Dear friends and colleagues
Farm inspiration
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Young Aboriginal students from the Alice Springs region are being inspired to consider careers in agriculture and horticulture thanks to a project in which Ninti One introduced them to senior Aboriginal figures whose personal success has in some way involved working in farming or food production. This was followed by a wider distribution of information from the event.
Explains project manager Ange Vincent, “Our aim was to increase awareness of primary industries as a viable employment choice for young Aboriginal people by showing them what some successful Aboriginal people are already doing. Enabling them to hear the stories of self-made people shows that self determination is possible and that there are many good jobs in primary industry out there for them.” Ninti One’s inspiring deputy chair, Tom Calma, was just one who shared his life experiences with the youngsters. The project was staged with the support of the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry under its ‘Next Gen Farmers’ program. More information: ange.vincent@nintione.com.au ph 08 89596046.
Rural futures
Ninti One chair Paul Wand will give a keynote address to the Rural Futures Matter Summit 2011 in Adelaide later this month. The summit takes place at the Flinders University School of Education from September 21–23 in partnership with the Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia (SPERA) and the Rural Education Forum Australia (REFA).
It will produce recommendations for government and agencies, private enterprise, relevant community organisations and the wider public on how education and rural communities can advance Australia’s sustainability. Topics include Australia's demographics to 2050 and beyond; Sustainability and Globalisation; Accessible, Affordable Quality Education in Rural Australia; Resource Companies and their Legacy (Paul’s address); Youth for the Future and Rural Australia – Making it Work!
Welcome Charity
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We welcome Charity Hinchliffe to Ninti One and our Alice offices. Charity is responsible for debtors, creditors, events, and travel and other various duties. She will report to the Manager of Corporate Services, Ruth Brown.
Profile: Apolline Kohen
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Apolline is a Senior Research Officer in Ninti One’s Business Development Unit. Born in Paris, France she arrived downunder fifteen years ago, “originally for a year – but we loved Australia so much that we decided to stay a little longer.” That became permanent when she took Australian Citizenship in 2003.
Her background is in art history and museum management (she studied at the Louvre!) but her love of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art led her to work in the National Museum of Australia, the NT Museum and Art Gallery and for six years as director of Maningrida Arts & Culture: “A fabulous experience and I felt privileged to work with some of the most amazing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists in the country. I also enjoyed running the business side.”
At Ninti One her main task is to take SAND, our remote communications technology, to its next stage. “Affordable access to ICT would reduce the obvious disadvantage of remote Australians and offer new opportunities,” she says. Of her work, she admits: “I never get bored … I am a borderline workaholic according to my loved ones, so I am always excited to go to work!”
Apolline’s favourite movie is Casablanca: “I watch it every couple of years: such a love story and such great actors!” and her current read is Mary Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser: “I became obsessed with Mary’s story after visiting some of the Scottish castles she stayed in.” A great weekend consists of “reading in bed, enjoying a nice dinner with friends or going camping in the bush”. Her pet hates include leaving a job unfinished, and poor quality bread (she still yearns for the “true French baguette”.)
She is expecting her first child: “So I guess my current goal is to give birth to a healthy baby and raise (him or her) as a happy Franco-Australian kid who will feel comfortable in both cultures. Workwise, I want to keep broadening my skills and experience to deliver good social and economic outcomes for people living in the bush.”
Calling our brightest
CRC-REP is now recruiting the nation’s most talented post-grads interested in specialising in a brighter future for remote Australians. Between 2011 and 2014 we’re committed to training post-graduate students (PhD, MSc and Honours) and providing support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander post-grads.
All CRC-REP post-grads will receive a generous top-up scholarship valued at $6,000 per year and travel funding to international and national conferences. They will carry out real research with direct application to jobs, lives, enterprises and communities in remote Australia. They will be supported by industry and research mentors and have numerous professional learning opportunities. They will be part of a knowledge network involving fellow students, research leaders and industry through an active learning hub.
The closing date for receipt of online application forms is 31 October 2011. For more details contact our Manager Education, Coordination and Development, Wendy Cowan, on 08 8951 8348 or wendy.cowan@nintione.com.au.
Welcome, partners
I am delighted to welcome the following new project partners into CRC-REP: Keringke Arts and McPhee Andrewartha. The fact that new partners continue to see value in taking part in our research well after the start-up of the CRC is pleasing evidence of the essential dynamism and relevance of our research agenda.
Healthy prospects
There are great prospects for healthier lives for Aboriginal people living on country, David Campbell told an enraptured Alice Springs audience as part of CRC-REP’s contribution to National Science Week. David summarised long-running research that he has conducted with Paul Burgess at Menzies School of Health Research, Stephen Garnett at Charles Darwin University and John Wakerman at the Centre for Remote Health, among others, which points to clear benefits for individuals, the national healthcare system and for the environment in remote Australia from participation in traditional cultural practices of caring for country. This is work we are very proud of, and you can expect to hear a lot more about it in the future.
Ninti One people also contributed to the Northern Territory’s Science Week activities: “Science on Trial”- ‘Why is the science I do important to you?’ Chris Duncan facilitated the events at the Art Gallery and Museum in Darwin and at the All Seasons Function Room in Katherine and Andy Bubb was the MC for the Alice Springs event, held at the ECO Fair.
Keeping remote Australia rolling
Forty researchers and partners gathered at Alice in August to help scope out research aims and solutions to the energy challenges facing remote Australia in coming decades. The workshop explored issues around climate change adaptation, energy futures and carbon economies with a view to putting a detailed proposal to the Ninti One Board. Says Ninti One project leader, Ashley Sparrow, from partner CSIRO, “There’s been a lot of discussion around stationary energy in remote Australia – solar, wind, geothermal, gas and so on. The really big gap is transport energy, on which remote Australia, its industries and communities are totally dependent and for which there are presently few alternatives to fossil fuels.” Dr Sparrow says the workshop has developed a promising research program to address the issues, which includes exploring the scope for improved public transportation in remote areas.
Networkers unite
The International Rural Network World Forum will be held at the University of South Australia Whyalla campus, September 24–28, 2012. Following conferences in Townsville, Australia; Vancouver Island, Canada; Inverness, Scotland; Abingdon, USA; and Udaipur, India, the 2012 IRN World Forum will bring together practitioners, policy makers and scholars with an interest in regional, rural and remote communities across the world.
IRN gatherings emphasise the sharing of practical experience and the value of local knowledge in addressing local challenges, especially in community and economic development, health, education, culture and environment.
The theme of IRN 2012 is Rural and Remote Resilience: Making the Priorities Possible. The organisers are calling for presentation abstracts by February 29, 2012. Details: irn2012.abstracts@unisa.edu.au
Profile: Sheree Cairney
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Sheree is our Principal Research Leader on the Interplay between Health, Wellbeing, Education and Employment Project. She works with the Centre for Remote Health in Alice Springs. As a cognitive neuroscientist in Aboriginal health at the Menzies School of Health Research, her research career has focused on the brain-behavioural and wellbeing consequences of substance abuse, mental health problems and the development of strategies to overcome them. She has worked extensively in Arnhem Land at Gove and Groote Eylandt.
Sheree grew up at the foot of Mt. Dandenong in outer Melbourne in a big family she calls her “hill tribe”. She contemplated a degree in arts but in the end was drawn to the sciences, studying medical biophysics and then taking her PhD in Neuroscience.
Her current task with CRC-REP is to lead our exploration of the links between education, employment, health and wellbeing. “The project will identify the combination of factors that influence a person’s wellbeing in remote and culturally diverse settings, however key elements are likely to arise that resonate in all of our lives,” she explains.
It is work that motivates her highly: “I feel energised and inspired by the work I’m doing. I love working with people and ideas, coordinating effort for common goals and using whatever resources are on hand. Mind you, if I didn’t work in such flexible and diverse working environments, I may not dig it so much!”
Not a person to let the grass grow under her feet, her ideal weekend consists of “camping, bushwalking, gardening, friends, family, dinners, music, gigs, dancing, getting out bush, quiet time, making things, painting, swimming, writing ... the list goes on.”
Not surprisingly, Sheree admits her worst habit is “taking on too much!” She is somewhat averse to cats – but loves plants. Her main goal in life is “to have and to promote wellbeing!” Her life heroes include “Mum and my siblings”.
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The on-ground monitoring of feral camel impacts on flora and fauna is gathering pace across sites in NT, WA, SA and Qld. Due to the remote locations of the monitoring sites, motion-activated cameras are being used to photograph and video birds and animals as they come in to watering points. This will give us presence/absence information on different species and how this changes over time as camel densities are reduced. Feral camels can consume large volumes of limited desert water sources and reduce water quality as a result of their dung and carcasses. They also trample vegetation around wetlands, which reduces the quality of biodiversity refuge habitat.
This recent photo was collected from Anna’s Reservoir in the Northern Territory, which emphasises the importance of managing feral camels.
Events
Innovation territory
Ninti One is again proud to support the NT Research and Innovation Awards in 2011 which will be presented at a gala dinner in the Darwin Convention Centre on October 14. The Awards were created to recognise and reward the Territory’s most innovative thinkers and problem solvers – the people in our community who through their dedication to creating new knowledge, to finding solutions to problems and coming up with innovative ideas are helping us to prosper economically, socially or environmentally. They include the Minister for Business and Employment’s Innovation Award, the Indigenous Innovation Award, the Desert Knowledge Research Award, the Tropical Knowledge Research Award and the New Generation Award. Winners will be eligible for the Chief Minister’s Research and Innovation Award. Book your tickets here: http://www.darwinentertainment.com.au/boxoffice/research-&-innovation-awards.asp
More info: http://www.nt.gov.au/dbe/business/innovation/awards.shtml
Remote diary
September 20-23, 2011: Western Australian Indigenous Tourism Operators Conference
September 21-23, 2011: Rural Futures Matter Summit 2011
September 24-28, 2012: International Rural Network World Forum
September 29-30, 2011: SEAg 2011 Conference
October 13-14, 2011: Indigenous Economic Development Forum
October 14, 2011: NT Research and Innovation Awards Dinner
October 14, 2011: Northern Territory Research and Innovation Awards
November 7-10, 2011: Desert Knowledge Symposium
New publications
Villkinas T, Cartan G and Saebel J. 2011. Business Success Factors. DKCRC Research Report 79. Ninti One Limited, Alice Springs. (pdf 4.6MB)
