News and events
January 2012
USQ professor reflects on time as President of the Islamic Countries Society of Statistical Sciences
University of Southern Queensland Professor of Statistics Shahjahan Khan has stepped down from his position as the President of the Islamic Countries Society of Statistical Sciences (ISOSS) after six years in the role.
Professor Khan said the ISOSS, a global body of professional statisticians, played a crucial role in shaping his professional position and global perspectives on statistics.
‘The responsibilities of the ISOSS President were to lead the international professional organisation at the global level, promote its activities, attract membership, oversee management, organise biennial international conferences, deal with other international organisations with similar objectives and activities, collect sponsorship and build and enhance reputation,’ Professor Khan said.
‘I took over the position in 2005 and replaced the Founding President Dr Munir Ahmed who held the position since 1988.’
The new President of the society will be Professor Ali Haidi of the American University of Cairo in Egypt and Stephen Weiss, Presidential Fellow and Professor Emeritus at Cornell University in America.
‘When I took over, ISOSS was a regional organisation and facing problems with attracting venues and sponsors to organise international conferences.
‘I took the role as a challenge and organised very successful conferences in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Cairo, Egypt and Lahore, Pakistan.
‘I enjoyed the interaction with leading scientists of the world and productive communication with so many professional colleagues in academia, industry, government offices and in the media.’
As President, Professor Khan oversaw the planning, design, construction and February 2001 opening of the ISOSS House in its headquarters in Lahore, Pakistan.
‘I am very pleased with to leave ISOSS leadership at a time when ISOSS is best placed as a highly regarded international body of statisticians of all backgrounds, regardless of nationality, gender, race or religion,’ Professor Khan said.
‘I have been able to create momentum among the membership and peers and I am confident this will help move the society further, as new leadership is likely to bring new ideas and initiatives.’
Professor Khan said he had numerous highlights from his time as President, including engaging with statisticians in South East Asia and in the Arab world as well as statisticians from outside Islamic countries and bringing ISOSS to the global stage alongside other international professional statistical organisations.
‘In addition to the promotion of the value of statistics, we built the ISOSS into an institute for excellence of statistical learning and teaching by producing high quality statisticians through undergraduate and postgraduate programs in statistics,’ he said.
December 2011
ACSC and ACSBD Researchers Organise Multi-stakeholder Forum Workshop in Nepal.
With the support of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan and Asia Network for Sustainable Agriculture and Bioresources (ANSAB) Dr Tek Maraseni and Dr Tim Cadman organised a two day Multi-stakeholder Forum Workshop on a voluntary national draft quality-of-governance standard for sustainable management and use of forest biomass in Nepal on 13 – 14 December 2011.
The workshop focussed on developing verifiers for the indicators developed by researchers through an online questionnaire survey and face-to-face interviews of key stakeholders.
The overarching goal of the workshop was to actively engage institutions and stakeholders in formulating voluntary governance standards, following international best practice and participatory decision-making by means of a pilot study in Nepal. A total of 43 participants representing government, civil society, women group, universities, I/NGOs, bilateral aid aencies, professionals, community forestry user groups and media were present at the workshop.
Dr. Tek Maraseni from ACSC facilitated the workshop. In the beginning, he briefed on the objectives of the workshop and its role for drafting the standards/verifiers of good governance for forest management in Nepal focusing on REDD+. He highlighted key issues of the global rate of deforestation and forest degradation and its contribution to the total GHG emission.
He further stressed that if the forestry sector is not given priority, the target of reducing the GHGs emissions will not be achieved. While describing the background of the research, he explained that the research was designed to develop principles, criteria, and indicators of governance. The community forestry of Nepal is an example in the world stage, the verifiers developed with the involvement of its stakeholders can also provide useful feedback to the UNFCCC system.
At the end of the workshop, after the development of verifiers for each indicator, a steering committee was formed for building institutional support and to oversee ongoing development of draft voluntary standard. This workshop heightened the name of USQ among the governmental, non-governmental and donor communities in Nepal and Japan.
ACSC PhD Student, Christa Pudmenzky, attended the AGU Fall Meeting 2011 in San Francisco, California, USA to present her current research poster. 
The AGU Fall Meeting is the world largest conference in the geophysical sciences, attracting over 20,000 Earth and space scientists, educators, students, and policy makers.
This meeting showcases current scientific theory focused on discoveries that will benefit humanity and ensure a sustainable future for our planet.
During the five day meeting the delegates have the opportunity to attend 6,000 oral presentations, view 12,000 posters from a broad range of disciplines, visit 250 exhibitions and participate in many workshops, Town Halls and social & networking events.
Christa Pudmenzky commented:
“One of the highlights of the conference was to meet some of the most passionate and energised people and to be surrounded by a constant buzz of activity.
I had the opportunity to listen to presentations by highly regarded scientists and to showcase and discuss my research with experts in my field.
Attending a conference of this calibre is an experience of a life time I will never forget.”
To find out more about the AGU conference: http://www.agu.org/meetings/
Dr Sarah Tessendorf, Project Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), kindly presented a short seminar at the ACSC research morning tea, about the world's largest international science education program, Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program.
Dr Tessendorf’s presentation title was "The GLOBE International Scientist Network: Connecting Scientists, Teachers, and Students from Around the World to Study Climate”.
The GLOBE Program 
The GLOBE International Scientist Network (GISN) is an international network of scientists that work with GLOBE students around the world conducting science. Scientists mentor students and teachers, present scientific ideas, and/or collaborate on scientific research. Each relationship between a scientist and a GLOBE school is different, and is determined by the scientist and the school.
Why scientists participate in GLOBE
1. GLOBE has a scientific database extending over 16 years with data in most earth system science research areas that can be used to supplement standard research data.
2. GLOBE students can collect additional data related to your research expanding your observation network.
3. The international nature of GLOBE provides a unique opportunity to add or establish an
international component to your research.
4. Scientists working with GLOBE have a strong desire to mentor and inspire young minds, interacting with the next generation.
5. GLOBE students want to be a part of real-world, cutting edge science that matters to them, their
community and scientists. GLOBE scientists contribute to science education in a unique way that can have a lasting impression on student interest in science, as well as scientific literacy.
Ways scientists participate in GLOBE
1. Work with an existing partner. There are GLOBE partners in 110 countries and nearly all 50 U.S. states. Partners are associated with universities, non-profits,museums, and other
environmental organizations. With this diversity, it is possible to develop partnerships that are appropriate for an array of projects.
2. Include GLOBE in the outreach portion of scientific projects. GLOBE can suggest ways to integrate GLOBE data and students into your research.
3. Use GLOBE data in your research. All GLOBE data are publically available. With data ranging from land cover classifications in Bahrain to cloud observations in the Marshall Islands, you may be able to find just what you're looking for. This data can be searched using powerful, web based search tools and downloaded in a variety of formats (web-based, delineated text,or shape files).
4. Develop a working relationship with a local GLOBE school. Scientists often connect with a local primary or secondary GLOBE school in their area to assist the teacher and inspire students.
If you're interested in joining or learning more, email science@globe.gov.
November 2011
Marina Costa Barbosa, PhD student at the Australian Centre for Sustainable Catchment (ACSC), received a ‘Travel Grant for Early Career Researchers’ to participate in the Water Governance Research Initiative: National Workshop 2011.
The Water Governance Research Initiative is a theme of the National Climate Change Research Facility (NCCARF) Water Resources and Freshwater Biodiversity Adaptation Research Network.
The workshop was held at the ANU Crawford School in Canberra, 21 - 22 November. The workshop objectives provided reflections on Australian water reform and discussed the water reforms from a number of thematic perspectives; and also reframing water governance and developing a policy brief based on recommendations into the National Water Commission report.
Marina is developing her research exploring stakeholders’ engagement in the Murray-Darling Basin planning and management under the supervision of Dr. Shahbaz Mushtaq. Particularly, the research involves a mix of quantitative and qualitative approach to explore the collaboration and interaction among governance structures in the Murray-Darling Basin, aiming to contribute for better outcomes of water planning and management in Australia and worldwide.
Professor Roger Stone (Director, Australian Centre for Sustainable Catchments), recently chaired an important meeting of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome on aspects related to the needs for climate services in the agriculture, food security and water user sectors at global and regional levels.
The aim of the meeting was to enhance the application of climate information in the global agriculture, food security and water sectors to improve the capability of world agencies to cope with famine, drought and extreme climate.
Representatives at this meeting included those from the FAO, (Agriculture and Food Security); UNESCO; The World Food Programme; The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); The International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage; The Global Water Partnership; The International Water Management Institute; and The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation.
This special meeting was co-organised by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and FAO. Professor Stone was funded by the UN WMO to participate in this meeting.
As a result of this work with the UN, USQ is regarded highly in its capabilities and capacity in key areas of this work, especially climate modelling. Integrating climate and agricultural models, water resource modelling, drought management issues and distance education aspects.
- In the seminar, there were four groups and each group was chaired by a postgraduate student;
- As it was truly a multidisciplinary seminar, evaluation criteria was based on presentation skills and answering skills not on the basis of contents and subject matter;
- All presentations were assessed by academic panels; and
- The best three presenters received a cash prize.
Group 1 (Climate change: Chairperson; Dev Raj Paudyal)
Group 2 (Climate change, UV dosimeter and UV Aerosol depth: Chairperson; Bernie Stilgoe)
Group 3 (Sustainable landscapes and Environment: Chairperson; Maureen Ewai)
Group 4 (Catchment, Water and Statistics: Chairperson; Adewuyi Ayodele Adeyinka)
ACSC advises the following post-graduate students have been awarded places and prizes for their seminar efforts as follows:
(1) First: Jenny Spence; award: $500.00;
(2) Second: Damien Igoe; award: $300.00;
(3) Bruce Harris; award: $200.00;
Special congratulations to Jenny, Damien and Bruce and ACSC Deputy Director (Operations) Dr Tek Maraseni and all the panel members for their devotion to this special task.
Conferences:
WCRP Open Science Conference – ‘Climate Research in Service to Society’
24-28 October 2011
Denver CO, USA
http://conference2011.wcrp-climate.org/
ACSC PhD Student, Christa Pudmenzky, attended the WCRP Conference to present her current research posters.
Christa talks about her unique opportunity and some highlights from the conference:
"During the time we were confronted with 2 weather extremes. On Monday we had the hottest day on record for this time of year and the following day we had 30 cm of snow.
More the 1900 participants from 86 countries attended the conference including 523 students plus early career scientists and 332 scientists from developing countries. More than 500 posters were displayed.
The World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) , Open Science Conference represented a unique opportunity to assemble the large international scientific community to focus on key challenges and opportunities in advance understanding and prediction of variability and change of Earth’s climate system on all space and time scales.
The WCRP OSC was organized around daily themes that reflect integrative aspects of the WCRP programme, as well as connections to other international research programmes. Each day consisted of plenary presentations and discussions by leading scientists and conference participants who are informed by community-based position papers. The plenary sessions were followed by parallel and poster sessions, which were the primary means for conference participants to present their research findings.
An emerging theme from the WCRP Conference was the need for actionable science. Decision-makers need climate and other scientific information to guide decisions. But there is often a mismatch between the scientific data available and the information these companies need. Future climate projections may be too uncertain regarding precipitation in a small region, or relevant data may be sitting unused on a laptop in an academic’s office.
During a panel discussion, representatives from several major companies discussed how scientists and private enterprise can work together toward actionable information. Conversations during conferences are a start for data users to better understand the richness of the data available, and for scientists to begin to understand what kind of data users need to guide decisions".
Further reading: Factors affecting the nature and rate of dust production from natural dune sands (2007)
ACSC congratulates Adewuyi Ayodele Adeyinka for being granted the scholarship for Summer Research at Australian National University (ANU).
The scholarship is a product of an alliance between USQ and ANU which will formally commence on 28 November 2011 and continues to 25 January 2012.
Research objectives are as follows:
The overarching goal of this study is to determine the viability of weather index–based insurance mechanism as an adaptation alternative to managing revenue shortfalls among Australian farmers and to promote the market through institutional investment diversification.
Specifically the study will determine:
• The extent to which price hedging in the wheat price options’ market is efficient.
• The relationship between wheat weather-index options payoff and yield.
• The investment diversification prospects of wheat weather-index options.
The USQ Surveying and Spatial Science Department in association with other discipline staff across the faculty and centres (USQ) are in the process of purchasing an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) for small area sensing at low altitudes.
The system will consist of:
Single rotor electric mini-copter for training, including use of radio controlled flight simulator;
Hexacopter with open-source software and firmware for platform research and development;
OktoKopter with proprietary software for high resolution photogrammetry and remote sensing.
It will include a number of sensors including a Single lens HD camera; a Video downlink; a Multispectral sensor Multispectral sensor including NIR; a Thermal sensor; and a LiDAR system, including laser, GPS and inertial measuring unit. It is anticipated the system could be used for a variety of research including:
• Precision agriculture;
• Disaster management, including research into land mine detection;
• Change detection research, e.g. Forestry, Land Use;
• Mapping and research for Urban Design;
• Water resource management, and
• Demonstration of aerial photogrammetry for undergraduate courses and to the public.
October 2011
Dr. Shahbaz Mushtaq, Task Team member for Climate Risk Management (TT-CRM) in Meteorological Organisation (WMO), attended WMO Symposium on Climate Change Management and scientific meeting of TT-CRM in Guayaquil, Ecuador (funded by the UN). 
The aim of this Symposium was to help both providers and users of climate information in the development and effective use of information on climate variability and change, in an operational ‘no regrets’ sense, in minimizing climate related risks and maximizing any opportunity that may arise, the essential principle of CRM. During the Symposium, Dr. Mushtaq presented on 'Climate Risk Management through Structural Adjustment and Regional Relocation: A Case of Rice Industry in Australia’.
It is expected that TT-CRM team will develop a concept paper on CRM that would be extended to
WMO Members through training workshop (s); educational materials (preferably for e-learning); practical tools to apply CRM principles.
September 2011
USQ academic awarded world-class climate change fellowship
Over the last six years Dr Maraseni has produced more than 65 publications, including two books.
USQ academic and former student, Dr Tek Maraseni, has been selected to take part in the prestigious US Climate Change Professional Fellows Program.
The international program is funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and brings together professionals from Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States to explore the issues and actions surrounding climate change.
Dr Maraseni said he was honoured to receive an award of such high calibre.
'I am extremely happy with my achievement. At the time of application, I was not expecting this award, as previous awardees were reputed Senior Advisor to the Queensland Premier and a United Nations Ambassador for the Global Atlas of Human Rights,' he said.
Dr Maraseni said fellows were selected based on outstanding performance and their ability to play leadership roles in the science, impact, adaptation, mitigation and actions related to climate change.
'A fellow should meet a number of criteria, including a demonstrated commitment to community service and strong interest in climate change issues.
'This award helps me to enhance my profile domestically and internationally. I am not only a USQ staff member but also a PhD graduate of USQ. Therefore, I always feel a huge responsibility to promote USQ, from where I achieved enormous value and progress. Now I feel that I am one step closer to fulfil my responsibility.
'This is not only my success, this is the success of my Centre, Faculty of Business and Law, and USQ as a whole.'
Deputy Director of the Australian Centre for Sustainable Catchment, Dr Shahbaz Mushtaq, said this is not the first success story for Dr Maraseni.
'He has also received many national and international awards, grants and fellowships including a prestigious Queensland-China Climate Change Fellowship 2008 award from Queensland Premier, Ms Anna Bligh MP,' Dr Mushtaq said.
'Dr Maraseni also received a globally competitive and highly prestigious award from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and financial support from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to attend and present papers at a meeting during 2009.
'In 2009 he received the Faculty of Business Researcher of the Year Award and 2010 Research Excellence Award (which includes a medallion, a certificate and cash prize of $5000) from USQ.'
The fellowship will take place throughout several major US cities this month and next
August 2011
Technological change in the Australian irrigation industry: implications for future resource management and policy development
This report explores the trade-offs between water savings, energy use (and greenhouse gas emissions) and economic gain through the implementation of more water-efficient, but more energy intensive forms of irrigation technologies on-farm.
Through a series of case studies and scenarios, the report demonstrates that converting to more water-efficient pressurised irrigation systems can result in significant water savings and economic returns.
Using a range of assumed carbon prices, the costs associated with increases in greenhouse gas emissions for most of the case studies did partly offset the economic gain. However, this was not as influential as water savings, productivity gains and labour savings.
The report suggests that priority should be given to replacing older, inefficient and energy-intensive sprinkler irrigation systems such as hand shift and roll-line. Such technological upgrades will save both water and considerable energy, as well as leading to greenhouse gas emission reductions through improved farming operations.
This report has been prepared for the National Water Commission by Dr Shahbaz Mushtaq and Dr Tek N. Maraseni, as part of the Commission's Fellowship program. The Fellowship Program was established to support implementation of the National Water Initiative by developing future leaders for Australia's water sector who can advance water-related knowledge and build industry capacity.
July 2011
Managing climate variability in irrigation systems: Application of Artificial Intelligence, Numerical and Computational Analysis
Monday 11 July 2011 12:00PM-1:00 PM
USQ Toowoomba Lecture Theatre Q501
Presented by Dharma Dassanayake
International Centre of WATER for Food Security (IC Water)
Locked bag 588, Building 24 Charles Sturt University
Abstract provided
June 2011
USQ warmly welcomed the Secretary, of the Ministry of Forests and Soil
Conservation, Government of Nepal
At the invitation of University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Mr Chhabi Raj Pant, Secretary of the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation (MFSC) in Nepal, visited USQ 23-24 June, 2011. On behalf of USQ, the Australian Centre for Sustainable Catchments (ACSC) organised meetings and day-to-day activities. ACSC researchers are leading science and policy developments in managing the impacts and causes of climate change through programs such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
During the Secretary’s visit, in addition to some informal meetings, three formal meetings were organized with: (1) Nepalese research and higher degrees (RHD) students; (2) the Director, Deputy Directors and Theme Leaders of the Australian Centre for Sustainable Catchments; and (3) the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Scholarship).
The MFSC and USQ will collaborate on knowledge sharing, professional development and various projects. To begin collaboration, they have agreed to develop a formal Memorandum of Understanding.
Installation of Primacs SNC Analyser: An enormous opportunity for USQ researchers
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Installed Primacs SNC Analyser at USQ
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With the technical support of Netherland Engineers, Mr. Gijs Damen and Mr Justin Zeger, Australian Centre for Sustainable Catchments (ACSC) has installed PrimacsSNC analyser at University of Southern Queensland on 6 June, 2011. They also provided training to University Staff and PhD Students.
This equipment has been designed for the determination of total nitrogen (TN) and total carbon (TC) in soils, sediments, plant tissues, sludges, rocks, red mud (bauxite residues), and fertilizers that are frequently required for completing the research and consulting projects being carried out by the members and postgraduate students at the Centre. An auto-sampler is integrated in this equipment, which enables the automatic analysis of 20 samples in one batch, weighed in advance, or more if samples are added during analysis. In the past, the samples were sent to commercial laboratories for analysis, which incurred very high costs and substantial delay.
The purchase of this equipment will significantly enhance the analytical capability for USQ’s core research areas. This will result in increased high quality publications and attract successful national and international competitive grant applications. ACSC has already submitted three ARC projects with the intension of using this cutting-edge equipment.