Celebrating success

Flinders shortlisted for defence and Indigenous paper prizes, researchers snap up ARC grants, imaginary focus wins real friends across the world, and what to watch on SBS.

Deputy Poche Director shortlisted for paper prize

Dr Maree Meredith

Dr Maree Meredith has been shortlisted for the 2019 Stanner Award, which is presented by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) for the best academic manuscript written by an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander author.

Dr Meredith is the new Deputy Director of the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health and Well-Being, working with centre Director Shane Mohar who also commenced recently in the role.

She is one of four finalists for the biennial award, selected for her paper ‘Mapping the health promotion benefits of Art Centres on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands: an Ethnographic Account.’

The winner will be announced on 15 August, receiving a glass sculpture by award-winning artist Jenni Kemarre Martiniello, $5,000 in prize money, mentoring and editorial support.

Flinders teams snap up ARC grants

Flinders researchers won more than one million in funding in the latest  Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Projects to inform a better understanding of underground water at mines, and improve the management of Australian and NZ snapper fisheries.

One project is a $321,113 collaboration between five major state fisheries agencies in Australia, NZ Crown Research Institute Plant & Food Research, and the University of Queensland.

Chief investigator Flinders University molecular ecologist Professor Luciano Beheregaray says the project will generate and integrate genomic, environmental and phenotypic datasets for snapper populations from vast coastal regions of Australia and NZ.

“The large-scale fisheries genomics program should substantially enhance fisheries management and aquaculture initiatives for snapper, providing commercial, social and environmental benefits for many stakeholders across the two countries,” Professor Beheregaray says.

Another $838,000 project with multiple partners including Rio Tinto, builds on ongoing research initiatives between the company and the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training at Flinders.

Centre director Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor Craig Simmons says developing field-based approaches and new models to quantify groundwater flow and solute transport through and along faults is vital for mine management around the world.

“By combining geological, hydraulic and geochemical approaches with 3D numerical models, we will gain an improved understanding of the role of faults and barriers in subsurface hydrology, and an improved ability to model complex groundwater systems,” Professor Simmons says.

Shortlisted in Australian Defence Industry Awards

Flinders University has been nominated as Academic Institution of the Year in the 2019 Australian Defence Industry Awards, which are presented by Defence Connect to recognise leading scientists and institutions.

Flinders is one of four finalists and was recognised for being an industry partner of choice, its student internships in France, defence-related research involving all colleges and as the first higher education institution to have been endorsed by the Naval Shipbuilding College.

Professor John Spoehr

Professor John Spoehr, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Research Impact and Director of the Australian Industrial Transformation Institute, has also been nominated for Academic of the Year.

Professor Spoehr is one of 10 finalists for the annual award, selected for his research on Industry 4.0 and industrial transformation which has played an influential role in supporting the growth of advanced manufacturing and vision for digital shipyards.

The winners will be announced on 26 September at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.

Imaginary focus wins real global friends

Dr Suzi Adams’ scholarship on the imaginary has received international attention, wining her several prestigious invited speaking invitations.

She is the invited guest of the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris this November, where she will speak on Castoriadis and Social Imaginaries.

The University of Hamburg is funding her to present on the Imagination, Futures, and Sustainability in December.

The Theory of Science Forum at Oslo University has also funded her to present on the Imaginary, Autonomy, and Paideia in December.

She is also the funded guest at an international workshop on Imaginal Politics at the Cardozo Law School  in New York City and in February 2020, Dr Adams will present her research on Castoriadis and the imaginary at the Philosophy Department, the New School for Social Research also in New York.

Hunting for a new SBS binge?

Critically-acclaimed drama The Hunting is currently airing on SBS and available through SBS On Demand.

Shot locally, The Hunting features former Flinders screen and media students in a range of key creative roles, including script producer Matt Vesely, production manager Bettina Hamilton and art department coordinator Emma Hough-Hobbs. The drama, about a sexting scandal in a local high school, received a four star review in The Guardian.

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