Visiting scholar illuminates history of prejudice, persecution

June 30, 2006

"Witches and Jews in late medieval culture" is just one of the topics with which a visiting Canadian scholar has stimulated lecturers and students at The University of New England over the past two months.

Professor Diana Relke (pictured here) is returning to the University of Saskatchewan with much of the background information she needs for a key chapter in the book she is writing on the relationship of anti-Semitism and misogyny throughout European history. She spent her time at UNE presenting and discussing her ideas, and gaining fresh insight into relevant aspects of Judaism and Christianity.

Diana Relke founded the Department of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Saskatchewan, where she is now a Professor. Her research interests and expertise extend over literary, cultural, feminist and psychoanalytic theory, and include American popular culture and Jewish cultural studies. "In planning my new book, it occurred to me that I needed to learn a lot more about Christianity and Judaism," she said. "And what better place to do so than in the Religious Studies discipline within UNE's School of Classics, History and Religion?"

She contacted UNE's Professor Majella Franzmann, an international authority in religious studies, after hearing her speak - via the Internet - on ABC Radio. Professor Franzmann invited her to UNE as a visiting scholar in the School of Classics, History and Religion, where her own sister, Dr Joan Relke, is a member of the academic staff.

Professor Relke brought with her the material for a seminar series titled "Devils, witches, and the making of modern Europe", which she presented with great success. "It was good to be closed up with so many fine minds," she said. "Once you get among the right people, you start thinking about the topic all the time. I think I can go home and sketch out this chapter now."

The book will present what she refers to as a "genealogy" of prejudice and discrimination against women and Jews from the early centuries of the Christian era to the present day. "In the third and fourth centuries AD," she said, "the language that the Church Fathers used in talking about women was similar to that used in connection with Jews. Both Jews and women represented 'a threat to the souls of Christian men'."

Professor Relke is the first scholar to follow this relationship through history - including that period of the early modern era when, as she said, "they stopped burning Jews and started burning witches", and the ascendancy of Zionism and feminism at the end of the nineteenth century. (She relates this focus throughout history on "the Satanic other", such as witches and Jews, with modern-day equivalents which political leaders use "to frighten people into supporting their wars".)

While at UNE, Professor Relke has presented a number of lectures, including "Patriarchy, misogyny, and the politics of fear", "Gay rights, reproductive rights, and the religious Right", and "Blood and borders: Jews, women, and state-building in late medieval and early modern Europe". Her most recently-published book is a study of the American television and film series Star Trek.

Professor Relke returns to Canada today, but will keep in touch with Classics, History and Religion at UNE. "It's been a privilege to be part of a School in another university," she said.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at 12:45 PM

Cinematic smorgasbord to be served up in August

June 29, 2006

Arranged marriages, mysterious videotapes and supernatural beings are just a taste of the cinematic smorgasbord to be served up at Armidale’s International Film Festival, August 4-6. The festival, now in its third year, will include 13 films from as many countries, including Italy, Japan, India and Senegal. Of particular interest to film buffs will be the French film Caché (Hidden), a thriller starring Juliette Binoche that has been hailed by critics as “the first great film of the twenty-first century”.

Also on the menu are Salaam Namaste, a Bollywood extravaganza set in Melbourne; Nochnoi Dozor (Night Watch), a Russian science-fiction film; and Ada apa dengan Cinta? (What’s up with Love?), described as “an Indonesian chick flick with an upbeat soundtrack”.

The festival was started in 2004 by a group of foreign film fans in the School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures at the University of New England, as part of the university’s fiftieth anniversary celebrations. The first festival was so successful that the organisers decided to make it an annual event. Andrea Schalley, the chair of the 2006 festival organising committee, said this year she expected to sell about 100 festival tickets and more than 500 tickets to individual screenings.

“People responded so positively to the first two festivals,” Dr Schalley said. “People said it was like being at (the world-famous film festival in) Cannes right here at home. It’s great to be able to bring films to Armidale that might not otherwise be shown here.”

The program includes one film in each of the languages taught at UNE, as well as other countries around the globe.

Each year a particular language is showcased on opening night. In 2006 that language will be Italian and the film shown will be Manuale d’amore (Manual of Love), nominated for 12 Italian Oscars.
The festival promises something for everyone, according to Dr Schalley.

“We have everything from science fiction to comedy to dramas,” she said. “The festival is intended to promote the expertise UNE has in the languages we teach, and to expose people to foreign-language films generally.”

Dr Schalley said the festival would not be possible without the support of a wide range of organisations, including the Armidale Regional Tourism Event Support Program and the Italian Institute of Culture.

Tickets for the festival, including the gala opening night, are available from the Belgrave Twin Cinema and cost just $50 for 13 films. Tickets to individual screenings are available at normal prices. For more information visit the website: http://www.une.edu.au/iff.

For more information contact Leon Braun (UNE Public Relations) on (02) 6773 3771. A photo is available to accompany this story.

Posted by Leon Braun at 02:26 PM

Commerce and academia unite to mount outback expedition

June 28, 2006

A unique marriage of commerce and academia has seen Australia's most popular off-road magazine sponsor an archaeological expedition to the heart of the Simpson Desert. Dr June Ross (University of New England) and Dr Mike Smith (National Museum of Australia) undertook the expedition to Geosurveys Hill to study a group of gigantic Aboriginal geoglyphs – geometrical stone arrangements as much as 300 metres in length – first recorded by anthropologist Norman Tindale more than 40 year ago.

In October of 1962, Tindale received an invitation to visit the area from Reg Sprigg, managing director of Geosurveys Ltd, one of several companies prospecting in the Simpson for oil and gas at the time. Sprigg's workers had noticed “long lines of stones that disappear under sand hills”.

Tindale was delivered to the site in a light plane that set down on the claypans and flew off. A brief investigation of the area turned up extensive stone arrangements on several pans, as well as scatters of chipped stone artefacts that Tindale thought represented two phases of occupation; the older being around 6000-8000 years old and the more recent within the last 1000 years. Stormclouds prevented further study – the pilot, fearing a downpour would turn his landing strip into a quagmire, returned to collect Tindale less than 24 hours later. Tindale swore to return (“I am on 24 hours notice to go again”) but the opportunity never came. It would be four decades before the next expedition, lead by Drs Ross and Smith, would visit the area.

After curating an exhibition called “Extremes: Deserts of the Southern Hemisphere”, Dr Smith was approached by the technical editor of 4X4 Magazine, who was keen to sponsor a scientific expedition to Australia's red centre. Dr Smith had read about Tindale's aborted visit to Geosurveys Hill, and had always wanted to go back and explore. 4X4 agreed to mount the expedition and to run a feature on it in their magazine. Landrover Australia provided two brand-new Landrover Discoveries and US company Coopers Tires provided tyres. Dr Ross and Dr Smith were also accompanied by a video crew and stills photographer. A former airline pilot was their navigator.

After a challenging four-day drive across sand dunes, Dr Ross and her colleagues spent four days surveying the sites at Geosurveys Hill. The archaeologists found and recorded seven stone arrangements and extensive scatters of stone tools.They also found that Geosurveys Hill, a lone hill amongst a vast dune field, was, in fact, a silcrete outcrop that had been extensively quarried by Aborigines for the manufacture of stone tools. The team produced a detailed recording of the largest stone arrangement, which they will now compare to other Aboriginal stone arrangements in arid Australia. They believe the stone arrangements were produced over an extended period of time during the last 1500 years or so.

Dr Ross called the commercially-sponsored expedition a “unique opportunity”.

“An expedition such as this would be very difficult to mount through the normal grant agencies,” she said. “They're generally not interested in funding something so costly and with such an uncertain outcome.”

“The partnership between the sponsors and the archaeologists allowed us to gather extremely valuable information about past Aboriginal land use in arid environments, as well as giving the sponsors a chance to test their products under some of the country's toughest conditions.”

For more information contact Leon Braun (UNE Public Relations) on (02) 6773 3771. A photo is available to accompany this story.

Posted by Leon Braun at 12:04 PM

Year 12 students get fresh insight into economics, business and law

June 27, 2006

More than 300 Year 12 students from throughout the New England North West region of NSW have gained fresh insight into topics in the Higher School Certificate curricula for Business Studies, Economics, and Legal Studies.

The students, from 18 high schools, attended today’s annual HSC study day in The University of New England’s Faculty of Economics, Business and Law.

They came from as far away as Coonabarabran, Moree, Manilla and Tenterfield, as well as from schools in Armidale, Tamworth, Glen Innes, Gunnedah, Guyra and Inverell. Those from Coonabarabran and Moree stayed last night in UNE’s Mary White College, and they all enjoyed a barbecue lunch today. This year’s attendance at the study day was a record: about 100 more than last year. The students were accompanied by 29 teachers.

Sessions throughout the day dealt with topics as diverse as the global economy, human rights, crime, and workplace law. UNE academics conducted the sessions on Economics and Legal Studies, while Stephen Chapman, a prominent authority on the HSC Business Studies curriculum, visited UNE to present most of the Business sessions. Mr Chapman is an HSC marker and co-author of the textbook Business Studies in Action used by many students. He has worked as an advisory consultant for government bodies, is a regular presenter at schools’ in-service and professional development days, and has won awards for teaching excellence and pedagogical writing as well as a Commonwealth Parliamentary Teaching Scholarship. This is the second consecutive year that he has contributed to the UNE study day.

The Faculty’s Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning), Dr Josie Fisher, welcomed the students and teachers at the beginning of the day’s program. Commenting later on the success of the day, Dr Fisher said it had not only provided the region’s students with valuable experiences often taken for granted by their metropolitan counterparts, but had given them an insight into university life.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows UNE's Dr Tony Ramsay (centre), who conducted the session on the global economy, with HSC students Tessa Roe from PLC Armidale and Edward Warrick from The Armidale School.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at 04:15 PM

Young researcher recognised for commitment to regional development

June 26, 2006

A young academic from The University of New England has won Australian Government sponsorship to attend an international conference that will broaden his perspective on a subject – regional development – on which he is already an authority.

Joel Byrnes, a research student and junior lecturer in UNE’s School of Economics, will attend the Australian Government’s “Growing Regions” conference in Brisbane next month. He is one of 15 young people from around Australia who have been chosen as government-sponsored delegates to the conference.

Mr Byrnes (pictured here), who is Deputy Director of the UNE Centre for Local Government, said the conference would give him an opportunity to promote the work of the Centre – which is already well known throughout NSW – among the national and international delegates.

It would also allow him to discuss his current doctoral research project, concerning the delivery of water services to regional cities in NSW and Victoria, with leading administrators of such services. (“For example, Ken Matthews, the Chairman of the Australian Government National Water Commission, will be among the speakers at the conference,” he said.)

Mr Warren Truss, Australia’s Minister for Transport and Regional Services, will give one of the opening addresses at the conference, which will begin on Tuesday 25 July and continue till Thursday 27 July. In announcing the names of the young sponsored delegates, Mr Truss said: “These 15 young people from across Australia have demonstrated a commitment to developing sustainable futures for themselves and their communities.” He added that they would “gain valuable insights into innovation and best practice in regional development, with the aim of implementing some of these strategies in their own communities and organisations”.

The many distinguished speakers at the conference will include Slawomir Tokarski (a member of the Cabinet for Regional Policy, European Union), Odile Sallard (from the Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), Mark Drabenstott (Vice-President and Director of the Centre for the Study of Rural America at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City), Maria Helena Henriques Meuller (Head of the Section for Youth in the United Nations Bureau of Strategic Planning), and Edward Bergman (Director of the Institute for Regional Development and Environment at Vienna University of Economics and Business).

Mr Byrnes, through UNE’s Centre for Local Government, has recently contributed to an inquiry into the financial sustainability of local government in NSW, and, acting as a consultant for a local government council in Western Australia, has assessed a State Government proposal for the amalgamation of local councils in that State. His PhD research is a comparison of the efficiency of water services in regional urban areas of NSW (where those services are administered by 126 locally-elected councils) and Victoria (where the administration comprises 15 regional water authorities with appointed board members).

“I’m sure I’ll return from the conference with a better understanding of how governments in other countries tackle problems of regional development,” Mr Byrnes said. “Basically, it’s not an ‘academic’ conference, but a meeting of people – many of them very eminent – who deal with these problems on a practical, day-to-day basis.”

Posted by Jim Scanlan at 04:18 PM

UNE Law School receives Carrick grant to lead national collaborative project

June 23, 2006

Despite its fledgling status, the 12-year-old School of Law at The University of New England (UNE) has taken a leadership role. It is set to band together 22 of Australia’s law schools in a Web-based collaboration that will give Australian law research a groundbreaking edge over established and eminent law schools in England and the United States.

The merit of the proposed Australian Law School Internet collaborative facility has been recognised by a Carrick Institute grant, which will see the theory put into practice within 18 months.

“The School of Law at UNE has been awarded a $192,000 Carrick Institute Leadership Grant for Excellence in Teaching and Learning,” explained the Head of UNE's School of Law, Professor Stephen Colbran (pictured here). “The purpose of the grant is to promote a culture of collaboration among Australian law schools. For example, as a result of this UNE-led project, a postgraduate research student will be able to approach any of the 22 law schools involved in the project to obtain supervisors in their area of study. This will be a major advance on past practices, whereby students could access available specialists in only one law school.”

The innovative concept will be an Australian first. It has evolved from UNE’s cutting-edge initiatives – including podcasting, and enhanced delivery of course material via the Internet – to assist its distance-education students.

“This is a major coup for UNE,” Professor Colbran continued. “UNE will control the set-up and management of this collaborative project among the law schools. It will control and manage the Web site, and also the support staff involved in the project. This should put UNE in a prime position to build networks with other law schools and their supervisors and research staff, and to establish further collaborative arrangements among PhD and other higher-degree research students studying law in Australia.

“The model proposed for this project will unquestionably allow Australia to be much more competitive than the likes of the United Kingdom and the United States, in the sense that students will be able to tap into a wider variety of expertise and supervisors for their higher-degree research projects. While other countries are limited by what any particular law school can offer in terms of supervision and specialised expertise, Australian law schools – united – will become an international benchmark for law research.”

When complete, the UNE-managed national law school Web facility will provide a broad array of services to its Australian university membership. It is expected to facilitate specialised forums on research topics, foster collaborative law research endeavours, and even serve as a repository for back-up copies of theses.

For more information, contact Professor Colbran on (02) 6773 2910.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at 03:08 PM

'Last resort' learning intervention program gets more government support

June 22, 2006

Researchers at The University of New England have just received government funding of almost half a million dollars to extend a learning intervention program that has been helping under-achieving school students to “trust their heads”.

The program, called QuickSmart, enables poorly-performing students to abandon inefficient mental procedures and to try new, more efficient ones – “trusting their heads”, as the students themselves put it.

Acknowledged as a “last resort” intervention for middle-school students otherwise destined to fail, QuickSmart has enabled under-performing students in Years 5 to 8 to narrow the "performance gap" with their peers. One of the UNE researchers, Professor John Pegg, explained that the program aimed at “freeing up working memory” by encouraging the students to abandon slow and cumbersome processes such as the use of their fingers for counting.

“Under the program,” Professor Pegg explained, “a teacher or teacher’s aide works with two students at a time, in 30-minute sessions, three times a week for 30 weeks. They’re put into a motivational environment, encouraging them to think more quickly and accurately – hence ‘QuickSmart’. They start to want to get faster, and while the program focuses on numeracy skills, they improve in other areas as well.”

Professor Pegg (pictured here) is the Director of the National Centre of Science, ICT and Mathematics Education for Rural and Regional Australia (SiMERR); he and his SiMERR colleague, Dr Lorraine Graham, are the project’s Team Leaders.

QuickSmart, which began in 2001, has involved schools in the New England and North Coast regions of NSW, and in the Northern Territory. The program has achieved outstanding results, with students reporting significant gains that have been recognised by teachers and parents. The Australian Government is contributing $225,000 as a "quality teacher initiative" under its Quality Teacher Program for 2006, while the additional funding for this year is to come from the Northern Territory and NSW Governments.

There are 13 schools in the current project, involving more than 200 students. Twelve of the schools are in the Northern Territory – including two desert schools and one on Elco Island – and the other is Orara High School in Coffs Harbour. "In the Northern Territory there is a distinctly Indigenous and primary-school focus to the program," Dr Graham said, "involving about 10 students in each school. At Orara, a secondary school, we are experimenting with how to organise a program to support a large cohort of students in one school."

The UNE team – Professor Pegg, Dr Graham, and Jenny Thomas, the Project Manager – travelled to the Northern Territory in March to initiate this year’s extension of the program, and will return there in July and December. Professor Pegg said that there was a greater involvement of teacher’s aides this year. “Through their involvement, teacher’s aides are playing an enhanced role in the education of these students and are finding this new role very satisfying,” he said.

The results of the QuickSmart project will be a feature of an international education conference titled “Narrowing the Achievement Gap” to be held at UNE next April.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at 04:39 PM

UNE given insight into religious conflict and terrorism

June 21, 2006

The Centre for Peace Studies at The University of New England has hosted a topical seminar on terrorism, culture, Islam and prejudice. Father Kevin Stewart presented the two-hour seminar before twenty academics, representing a cross-section of the university.

Fr Stewart has spent more than 38 years as a Marist priest and the last 15 years “giving hope to the hopeless” in Cotabato City, the capital of the autonomous region of Muslim Mindenao in the Southern Philippines.

Fr Stewart has sought to promote peace and tolerance in the same area where the Bali bombers were thought to have received their training.

Currently on a 12 month sabbatical at St Patricks, Church Hill in Sydney, Fr Stewart has observed the misconceptions Australians hold concerning Islam and conflict-torn regions where Muslims and Catholics must co-exist.

“My message to people here was to look beyond the alarming headlines, which represent a tiny percentage of the society,” he said.

“I do most of my teaching about peace and decreasing local prejudices with teenagers. Educating the young can be more effective than trying to change the mindset of society or the adult population. For that same reason, I have also tried to talk with as many young people at local
Catholic schools as possible while I tour the New England North-West of NSW,” he said.

“My years working with Muslim and Christian student leaders in a situation of armed conflict have given me a real insight into the prejudices we need to overcome. Here in Australia we need to lead by example. While there is much we can do to help our neighbours, there are still many indigenous issues where stereotyping continues to create tension on a local front,” Fr Stewart said.

Pictured in the above-right photograph is UNE Senior Lect. in Politics and Chair of the Catholic Bishop’s Commission for Justice, Development & Peace in the Armidale Diocese, Tim Battin shaking hands with Father Kevin Stewart.

For more information contact John Kauter (UNE Public Relations): (02) 6773 2779.

Posted by Gary Fry at 12:16 PM

UNE giving a HSC Science Boost to Regional Students

June 20, 2006

The popular HSC Science Booster Program is on again at The University of New England (UNE) from June 19-21. Year 12 students from 18 high schools are benefiting from university expertise in HSC science subjects this week, while gaining an insight into life on campus at UNE.

Almost 300 students are booked to attend the HSC Science Booster. They are coming from schools across northern NSW, including Moree, Quirindi, Tamworth, and Inverell. They will be taking part in practical activities in chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology, and agriculture.

About 50 students and teachers from schools in Bonalbo, Coonabarabran, Merriwa, Moree, Manilla and Coonamble will be treated to the full UNE experience by the Faculty of The Sciences. These schools are too far from Armidale to allow a one-day excursion, so they are being accommodated and fed at Mary White College. UNE’s Faculty of The Sciences is working to encourage further interest in science and mathematics, and support regional HSC students. The faculty will cover the accommodation costs and provide $100 towards the travel expenses of each school bringing students more than 100km to Armidale.

UNE's Associate Professor Robin Jessop (pictured), the coordinator of the "HSC Booster Activities", said they focus on parts of the HSC syllabus that were often difficult for schools to cover in practical detail. Titles of the activities include “Chemistry: AAS, UV-visible spectrometer, and phosphate analysis", “Biology: Genetics and Gene Expression", and "Maths: Derivatives and Nowhere-Derivatives, a first step towards the maths of fractals".

“Staff here at UNE are volunteering their time to make the HSC Science Booster program the success that it is. We aim to make it as educationally rewarding as possible, while reinvigorating their enthusiasm towards their individual courses during an otherwise stressful time,” he said.

The HSC Science Booster activities are in their seventh successive year and continue to go from strength to strength, according to Associate Professor Jessop.

“Feedback from both teachers and students in previous years has been very positive, and each year we take teachers' suggestions into account when preparing the program,” he said.

For further information, please contact Associate Professor Robin Jessop (02) 6773 2502 or Administrative Assistant for the Faculty of The Sciences, Shirley Rickard (02) 6773 3062.

Posted by Gary Fry at 02:44 PM

Universities' innovation to address rural NSW doctor shortage

June 19, 2006

Hunter-New England’s chronic health workforce shortage would be eased under a proposed local undergraduate medical program focusing on rural practice.

Based on evidence that medical students completing their training in a rural setting are more likely to practice in those areas, The University of New England and the University of Newcastle have partnered to introduce a joint medical program, proposed for 2008.

Professor Alan Pettigrew, Vice-Chancellor of The University of New England, Australia’s first regional university, said the proposed joint program was an ideal example of the innovative thinking called for by the recent Productivity Commission’s Research Report on Australia’s Health Workforce to address rural and regional Australia’s medical workforce shortage.

“The program will deliver up to 80 new medical practitioners into the workforce each year who have been trained, and are therefore more likely to stay, in a rural setting.

“The University of New England and the University of Newcastle have forged a unique partnership with the Hunter New England Area Health Service to develop this innovative program. The program also has strong support and leadership from the independent Member for the Northern Tablelands, Richard Torbay; the NSW Premier; and key federal politicians.”

Professor Nicholas Saunders, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Newcastle, said the course would help the Hunter New England Area Health Service attract and retain medical staff to service the whole region, in particular the significant rural areas.

“Studies have shown that Hunter New England Health Area Health Service residents have twice as much difficulty accessing health services than their counterparts in metropolitan Sydney, Wollongong and the NSW Central Coast.

“The proposed program will attract medical students to the area by capitalising on The University of New England’s strong rural standing and expertise in delivering nursing, health and science programs, and the University of Newcastle’s highly respected medical course - one of the first in Australia to emphasise rural medicine.”

The universities and the Hunter New England Area Health Service have come together to ask the Australian Government to provide up to 80 additional Commonwealth-supported medical student places each year from 2008 for the program, of which 60 will be enrolled at The University of New England and 20 at the University of Newcastle. The universities aim to include a significant cohort of indigenous students in the program, building on the University of Newcastle’s strong existing track record of graduating 60 per cent of indigenous doctors in Australia.

Mr Terry Clout, Chief Executive Officer for the Hunter New England Area Health Service, said the regionally-based training aspect of the program was one of the best remedies for the Hunter-New England’s medical workforce shortage.

Mr Torbay conveyed the NSW Government's support today for the program with a commitment to upgrading Armidale and Tamworth Base Hospitals and other facilities consistent with the needs of the universities, if the Commonwealth agrees to fund the medical student places.

Media contact:
Ingrid Rothe, Tel: 02 6773 3402; Mob: 0418 270 301; Email: irothe@une.edu.au

Posted by Leon Braun at 09:57 AM

Preparing UNE nursing graduates for a professional career

June 16, 2006

A two-day workshop within The University of New England’s School of Health called “Preparation for Professional Practice” has primed nursing students for their chosen career.

A guest speaker at the workshop, Emma Gibson, is a UNE nursing graduate and recently spent six months nursing in Kenya. She told the captivated third-year Bachelor of Nursing students about her experiences working as a nurse overseas.

“It was nursing but it was also a big adventure. Next I’m going to work in the UK, which is almost more daunting because of the cold,” Dr Gibson said.

“It's great to have an alumna return to UNE and demonstrate to students about to embark upon their nursing careers the exciting opportunities open to them,” said the Nursing Program Coordinator, Dr Glenda Parmenter.

Hospitals and Area Health Services around NSW are already preparing to recruit next year’s Bachelor of Nursing graduates from The University of New England.

Thirteen health care organisations from between (and including) Sydney and Brisbane were represented at a recruitment display in UNE’s School of Health during the workshop. Some of the organisations also sent representatives to talk to the final-year nursing students about employment opportunities.

“UNE graduates are often successful in securing highly-sought-after nursing positions both in Australia and abroad,” Dr Parmenter said. “The number of organisations represented was indicative of our graduates’ excellent reputation throughout the industry.”

“This annual workshop provides the students with skills and information they will need during their transition from the university environment to the nursing workplace,” she said.

The workshop was attended by 78 final-year students and included sessions on: career pathways, job applications and interviews. A simplified procedure that allows a single application/interview to be considered by up to 10 hospitals was also described.

Representatives of the Nurses’ Registration Board, the Royal College of Nursing and the NSW Nurses’ Association also attended the workshop.

Media contact: Dr Glenda Parmenter, School of Health, UNE, Armidale (02) 6773 3683 or John Kauter, Public Relations Manager, UNE, Armidale (02) 6773 2779. A photograph is available to accompany this story.

Posted by Gary Fry at 05:12 PM

UNE a highlight as U.S. academics tour Australia

June 15, 2006

A delegation of touring academics from Kentucky, USA visited The University of New England (UNE) as part of an educational Australian tour. The group of academics were drawn to UNE because of its international reputation in distance education and their background with somewhat similar regional universities in the USA. Their visit to UNE proved to be rewardingly educational, according to President of the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges, Gary Cox.

The two week educational tour has been organised by specialist group consultant with New England Travel, Glenys Williams. “The group arrived in Melbourne on the 6th June. They visited the University of Melbourne before heading north, into the outback. They visited Alice Springs, Uluru, Cairns, and even Byron Bay, where marine biology was the focus. Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th June, saw the American delegation staying in Armidale and experiencing UNE,” she said.

“We were asked to provide an educational experience of Australia. UNE was featured in the tour due to the expertise it houses and because it is a well established regional university with a distinct identity. It was also due to the connections I have at the University, the willingness of its staff to accommodate and communicate with international guests and the strong global reputation UNE has developed in many areas of expertise, such as distance education. For these reasons, I am seeing an increasing number of international education tours incorporating UNE,” she said.

There are 20 scholars from The Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities. They come from a range of academic fields and differing institutions. There are eight public universities in the State of Kentucky, six regional and two research universities. With 20 non-profit, independent institutions in the State, the visitors represent a significant portion of the tertiary education sector. The independent universities and colleges collectively account for 12,000 jobs across Kentucky.

During a seminar in UNE’s Dixon Library, Michael Brogan from the University’s Oorala Centre spoke to the group about Indigenous artists and their relation to Australian history in recording historic and social realities of their time.

“We experienced a great deal of Indigenous Australian culture in central Australia. What we learnt at UNE gave us a greater understanding and appreciation of the Aboriginal art and culture that we had seen,” said Mr. Cox.

“We have found the campus here and the surrounding region to be absolutely beautiful, if a little cold, given that we’ve come from the middle of summer."

“We were presented with the opportunity to meet and talk with academic staff at UNE, some of whom shared areas of expertise with members of our group,” he said.

“We were particularly interested in the resources that the University of New England has developed for facilitating distance education. That is not yet an area of strength for us and we have seen that we could learn a lot from what UNE has achieved in this area.”

The President of the New England Branch of the Australian College of Educators, Dr David Patterson from UNE, was the guest speaker at a special dinner in Armidale.

After leaving Armidale, the International Faculty Development Trip to Australia heads to Sydney, and flies out on 19th June.

Pictured in the above-right photograph are (left to right): Specialist group consultant with New England Travel, Glenys Williams, President of the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges, Gary Cox and Head Librarian at UNE’s Dixson Library, Evelyn Woodberry.

For more information please contact Glenys Williams on 0417 838 493 or UNE Public Relations Manager John Kauter on (02) 6773 2779 or 0407 062 023.

Posted by Gary Fry at 04:12 PM

UNE Rural Science Research, lucrative and abundant

June 14, 2006

Postgraduate research opportunities at The University of New England (UNE) are in unprecedented abundance at present, particularly in the School of Rural Science and Agriculture, according to the School's Course Coordinator, Dr. Ian Godwin.

UNE is the heart of rural science teaching and research in Australia, with many autonomous and collaborative research institutes based on or near the campus. "For students, this means they can see the applied nature of what they are studying and the career possibilities," he said.

"We must now devise new means of attracting more undergraduate students to postgraduate research. Basically, there are more scientific research opportunities available than there are students. One, PhD student in Chemistry has recently returned from Cambridge University, England. She told me that UNE's resources and facilities stood tall against some of the most prestigious universities in the world, but what places it a step above is the accessibility of the state of the art equipment and the low staff to student ratio," recounted Dr. Godwin.

"We now have seven Co-operative Research Centres (CRC's) closely associated with UNE and cutting-edge institutes such as the Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit, which mean greater funding opportunities for research in Rural Science than we've seen for years. Despite all that, we have the capacity to double the number of PhD researchers across the Faculty of The Sciences, a number that currently stands at 50," he said.

"This is due to strong employment opportunities and a demand for scientists resulting from the strong economy and the need for greater numbers of science students across the tertiary education sector. In short, a graduate from the Bachelor of Rural Science at UNE will almost certainly find employment at the conclusion of the undergraduate degree, and most often they take the job. It is increasingly important that we convey to our students excitement and benefits that come tackling PhD research," explained Dr. Godwin.

"In the near future, we are going to face a major shortage of PhD qualified scientists in Australia, despite society becoming more scientifically advanced. We cannot understate the important of the groundbreaking advancements made through PhD research. Rural scientists and researchers have saved more lives and made more advancements in humanity than any other field. This was first appreciated with the green revolution in Asia and most recently in the genetic improvements in livestock," said Dr. Goodwin.

"Many undergraduate students never realise the excitement than comes with postgraduate research, especially a PhD. An undergraduate (or bachelor
degree) is about learning existing knowledge; postgraduate research is about creating entirely new knowledge. When it's the first time anywhere in the world something has been seen, recorded of understood in a certain way, it is exciting. Current PhD students at UNE have told me that they had no idea how exciting and rewarding postgraduate research could be when they were undergraduates," said Dr. Godwin. "Also, undergraduate students don't realise that funded international travel is an inherent part of doing a PhD. They might attend a conference in New Zealand and then head to Korea months later for a symposium to share in the latest advancements in their field."

"PhD graduates from the School of Rural Science at UNE have found that their postgraduate achievement opens up the international job market far more than an undergraduate degree can," added Dr. Godwin.

On 7th April 2006, Ben Wood was presented with his PhD at The University of New England's autumn graduation ceremony for the Sciences and Health.
Within the School of Rural Science and Agriculture, Ben's research was
titled: Utilising New Technologies in the Genetic Improvement of Australian Beef Cattle. Ben is now living in Canada, working for one of the World's two largest turkey breeding companies, Hybrid Turkeys. "My role there will be to help tailor their breeding programs to enhance and optimise productivity and consequently, profits," said Dr. Wood.

"My PhD at UNE was funded through the Cattle and Beef Quality CRC. This meant that my research was both practical and applied to industry. I found that my PhD experience at UNE was professionally very good. My research supervisors, especially Julius van der Werf and Dr. Peter Parnell, were great. In addition to their expertise and guidance, I was assisted in my research and career by their international connections," he said.

"Now, I am in the midst of a short return trip to UNE to work with my internationally respected former mentor. Dr. van der Werf and I are working on a collaborative research project, involving the use of genetic algorithms to optimise the contribution from multiple breeding lines,"
explained Dr. Wood.

For more information please contact Dr Ian Godwin 02 6773 2488.

Posted by lcreedy at 04:51 PM

UNE Researcher Honoured with OAM

June 13, 2006

UNE Researcher Honoured with OAM

A celebrated historian at The University of New England was humbled to be the only Armidale recipient of the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in the 2006 Queen’s Birthday Honours list. Associate Professor Janis Wilton was recognised ‘for service to the community as an historian, researcher and author, to history organisations, and through the preservation of Chinese heritage in NSW.’

The colourful Armidale identity has been a Lecturer of History at the Armidale College of Advanced Education (CAE) and then at the University of New England since 1985 and is now an Associate Professor in the School of Classics, History and Religion.

“I guess this award recognises all the work I have done over the years, above and beyond the call of duty, in the name of preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of regional NSW, particularly the role of the contribution of Chinese,” said Dr. Wilton.

“I certainly haven’t gone it alone. I’ve enjoyed the support of my family, particularly my husband Joe, and the diverse range of people I have worked with,” she said.

Locally, nationally and internationally, Dr. Wilton is highly regarded by her peers and is a leading force in her academic fields of expertise. She was the President of the International Oral History Association 2002 – 2004 and Vice-President 2000 – 2002. She is the co-organiser of the 14th International Oral History Conference to be held in Sydney, this year.

Dr. Wilton is also a National Committee Member of the Oral History Association of Australia and was a Foundation Member in 1978.

The impact of the UNE historian’s work has been evident through the establishment of the Wing Hing Long Museum in Tingha in 1998. Dr. Wilton was instrumental in this museum of considerable cultural significance to the New England Northwest region and regional NSW, generally.

A Trustee with the Historic Houses Trust of NSW since 1999, Dr. Wilton has demonstrated a contagious passion for the heritage of regional NSW.

Dr. Wilton was the author of the book “Golden Threads: the Chinese in Regional New South Wales”. She was also the Project Leader for the Golden Threads Project, a NSW Ministry for the Arts initiative responsible for the identification and display of objects held in regional museums, relating to the Chinese contribution to their localities and regions (1997-2005). The project also resulted in a travelling exhibition, which was on the road for four years, and a website (http://amol.org.au/goldenthreads).

The research, work and recognition of Dr. Janis Wilton further demonstrates the vital academic resource The University of New England is to Australia, particularly to regional areas.

For further information please contact Associate Professor Janis Wilton: (02) 6773 2107.

Posted by Gary Fry at 03:03 PM

Sheep farmers caring for the environment: Northern Tablelands field day

June 09, 2006

Sheep farmers on the Northern Tablelands are about to hear the results of four years' research, led by The University of New England, linking wool profits and biodiversity.

The Northern Tablelands research is one of about 37 separate projects comprising the national "Land, Water & Wool" project, an initiative of Australian Wool Innovation Ltd (AWI) and Land & Water Australia.

The Chief Executive Officer of AWI, Dr Len Stephens, will launch the research findings at a field day near the Northern Tablelands town of Walcha on Tuesday 13 June. The field day will be at "Blaxland", the property of James and Caroline Street - one of 10 properties on the Northern Tablelands where the researchers have documented woolgrowers' production, biodiversity and natural resource management initiatives.

"Biodiversity is the variety of plants, animals, fungi and microbes on our farms and the interactions between them," explained UNE's Associate Professor Nick Reid, the leader of the Northern Tablelands project. "Biodiversity is important because it drives biological production and keep most of the pests in check. We need biodiversity to maintain productive farms, livelihoods, and the nation's agriculture."

Dr Reid (pictured here), from UNE's School of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources Management, will give the background to the "Land, Water & Wool" project at the field day. He will explain that woolgrowers manage about 1.5 million hectares of land on the Northern Tablelands. "About half of that is native vegetation - either native pastures or timber, bushland and tree plantings," he said. "From this biologically diverse resource base, the region's woolgrowers produce almost half of the world's superfine wool. The field day will report on the many different ways that local woolgrowers are combining best environmental practice, wool production, and animal welfare for sustainable businesses and sound natural resource management.”

The field day will include a tour of "Blaxland", where Mr and Mrs Street have carried out a program that has included tree planting, the regeneration of wetlands, and the protection of areas of original grassy woodland vegetation. They have planted about 90,000 trees on their 829 ha property. "Our aim has been to provide shelter for both stock and wildlife, creating blocks and corridors, increasing biodiversity, and encouraging a healthier ecosystem," Mrs Street said.

UNE received $312,000 from the “Native Vegetation and Biodiversity” sub-program of "Land, Water & Wool" to conduct the "Profitable, Biodiverse Wool Production Systems on the Northern Tablelands" project. The project was a partnership between UNE, Southern New England Landcare and the Centre for Agricultural and Regional Economics. A committee of eight local woolgrower families advised the project team, which also received help from many other woolgrowers.

For more information contact Associate Professor Nick Reid on (02) 6773 2539, Southern New England Landcare on (02) 6772 9123, or James and Caroline Street on (02) 6778 7348.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at 01:17 PM

Building site excavation reveals secrets of early Armidale life

June 08, 2006

Excavation on an Armidale building site has uncovered the footings of a brick cottage, built about 150 years ago, that will give local historians further insight into the city’s early streetscape and social structure.

Dr Pam Watson, the University of New England archaeologist who has supervised the excavation, said it would provide “an interesting insight into early working-class cottages, and the lifestyle of their occupants, in Armidale”.

Dr Watson, from UNE’s Heritage Futures Research Centre, is an authority on the archaeological resources of Armidale. She is the consultant archaeologist on the site – to be developed as “Armidale Plaza” – on the corner of Dumaresq and Dangar Streets. She watched as the earth-moving machinery revealed the intact basalt footings of the four-room cottage, with several of the original bricks still in place above them. She and a team of UNE archaeology students then took advantage of the 12 days until the scheduled destruction of the remains to examine and record them. “I knew the cottage had been here,” she said, “but was really surprised to find the whole ground plan intact.” (Dr Watson is pictured here during her work on the cottage footings.)

She explained that the house – opposite and facing the Armidale Ex-Services Memorial Club – was on land originally granted to a Frederick Sampson in 1849 for a price of four pounds. The land – complete with cottage – was bought for 125 pounds in 1858 by Robert Scholes, a member of a prominent early Armidale family. Several years later Robert sold it to his father, Joseph Scholes, who was the publican at the New England Hotel. “Joseph Scholes emigrated from England with his family in 1841,” Dr Watson said, “and later built the house ‘Newton Terrace’ in Marsh Street. Another of his sons – Joseph – went on to write a series of recollections of early Armidale. So the cottage is associated with an interesting family.”

The cottage, with detached kitchen behind it (and detached privy behind the kitchen), can be seen clearly in a photograph of about 1910. It survived until about 1970, and its footings were later covered by commercial development. “It’s just terrific to think that this has survived in what was the middle of Armidale’s business district,” Dr Watson said. She pointed out that the cottage – a working-class dwelling – added details on the lifestyle of this social class to the picture of middle-class life she had pieced together in her 2001 excavation on the building site of Armidale’s East End Mall. “We’re getting a view of several different socio-economic strata in early Armidale,” she said.

This picture has been enriched by the discovery of deposits of rubbish – including bottles and pottery – in what was the backyard of the cottage. “It appears to be ‘redeposited’ rubbish,” Dr Watson said, “and some of it could have come from commercial premises such as a pub. The deposits contained a lot of oyster shells – a reminder of the popularity of oyster bars at that time in Armidale.”

Dr Watson is planning to look next week for the remains of an even earlier cottage that is known to have stood on the “Armidale Plaza” site – this one facing Dangar Street.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at 04:26 PM

Smokers their own worst enemies when it comes to treatment

June 07, 2006

Smokers tend to be more disagreeable, less conscientious and more neurotic than non-smokers, making it difficult to treat them for their addiction, a University of New England study has found.

The study analysed the results of nine studies conducted in four countries, involving almost 5000 participants. The studies looked at how smokers score against what psychologists term the “Big 5” personality traits: neuroticism, extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience. On average, smokers were found to score higher than average for neuroticism (the tendency to experience negative emotions) and lower than average for conscientiousness (the tendency to show self-discipline and a sense of duty) and agreeableness (the tendency to be cooperative).

Dr John Malouff, a researcher involved in the study, said negative personality traits made smokers less likely to seek help and more likely to drop out of a course of treatment if they started one.

“Conscientiousness and agreeableness are very important traits if people are seeking help for a problem like cigarette addiction. Having a conscientious personality can mean people keep coming to therapy and doing their 'assignments', like recording the number of cigarettes they smoke and their mood throughout the day, as well as practising replacement behaviours instead of smoking.”

Low levels of conscientiousness and agreeableness were a double handicap to smokers, he said.

“Getting anyone to follow a course of treatment can be difficult,” Dr Malouff said. “Some people will do it out of conscientiousness. Others will do it out of agreeableness; they're just happy to go along with you. But when you have people who are low in both, as smokers tend to be, then you have a problem. You are going to be able to help some, but you're going to have a high failure rate.”

Dr Malouff said the results of his study suggested health workers might need to concentrate on increasing smokers' conscientiousness and agreeableness as part of treating their addiction. He said that while the “Big 5” personality traits were regarded as fairly stable, people could still learn to change their attitudes and behaviours in specific areas of their life.

“If we can just get them to increase their conscientiousness in one aspect of their life – quitting smoking – we may be able to help them more,” he said.

Dr Malouff said smoking used to be associated with extraversion, a positive trait, but that association has disappeared as smoking has become less socially acceptable.

“As more and more people give up, it's only the hard-core that is left. People know smoking is deadly for them, they know it's deadly for the people they live and work with, and yet many of them still don’t give it up.”

Dr Malouff is now working on a study that applies the same personality tests to problem drinkers, and said he hoped to expand the research to look at users of other drugs, such as marajuana.

For more information contact Leon Braun (UNE Public Relations) on (02) 6773 3771.

Posted by Leon Braun at 03:47 PM

Conference to develop students' presentation skills, research networks

June 06, 2006

A conference at The University of New England later this year will give postgraduate students from throughout the University’s Faculty of Education, Health and Professional Studies an unprecedented opportunity to develop their communication skills and build research networks. The Faculty’s Inaugural Postgraduate Research Conference is scheduled for August 8-11.

Students from all over Australia enrolled in Master’s and Doctoral programs within the Faculty will be attending the conference, which will focus on the politics, theoretical frameworks, and methodologies involved in research. The organisers are expecting between 150 and 200 participants.

“We don’t undertake research in a vacuum,” said one of the conference organisers, Dr Terrence Hays, a Senior Lecturer in Education. “We need to share it with other people. This conference will provide a forum for our postgraduates – at whatever stage in their research – to share their work with others.”

“Presenting your work to colleagues is part of doing a higher degree,” said another of the organisers, Associate Professor Rafat Hussain from the School of Health. “The conference will enable presenters to get valuable feedback from people – academics and fellow students – other than their supervisors.”

As in all academic conferences, Dr Hays said, one of the major outcomes for participants would be the formation of networks with people working in the same – or a related – field. “This is particularly important for people studying externally,” he explained. “Such networks can be an important support for people studying alone, and they can also carry over into the student’s subsequent professional life or research career.”

The program will include keynote addresses, panel forums, and the presentation of 45 papers by students. The presenters will have the opportunity to see their papers published: the Australian College of Educators will publish the conference proceedings. Papers submitted for publication in the proceedings will go through a refereeing process comparable to that at an academic journal.

Funding for the conference has been provided by UNE’s Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Peter Flood, and the Faculty’s Executive Dean, Professor Victor Minichiello, and Associate Dean (Research), Professor Anne Eckermann.

For more information on the conference, contact Dr Hays on (02) 6773 3649 or Dr Hussain on (02) 6773 3678.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows Dr Terrence Hays (left) and Associate Professor Rafat Hussain (second from right) with the Executive Dean of UNE's Faculty of Education, Health and Professional Studies, Professor Victor Minichiello, and the Faculty's Associate Dean (Research), Professor Anne Eckermann.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at 03:11 PM

UNE scores another botanical discovery in northern NSW

June 05, 2006

A botanist at The University of New England has contributed to the University’s pioneering research on a group of rare native shrubs by collecting an entirely new species.

Dr Lachlan Copeland, based at UNE’s N.C.W. Beadle Herbarium, collected specimens of a new species in the genus Bertya above Dungowan Dam near Hanging Rock last week. (Only last month, Associate Professor Caroline Gross and Dr Mohammad Fatemi from UNE discovered a new population of the rare and related species Bertya ingramii on an isolated spur at Dangars Gorge in the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park.)

Dr Copeland was looking for new populations of a critically endangered but as yet undescribed species of Asterolasia (closely related to Correa) for the National Parks and Wildlife Service. In the moist gorge he found a population of the Asterolasia (with white, star-shaped flowers) and also specimens of the new species of Bertya.

Dr Mohammad Fatemi, who recently completed a comprehensive revision of Bertya species (members of the Castor Oil family) based on the collection at UNE’s Herbarium, said: “This discovery brings the number of species in the genus to 42, and further highlights north-eastern NSW as a centre of diversity and rarity for Bertya.” (The photograph displayed here shows Dr Fatemi, left, and Dr Copeland studying a specimen of the new species in the Herbarium.)

Dr Copeland added: “The whole gorge and escarpment country of north-eastern NSW is very understudied, and we continue to discover new orchids, herbs, shrubs and even trees. The area is very important as a water catchment and flora and fauna refuge. There is great potential for ecotourism, and commercialisation of some of the plants, but much basic botanical and zoological study needs to be done just to know what is there.”

Associate Professor Jeremy Bruhl, the Director of the N.C.W. Beadle Herbarium, said Dr Copeland’s discovery had brought to light in the Herbarium some unincorporated specimens of the new species that had been collected from the same population about 10 years ago by UNE Botany graduate Doug Beckers. “The significance of these specimens had been overlooked until Dr Copeland’s and Dr Fatemi’s identification of the new species,” he said.

“We are working on bringing UNE scientists together with researchers from government agencies and community groups to discover more of the biological treasures of the escarpments and gorges of north-eastern NSW,” Dr Bruhl explained.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at 04:29 PM

Media reports 'could be contributing to Timor unrest'

June 02, 2006

A group of academics at The University of New England believes reports in the Australian media implying that the FRETILIN government is largely to blame for the violent unrest in East Timor could be contributing to that unrest.

"Because of the very high rate of illiteracy, and the lack of a developed media and communications system, rumour is rife in Dili," said one of the group, Dr Bob Boughton. "The Australian media stories have become a source of misinformed speculation, encouraging people to blame the elected government for the problems of recent weeks."

Dr Boughton, a Senior Lecturer in UNE's School of Professional Development and Leadership, has been working with the Ministry for Education in East Timor on the development of adult education programs. He pointed out that the media stories could give people the impression that the Government is unpopular with a large proportion of the population. "In fact," he said, "the vast majority of Timorese voted for FRETILIN last year in the local elections."

"If the majority who voted for FRETILIN think Australia and other Western powers are supporting the demand for the Government's overthrow," Dr Boughton continued, "they will wonder about our commitment to democracy. It could also look to them as though powerful forces are intervening to help the armed rebels achieve their goals - goals which the rebels and their political supporters in East Timor could never have achieved electorally. This is highly dangerous, given that democracy in East Timor is very undeveloped, and the democratic culture is still fragile."

"The Constitution of East Timor was developed after extremely wide community consultation," Dr Boughton explained. "It is a robust document, and provides the only framework in which this dispute can be settled without further violence. Our media are not adequately reporting the way in which the three key State institutions - the Presidency, the Parliament, and the Council of Ministers - have chosen to resolve the conflict in accordance with the Constitution."

Another member of the group, Dr Rebecca Spence (pictured here), is the Director of UNE's Centre for Peace Studies. Dr Spence supported Dr Boughton's argument, saying that reports in the Australian media had the potential to "foment rumour and counter-rumour, leading to increased levels of fear, suspicion and violence".

The third member of the group, Dr Greg Carroll, said: "The vast majority of people in East Timor have been subjected to violence for most of their lives. We need to remember this when reporting on what is perceived to be happening. If we ignore a country's post-traumatic stress we can not only inflame old tensions but create new ones."

Dr Carroll, from UNE's Centre for Research in Aboriginal and Multicultural Studies, has been working with academics at the National University of Timor Leste on curriculum development, and is involved in a UNE project that is investigating the role of English in the nation-building process in East Timor.

Media contact: Dr Bob Boughton on (02) 6649 2642, Dr Greg Carroll on 0434 361 237 or Dr Rebecca Spence on 0439 041 975.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at 04:03 PM

New evidence Hobbits were toolmakers

June 01, 2006

Researchers from the University of New England have uncovered new evidence of toolmaking by early hominids on the Indonesian island of Flores. The find appears to put paid to claims Homo floresiensis, the diminutive species of hominid discovered on Flores in 2003, lacked the brain power to produce sophisticated stone tools.

In 2005, American archaeologists argued in the Washington Post that stone tools found alongside Homo floresiensis skeletons on Flores could only have been made by modern humans. Now a team of Australian and Indonesian archaeologists have discovered near-identical tools at a site nearby. These tools were shaped about 850,000 years ago, making them four times older than the oldest known modern humans.

No skeletons were found with the tools, making it impossible to say for sure who made them, but the scientists' best guess is that they were made by ancestors of Homo floresiensis, themselves probably descendents of Homo erectus. The discovery and its implications are described in an article to be published in Nature magazine today.

“There are amazing similarities between these tools and those found at Liang Bua,” said Mark Moore, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of New England and one of eight co-authors of the Nature article. “They look just like you would expect if they had been made by Homo floresiensis.”

A total of 487 stone tools were found at a Mata Menge, about 50km east of Liang Bua where the original Homo floresiensis skeletons were found.

The find throws added weight behind Homo floresiensis' claim to a unique place in the human family. Since the skeletons were unearthed in 2003, scientists have been arguing over whether the remains were of a unique human species or a diseased population of modern humans. Those clinging to the “microcephalic” theory claim the stone tools found at Liang Bua were much too sophisticated to have been made by small-brained Homo floresiensis and could therefore only have been made by modern humans.

“This find knocks the support out from under that line of argument,” Dr Moore said. “These tools have been fission-track dated to 840,000 years ago. Modern humans didn't appear until 200,000 years ago. So there's no way they were made by modern humans. If not by them, then by whom? Our theory is the ancestors of Homo floresiensis.”

The discovery was the result of extensive collaboration between Indonesian and Australian scientists. The excavation at Mata Menge was planned and directed by Dr Fachroel Aziz of the Geological Research and Development Centre, Bandung, in association with UNE’s Professor Mike Morwood. Mark Moore analysed the Liang Bua tools and assisted with the analysis of the Mata Menge tools. They were aided by scientists from the University of Wollongong, the Australian National University and the National Museum of Natural History in the Netherlands.

For more information contact Leon Braun (UNE Public Relations) on (02) 6773 3771. A photo is available to accompany this story.

Posted by Leon Braun at 11:33 AM