Download This report lists significant media activity since November [PDF 40KB]

MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
Late November to January 2010
University News:
• Official launch of REDMAP
An innovative new website that aims to engage the community in mapping the effect
of climate change on Tasmanian waters was recently launched by the Minister for
Primary Industries and Water, David Llewellyn. The Coastal Climate Change Range
Extension Database and Mapping Project (REDMAP) was created by the Tasmanian
Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute (TAFI) with extensive support from many different
community and industry groups, as well as local schools. TAFI was awarded a
Tasmanian Community Fund grant to implement the project.
Coverage:
Southern Cross
ABC TV
ABC 936 local
Win TV
HOFM
• Visit from the Dalai Lama
His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited the University Sandy Bay campus in December
to celebrate the academic exchange between the UTAS School of Philosophy and
the Central University of Tibetan Studies. The School of Philosophy has had a
successful Buddhist Studies Program exchange for both scholars and students for
10 years. The Program provides a unique opportunity for exchange between
Australian students and scholars and their Tibetan counterparts.
Coverage:
Hobart Mercury (x2)
Launceston Examiner
ABC 936 Hobart
ABC Brisbane
ABC Gold Coast
Win Hobart
• Creative Arts Summer School
The fourth annual Tasmanian Creative Arts Summer School kicked off at The UTAS
Academy of the Arts at Inveresk recently with the school’s director Peter Hammond
welcoming participants. It involved around 500 participants, including 200 attending
the Newstead Campus Rock Music Summer School and the Launceston College
Music Centre Summer Schools. Over ten days students and community members
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from Tasmania and interstate attended workshops on subjects as diverse as public
speaking, painting, food design, improvisation and Aboriginal philosophy.
Coverage:
Launceston Examiner (x13)
Hobart Mercury (x2)
Sunday Examiner
Burnie Advocate
Heart FM
• Second side of telescope triangle completed
A new 12-metre antenna was lifted into place to create a new radio telescope at
Katherine, Northern Territory, adding an important component to an Australia-wide
network of telescopes. A similar structure was erected in Mount Pleasant, Tasmania,
in April this year. The Katherine antenna is the second part of what will eventually be
a triangle-shaped network when the final telescope is installed at Yarragadee in
Western Australia. The telescopes are part of the AuScope Very Long Baseline
Interferometry (VLBI) Project, which comprises the construction and operation of the
three new radio telescopes by the UTAS School of Maths and Physics.
Coverage:
Katherine Times
ABC 936 Hobart
7LA Launceston
Hobart Mercury
• December Graduations
Tasmania became a sea of caps and gowns last December with UTAS graduates
celebrating their achievements at ceremonies and street parades. The first annual
University of Tasmania graduation ritual will be held in Burnie. 59 graduates from the
Cradle Coast campus received awards and degrees at the ceremony at the Burnie
Arts and Function Centre. The Burnie graduates are among almost 2300 who
received their degrees across Tasmania in 13 separate ceremonies.
Coverage:
Hobart Mercury (7 x)
HOFM
Southern Cross News
Burnie Advocate (9 x)
Launceston Examiner
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Research News:
• Apple and pear research boost
Increasing apple and pear orchard profitability and sustainability will be the main
focus of a new $12 million research program that has been announced. The
Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research (TIAR) – a joint venture between the
University of Tasmania and the State Government – is managing the national
program funded by Horticulture Australia Limited (HAL). The research program,
“Productivity, Irrigation, Pests and Soils Program”, commonly known as the PIPS
Orchard Program, PIPS is designed to increase profitability of orchards, minimise
water use and protect the environment and consumers from agricultural chemicals.
Coverage:
Hobart Mercury
ABC 936 Hobart
7LA
HOFM
ABC Northern Tasmania
• Culprit found for Tasmanian devil transmissible cancer
Cells that protect nerves are the likely origin of the Devil Facial Tumour Disease
(DFTD) that has been devastating Australia’s Tasmanian devil population, an
international team of scientists has discovered. DFTD is a transmissible cancer that
effects only Tasmanian devils and was first reported in 1996. It is spread by biting
and quickly kills the animals. The disease is characterised by large tumours, mostly
on the face and mouth, which often spread to internal organs. The research
collaboration, led by Australian scientists, has found that DFTD originates from cells
called Schwann cells, which protect peripheral nerve fibres. Associate Professor
Greg Woods from the University of Tasmania’s Menzies Research Institute said the
Schwann cell find was an important step in the process to further understand the
disease. The results have been published in the international journal, Science.
Coverage:
ABC 936 Hobart
The Australian
Hobart Mercury
Launceston Examiner
Radio National Canberra
Channel 10
4BC Brisbane
Win Hobart
Southern Cross News
ABC1 Adelaide
ABC1 Melbourne
ABC1 Sydney
6PR Perth
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Physorg.com
CBS News
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Science News
Eurek Alert
Yahoo Science News
Daily News and Analysis
Earthtimes
EMaxHealth
Mother Nature Network
China Post
Monterey County Herald
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Taiwan News
• A simple CrossMove may help build kids’ brains
A University of Tasmania researcher is looking at using modern gaming technology
to investigate ways of improving motor skills which could lead to more rewarding
participation in sport for some children. The simple act of reaching your right hand
across your body to pick up an object on your left side seems like second nature to
most, but this movement can be difficult for some children. Dr Scott Pedersen, from
the UTAS Faculty of Education, is an adapted physical educator who has significant
experience teaching physical activity to children with attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD) and other developmental disabilities.
Coverage:
ScienceAlert.com
Launceston Examiner
Hobart Mercury
ABC 936 Hobart
•
Galapagos marine species threatened by El Niño, overfishing and
climate change
Ocean warming and over-fishing are threatening the coastal wildlife of the
Galapagos Islands, a new report by a team of international scientists led by
Associate Professor Graham Edgar of the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries
Institute (TAFI) at the University of Tasmania has revealed. The report shows that
the Galapagos Islands – arguably the world’s most celebrated environmental
treasure – has suffered major biodiversity losses due to a combination of severe
oceanographic heating events and over fishing, with several species of marine plants
and animals believed to have become extinct and many others seriously threatened.
Coverage:
Sydney Morning Herald
Hobart Mercury
Current.com
Science Alert.com
PeopleandPlanet.net
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• Lack of large lobsters lets urchins run wild
A new research paper shows that the removal of large lobsters from the environment
has reduced the ability of kelp beds to respond to the onslaught of the spiny sea
urchin in Tasmanian waters. The paper, titled Overfishing reduces resilience of kelp
beds to climate-driven catastrophic phase shift was recently published in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
The authors of the paper are Dr Scott Ling, Professor Craig Johnson and Associate
Professor Stewart Frusher of the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute
(TAFI), and Ken Ridgway, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Science.
Coverage:
ABC Northern Tasmania
ABC 936 Hobart
Science Alert.com
• New Menzies study
A new study has shown how people behave in their 20s and 30s has a serious
impact on whether they suffer heart disease later in life. The Menzies Research
Institute surveyed 2,500 Aust over their habits. Prof Mark Nelson, The Menzies
Research Institute, says people in their 20s and 30s still have time to make changes.
Coverage:
Hobart Mercury
ABC 720 Perth
ABC2 Sydney
Southern Cross News Hobart
ABC NSW
ABC 774 Melbourne
• New research project aims to uncover eucalypt secrets
Professor Jim Reid and a team of scientists are hoping new DNA information about
the eucalyptus will give information on the trees’ adaption to a changing climate.
Southern Cross University has teamed up with the UTAS and the Australian National
University to develop a Eucalyptus Centre of Excellence. The universities
applied for $25 million through the Australian Research Council for the project, to
study the DNA of the eucalypt.
Coverage:
ABC 702 Sydney
ABC 66 Canberra
AB 936 Hobart
ABC 612 Brisbane
ABC Wide Bay
ABC1 Hobart
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