Coastal studies student Enya Chitty has been awarded a prestigious national award, while other successes include research tabled at a Royal Commission and Flinders’ involvement in an international panel discussion about how humans are harming the planet.
Researchers have their say in Royal Commission
A research report from Flinders University staff that looks into changing community attitudes to improve inclusion of people with disability has been tabled at the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.
Professor Sally Robinson and Dr Jan Idle, both from the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, were part of the research group with colleagues from University of New South Wales who researched effective policies to change attitudes, using an evidence review and national interviews.
To read the full report, click here.
Award for outstanding coastal sciences student
Flinders third-year coastal studies student Enya Chitty has been awarded the ACEDD scholar for 2022 by the Australian Council of Environmental Deans and Directors.
Each member university nominates one undergraduate student each year for the award, and Emily was chosen by the national group in recognition of her outstanding scholarship in the Bachelor Science – Coasts and Oceans program and her overall contribution to the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders.
“Enya is a truly incredible student. She has always received the highest grades for every topic she has enrolled in, has an immense drive, and has been, and is a phenomenal ambassador for environmental science,” says Professor Patrick Hesp, Head of Environmental Sciences in the College of Science and Engineering, who nominated Enya for the award. “Emily is a remote student with two small children, based on Kangaroo Island, yet always delivers on time, and produces outstanding work.”
Some of Emily’s other achievements include winning the John Lewis Prize in Geography for 2020 and 2021 (awarded by the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia), receiving the College of Science and Engineering Summer Research Scholarship Award for 2021 to contribute to the project ‘Dynamics of burnt dune systems on Kangaroo Island’, and has been requested by the College of Science and Engineering to transfer to the ‘Enhanced Degree for High Achievers (Honours) Specialising in Coasts and Oceans’ from Semester 2, 2022, despite not meeting previous criteria. She is particularly interested in using geospatial sciences to examine the geomorphology of shellfish reefs in the context of ecological restoration.
Are humans our own worst enemy?
Associate Professor Alice Gorman will join leading international experts in the latest symposium from the Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA) that will look into the impact of human life on our plant.
Humans: The Planet-Altering Apes will see ten experts from the United States, Mexico and Australia discuss a specific issue and the global-scale negative impacts they may have had on planet earth. Speakers will also discuss the role humans have played, how this will impact our life support system (other than climate change, population growth and infectious diseases, which are well-known) before concluding with ongoing or potential approaches to mitigation.
Associate Professor Gorman’s speech will focus on “Accumulating space debris and the risk of Kessler Syndrome”. For more information about the symposium, click here: https://carta.anthropogeny.org/events/humans-planet-altering-apes