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LA TROBE UNIVERSITY
BulletinAUGUST 2002
NEW PRECINCT FOR
language and
culture
Pregnancy &
BODY
IMAGE
LIME LIGHT on local lizard
NEWS
Centre for Italian Australian Institute 3
La Trobe’s new precinct of language and culture 3
Countdown to FedSat launch 4
Rich learning experience helps poor farmers 5
Author’s call to respect cultural diversity 6
Research in Action
Iguagana v goanna in the energy stakes 7
Climate change and the sex life of aphids 8
Pre-school numeracy: research that counts 9
Salinity fight ‘Downunder’ 10
Pregnancy and body image 11
Aussie kids are active viewers 12
First Trendall-Grimaldi scholar 13
Cancer researcher wins scholarship 14
Bailyn Lecture farewell for John Salmond 15
Vibrant world of ‘Salwater people’ 16
IN THIS ISSUE
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY
Bulletin
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BULLET IN AUGUST 20022
The La Trobe Bulletin is published ten times a year by thePublic Affairs Office, La Trobe University.
Articles may be reproduced with acknowledgement.Photographs can be supplied.
Enquiries and submissions to the editor, Ernest Raetz,La Trobe University, Victoria. 3086 AustraliaTel (03) 9479 2315, Fax (03) 9479 1387Email: [email protected]
Design: Campus Graphics, (34240)La Trobe University.Printed by Vaughan Printing Pty Ltd.Website: www.latrobe.edu.au/www/bulletin/
Cover photo: Goannas from
Kangaroo Island are being
compared with their relatives, the
famous iguanas of the Galapagos
Islands, in an international research
project examining the aerobics and
energy needs of reptiles, see story
page 7.
A new report has expressed growingconcern over the contraction of Australia’s‘Asia knowledge’ capacity.
The report has found that fewer than fiveper cent of Australian university studentsare doing any systematic study of Asia –and fewer than three per cent are studyingan Asian language.
These alarming figures, contained in thenew Maximizing Australia’s AsiaKnowledge report, are dramatically belowtargets set by a government enquiry in 1989for the year 2000.
La Trobe University’s Academic Board hasendorsed the report and its recommend-ations.
The new report shows a contraction in thepool of Asia expertise as specialists retire orare head-hunted overseas. Universities,seeking to reduce salary bills, seldomreplace such specialists.
La Trobe University’s Professor RobinJeffrey, Vice-President of the Asian StudiesAssociation of Australia (ASAA) whichproduced the report, says copies have beensent to every federal parliamentarian, andmore than 400 business people, publicservants, media representatives and non-government organizations.
He said a similar inquiry, initiated by
government in 1989, set targets for the year2000 of 20 per cent of students doing somestudy of Asia and 10 per cent doing anAsian language. The latest report revealsthe dramatic shortfall from these targets.
As Australia’s need for widespread,thorough knowledge of Asia grows, ourcapacity to impart it is shrinking, saysProfessor Jeffrey.
The report sets out a plan to repositionAustralia’s resource of Asia knowledge andrenew the country’s capacity to teach andresearch. �
Copies of the report are available fromProfessor Jeffrey, Tel: 03 9479 2692 orEmail [email protected]).
Alarming drop in Asia knowledge
Professor Jeffrey: fewer than threepercent of university students arestudying Asian languages.
Aldous Huxley, in his book Brave NewWorld, assumed a world dominated bytechnology where languages other thanEnglish had completely disappeared.
‘In the face of a prevailing environment ofeconomic rationalism and the supremacy oftechnology,’ said La Trobe University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Osborne, ‘wehave to make sure that we do not lose thediverse identities of the world’s manylanguages and the cultures which underliethose languages.’
Professor Osborne, speaking at the launch ofthe new Italian Australian Institute Centre(see story below), added: ‘I think that undercurrent educational policies in Australia,there is a very serious danger that languages– even quite important languages such asItalian – are going to be put at risk because
of the pressure on universities to increase thevocational and professional areas and toforsake fields of low student interest. A lot oflanguages have already becomemarginalised and it’s very important that wearrest this decline.’
The establishment of the Italian AustralianInstitute Centre highlighted another step inthe fulfilment of the University’s plan for aMediterranean precinct at its mainMelbourne campus at Bundoora,embracing initially the Italian, Spanish andHellenic cultures.
‘We have already a National Centre forHellenic Studies, which has been awonderful success, and a Centre forHispanic Studies which embraces not justSpanish studies, but also Galician, Catalan,Latin American and Portuguese studies.’
Professor Osborne said La Trobe had alsoset itself the objective of becoming one ofthe key centres for the main communitylanguages of Australia.
Another strength was La Trobe’s ResearchCentre for Linguistic Typology. ‘This is aworld-famous research centre that studies,in particular, endangered languages,including Australian Aboriginal languagesmany of which are disappearing fast.
‘In relation to Asia, we will continue tosupport Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian.Even these important languages,outrageously, are being disregarded inmany universities. In addition, we shallseek to support Hindi and some minoritylanguages of the South China and Mekongdelta areas.’ �
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BULLET IN AUGUST 2002 3
NEWS
Precinct for language and culture
La TrobelaunchesCentre forItalianAustralianInstituteLa Trobe University has established a Centreat the Bundoora Campus to house the ItalianAustralian Institute (IAI) which aims toencourage and support study and researchinto all areas – historical, cultural, social andpolitical – of the Italian presence inAustralia.
Speaking at the launch of the IAI, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Osborne, saidLa Trobe was committed to the study ofMediterranean languages. ‘There is a realdanger that significant languages and theirrelated cultures will be lost,’ Professor
Osborne said (see story above). ‘It is vitalthat universities take the responsibility fortheir preservation and enhancement.
‘La Trobe has taken a decision toconcentrate on Italian, Greek and Hispaniclanguages and in pursuit of this objective toestablish strong Centres which will becommunity assets as well as providingresearch, archival and library facilities.’
IAI chairman, Mr Rino Grollo, thanked La Trobe for the commitment to Italianlanguage and culture that the Centrerepresented.
‘Today is a special day for ItalianAustralians, for La Trobe University and, wehope, for the Australian community. As anAustralian of Italian heritage, I am proud ofthe great contribution that Italians havemade to the world and to Australia,’ MrGrollo said. ‘It is fitting that our countryshould recognise this achievement througheducational and cultural institutions such asthe IAI Centre.’
He said 60 million Italians lived in Italy,and 60 million outside Italy.
Signing the agreement for the establishment of the new Centre, from left, Vice-Chancellor Osborne, Mr Grollo and Ambassador Volpicelli.
Continued page 6
Navigation, timing and other technologiescould become more accurate thanks to La Trobe University’s participation inFedSat – Australia’s first scientific satellitein three decades.
The FedSat ‘micro-satellite’ – a 50 cmcube weighing about 55 kg – will go intoorbit from a rocket scheduled to belaunched from Japan on 1 November 2002.
La Trobe University senior lecturer andspace physicist, Dr Elizabeth Essex, isproject leader for one of four majorscientific studies using FedSat when itorbits from pole to pole 800 km above theearth. Her project will investigateapplications of satellite communications,GPS technologies and the earth's magneticfield.
Originally developed for Americandefence, the GPS (Global PositioningSystem) is now widely used for navigation,– from berthing a passenger liner tofinding a street in an on-board automobilelocation system – as well as for timing andother scientific purposes.
Working with a team that includesDoctoral student, Endawoke Yizengaw,and Master’s student, Rudy Birsa, DrEssex will investigate aspects of GPSsignal distortion.
Signals transmitted from 30 GPS satellitesorbiting at an altitude of 20,000 km have topass through the ionosphere en route toearth where the density of electrons andother factors distort the signals. Thisaffects the accuracy of the informationused for navigation and other precisionapplications.
GPS satellite range signals are delayedaccording to the density of electrons indifferent parts of the ionosphere.
‘It is vital that we devise means to correctthese errors and we can only do this oncewe understand more about the ionisationdistribution and its effect on the signals asthey pass through the ionosphere,’ DrEssex says.
Her team is using the first FedSat project tolook at different aspects of this problem.Mr Yizengaw, who graduated in physicsfrom the University of Addis Ababa and asa Master of Atmospheric Physics fromTromso University in Norway, will studythe total electron content in the ionosphere.
His objective is to calculate the density ofelectrons and use this information tocorrect errors in the GPS signals.
Mr Birsa is researching scintillation –amplitude and phase variations – as afactor in signal irregularities that occur asGPS signals traverse the ionosphere.Pinpointing the volume of scintillationhelps to understand irregularities in thelow latitude ionosphere, he says.
FedSat will permit the recording of ‘GPSslices’ of the ionosphere, enabling a 3Dmoving picture to be constructed.
Dr Essex says FedSat will also helpalleviate a problem with GPS satellitetransmitting systems in the southernhemisphere. ‘Because most of ourhemisphere is water, there are fewerground receiving stations. FedSat will actas a receiving station, thereby providinginformation on the Southern Hemisphereionosphere.’
As well as scientific research on theionosphere, FedSat’s GPS receiver willallow accurate measurement of thesatellite’s position to help determinesatellite orbits more precisely.
La Trobe’s role in the FedSat project is asa member of the Cooperative ResearchCentre for Satellite Systems. The centreincludes 12 Australian organisations andaims to develop domestic expertise insatellite technologies to help industry andthe commercialisation of intellectualproperty.
FedSat has received an AustralianGovernment AusIndustry grant of $2million. Culminating five years ofplanning it will be launched by a NationalSpace Development Agency of Japanrocket.
La Trobe’s Department of Physics is aleader in space research and study. One ofthe few Australian universities that offers aBachelor of Science (Space Science)degree, it also heavily involved inmanaging the Tasman InternationalGeospace Environment Radar (TIGER),part of SuperDarn, a network of highfrequency radars used to study theionosphere.�
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BULLET IN AUGUST 2002
RESEARCH
4
Countdown to FedSat launch for La Trobe space researchers
Making GPS systems more efficient: Mr Yizengaw and the satellite during recent final tests in Melbourne before the launch later this year.
La Trobe University's Department ofAgricultural Sciences has created a richand exciting learning experience forstudents in the final year of theiragricultural science degree.
The initiative involved all fourth yearstudents recently travelling to theIndonesian island of Lombok. There theyworked with final year agricultural sciencestudents from Lombok's University ofMataram on a case study to recommendways in which impoverished rice farmersin south Lombok could improve their cropyield and income.
Rice growing in this area is difficult, anddifferent from that in many monsoonalareas of Asia and other parts of Lombok,says Dr Peter Sale, course coordinator ofthe case study subject. The area is in a rainshadow created by the 3,726 metre highextinct volcano, Mt Rinjani. This results ina short and variable growing season.
The students studied how technical, socialand cultural issues impact on the southLombok farming system. They learned that
solutions to low incomes and poor cropyields cannot be introduced to villagefarmers overnight. Lines of authority hadto be followed and attitudes built up byyears of village practice and religiousbelief need to be taken into account.
The case study involved students fromboth countries forming small consultingteams to examine the biological,economic, and social factors that impact onthe farming system.
The La Trobe visit to Lombok wasfollowed by Mataram students travelling toMelbourne to work with the La Trobestudents on a related case study in Victoria.
‘The links between these youngagricultural scientists from Australia andIndonesia will pay enormous dividends infuture years,’ says Dr Sale, who is anAssociate Professor in La Trobe’sDepartment of Agricultural Sciences.
Dr Sale holds a coveted ‘Golden Logie’ ofUniversity teaching, one of the Federalgovernment’s Australian UniversityTeaching Awards.
‘Case study teaching means students workclosely together and get to know eachother very well. This is very rewarding aslasting personal and professionalassociations are formed.’
Dr Sale says Australian students need tolearn first-hand that agricultural science isnot just about improving wool and wheatproduction.
‘There are career opportunities foragricultural science graduates to work indeveloping countries to address problemsof rural poverty and to increase foodproduction in attempts to alleviate poverty.
‘The study in Lombok enabled Australianstudents to gain first hand understanding ofpoverty at the village level and also gaveinsights into possible ways that suchproblems might be improved.’
Dr Sale says the Lombok exercisehighlights the increasing use of case studyteaching in the final years of the La TrobeAgricultural Sciences degree. Theapproach results in excellent learningoutcomes because students are working on‘relevant problems with real people’.
This latest student exchange initiativecomplements another co-operativeresearch effort between Mataram and La Trobe universities. La Trobeagricultural scientist, Dr Blair McKenzie,heads a $400,000 research project, fundedby the Australian Centre for InternationalAgricultural Research (ACIAR), to helpLombok rice growers improve production.
Both projects are examples ofcollaboration between La Trobe andMataram following the signing of a co-operation agreement by La Trobe Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Osborne.
The case study teaching initiative hasreceived financial support from theAustralia Indonesia Institute, part of theAustralian Department of Foreign Affairsand Trade, and from the Crawford Fund forinternational agricultural research, run bythe Australian Academy of TechnologicalSciences and Technology.
The Rotary Club of Balwyn is a sponsorfor three years, supported by the RotaryClub of Heidelberg.
Australian students contribute to theirtravel costs, and the University is hoping toattract corporate support to ensure that thisinitiative can continue, Dr Sale says. �
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BULLET IN AUGUST 2002 5
TEACHING
Rich learningexperience helpspoor farmers
La Trobe students and colleagues from Mataram University during their recent study trip to Lombok.
The menacing spirit of globalisationignored the ‘love of life’ and the need for‘dignity and plenitude’ in human diversity.
This observation came from Spanishnovelist and Nobel Prize for Literaturenominee, Alfredo Conde.
Formerly Minister of Culture in theGalician parliament, Alfredo Conde wasdelivering a public lecture after he wasawarded an honorary doctorate by La Trobe University at a special ceremonyon the Mildura campus.
His visit to Mildura was part of theMildura Writers’ segment of the Mildura-Wentworth Arts Festival in August. La Trobe is a major sponsor of the festival.
Conferring the honorary doctorate, theVice-Chancellor, Professor MichaelOsborne, described Dr Conde as one ofSpain’s best bilingual writers in Spanish,the national language, and Galician, thelanguage of the region where he was bornand still lives.
Dr Conde has written 27 books, amongthem 11 novels, two collections of essays,three plays and five volumes of shortstories.
He has a close relationship with Australiaand with La Trobe University, particularlywith its Centre for Galician Studies headedby Professor Roy Boland.
Dr Conde is currently writing a novel set inWestern Australia. The novel narrates theepic saga of the Galician missionary,Rosendo Salvado, who founded the NewNorcia monastery in the 19C.
A leading intellectual opponent of theFranco regime, he entered the Galicianparliament after Franco’s fall in 1977 andbecame Minister of Culture.
In his public lecture he said Spain’smodern history was ‘born in the darkness’of Franco’s dictatorship.
‘In the midst of those shadows, there was aredeeming feature. There were alwayspeople who loved the languages that otherstried to silence. With those languages,Galician in particular, and with the love ofthose who speak it, we were able toexpress those immortal concepts of libertyand democracy, the sense of living togetherin harmony and respect for all those othercultures surrounding us.
‘All these principles are so far away fromthat menacing spirit that some people nowcall globalisation, which in my opinion isnothing more than an attempt at culturaluniformity: a uniformity that forgets thelove of life and the need to leave others tolead their lives with dignity and plenitudein all the diversity that we as human beingshave as equal to one another, in the deepcertainty that we are all different, butequal.’
Dr Conde said he belonged to an ancientculture and best expressed himself in alanguage that saw its roots in a history ofmore than two millennia.
‘Maybe you have looked towards Galiciabecause you in Australia, too, are anancestral land, a land moved and motivatedby the convergence of a multitude oflanguages and cultures.’ �
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BULLET IN AUGUST 2002
NEWS
6
RESPECT CULTURALDIVERSITYSpanish author’s plea
Dr Conde, right, after the lecture, with, from left, Professor Boland, Vice-Chancellor Osborne and Ms Mar Nogueira.
‘A study two years ago found that one ineight Victorians come from an Italianbackground. Victoria is by far the mostcentralised Italian group of people inAustralia.’
The Italian Ambassador to Australia, DrDino Volpicelli, said the Institute would‘play a very important role in relationsbetween Australia and Italy, paying specialconsideration to the young generation.’
The IAI is a non-profit organisation operatedunder the auspices of the Rino and DianaGrollo family with the strong support of La Trobe University and communityorganisations such as the AssociazioneNazionale Alpini (an organisation of ex-servicemen and their families).
The IAI intends to be responsible forkeeping and safeguarding any materialwhich bears witness to Italian culture inAustralia, so that it will be accessible for thenew generations and for all those who mayneed it for research purposes.
The Centre’s library, already comprisingthousands of volumes and documents, willacquire books and papers which the Italiancommunity and other organisations intend todonate and which would otherwise be lost ordestroyed.
A fundamental aim of the Institute is tomotivate, encourage and support theyounger generation by awardingscholarships to young research studentsspecialising in Italian studies, by organisingconferences and seminars, and by thepublication and distribution of pertinentmaterial from present and past research. �
ITALIAN AUSTRALIANINSTITUTE – from page 3
Over the years the famed marine iguanas ofthe Galapagos Islands have had more pressthan the varanid goannas of Kangaroo Island.
But the on-going quest of science tounderstand the ‘energetics’ of animals intheir natural environment – how energy isacquired, conserved and used – means ourlocal large lizard is soon to enter thelimelight.
A co-operative research project is under waybetween zoologists at La Trobe Universityand the University of Birmingham, UK, toexamine the relationship between heart rateand rate of oxygen uptake in the local reptile.
The aim is to use heart rate to estimate theanimal’s oxygen consumption, which isdirectly related to rate of energy expenditure.The object is to determine its ‘fieldmetabolic rate’, how it uses energy whilegoing about its normal daily life in the wild.
Dr Peter Frappell, Head of La TrobeUniversity’s Department of Zoology, andProfessor Patrick Butler of BirminghamUniversity’s School of Biosciences, havealready studied the much publicised andworld famous marine iguanas of theGalapagos. This knowledge has a widerange of applications including wild-lifeconservation, says Dr Frappell.
Two years ago, more than a century afterCharles Darwin examined the iguanas andother Galapagos animals – which heavilyinfluenced his Theory of Evolution –Professor Butler and Dr Frappell determinedthe relationship between heart rate andoxygen uptake in marine iguanas at twodifferent temperatures.
As part of a wide program examining thebehaviour, energetics and physiology oflizards at different temperatures, the nextstage is to examine lizards in a totallydifferent environment – that on KangarooIsland.
‘Because the Galapagos Islands are in anequatorial zone, the marine iguana’stemperature varies between approximately25 and 35 degrees C and does not fall to verylow levels at night,’ says Professor Butlerwho recently spent six weeks in Melbourneon a La Trobe University DistinguishedVisiting Fellowship.
‘The goannas on Kangaroo Island howeverlive further from the Equator than anysimilar species, and their temperature canvary between 15 and 35 degrees. It is also
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BULLET IN AUGUST 2002 7
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY
RESEARCH IN ACTION
IGUANA VGOANNALearning more about theenergy needs of reptiles
Britain’s Professor Butler, left, and La Trobe PhD student Tim Clark with a Kangaroo Island goanna.
Continued page 10
Climate change and the sex life of the tinyplant-munching aphid sound unlikelysubjects to be linked in a single scientificinvestigation.
But the reasons why aphids reproduce bothsexually and clonally, and the approachingclimate changes around the world, areintimately linked in an unusual researchproject at La Trobe University.
Evolutionary biologist, Dr Paul Sunnucks, isworking closely with international andAustralian collaborators to understand thebiology of one of the world’s worst plantpests, the Green Peach Aphid (Myzuspersicae).
The aphid is a two millimetre-long insectthat damages many plants around theworld, including Australia, where it wasaccidentally introduced, probably in the20th century.
There are 4400 species of aphid worldwide.Some have great dispersal ability, highreproductive rates, patterns of host plant use,and ability to transmit plant viruses.
Aphids feed on the vital phloem fluid – thesoft part of leaves and stems that transportsfood around plants – and are particularlydamaging to annual quick-growing mono-cultural crops.
Working at La Trobe with Dr Sunnucks andDr Seamus Ward is postdoctoral research
fellow, Dr Christoph Vorburger, of theUniversity of Zurich in Switzerland, aspecialist in evolutionary ecology andgenetics of clonal animals.
With collaborators at the Institut National deRecherche Agronomique at Le Rheu inBrittany, France, and Macquarie Universityin Sydney, Drs Sunnucks and Vorburgerseek to unravel a vital aspect of aphidbiology – how reproductive strategies relateto environmental variables like temperatureor host plant availability.
While their immediate motive is to expandknowledge about the population dynamicsof this common pest, the research shouldcontribute to more effective methods of pestmanagement.
Dr Sunnucks pioneered the application toaphids of a technique that uses molecularmarkers to understand the biology ofanimals and plants.
A molecular marker is a heritablecharacteristic that a plant or animal carries inits DNA regions.
These markers can now be more rapidly andsafely examined using specialised laboratoryequipment – Li-Cor Automated Sequencers– recently installed in La Trobe’s RapidDNA Assessment Facility.
Dr Sunnucks says aphids inherit certaincharacteristics depending on whether they
reproduce sexually or asexually. Without amale partner, a female aphid can producedaughter clones of herself.
That is what aphids do for most of the yearin huge numbers with some femalesproducing as many as nine offspring a day.They have an average gestation time ofabout 10 days, and can telescope generation,grand-daughters developing within unborndaughters!
Once a year, typically in autumn, males andmating females are produced from a singleround of sexual reproduction. But someaphids have given up sex altogether.
If an aphid female reproduces sexually, halfthe genes of her offspring come from her,and half from her male partner. So theoffspring combine genes from both parentsand are therefore unique.
But if she reproduces asexually, heroffspring are clones of herself – all femaleand genetically identical.
Dr Sunnucks describes this as the paradox ofsex: ‘Asexual reproduction is at least twiceas efficient as sexual reproduction. An aphidmother would leave many more descendantsby not having to make sons whichthemselves cannot reproduce independently.
‘The paradox is why sex, being much lessefficient, is so widespread in nature, andwhy cloning is patchy and generally rare.
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BULLET IN AUGUST 20028
RESEARCH IN ACTION
CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE SEX
L IFE OF THE APHID
CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE SEX
L IFE OF THE APHID
Only few animals – and almost novertebrates – reproduce clonally.
‘In terms of potential pest control measures,it is at least theoretically easier to controlinsects reproducing clonally, because ameasure that works against one aphid shouldwork for all, and clones are relatively slow toevolve new resistance mechanisms.
‘On the other hand sexual aphids, with theirgenes always changing, have much morepotential to evolve new resistance to controlmeasures. So while clones have animmediate reproductive advantage, sexualshave the longer-term evolutionary upperhand.
‘Aphids are more likely to reproduce
asexually in areas where the weather iswarmer. For this reason global warming hasthe potential to increase the proportion of theaphid population that reproduces clonally’.
Dr Vorburger said that the climate in south-eastern Australia allows for the co-existenceof both clonal and non-clonal aphids,providing an opportunity to investigate thecosts that counter the reproductiveadvantage of being clonal.
‘But it is possible that global warming willshift the balance in favour of the clonals,’ hesaid.
Dr Vorburger said part of the researchexamines how reproductive strategies relateto temperature. The INRA team is already
using similar data for modelling aphidoutbreaks in France. �
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BULLET IN AUGUST 2002 9
RESEARCH IN ACTION
Dr Sunnucks, left, and Dr Vorburger.
Research that countsLa Trobe joins UK-funded Aboriginal numeracy study
La Trobe University psychologist, Dr Edith Bavin, is part of a team that hasbeen awarded a $335,000 (133,258 pound)British research grant over three years towork with children in three Aboriginalcommunities.
The project is examining the developmentof number concepts in preschool childrenwho have had little exposure to theconventional counting practices ofwestern society, living in communities inwhich the traditional languages have fewnumber words.
The British Leverhulme Trust hasawarded the funding to the teamcomprising Professor Brian Butterworthof the Institute for CognitiveNeuroscience, London, Dr Bavin and DrRobert Reeve from the PsychologyDepartment, University of Melbourne.
Dr Bavin, Associate Dean (Research) inthe Faculty of Science, Technology andEngineering, was recently in the UK on anOutside Studies Program, discussingplans for the new project with ProfessorButterworth.
The Leverhulme Trust was established in1925, under the will of the first LordLeverhulme, founder of Lever Brothersthat later became a cornerstone of
Unilever, the multinational producer ofsoap and other products.
It provides research funds for ‘a specificpiece of novel and significant researchwhich would advance knowledge’.
The Aboriginal children project is one oftwo research endeavours on which DrBavin has been working while in the UK.
The other is a project into specificlanguage impairment (SLI).
For this, Dr Bavin spent four months inthe Department of ExperimentalPsychology at Oxford Universityconsulting with Professor DorothyBishop, an expert in the study ofchildren’s language impairments.
This project, funded by an ARC discoverygrant to Dr Bavin and fellowpsychologists, Dr Paul Maruff, untilrecently an Associate Professor at La Trobe University and Dr Peter Wilsonof RMIT, is investigating the cognitiveskills of children with SLI.
The team, assisted by Felicity Sleeman,isexamining visuo-spatial memory andmotor skills of four-year-old children whohave been identified as languageimpaired.
Dr Bavin says this research so far hasshown significant differences in spatialworking memory between childrenidentified as SLI and their non-SLI peers.Previous research has associated impairedverbal memory with SLI.
The team is examining their findings inrelation to the neurological developmentof children.
While in the UK, Dr Bavin also visitedunits that run language programs forchildren with SLI and autism. �
Dr Bavin at Oxford University.
known spontaneously to arouse from suchlow temperatures,’ Professor Butlerexplains.
‘For most animals the rate of oxygen uptakeis an indication of the rate of energyexpenditure. We need oxygen to releaseenergy from the fats and carbohydrates weacquire by eating.
‘Energy is life’s currency. All animalsexpend it in daily activity, and some need tostore additional amounts for times when it is
not being replenished, prior to hibernationfor example.
‘Any animal in its natural environment seeksto achieve a balance between the rates ofobtaining and using energy. The problem isto determine the rate at which animalsexpend energy in the wild.
‘In the laboratory a respirometer canmeasure the rate of oxygen consumption,indicating the rate of energy expenditure.This is not possible in the wild, so we willattach data loggers to about eight varanidgoannas on Kangaroo Island.
‘We have used these tiny loggers with anumber of different species, including
migrating geese in Europe, and know theyhave no detectable effects on the animals.’
About the size of a man’s wrist watch, theloggers weigh less than 20 grams, have 64megabytes of memory and will be left on theanimals for about 12 months, recordingheart rates, body temperatures and otherinformation through the full range ofseasons.
‘This will enable us to determine for the firsttime their metabolic rate in the changingconditions of their natural habitat,’ ProfessorButler adds. �
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BULLET IN AUGUST 200210
RESEARCH IN ACTION
IGUANA V GOANNAfrom page 7
Salinity fight‘Downunder ’Dr Jake Turin has spent a lot of hisprofessional life crawling through caves.They provide a non-destructive opportunityfor collecting groundwater samples thatform the basis of his research.
Dr Turin recently visited Australia for fivemonths at the invitation of La TrobeUniversity and the Department of NaturalResources and Environment (NRE).
His area of expertise is tracer hydrology, thestudy of the movement of groundwaterusing radio-isotopes that occur in theenvironment. He is a senior scientist at LosAlamos Laboratory, New Mexico, which ispart of the University of California.
Australian interest in Dr Turin's workcentres on the application of tracerhydrology to local environmental problemssuch as dryland salinity and sustainablegroundwater resources.
Based on the main Melbourne campus of La Trobe University at Bundoora, Dr Turinis setting up a laboratory to analyse watersamples for radio-isotopes.
Two La Trobe University student researchprojects are being assisted by Dr Turin inconjunction with the NRE’s Centre for LandProtection Research. The projects arestudying salinity processes at KamarookaHills and on the western basalt plains.
The application of this technology will leadto a better understanding of groundwater
flow systems and will help hydrologistsmake recommendations for salinity controloptions and groundwater extraction.
Dryland salinity is well documented inVictoria. An estimated 120,000 hectares areaffected. Monitoring suggests that at manysites the problem is spreading. This is inaddition to the salting of creeks and riversthat flow into the Murray River.
US nuclear wasterepository studiesDr Turin is also deputy principal investigatorfor two studies related to the high-levelnuclear waste repository proposed by the USgovernment for the Yucca Mountain inNevada.
A critical factor in the licence process isbeing able to predict any future radiologicdose to which the public might be exposed.
Part of the calculation of this dose involvespredicting the transport of radionuclidesfrom the proposed repository, through theunderlying ground to the water table, andthen to nearby wells and springs.
While at La Trobe Dr Turin gave a lecture onthese tracer tests, and also spoke about thechoice of the Yucca Mountain site for thewaste repository from a political andtechnical point of view. �
Dr Turin sampling water in a cave.
During the latter stages ofpregnancy women know they are
not going to conform to thewestern ideal of the body beautiful – trim,svelte, curvaceous.
But what might be the effects, both forthem and their baby, of a decline in whatacademics call ‘body image satisfaction’during pregnancy and afterwards?
Researchers at La Trobe University havecompleted the first stage of a study toexamine changes in body imagesatisfaction during pregnancy. They are
now working on the second, to expandthe study in an attempt to ascertain the
effects of changing body imagesatisfaction levels on mothers’and babies’ health.
Many women accept the bodychanges that come aboutduring pregnancy, or evenenjoy them. However, when
women do become distressedabout their body during
pregnancy, they may engage inbehaviours such as dieting,
starving, and purging.
These weight-loss behaviours,says La Trobe psychologist DrHelen Skouteris, have beenlinked to inadequate weightgain, premature delivery,low birth weight, delayed
development of the child,and in some cases, maternal
and foetal death.
Additionally, the researchers wouldlike to examine scientifically whether
more severe concerns about their bodyduring and after pregnancy are associated
with postnatal depression, a condition thataffects one in 10 new mothers.
‘Exploring behaviours linked to amore positive body imageduring pregnancy and theperiod after the baby is born is
of great importance to both researchers andhealth practitioners,’ says Dr Skouteris.
The first stage of the project by DrSkouteris, Dr Eleanor Wertheim, andhonours student Ms Nadia Boscaglia, allfrom La Trobe’s School of PsychologicalScience, was conducted in 2001. Theresults will be published in the Australianand New Zealand Journal of Obstetricsand Gynaecology.
Their study examined 71 pregnant womenof whom 40 engaged in regular exercise ofat least 90 minutes a week and 31 who didcomparatively little exercise. The objectwas to determine the effects of exercise on
each woman’s body image satisfactionlevel at various stages of pregnancy.
Nearly three quarters of the women werein a high socio-economic group and mostworked. The study showed that those whoexercised reported significantly moresatisfaction with their bodies at 15-22weeks gestation than those who did notexercise. The body image satisfactionrating of the non-exercising womenremained relatively stable during this time.
However, over the next eight weeks as theyapproached full term, the body imagesatisfaction levels of women in bothgroups tended to decline, and the gapbetween exercisers and non-exercisersbecame narrower.
Most participants predicted they wouldhave a decrease in body image satisfactionafter the birth of their baby. �
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RESEARCH
Pregnancy and body image
Dr Skouteris: Could more severe concernsabout body image be associated withpostnatal depression – a condition thataffects one in ten new mothers?
See also: Babes and the box, next page.
A La Trobe University study that hasattracted national media attention, hasrevealed that 58 per cent of Australianchildren aged between three and six years,watch television several times a day, and44 per cent watch videos several times aweek.
The study examined the television andvideo viewing habits and responses ofyoung children.
Lecturer in Psychology, Dr HelenSkouteris, surveyed 314 mothers of threeto six year olds. She said this was the firststudy to her knowledge that has exploredthe video viewing habits and response ofchildren in this age group.
Dr Skouteris said the independent studywas initiated and funded by Disney’sBuena Vista Home Entertainment. La Trobe University was chosen above sixother institutions, including otheruniversities, after a competitive round ofinterviews.
She said Buena Vista are committed to asecond phase of research that will explorefurther young children’s response toanimated videos.
Dr Skouteris has been researching thedevelopment of perception and cognitionin infants and pre-school children formore than a decade.
She said the survey revealed thatAustralian children watched about thesame amount of television as US children,but fewer videos.
Young children with a healthy media dietwere more likely to show positivebehavioural responses by abstractinginformation about the characters,storylines, songs, and activities andincorporating these into their world.
Dr Skouteris said pretend or imaginativeplay was ‘an essential activity throughoutchildhood’.
‘Australian children are active viewers oftelevision and videos. They do not sit infront of the television like zombies. Theyinteract with the programs and videosthey watch and incorporate events andcharacters from videos into their playactivities.’ �
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Babes and the boxAussie kids are active viewers
Healthy ‘media diet’ more likely to lead topositive behaviour.
Sleep research awakens interest La Trobe University has joined withresearchers from three other universities inMelbourne to study sleep-wake problems inpeople with secondary sleep disorders.
These sleep disorders are associated withautism in young children, menopause inmiddle-aged women or Alzheimer’s Diseasein elderly patients.
The researchers worked with Dr SheliaCrewther, Associate Professor in La Trobe’sSchool of Psychological Science, to win acollaborative Australian Research Council(ARC) grant to buy state-of-the-art portablesleep analysis equipment that can be takeninto the homes of people with sleepdisorders.
Other researchers involved include DrJennifer Redman, Professor GrahameColeman and Dr Russell Conduit (MonashUniversity); Dr Dorothy Bruck and DrBernadette Hood (VUT); and Dr AmandaRichdale and Dr Andrew Francis (RMIT).Dr Redman, Dr Conduit, Professor Bruck,Dr Richdale and Dr Francis all began their
research careers at La Trobe where theycompleted their PhDs.
The $100,000 ARC grant will be dividedbetween the four universities and will assisteach group to pursue their separate interestsin aspects of sleep disorders. Many of theseinterests developed from their earlier workat La Trobe where the tradition of researchinto sleep disorders and their recurringeffects goes back to the 1980s.
Dr Crewther said it was often important toassess sleep problems at home rather than ina strange place, connected to equipment,where people with sleep disorders mayexperience further disorientation orconfusion.
She will use the equipment to study sleepproblems associated with intellectualdisability in neuro-developmental con-ditions such as Fragile X and autism.
‘Children with Fragile X Syndrome andautism are usually hyper-active and havedifficulty getting to sleep and staying asleep.They tend to sleep lightly and wake easily.
This is also a problem for parents and carers.
‘It is difficult to look after such childrenduring the day, and even more difficult tocope when they require attention for muchof the night too,’ Dr Crewther said.
At La Trobe the equipment will also helpPhD student, Ms Emma Gould, who iscarrying out research into the effects ofunusual daily levels of melatonin on sleep inFragile X Syndrome. Ms Gould is workingwith Dr Crewther and Dr Danuta Loesch,who specialises in Fragile X Syndromeresearch in the School of PsychologicalScience. �
Dr Crewther:Important to assesssleep problems athome
First Trendall-Grimaldischolar visits La TrobeDr Elisa Lanza, right, recently spent threeweeks at La Trobe University as the firstTrendall-Grimaldi Scholar of theUniversity’s Trendall Research Centre.
The scholarship was established by adonation from Dott. Guido Grimaldi ofNaples in memory of the late EmeritusProfessor A D Trendall.
Professor Trendall – University ResidentFellow for 25 years until his death in 1995– was a legendary figure in classicalstudies. A world authority on the paintedpottery of the Greek colonies in South Italyand Sicily during the Classical period, hehad a profound influence on thehumanities in Australia for more than halfa century.
Dr Lanza is a graduate of the University ofTurin. She is co-author of a book on the
Roman remains in the Val di Susa (SusaValley in west Turin) and is engaged inresearch on both the Parthenon and Greekpottery from South Italy.
While at La Trobe, she conducted researchfor a publication of South Italian potteryfrom the Moschini Collection in theArchaeological Museum of Turin.
Dr Ian McPhee, Director of the TrendallResearch Centre, said the Grimaldidonation enables the Centre to offer onescholarship per year to bring a youngItalian scholar to La Trobe to use theresources of the Trendall Centre.
Located in Menzies College, the Centreincludes an archive of 50,000 photographsand an extensive library, bequeathed to theUniversity by Professor Trendall. �
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Dr Lanza working at the Trendall Research Centre.
Philosopherselected to Academyof Humanities Two staff members in the PhilosophyProgram of La Trobe University’s School ofCommunication, Arts and Critical Enquiry,have been elected Fellows of the AustralianAcademy of Humanities.
They are senior lecturer Dr Ross Brady andMs Janna Thompson, an AssociateProfessor.
Ms Thompson is a feminist philosophernoted for her broad philosophical interests insuch issues as international justice, the
nature of ethics, history and responsibility,and women and the social contract.
Dr Brady is a philosopher and logicianwhose work has been most significant for itstreatment of paradoxes, including thephilosophy of mathematics, semantic andalgebraic interpretations of logics.
They join a number of other La TrobeUniversity academic staff, includingProfessor Robin Jeffrey who is theAcademy’s international secretary.
APS Fellowship forEleanor Wertheim
Dr Eleanor Wertheim, an AssociateProfessor in the School of PsychologicalScience, has been made a Fellow of theAustralian Psychological Society (APS) forher contribution to the advancement ofpsychological knowledge.
Dr Wertheim is a member of two APScolleges, Clinical and CommunityPsychology, and an interest group,Psychologists for the Promotion of WorldPeace, in which she has been active since1985 serving as National Convenor,National Secretary and State Coordinator.
Wodonga student, Ms Clare Lade, has won
the Dean’s Medal as the most outstanding
graduating student from a La Trobe
University regional campus in the Faculty of
Law and Management.
Ms Lade graduated Bachelor of Business
(Hospitality and Management) with
Honours from the Albury–Wodonga
campus. Originally from Numurkah, she is
continuing her studies, having enrolled in a
PhD program. She will write her research
thesis, supervised by the Deputy Director of
La Trobe’s Albury-Wodonga campus, Dr
Julie Jackson, on regional tourism
development along the Murray River,
including the towns of Albury–Wodonga,
Echuca, Swan Hill and Mildura.
The thesis will be part of a three-year
research project conducted by La Trobe’s
Albury–Wodonga campus and financed by
the Australian Research Council.
Ms Lade’s interest in tourism development
was stimulated by an 18 months working
holiday in Britain and Europe after she
completed her initial three-year degree.On
returning to Australia she enrolled in the
Honours Year program and specialised in
tourism. �
RESEARCH ON THE RIVER FOR PRIZE-WINNING GRADUATE
La Trobe University PhD student, DamianSpencer, is the winner of the 2002 DavidMyers Research Scholarship. Thescholarship provides financial assistance toan outstanding Doctoral or Masters levelcandidate with exceptional researchpromise.
Mr Spencer, who is engaged in research onchemotherapy in the Department of
Biochemistry, was formerly a Bachelor ofMedical Science Honours student at La Trobe.
He won numerous prizes during hisundergraduate studies including the UnitkaPrize for topping his honours year inBiochemistry, the Alumni AssociationPrize and David Myers Medal for the tophonours student in the faculty of Science,
Technology and Engineering and theDavid Kelly Medal for the top honoursstudent in the Department of AgricultureSciences.
The David Myers Research Scholarshipcovers expenses for two years for aMasters candidature and three years for aDoctoral candidate. To be eligible,candidates must be the highest Universityranked candidate in the Higher DegreesCommittee (Research) scholarshipselection.
A full time scholarship carries a stipend of$18,500 per year with a research supportgrant of up to $3000 per year plus a thesisallowance.
Mr Spencer is part of a cancer researchteam led by Dr Don Philips. The team isworking to identify the molecularmechanism of action of anticancer drugs inclinical use, in particular those that appearto act at the DNA level. The long-termobjective is to enhance the clinical activityof these agents
Working in particular with the drugAdriamycin, Mr Spencer hopes his PhDstudies will lead to a career in cancerresearch. �
Awards forcomputerstudentsMs Sarah Pulis, a Doctoral student in theSchool of Engineering’s Department ofComputer Science and ComputerEngineering, has won the 2002 IBMAward for Outstanding Women in Non-Traditional Areas of Work and Study, inthe Information Technology section.
The national awards acknowledge andreward the achievements of women whohave broken new ground anddemonstrated, motivation and passion fortheir chosen field.
Ms Pulis was one of the students whohelped develop the prototype of the‘Quinkan Cultural Matchbox’ computer
program designed to help record andcatalogue Aboriginal rock paintings andother cultural artefacts on the Cape YorkPeninsula in Far North Queensland. (Seestory page 13 in the July 2002 issue of theLa Trobe Bulletin.)
A paper based on an honours thesis byMSc candidate Mr Alex Talevski, won anaward for best paper at the Systemics,Cybernetics and Informatics conferenceheld in Orlando, USA. The paper wastitled ‘A dynamically re-configurablecomponent based architecture’.
Mr Talevski was also one of seven LaTrobe Computer Science graduates whohave won Victorian State Governmentinaugural Information, Communicationsand Technology (ICT) scholarships.
The others are Miss Anne Hannington,Mr Carlo Wouters, Mr RajuganRajagopallapilli, Miss Tafline Murnane,Mr William Gardener, and Mr Yu Chen.
The students will be working on a range ofprojects from multi-media developmentand improving architecture and processesin ICT manufacturing to multi-media andtele- communication software testing.
The scholarships are each worth about$13,000 per year. They are designed toretain top Masters and Doctoral researchstudents in Victorian to work in areas ofbenefit to Australian industries. �
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CANCER RESEARCHER WINS SCHOLARSHIP
Mr Spencer: working to identify the action of anti–cancer drugs.
Ms Pulis: award for womenworking in I.T.
Lecturer in La Trobe University’s GreekProgram, Ms Helen Nickas, played a leadingrole in an unusual Australian literary venture– publication of a book in three languages.
Owl Publishing of Melbourne recentlypublished in English, Greek and French TheIsland, by Antigone Kefala, a writer ofGreek background who has lived in Sydneyfor more than four decades.
Ms Nickas translated the work from itsoriginal English into Greek, and wrote theintroduction to the text.
The Island tells the story of a young Greekmigrant woman and the tri-lingual versionwas launched at La Trobe in August during
the sixth biennial conference of the ModernGreek Studies Association of Australia &New Zealand.
Entitled Greeks in the Modern World, theconference attracted Greek scholars frommany countries.
The French translation was by Dr MarieGaulis. The Australia Council and theNational Council for the Centenary ofFederation assisted with the publication.
Editor and publisher of the series Writing theGreek Diaspora, Ms Nickas teaches Greekand English literature. She did her Master’sthesis on four Greek-Australian womenwriters, including Antigone Kefala. �
NEWS
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Publishingventure featuresLa Trobe scholarsBooks by La Trobe University scholarsfeature prominently in the first publishinglist of Australia’s newest and mostinnovative academic publishing house,thanks to Dr Richard Broome.
Reader and postgraduate co-ordinator in La Trobe’s History Program, Dr Broome haskept an accurate database of every PhD andMaster’s thesis in the Program since 1980.
So when Gareth Powell, CEO and founderof a new company, Pecock Academic Press,emailed from Sydney late last year askingfor theses with publishing potential, Dr Broome was able respond quickly.
Within an hour he had e-mailed a completelist of history theses written in the past twodecades.
Mr Powell selected 10 titles he believedwere of interest, and within a month, thefirst, In Awe of Mrs Grundy, was published,both as a book, and on the Web for purchase.
The doctoral thesis of Dr Emma Jane Curtinwritten in the late 1990’s, the book is about
middle class women immigrants to Australiaduring the 19th century.
The Pecock website lists in its first 10 titlesanother three theses written by doctoralstudents from La Trobe History Program. Inaddition, the publishing house has expressedinterest in another two.
All are published in a series called anAcademic History of Australia.
Pecock books are available through Barnesand Noble, from www.pecock.com, andsome university and specialist bookshops. �
Bailyn Lecture andseminar farewellfor John Salmond La Trobe’s prestige history lecture, theEighth Annual Bailyn Lecture, and aspecial North American Studies Seminarwill mark the retirement from theUniversity of eminent historian, ProfessorJohn Salmond.
Pro Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Chair ofthe Academic Board until this year,Professor Salmond’s Bailyn Lecture willbe held at 6.30pm on Monday 7 Octoberat the John Scott Meeting House, on LaTrobe’s main Melbourne campus atBundoora.
The lecture’s title is: The Southernstruggles: Aspects of the fight foreconomic and social justice in thetwentieth century American South.
The seminar will be held on Thursday 10October, same venue, starting at 10am. Itwill celebrate Professor Salmond's longand distinguished career as an historianof the American South. Papers will begiven by Australian and internationalhistorians.
Professor Salmond, whose research andteaching interests also includes the NewDeal, is author of seven books, and thejust published The General Textile Strikeof 1934 – from Maine to Alabama.
Among his other books are Theconscience of a lawyer: The life and timesof Clifford Judkins Durr (1990), winner ofthe Gustavus Myers Award; Gastonia1929: The story of the Loray Mill strike(1995) and My mind set on freedom: Ahistory of the Civil Rights Movement(1997).�
From left, Ms Nickas, Antigone Kefala and Dr Gaulis at the book launch.
Greek life in Ozin three languages
A decade ago La Trobe Universityanthropologist, Dr Nonie Sharp, decided shemust write a book to tell Australians andothers how the ‘saltwater people’ relate tothe sea.
The saltwater people are indigenousinhabitants of Torres Strait Islands andcoastal areas of northern Australia.
Dr Sharp says such a book is necessary toexplain that these people have a similarrelationship to the sea as they, and otherAborigines, have with the land.
An accumulation of knowledge, insightand understanding built up since the early1970s has led Dr Sharp to conclude thatnon-indigenous Australians can neverunderstand the cultural, economic andpolitical attitudes of this group until theyappreciate the significance of theirrelationship with the sea.
The result is Saltwater People: The waves ofmemory, a scholarly treatise on the history,lifestyle, beliefs, customs and aspirations ofthe saltwater people that is also a lively,readable and enjoyable description of thesepeople today and where they live.
The book is timely in the light of thecontinuing native title legal challenges andthe 2001 victory of the people of CrokerIsland, 200 kilometres northeast of Darwin,
in gaining some recognition of theirtraditional rights to the sea in the CrokerIsland Seas case.
Dr Sharp describes in detail the vibrantworld of the saltwater people, how theyrelate to bountiful waters and shores – thesource of not only their livelihoods but oftheir identity, cultural memory, communityand spirituality.
An ARC Research Fellow in La TrobeUniversity’s Department of Sociology andAnthropology, Dr Sharp devotes a chapter tosocial, commercial and legal aspectsthroughout history of ‘ownership’ and use ofthe sea in western tradition.
She even quotes the Roman Stoic, LuciusSeneca, who spoke with passion about thosewho ‘use the sea for commercial gain’. Notmentioned in the book is the Christianlegend, with no historical basis, that Seneca,who lived from 4 BC to 65 AD, discussedethics with St Peter – a gentleman who hadused the sea for commercial gain in hisprevious career as a professional fisherman!
The book also looks at examples of nativepeoples’ relationship to the sea in a numberof other countries including Scandinavia, theUSA, Canada and New Zealand.
But it is the evocative and deeply searchingexamination of the saltwater people of
northern Australia and their lore –indigenous heritage, land and sea rights andprivate and common property – thatfascinates most.
Dr Sharp has travelled frequently to theseareas for a quarter of a century and countedmany friends among the saltwater people,including Eddie Mabo whose challenge toterra nullius resulted in a legal watershed.She was involved in that case from itsinception as a strong supporter of Mabo’sclaim.
The book challenges non-indigenousAustralians to reflect on the origins of theirown rights to natural resources and how wecan learn from the traditions of others. �
The latest of Dr Sharp’s four books on thisarea, Saltwater People: The waves ofmemory is published by Allen & Unwin inAustralia and University of Toronto Press inCanada. It is available at most bookshops,price $27.95. �
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ANTHROPOLOGY
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VIBRANTWORLD OFSALTWATERPEOPLEby Noel Carrick
