Dear friends,
Happy New Year to you all.
Welcome back to what should be
another exceptional year for the DKCRC. My family and I have just
returned to work after a busy but enjoyable overseas trip visiting
Germany, staying with family and friends and taking in the
spectacular scenery.
This newsletter is just a short
one, flagging some of the expected developments ahead. Inevitably,
it will be a busy year, judging by the research agenda already
scheduled for 2008.
The good news is the announcement
by the new Federal government that the CRC Programme may see
greater emphasis on public good. Our re-bid strategy for DKCRC will
change now with the news of the government review and it appears
there may be slippage of about 12 months (see below).
The first Board Meeting for the
year is being held in Alice Springs on Tuesday 26 February, with
Board Member involvement in a range of activities across that
week.
Student
forum
More than 20 students and 40
people in total attended our annual student forum with real
enthusiasm displayed by all participants, students and facilitators
alike. The Wednesday night Show and Tell session was a beauty, with
a lot of energy, and students enthusing all those present with
their synopses of their study.
We had a range of project
‘break-out’ sessions across the two-day forum and
specialist training as well. The students participated in sessions
on theoretical approaches to research, research methods and
methodologies, communication and publications. We invited locals
such as Harold Furber, Des Rogers and Margaret Orr to share their
experiences with students and to discuss the future of desert
Australia.
We are really proud of our
students and what they are achieving in their studies. Thanks to
all our researchers who participated in the forum.
Stock water
technologies
The year is shaping up as a good
one in so many ways, and one of the early features of the year will
be DKCRC’s WaterSmart™ Field day to be held at Monkira
station in western QLD in early April, weather permitting. This
will build on a similar day held mid-last year at Mount Ive station
in South Australia.
Like Mount Ive, Monkira station
is saving considerable time and dollars since establishing new
water management technologies as part of the WaterSmart Pastoral
Production™ project.
Landholders can expect to take
away valuable information, and our project people, including
Project Officer Colleen James, will be striving to ensure they
do.
Rebid delay
As I mentioned, the new Federal
Labor Government review of Cooperative Research Centres means our
re-bid process is on hold. Senator Kim Carr, Minister for
Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, has announced it is
part of a broader review of the National Innovation System.
The review, chaired by Professor
Mary O’Kane, will identify areas to assist investment and
collaboration between research and industry, and will consider all
aspects of the CRC Programme. The next CRC selection round will be
held once the government has considered the outcomes of the review,
with the aim of completing the selection process by the middle of
2009.
We’ve done a lot of work on the re-bid process, and hope all
the findings arising from these remain relevant. I believe
ultimately, the delay will be beneficial to Australia.
Movement at the
station
Our thanks to Mark Moran and
Sarah Holcombe for their efforts during their time with DKCRC.
Mark is leaving CAT at the end of
this month, to take up a newly created position with World Vision
which will focus on delivering outcomes to Aboriginal
people. Mark’s final day of work with DKCRC will be 29
February. We are pleased to announce Steve Fisher is returning to
the DKCRC fold to lead the project after Mark leaves.
Sarah is leaving us for the
interesting opportunity of a continuing role with ANU as Research
Fellow at the National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS).
Sarah’s final day of work with DKCRC day of work is 21
February. We are still determining the approach to Sarah’s
replacement.
This will be a great loss for us
but a wonderful opportunity for Mark and Sarah, and we hope you
both continue to remain in contact with us in the future.
More technology
transfer
Part of the research support of
Core Project 2:1: Bush Products is capacity building and
information facilitation. This has been undertaken with vigour of
late, our latest effort involving representatives of Iga Warta,
Flinders Ranges in South Australia; and from Koonibba, far west
coast of South Australia.
Three members of these
communities came to Alice Springs to learn about nurseries and
horticulture generally, under the auspices of the Alice Springs
Desert Park (ASDP).
Park representatives Dylan
Ferguson and Tim Collins showed them, visiting a range of nurseries
in the area, including the Desert Park itself and finishing the
trip with a look at the bush tomato trial plot in the Arid Zone
horticultural block. Jenny Cleary and Glen Oliver gave invaluable
insight into the trial, the crop, the yield and likely
developments.
The visitors found the
information worthwhile. Andrew Wilton from Iga Warta was especially
interested because of the interpretive bush tomato garden they are
developing at home.
Left to right: Tim Collins (ASDP
Nursery Manager), Dylan Ferguson (ASDP Nursery), Ashley Peel
(Koonibba SA), Andrew Wilton (Iga Warta), and Peter Grey from
Koonibba
New on the
web
This month we have seen the
publication of
Growing the Desert: Educational pathways for remote Indigenous
people
http://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/1911.html
NCVER Publication [pdf 645.7 kb]
DKCRC Report 26: Aboriginal Research Partnerships
Jocelyn
Davies, April 2007 [pdf 3.4 Mb]
Australian Rangelands Conference 2008 EOI Call for
Papers.pdf
[pdf 811.0 kb]
DKCRC Camel Project Newsletter 3 January 2008.pdf
Kind regards
Jan Ferguson
Managing Director
Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research
Centre
