Supported by a National Breast Cancer Foundation Fellowship, Dr Stewart has nowapplied for a $750,000 National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grantwhich will enable her to extend her work to pre-clinical models of human breast cancerstem cells.
“The advantage of immune-based therapies is that they can be directly targeted totumour cells, as opposed to chemotherapy and radiation therapy which attack all cells asthey cannot differentiate between normal healthy cells and tumour cells.
“Also, many immunotherapies have the added advantage of operating systemically,whereby they can circulate the body and target migrating metastatic cells and thereforeprevent cancer dissemination to other organs.
“As our knowledge, treatment options and technologies improve there will be anincreasing opportunity to tailor individualised treatment strategies such that only therapiesthat have the greatest chance of success, with the fewest side effects will beadministered to a particular patient,” says Dr Stewart.
“Eventually advances in this field of research will lead to improved outcomes for patientsthrough the development of therapies that target the cells responsible for diseaserecurrence and metastases.”
More than 300 people turned up to the official launch of The Seed Project at QPAC last Friday night featuring the best emerging talent from the Con.
Setting the tone for the next nine weeks of performances to follow, major industry representatives joined locals looking for the next big thing in music to wind down their working week to the live tunes of Electrik Lemonade, Sneeky Picnic, GOVS, Timber Bones and Marcus Blacke.
Last year, the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University introduced an industry-first, student-focused enterprising initiative that saw Bachelor of Popular Music students’ original music released to market through a dedicated album called Seed.
Seed album artists are drawn from the immense talent within the program that has launched the careers of graduates hailing from The Delta Riggs, The John Steele Singers, Nine Sons of Dan and even Wolfmother.
QCGU Deputy Director and head of the BPM program, Dr Donna Weston, said launching The Seed Project was a great next step for the Seed artists.
“All of the bands to perform as part of The Seed Project are already establishing their profiles and building up their fan bases daily, so the opportunity to perform at a venue like QPAC will only add to their experience as musicians,” said Dr Weston.
“The bands and musicians from our annual Seed albums are diverse and their styles range from funk and pop-rap to progressive rock, folk and hip-hop. These concerts will be a great place to see the next big thing in the local music scene.”
The Seed Project’s program of performances will run from 5-8pm every Friday until 11 October featuring live original music.
The Seed Vol. 2 album is available through iTunes, TuneCore, Amazon, and Spotify, or you can pick up a copy at any Seed Project gig.
Visit the gig guide for full information.
A former graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University will soon take the top post as Director from September 2.
Professor Scott Harrison is currently the Deputy Director (Research) and serves on the University’s Board of Graduate Research.
The appointment reflects his lifetime connection with music, which has seen him both perform as a rock guitarist and sing with Opera Queensland for 20 years, all the while teaching in a variety of education facilities throughout the State.
It’s this balance as a performer and educator that will see his career come full circle as he takes the top position in the University where he first launched his career, supported now by many of the same staff who previously taught him.
Professor Harrison initially returned to Griffith University in 2000 as a casual lecturer in music and was permanently appointed in 2004. Since then he has also served as Deputy Head of School (Research) for the School of Education and Professional Studies.
Previously, Professor Harrison held the position of Director of Music at Marist College, Head of Performing Arts at John Paul College and Clairvaux MacKillop College, and a key leadership role with Central Queensland University.
He previously served as National President of the Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing and has been recognised for his innovative and consultative approaches to academic development and leadership.
Professor Harrison’s background in music education and his professional opera singing experience contribute and inform his approach to leadership. His research is focused on various aspects of music learning and teaching in three domains: Masculinities and Music, Music Pedagogy and Curriculum and Music and Health.
Professor Harrison believes the Queensland Conservatorium will continue to play a vital role in the cultural life of Queensland, as it has for more than 50 years.
“Our programs already offer enormous depth across a range of genres – popular music, musical theatre, jazz, classical music, technology and opera and we will be looking to enhance these offerings into the future.”
“Our engagement with the arts community is critical, as is our responsibility to train creative practitioners for the realities of the 21st century.
“We have exciting times ahead and the revitalised Queensland Conservatorium as part of the New Griffith will offer benefits across the State,” he said.
For a man who has devoted his life to environmental protection, Professor Ian Lowe AO does absolutely nothing to conserve energy when it comes to his own.
Emeritus Professor of Science, Engineering, Environment and Technology at Griffith, Professor Lowe has also served as President of the Australian Conservation Foundation for almost a decade. With degrees in engineering and physics, he has held a wide range of government advisory roles and published 20 books as well as more than 500 other publications.
His lifelong contribution to science has won him an extraordinary array of accolades; he was named Humanist of the Year in 1988 and made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2001. He has been also been awarded the Centenary Medal, the Eureka Prize for promotion of science, the Prime Minister’s Environment Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement, the Queensland Premier’s Millennium Award for Excellence in Science, and more.
Professor Lowe says he is now officially retired but continues to live life at a pace that would demolish a fast bowler. And, as it happens, cricket is one of his enduring passions.
A cricket playing scientist
“I’ve always been a scientist who enjoyed playing cricket rather than someone who sees cricket as his life’s work,” Professor Lowe said.
This month he ispart of Australia’s first over-70’s cricket team to tour England, and while the match pace might be a little slower it is still going to be demanding tour.
“We’ll play seven counties in England’s over-70’s competition; and another three matches against the combined England side.We’ll be pitting ourselves against the best geriatrics England can put on the paddock,” Professor Lowe said.
Professor Lowe first donned cricket whites while still at a school, but even then he aimed high. He was just 13 when he first got the chance to play for his home town cricket club.
“Every weekend I used to put on my whites, go to the ground and sit… and wait. Then one day someone didn’t turn up and I was sent to the boundary to field and I managed to take a screamer of a catch. For about the next 15 minutes I was a hero. And then the real cricketer turned up and I was sent back to the bench”
As with all things in Ian Lowe’s life, persistence paid off.
He played representative cricket for Camden District before six seasons in University of NSW first grade. While studying in England, he was in the Combined British Universities squad as well as playing league cricket in Yorkshire. After returning to Australia he played two season of grade cricket in Brisbane, then thirty seasons with Griffith University in the Warehouse competition.
He has also represented Queensland every year since the State joined the Over-60s competition, and plays over-40s cricket for Sunshine Coast Antiquarians. He believes he is the oldest serious outswing bowler in Queensland cricket. But for all that, he points out that in 55 years of competitive cricket he has only achieved one century and one tenfer.
After the England cricket tour he is going on a ten day walk across Portugal and Spain. He’s then returning for the over 60’s cricket carnival on the Sunshine Coast in September.
Not declaring stumps yet
Despite his extraordinary career in cricket, Professor Lowe remains better known for the runs he scores in the field of Science and service to the community. And he’s not declaring stumps there yet either.
“I have just co-ordinated a significant research project for the Federal Government developing a framework for assessing the likely social and economic impact of new technologies.
Why does he maintain this pace?
“Well, you only get one life don’t you?”
Healthscope, Australia’s largest provider of integrated healthcare will fund a PhD scholarship at Griffith University for research into melanoma.
Director of Griffith’s Institute for Glycomics, Professor Mark von Itzstein said the generous donation by the operator of Gold Coast’s Allamanda Private Hospital would allow the hunt for improved drug treatments to be intensified.
“We are delighted by this partnership in world-leading drug discovery research,” Professor von Itzstein said.
“It will enable us to accelerate our efforts in the discovery of new drug candidates for the treatment of melanoma,” he said.
Targeting melanoma cells
The Healthscope / Institute for Glycomics co-funded program will involve the development of new drugs especially created to target melanoma cells. This ‘designer’ approach was successful in the discovery of the world’s first flu drug Relenza. Professor von Itzstein led the research group responsible for that drug, which has been approved for the treatment of influenza worldwide.
The melanoma program will also involve the screening of patient tissue samples to identify new drug targets.
‘Melanoma samples will be collected from consenting Allamanda cancer patients,” Professor von Itzstein said.
“The Institute will appoint a tissue bankcurator who will develop celllines from these samples for testing, to see if we can find a weakness in the melanoma cell which could make it more vulnerable to treatment,” he said.
“We will draw on the Institute’s unique screening library of 350 mammalianglycans in this search for new ‘carbohydrate specific’ drug targets.”
Healthscope plays a vital role in health and wellbeing by providing private hospital, medical centre and pathology services in every State and Territory of Australia, as well as overseas.
Research partnership
Allamanda Private Hospital general manager, David Harper said he was excited by the partnership.
“Griffith University produces the doctors and nurses of tomorrow and, by funding research, we can ensure they not only educate new medical staff, but continue to play an active role in important medical developments,” said Mr Harper.
“The Gold Coast is home to world renowned medical researchers who have made influential discoveries and we want to help them continue this crucial work.
“With Healthscope’s Gold Coast Private Hospital set to become a major part of the Griffith Health and Knowledge Precinct, we also want to be an active partner in this area, not only providing healthcare but contributing to the future of medicine.”
Professor von Itzstein agreed the research partnership holds great possibilities.
“Forging this research relationship in advance of Healthscope’s new Gold Coast Private Hospital, co-located alongside Griffith University and the Institute for Glycomics, means that private hospital clinicians can directly contribute to discovering new treatments for cancers such as melanoma, and the potential for taking these discoveries into early-stage human clinical trials,” Professor von Itzstein said.
“We are very excited by this extraordinary partnership.”
