University of Tasmania Alumni: Issue 53, 2022

Sustainability success stories

Medicine alumnus Dr Thomas Edwards on combatting blindness Naarah Barnes on her stellar career in the performing arts

Acknowledgement of Country

Mina tunapri milaythina nara ningina waranta mapali mapali. Mina tunapri rruni lutruwita milaythina Pakana taymi ningina raytji. Mina tunapri Pakana Ngini; nara pumili makuminya waranta-mapali taypani lunta; Pakana-mana-mapali wanapakalali tunapri ngini Pakana Ngini. Waranta putiya makara muylatina takila-ti paywuta manta

This is a statement acknowledging Country for all she provides, and reminding people that the island of lutruwita (Tasmania) is unceded Aboriginal land. I also remember the Ancestors, Pakana Ngini, who paved the way for us, and for the future generations; and pledge that we will never stop caring for and protecting our cultural heritage.

– Zoe Rimmer

Engaging, Connecting, Revitalising

We are fortunate to have Aboriginal leaders at the University of Tasmania, providing insights, guidance and connection with Aboriginal culture in lutruwita (Tasmania).

Words by Katherine Johnson Interview with Zoe Rimmer

▼ Zoe Rimmer in museum archives Photo: Joe Chelkowski, Tasmanian Tuxedo

Alumna Zoe Rimmer is one such leader, a Pakana (Tasmanian Aboriginal) community member and Indigenous Fellow at the University. Zoe’s work in cultural heritage illustrates the benefits that can come from connecting with this island’s past and revitalising and reconnecting with cultural items for the future.

Most recently, Zoe was Senior Curator of First Peoples Art and Culture at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG). She was a Churchill Fellow in 2013, which saw her travel to the United States, Canada, the UK and France. Her research, including her current PhD, has a focus on repatriating objects from cultural collections overseas and acknowledges the large impact the Tasmanian Aboriginal community has had in this space.

“The Tasmanian Aboriginal community has spearheaded this on a world-scale,” Zoe said. The recent rediscovery of a kelp basket in a French museum, the type of object Zoe and her colleague Dr Gaye Sculthorpe have been searching for for many years, epitomises the value of this research.

True origins

Despite numerous attempts to locate cultural material taken by crew from the d’Entrecasteaux expedition to Tasmania in 1792-93, no items were forthcoming –until it was realised that an object catalogued as an ‘African bark basket’ was in fact a rikawa kelp basket from lutruwita (Tasmania).

Zoe explains that when the French expedition was on the return to France, d’Entrecasteaux died and his ship was handed to the Dutch. It was then intercepted by the British who confiscated all materials and sent them to England; France and England were at war at the time. The materials were eventually sent back to France. The kelp basket was one of these items, and was variously mislabelled as being from New Zealand and Africa before its true origins were rediscovered.

“It has been missing for 120 years and now is the oldest Tasmanian Aboriginal basket surviving,” Zoe said. ‘We’re very excited that the museum in Paris is open to the rikawa being returned on a two-year loan.”

It is hoped the basket will feature in TMAG’s taypani milaythina-tu : Return to Country exhibition, which Zoe is assisting with. The exhibition features contemporary cultural and artistic responses to ancestral material objects held in museums and collections around the world.

Also being returned are two items from the United Kingdom. Zoe describes opening an email from the Derbyshire Council Archives and seeing the images of a small doll and a pincushion labelled as belonging to ‘Mathinna’ (Mithina). The pincushion was thought to have been made by Mithina, the Aboriginal child who had been taken by Lady Jane and Sir John Franklin, then Lieutenant Governor of Tasmania, to live with them at Government House. Mithina was abandoned

to the Queen’s Orphanage in New Town when the Franklins returned to England in 1843 taking her doll and pincushion with them.

“It was a bit overwhelming,” Zoe said. “They are such sweet and innocent objects, but so tragic… given what that little doll and pincushion represents.”

Zoe studied Fine Arts at the University of Tasmania before starting a traineeship at TMAG with then curator Tony Brown, returning to the University with the museum’s support to complete her studies, by then a combined degree, including Aboriginal Studies and History. Together with Tony, and considerable Aboriginal community input, Zoe helped develop the first Aboriginal curated permanent exhibition at the museum.

One of Zoe’s first tasks as a trainee was cataloguing and photographing Aboriginal shell necklaces, items she had a strong connection with. Zoe describes collecting shells on Tasmania’s north-west coast as a child, although her family’s ancestral connection is to the Bass Strait islands.

“Even though I’d grown up as part of the Pakana community and shell collecting was part of what we did, I hadn’t actually learned the full process of making shell necklaces,” Zoe said.

“And so, having access to that collection of historic necklaces, and more contemporary ones, I was just absolutely fascinated by the variety of shells and the patterns and the stories that went along with them.”

The necklaces featured in TMAG’s luna tunapri : Women’s Knowledge project, which Zoe coordinated from 2010.

▲ Shell necklace | Photo: Joe Chelcowski

“The shell necklaces inspired a lot of that work, around using the collection, engaging with Elders and bringing community together to learn and revitalise that practice, and then developing it into what became a national touring exhibition (kanalaritja : An Unbroken String), a book and a documentary film.”

Reviving cultural practice

Zoe describes the joy of learning shell necklace making as a cultural practice with her daughter and mother alongside her.

“I feel incredibly lucky and proud to have worked with my community and to be able to share our stories across the country,” she said.

“The ultimate goal is for the Pakana community to have our own space to care for, re-contextualise and share these objects.”

Zoe says she has noticed a shift in recent years towards understanding the importance of respecting First Nations’ culture. She recognises the work of former Pro Vice-Chancellor, Aboriginal Research and Leadership, Professor Maggie Walter (BSW Hons 1998, PhD 2003) and Professor Greg Lehman (BSc 1984, GradDipEnvSt Hons 1998, PhD 2017) in promoting First Nation perspectives and content across the University.

“We have the opportunity to engage every single student that comes through this institution,” she said.

“I think that’s really important both in terms of understanding the Tasmanian Aboriginal community and our deep history and our culture, but also valuing it.

“When the broader community are interested in, and value Aboriginal perspectives and connect in some way with the deep history of lutruwita (Tasmania) that’s when we see some really amazing things happen; significantly, this includes understanding and promoting the importance of the protection of our cultural heritage.” ■

She says such objects provide opportunities for discussion as well as “oral histories that can help our community to revive cultural practice, or just be able to tell our own stories”. ◀ Zoe and daughter, Eve

“We have the opportunity to engage every single student that comes through this institution.”

Zoe Rimmer (BA-BFA 2006)

Welcome

Avery warm welcome to our Alumni magazine for 2022. As a University community we have been navigating complex challenges these past few years. Of course we are not alone in that, with much of the world facing serious, pressing and complex issues. In the face of all this, it really matters to remind ourselves that there is cause for hope and optimism. In many ways this magazine does exactly this, by sharing stories that celebrate the achievements of our inspiring and talented alumni community.

It is not just the stories themselves which I find hope in, it is seeing what we can achieve together and the kind of positive change we can collectively create. Our mission here at the University of Tasmania is centred on us delivering education and expertise for Tasmania and from Tasmania. We know that to achieve our mission, we have to increase access to education. We must provide the knowledge and skills to future generations to enable them to tackle the ‘wicked’ challenges we face, both here on the island and across the world. We also know that you, our alumni community, are central to our mission through the contributions you make.

In focusing on hope and optimism, it is worth remembering that Tasmania is one of the best places in the world to lead positive change. We see this in action when addressing issues such as climate change. The targets and projections we often hear about are for 2050. Here in Tasmania, we effectively already have a zero-carbon renewable energy system. We were very proud to be recognised this year as the top-ranked university in the world for climate action (Times Higher Education Impact Rankings). This is a tribute to the collective efforts of students, staff and wider University community.

Since 2016, the University has been certified carbon neutral, one of only two Australian universities to achieve this. We have attained this through initiatives such as fully divesting from fossil fuels, sustainable transport initiatives and our Re-use Program.

Fuel source replacement and improved building management alone have reduced carbon emissions by 2,540 tonnes over ten years.

Our new purpose-built buildings in Burnie and Launceston further speak to our sustainability values. Ambitious carbon reduction targets have been met in our new Launceston buildings, with 33 per cent less carbon used in their construction than in comparable buildings. This was achieved through working closely with architects and the Tasmanian building industry. At our community library at Inveresk, which I very much encourage you to visit, we used recycled gas pipelines in the building’s foundations, as well as timber and low-carbon concrete. Importantly, these collaborations have provided the industry with an at-scale model for how to build more sustainably into the future.

The alumni community are also doing hugely important work in the sustainability space, which you will see through the stories in this magazine. Our alumni are at the heart of initiatives such as the cooperative research to reduce carbon emissions through farming seaweed for use in animal feed. There is also the exciting research into Green Hydrogen which is leading to new and innovative enterprises.

In the following pages, you will read about efforts to adapt to a changing climate with innovations in plant science – the carbon-proofing of trees by alumnus and 2022 Fulbright Scholarship recipient Professor Tim Brodribb.

These stories, and there are many others, give a sense of some of the ways the University is positioning Tasmania to be a lighthouse for the rest of the world. A place that people look to for inspiration in innovation and excellence.

Beyond sustainability, our alumni are excelling across many endeavours, and we are delighted to also share with you some of these stories. There is much to be celebrated in the music, theatre and other projects underway in our cultural hub in Hobart, The Hedberg.

From the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Rufus Black

▲ Vice-Chancellor Professor Rufus Black and students at Maria Island

Alumna Naarah Barnes (BMus 2019), a talented singer and Gija woman, is a shining example of where passion and energy in the performing arts can take you.

We hope you are inspired, too, by the research of Medicine alumnus Dr Thomas Edwards, revolutionising eye surgery to combat blindness. This is yet another exciting example of what our alumni are achieving for and from Tasmania with far-reaching positive impact. There are achievements too in Surveying and Spatial Sciences, a discipline celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, as well as stories about alumni creating businesses and driving change in inclusive and innovative ways.

Looking to the students in our University community, we continue our focus on improving access to tertiary education. Examples include our Schools Recommendation Program, whereby year 12 students applied for courses based on schools’ recommendations rather than an ATAR. We are also overhauling our scholarship program, with an aim of removing financial barriers to university entrance, which we know are holding back too many people.

All of this work is predicated on excellence and access going hand-in-hand. On talent being evenly distributed but opportunity not. We are focused on tackling this at this University and addressing the inherent challenges it brings.

Connecting our alumni

Celebrating the power of community

Words by Rebecca Cuthill, Director, Advancement & Rob Blandford, Associate Director, Alumni Relations

We are delighted to share our 2022 Alumni magazine with you. As we emerge from the pandemic, it has been exciting to recommence our face-to-face engagement and be reminded of how truly exceptional our alumni community is. Across our island State, and in Singapore, Sydney and Melbourne, we have seen the intense interest in your alma mater from everyone we have met.

As always, this magazine is an invitation to continue to engage, be inspired, and make your contribution. This year we have created more opportunities to enable alumni to share knowledge, skills and career stories to benefit others. Whether at webinars, career events or mentoring programs, we’ve seen alumni share wonderful words of wisdom to help others build their lives or careers.

Helping students achieve their dreams underpins the distinctive way we deliver learning, teaching and research on this island. Our State’s natural environments also provide unique advantages for study, which brings a quality that cannot be replicated in other places.

Returning to you, our alumni, for those of you who studied with us on the island, whether you remain here or not, you may relate to these distinctive island qualities and what they mean for you. As alumni of this University, in different ways you share our island values and this shapes the kinds of contributions you make. We know that our graduates, the newest members of the alumni community, are in demand, with over 86 per cent gaining employment within four months of completing their studies. The ripple effects of this success deliver many benefits to our State and places far beyond our shores.

We have a passionate and growing alumni community who have made, and are contributing to, much positive change, both here on the island and beyond these shores. As alumni of the University of Tasmania, you do this in a way that is uniquely yours.

My final word then sees me return to where I started, with a strong sense of optimism. As you read the stories that follow, I hope that in them you share not only this optimism about what is possible but also a sense of pride in what we are achieving together as a University community. ■

The Committee’s future remit will also be to strengthen connections between alumni as professionals and their academic disciplines here at the University. More details will be announced in future issues of our Alumni and Friends monthly e-news publication.

We remain humbled by the talent of our alumni community and commit to continuing to help you tell your story – your amazing and diverse talents help inspire others. That is the power of our community. ■

In 2023, we will be re-launching a refreshed Alumni Advisory Committee, a forum for alumni to guide us in our work as we engage the alumni community both on and off-island. ▲ Rebecca Cuthill and Rob Blandford at the Sydney Alumni Reception

Taking on sustainability – boldly

Being a lighthouse for the rest of the world in terms of sustainability is a goal of the University. So how are we travelling?

Words by Katherine Johnson

The University of Tasmania has been certified carbon neutral since 2016, one of only two universities in Australasia to reach this milestone. Our strong commitment to sustainability has also been recognised through various international awards, a tribute to the work of students, staff, alumni and the wider community.

This year we are the top-ranked university in the world for climate action, according to the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, a global performance assessment of universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. In 2021 we were awarded the Sustainability Institution of the Year in the Australasian Green Gown Awards. And in 2022, we achieved a Gold rating in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) used by over 1,000 universities globally. We were also awarded an International Green Gown Award for Student Engagement for our inspiring Sustainability Integration Program for Students (SIPS).

So what does all this mean?

Our Strategic Framework for Sustainability encapsulates our commitment across four areas: sustainability governance and implementation, sustainability education and research, partnerships and engagement, and facilities and operations management.

In terms of investment, the University leads the sector by applying both a negative screen to fossil fuels and a positive screen for investments contributing to sustainable development goals. We achieved full divestment from fossil-fuel-related industries in 2021.

The University has committed to further significant and bold action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including a minimum 50 per cent reduction in our gross emissions by 2030.

Corey Peterson, Chief Sustainability Officer at the University, says reductions will focus on more efficient energy use and more renewable energy on campus, a circular economy approach in procurement and waste management, as well as smarter travel.

“Part of this effort will involve ensuring we minimise carbon emissions from our new campuses and buildings using cutting-edge green technology and efficient designs,” Corey said.

An example of a tangible, quantifiable action taken is the 6.5 km of decommissioned steel gas pipelines re-used as pilings in our new Inveresk buildings.

Through engagement with architects and the building industry, the University is fostering a sustainable building approach that can inform others into the future.

The University’s SIPS program is providing students with the opportunity to engage in real-world sustainability challenges across all study areas.

Our curriculum is also increasingly focused on sustainability across a wide range of disciplines as well as through specific course offerings such as our Certificate and Diploma in Sustainable Living as well as the new Major in Sustainability.

Research is another important focus, involving all Colleges and Divisions, whether it’s assisting in the creation of sustainable businesses, responding to climate change or other environmental challenges, or addressing the State’s educational and social needs.

Alumnus Dr Tomas Remenyi (BAntStud Hons 2004, GradCertMarSc 2010, PhD 2013) from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) says one aspect of sustainability involves finding answers to the right questions.

“We bring together the right experts to solve the right problems and figure out how we can best work with them to co-design the research programs for the benefit of Tasmania,” he said

For more on the University’s sustainability achievements, watch our video showcaseSustainability Institute of the Year 2021. ■ bit.ly/UTAS-Sustainability

Alumni in action – Green Hydrogen

Words by Katherine Johnson

One example of alumni paving the way to a greener future is Green Hydrogen. Green Hydrogen is produced by splitting water with electricity, via electrolysis, using power from renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectricity, wind and solar. Significantly, it produces no greenhouse emissions. Our Engineering and Mathematics alumni are working hard on making the switch, with Dr Jeremy Harris (GradDipASOS Hons 1991, PhD 1997) and Engineering alumnus Cranston Polson (BE2000, MEngSc 2003) already directing companies in this space.

“Harking back to my climate modelling (during my PhD), the writing was on the wall for moving to a netzero carbon world. I started to think about what the transition was going to require, and what the future would look like,” Jeremy said.

123V, the company Jeremy directs and founded along with a team that includes Cranston, is involved in the Australian Research Council (ARC) Training Centre in Energy Technologies for Future Grids. One of the important projects in this Centre is investigating integrating electrolysers, which drive the process of splitting water to create hydrogen, into electricity grids.

Jeremy and Cranston are also using hydrogen as a replacement to diesel for heavy transport vehicles, such as the Hydrogen Metro bus planned for use in Tasmania.

Ultimately the projects Jeremy is keen to develop will include not just the manufacture of hydrogen, but its storage (hydrogen can be used as a replacement to batteries, storing the excess renewable energy

produced at times of high supply), as well as delivery and end use.

Raised on Tasmania’s west coast, Cranston says his Engineering degree was extremely hands on and set him up well for putting into practice tangible solutions for clean energy.

“It was old-school stuff, the nitty-gritty that helps you understand what is behind how something works.

One of our professors made us design an aeroplane wing in an exam,” Cranston said.

“I grew up fixing things, so I was always going to be someone who worked with their hands.”

In 2009, Cranston founded H2H Energy, an energy company focused on engineering design and hydrogen refuelling station manufacture, along with day-to-day operations and maintenance of hydrogenrelated equipment. He has also set up a company, H2H Advantage, training people for the new industry.

“I believe hydrogen facilitates an extremely broad array of solutions for decarbonising energy, from micro- to multi-megawatt fuel cells, heating, cooking and transport, hydrogen can cover the full gamut –and do it sustainably!” Cranston said.

“Not many places have the combination of Hydro and wind resources that Tasmania has,” he said.

“The renewable infrastructure is in place and the industry is set to expand – it’s a huge opportunity for Tasmania.” ■

▲ Engineering alumnus Cranston Polson with a Green Hydrogen bus | Photo: Patrick Hamilton

A love of Tasmania leads to cultivating solutions to climate change

Two decades ago, Dr Masayuki Tatsumi (BAppSc (ME) Hons 2012, PhD 2019) left Osaka, Japan, during his school summer break to visit his uncle in Launceston. Masayuki’s uncle was working on exchange as a researcher at the Australian Maritime College (AMC). Then just fourteen years old, Masayuki, known as Masa, fell in love with Tasmania.

Words by Katherine Johnson

“ It was a huge adventure for me,” Masa said.

“That’s why I decided to come back after college.”

He has since completed all his tertiary education, including several AMC courses, at the University of Tasmania. During his studies, he did a scuba diving course, and that decided his future direction – marine science.

Masa studied the ecological impacts of climate change as well as the rehabilitation and conservation of marine environments at the University’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), before working at IMAS on cultivating giant kelp (Macrocystis) to restore Tasmania’s kelp forests.

Now, Masa is the Head of Research and Development at Sea Forest, a Tasmanian environmental biotechnology start-up with big ambitions. Headed by ex-clothing designer and passionate environmentalist Sam Elsom, Sea Forest, based at Triabunna on the State’s east coast, is making waves in reducing greenhouse emissions to combat climate change.

Masa explains that the seaweed being researched and cultivated at Sea Forest, Asparagopsis, shows enormous promise as a supplement to be added to livestock feeds, reducing methane emissions by up to a staggering 98 per cent. It’s the sort of figure that makes people all around the world sit up and pay attention.

“It’s a huge impact,” Masa said. “Even people who are not interested in science think – wow.”

And only a miniscule amount, as low as 0.2 per cent, of animal feed needs to contain the seaweed supplement to reap the benefits. With agriculture Australia’s third biggest contributor to greenhouse emissions after energy and transport, it’s big news. This is particularly the case for methane, which is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

“My main work at Sea Forest is determining how we can optimise the cultivation of Asparagopsis,” Masa said.

Indeed, Sea Forest aims to fight climate change by being the first in the world to cultivate Asparagopsis at a commercial scale.

Results so far are positive.

“It’s looking so good; they are growing so fast we are running out of space quickly,” Masa said.

Sea Forest has a marine lease off Triabunna, once used for growing mussels, plus land-based facilities, which have recently expanded to Swansea, fortyminutes’ drive north.

As well as cultivation, Sea Forest processes the seaweed into the product that can be incorporated into livestock feed.

Masa says it is rewarding to be working in an applied research field that will have such a positive impact on the environment.

“For Australia to meet its 2030 goals, we need to reduce emissions from the agriculture sector,” he said.

As Head of R&D at Sea Forest, Masa is also involved in a second stream of research, the focus of the Sea Forest Foundation: restoring giant kelp forests, which have reduced by 95 per cent along Tasmania’s east coast as a result of climate change.

And he still supervises students at the University.

“When I give advice to students, I say that it’s not just about research, you have to look to the applications,” he said.

Masa’s role at Sea Forest also sees him in discussion with business people and investors, explaining his research to them in the language they speak, and needing to develop an understanding of how they think. It’s a part of the job he calls “translational science”.

“At the end of the day, it comes down to inspiring others about what each individual can do to reduce our impacts, and how we are part of the environment,” he said.

“It’s about increasing awareness, while we make change.”

A day in the life of Masa may see him out on the ocean or in the laboratory on site, where he is the first to arrive, checking on the facilities and operations. The same day will see him managing research staff and talking to people outside science about the benefits of Sea Forest’s research.

“It’s a good balance, and no single day is the same,” he said.

So how does he feel about making the move from Osaka, Japan’s second largest city? He hasn’t looked back.

“In Osaka, and other big cities, we don’t get this experience, to be close to nature. In Tasmania, we can go from snowboarding in the morning to scuba diving in the afternoon. There are not many places in the world where you can do that,” he said. ■

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Dr Masayuki Tatsumi in the Sea Forest Laboratory Photo: Adam Gibson

“Our product, Asparagopsis, has the potential to decrease methane from livestock by up to 98 per cent – this is a huge impact.”

Dr Masayuki Tatsumi, Head of Research and Development at Sea Forest

There is something special about Tasmania’s forests, and Tassie wood

Words by Katherine Johnson

Rescuing climate-stressed trees

Tasmania’s forests are renowned worldwide, celebrated for their unique beauty, biodiversity and, more recently, for their role as a sink for carbon dioxide. In a recent report, UNESCO noted our World Heritage forests remove more carbon from the atmosphere than any other of their wilderness sites.

In short, our forests are critical to solving climate change.

But with increasing pressure on trees from extreme events like drought and heat stress resulting from climate change, there is urgency around understanding how to make sure our forests remain resilient.

University of Tasmania plant scientist Professor Tim Brodribb (BSc Hons 1992, PhD 1997) and his team are playing a crucial role in these investigations.

Tim has shown that when a plant dies, a startling phenomenon occurs. There is a lightning-like bolt that zaps along the veins of the leaves – death is instantaneous. Tim and his team caught the moment on camera, the first scientists in the world to show this.

“At a critical threshold, the tree dies – no one has understood that before,” he said.

“Predicting that threshold for different species will be critical to saving Tasmania’s trees in a warming climate.”

Having researched Tasmania’s unique and ancient forests for three decades, Tim is concerned by the speed of change and wants to avoid a situation where mass plant deaths occur, releasing carbon to the atmosphere rather than storing it.

The tiny cameras he has fitted to leaves also measure leaf thickness, which shrinks and swells each day as plants transport water through their cells.

He said the footage provides information on how dry the plant is, how the roots are functioning, and the opening and closing of the ‘valves’ that regulate how plants lose water.

Tim is one of three University of Tasmania researchers to be awarded a Fulbright scholarship in 2022. The Fulbright will allow him to travel to northern California to use the world-first technology developed by his group to monitor the impact of a warming climate on sensitive ferns and Redwoods.

“It is clear that the sustainable health and prosperity of both Australia and the US is fundamentally linked to the health of the agricultural and natural plant systems that sustain us,” Professor Brodribb said.

“We need to understand when plants are becoming stressed so we can intervene.”

Such research could potentially help us better understand what is required for plants to survive stressful, climate-change induced events and keep carbon locked up in our forests.

Capturing carbon by design

And what about trees that are already dead? Could clever furniture design be a way of capturing the carbon they contain and transforming it into new objects of beauty.

Tasmanian-born, London-based designer Brodie Neill (BFA Hons 2001) believes so.

“I hate waste,” Brodie said during our Alumni magazine interview. He was speaking from his London studio, about to get to work turning reclaimed timbers, ocean plastics and repurposed metals into prized furniture.

‘optical dendrometer’

that he

▼ Professor Tim Brodribb with the

sensor

will be using on Californian Redwoods during his time at the University of Santa Cruz | Photo: Peter Allen

In 2013, Brodie created his progressive furniture brand, Made in Ratio, which has a focus on circularity. He recently exhibited at Sotheby’s and has been featured in Taschen’s Design Now (2007) and Time Magazine’s annual Design 100.

His influential timber designs include Recoil, an elliptical table made from Tasmanian timbers salvaged from hydroelectric dams.

The table mirrors the growth rings that scientists use to gauge the health and age of a tree. Recoil is made of veneers of Huon pine, Tasmanian oak, celery top pine, sassafras, myrtle, and blackwood, all found in the Pieman River valley.

Brodie’s respect for his materials extends back to when he was studying at university. “We explored design through a strong sense of craft and materials,” he said.

“Back in my UTAS days, we learned that when you pick up a piece of material, there’s a responsibility to it. Don’t be wasteful. Celebrate it to its potential.

“There are amazing reclaimed timbers. Really, they are in abundance – you just have to be innovative and committed to identifying and refashioning them.”

Brodie takes the same waste-avoiding approach with plastic, particularly ocean plastics.

In 2016, he represented Australia at the inaugural London Design Biennale at Somerset House, where he launched his now iconic Gyro table as part of a critically acclaimed installation: Plastic Effects.

Brodie felt strongly that, as the world’s largest island, Australia needed to take a leading role in tackling ocean plastics. He describes Gyro as a “galactic mosaic of a table”, an “international kaleidoscope” that uses ocean plastics sent to him from locations along the 36 longitudinal lines of the Earth.

“From there, it all accelerated quite quickly. I was on the BBC World Service and the 7pm news,” he said. Brodie recently collaborated with the UN Oceans Forum and presented his ocean plastic research to the European Union in Brussels.

“It has taken me from the design desk to being a spokesperson for these issues that my work represents.”

Brodie will be in Tasmania over the summer of 2022 to see his solo Design Tasmania exhibition which features Recoil and other defining pieces from his career, including a piece he made in his third-year at UTAS, which he said “still holds up”.

“It’s a bit of a departure point for exploring the rest of my work.” ■

▲ Recoil, one of 12 career-defining furniture formations by Brodie Neill to be presented at a Design Tasmania exhibition (24 November 2022 – 19 February 2023). The designs echo time and place, inspired by the foundations from which they are formed. | Photo: Angela Moore

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Brodie Neill | Photo: Mark Cocksedge

Our new campus is growing at Inveresk

Taking members of the community on a tour of the new facilities at Inveresk is a favourite part of alumna Chelsea Wingrove’s (BCom 2006) role fostering engagement at the University. Here, Chelsea takes us on a virtual journey through words and pictures.

Words by Chelsea Wingrove

▲ River’s Edge building overlooks the North Esk, with use of Tasmanian timber throughout | Photo: Chelsea Wingrove

If you were to visit the University in Launceston as a returning member of the alumni community, you would see some exciting changes.

Crossing the river from the city using the new pedestrian and cycle footbridge, you’d notice students playing basketball, local kids on the rock-climbing wall and playing table tennis in the new Esk Activity space.

As an outdoor classroom, it’s the perfect learning environment for Exercise and Sports Science and our future Health and Physical Education teachers to thrive.

As your journey continues, you’d come across a series of raised garden beds, tanks collecting rainwater from the historic industrial rooflines, a glass house and composter to repurpose food waste from around the precinct, with people of all ages learning how to grow, harvest and prepare local produce together.

After grabbing a coffee on your way into the new Library, you notice students have made the ground floor their second home. It’s open until midnight for everything from quiet study to public talks and alumni gatherings. The community are welcome to borrow books as they wish, collaborate with events and share knowledge and stories of days gone by.

Looking down, you’d notice the striking creations of Tasmanian Aboriginal artist Caleb Nichols-Mansell who was commissioned to design feature carpets for the building’s interior.

A proud and deep connection to Country and culture is the inspiration underpinning Caleb’s resulting pieces – each anchored by kanamaluka, the nearby Tamar River.

“Growing up in Launceston, I spent a lot of time exploring and connecting to Country. There was always something mystical about this waterway that drew me in; it was like an energy,” Caleb said.

“It was important that I brought kanamaluka from outside into the campus and told the story of how it supported our old people and still connects and supports our community today.”

Walking back outside, you are reminded of the major transition that’s still to come. A local workforce of tradies and apprentices is deep into construction on the next two buildings, to create spaces for hands-on learning experiences which connect with the region’s imminent workforce needs.

The River’s Edge building is due for completion in early 2023, with incredible views east up the North Esk and towards the mountains. It will be home to Humanities, Social Sciences, Law and Education, plus student counselling, accessibility and learning support, and our Riawunna Centre for Aboriginal Education. It includes a hub for students studying Higher Degrees by Research, a recording studio, parenting room and variety of classrooms and computer labs.

In 2024, the final building will complete our transition of students and staff to Inveresk – The Shed at Willis Street, which sits south of the river.

The Shed is the largest and most complex build, as it includes a variety of specialised allied health clinics, science labs and nursing simulation rooms. These purpose-built facilities support the delivery of new courses to meet the needs of Tasmania, including a new fast-track Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons), Masters in Speech Pathology, Physiotherapy, Clinical and Professional Psychology.

Already, the expanded Masters program has allowed a new supervised clinic to open to the public in Launceston, enabling more people to receive muchneeded mental health services. Located at the University’s Newnham Campus, the new clinic began offering appointments from July, and is expected to see 20-30 clients each week.

With its main entrance opposite City Park, new spaces in The Shed will enable community health education programs for children and older adults, professional development workshops, sports science testing and wellbeing initiatives.

It also includes Launceston’s first fully accessible adult changing facilities, plus parenting rooms, all-gender toilets and a nutrition bar style takeaway café. All are available for public use. In keeping with the rest of the new buildings, The Shed will have a large central atrium for public activities and community events. ■

We look forward to welcoming alumni to check out the progress of our new campus at Inveresk, by visiting utas.edu.au/transformation, or joining one of our Community Walks (register via Eventbrite) where you can wander and discover the changes for yourself.

▲ Caleb Nichols Mansell with artwork carpets in the Library | Credit Kelly Slater

AMC graduates set sail under Southern Lights

Tasmania is a gateway to the Antarctic and also a gateway to a career on the sea, with several alumni of the Australian Maritime College (AMC) finding key roles with Serco aboard Australia’s new 160-metre-long icebreaker, RSV Nuyina.

Words by Katherine Johnson

Katrina Beams (AdvDipAppSc (NS) 2012) is the ship’s second officer, having already been to Antarctica numerous times aboard the ship’s predecessor, the RSV Aurora Australis.

Katrina describes the joy of seeing scientists from the Australian Antarctic Division, the University’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies and elsewhere board the new icebreaker for the first time.

“For a lot of them, they are seeing what they have been dreaming of for years coming to life,” she said, speaking of the ship’s unique capabilities, which include a moon pool and an ingenious wet well.

The moon pool is a vertical shaft which extends from the science deck, through the hull of the ship to the open ocean, allowing deployment of scientific equipment in a protected environment. The wet well takes in seawater from large inlets at various depths. The water then feeds on to filter tables that catch krill and fragile life forms such as jellyfish and salps for study by scientists.

“It’s exciting seeing the scientists’ dreams come true … it’s quite warming,” she said. “It’s so important to their careers and lives and it’s what they are passionate about.”

The RSV Nuyina is designed to break 1.65-metre-thick ice at a continuous speed of 3 knots and handle waves over 14 metres.

It is the main lifeline to Australia’s Antarctic and subAntarctic research stations and the central platform of our Antarctic and Southern Ocean scientific research. Nuyina means ‘southern lights’ in the Tasmanian Aboriginal language palawa kani.

“I just love the Antarctic experience – every time is memorable in its own way,” Katrina said.

“I can still take a thousand photos in a trip.”

When asked for highlights of a life on the sea, Katrina describes the reflections you see from the ship in Antarctic waters, “You’d never realise there are so many shades of white.”

It has been a career journey too for Katrina, who started her maritime career as a Steward, including sailing as Chief Steward aboard the RSV Aurora Australis, where she later became a Deck Officer.

“To return to Antarctica on our new vessel was really exciting. Not only in terms of ice navigation but also the resupply operations,” Katrina said.

“We completed an extensive resupply of Macquarie Island last Antarctic season and it was great to see how it all came together with the interaction of helicopters and watercraft.

▲

RSV Nuyina in Antarctica. | Photo: Pete Harmsen

“The size, capabilities and technology of this vessel are greater than the Aurora Australis … It is fitted with an Integrated Bridge System. There are no more paper charts.

“We have a good mixture of experience on board with crew from various backgrounds including Antarctic and offshore operations.”

Other AMC former students on board the ship, which carries up to 149 people, include Chief Officer Henry Goodfellow (BAppSc (NS) 2016) and Third Officer Brett Cross.

Henry adds that the opportunity to go to Antarctica for work is “a real privilege that provides experiences that cannot be found anywhere else”.

“It feels like a once in a lifetime opportunity, but we get to do it over and over again,” he said.

“One of the best parts of the job is the wide variety of operations we undertake, from science through to the cargo and resupply missions in some of the most unique locations in the world.”

Katrina says being on board with people who have never been to Antarctica before is special.

“You get to re-live that moment of seeing Antarctica again for the first time through them,” she said. ■

▲ AMC graduates Katrina Beams (2nd Officer) and Henry Goodfellow (Chief Off icer) aboard Australia’s new icebreaker, RSV Nuyina

Photo: Peter Allen

RSV Nuyina in Antarctica | Photo: Pete Harmsen

“I just love the Antarctic experience – every time is memorable in its own way.”

Katrina Beams (AdvDipAppSc (NS) 2012), second officer, RSV Nuyina

A vision for the future

Words by Katherine Johnson

There can be few more satisfying moments in medicine than restoring a patient’s vision, particularly if you helped develop the technology behind such an achievement.

Dr Tom Edwards (BMedSc Hons 1999, MBBS Hons 2000) – eye researcher, clinician and surgeon – is a pioneer of three forms of technology that are offering hope to people with previously untreatable blindness. In some cases, such technology is giving them back their sight.

Now a consultant vitreoretinal surgeon based at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital and Principal Investigator at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA), he continues to build on groundbreaking postdoctoral research he co-led at the University of Oxford.

Together with Oxford Professor Robert Maclaren, Dr Edwards led the first in-human study of the safety and viability of robotic surgery for use within the eye, led research using electronic retinal implants to restore vision, and conducted the first clinical trials of gene therapy for the inherited retinal condition choroideremia.

Choroideremia affects all retinal layers in the eyes and usually begins during childhood.

“The gene therapy study was the big one … they were exciting times seeing those operations take place,” Tom said.

“Inherited retinal diseases affect 1:3000 people, as a conservative estimate. They are the most common cause of severe vision impairment in working age adults in Australia,” he said.

“While individually the gene mutations are rare, as a group, inherited retinal diseases have a major impact and there has been no treatment for them.”

While still in its early days, with just one gene therapy treatment available to date, Tom describes identifying and correcting defective genes causing blindness as an exciting space to be in.

Last year, he led a clinical trial at CERA in which several Victorian patients received pioneering gene therapy surgery for a form of age-related macular degeneration known as geographic atrophy, for which there is currently no cure.

Eye research pioneer and surgeon Dr Thomas Edwards

▲ Dr Thomas Edwards

“Gene therapy is delivered via very, very fine needles, as fine as a human hair, delivered underneath the retina … It’s a first for Australia, so it’s nice to bring that here,” Tom said.

He describes the excitement and satisfaction too of leading electronic implant research while in Oxford. He witnessed the electronic implants being used for the first time. The patients were blind with end-stage retinitis pigmentosa.

“This was an eight-hour operation, a big deal for people who’ve basically lost all of their vision from inherited retinal disease,” he said.

“It was really rewarding working with these patients and seeing their reaction to being able to see things they hadn’t been able to see for a long time.”

He describes patients picking out the horizon line or seeing cars parked along the side of the road.

“For someone who has got no sight, giving them a bit of vision back, you can have a big impact,” he said.

Dr Edwards’ and Professor Maclaren’s research into robotics for eye surgery presented practical engineering challenges such as how to get the equipment into theatre. Less than a decade later, the research has opened up the potential for new operations that offer supra-human precision, with minimal trauma to surrounding tissue.

“If you wanted to inject a particular medication into one of the retinal vessels, for example, to treat a specific area of the retina, you could potentially do that using robotics,” Tom said.

“It is physically not possible to hold an instrument still enough to do that without the aid of a robot.”

Tom’s postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford was carried out thanks to a Nuffield Medical Fellowship. It followed a PhD at the University of Cambridge, where he rowed in the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race and was President of the Cambridge University Boat Club. He also rowed nationally for Australia and won the Mens’ single scull at the National intervarsity championships while studying medicine at the University of Tasmania, where he was Sports Person of the Year.

Hand-in-hand with Tom’s gene therapy focus at CERA is a goal of developing a registry of patients who could potentially benefit from his team’s research.

“It’s very satisfying to make a contribution on both the clinical/surgical side and on the academic front, translating research into clinical practice.

“If you’ve helped develop the technology as well, it’s very rewarding … in research you can develop novel approaches to conditions that haven’t had treatments, and inherited retinal disease is one of these.”

And his recollections about his home State of Tasmania?

“I miss Tasmania and try to visit as often as I can. I have very fond memories of my time at the Medical School and at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

“I live in Melbourne, but Tasmania will always feel like home.” ■

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Dr Thomas Edwards in theatre during pioneering gen

e

therapy surgery | Photo: Mathew Lynn

“For someone who has got no sight, giving them a bit of vision back, you can have a big impact.”

Dr Tom Edwards

▲ Dr Thomas Edwards rowing during his time at the University of Cambridge

Naarah and the arts

Words by Katherine Johnson

“I was singing before I was talking and dancing before I was walking.”

Bachelor of Music alumna Naarah Barnes on performing the biggest roles of her life.

When Alumni magazine interviewed Naarah (pronounced: Nay-ar-ah) Barnes (BMus 2019), she was back in Western Australia’s Kimberley, seeing the house she bought on the very same day she was offered a supporting lead role in the Amazon Prime series Deadloch.

There is no doubt Naarah’s life will change when the series airs internationally next year. “It didn’t hit me while we were filming, but I know it will hit me when the show comes out,” Naarah said.

“There are some huge Australian television names,” she said of the cast of Deadloch, written by comedy duo Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney and produced by Guesswork Television. “But it also showcases Tasmania and the talent we have down here.”

While in Wyndham, Naarah helped her mother, a Gija woman from the Kimberley, with community work and volunteered at the local primary school, singing with the local Aboriginal students and encouraging them in their studies.

“I want them to know they can have a brilliant future, full of opportunity, and achieve everything they aspire for,” Naarah said.

“I tell the kids, you can pursue what you want to do if you put your head down and find your own pathway.”

While encouraging the students to work hard, she explains that she failed music in college and didn’t get an ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank), but went on to study music at university thanks to a University of Tasmania Global Leaders Scholarship in 2016.

“Four years later, I won the top prize at the Conservatorium,” she said.

Naarah was the first in her family to go to university, and, while there, made the most of every opportunity, whether playing in the University Indigenous Games or travelling overseas on exchange. She travelled as one of the G50 (Global 50) scholarship students to Vietnam as part of the University Leaders Symposium and then went to England to the University of Southampton, which she describes as “life and career changing”.

“I recreated as a human being and solo-travelled through Europe,” she said.

On return to Tasmania, Naarah won the Ossa Music Prize at the University of Tasmania.

Named after Tasmania’s highest mountain peak, the Ossa Music Prize is generously provided by alumnus Dr Rod Roberts and Mrs Cecile Roberts.

“I discovered just how much I loved the performing arts and realised I could make a career out of it. The year I graduated, 2019, was the hardest I’ve ever worked.”

And the hard work has paid off.

Naarah had been about to audition for a role as an extra in Deadloch when her agent called to tell her “you’ve got it”, speaking of the role she almost gave up on and her first on-screen part.

Largely under wraps until it airs on Amazon in 2023, Naarah describes the eight-part series as a “murder mystery with a side of comedy”.

Deadloch was filmed in southern Tasmania, where her parents moved before she was born. Part of the series was filmed in the old University refectory at Sandy Bay.

Naarah recently returned from living in Brisbane where she performed in Queensland Theatre’s production of The Sunshine Club, playing eight shows a week at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC). It was a leading role that acclaimed Indigenous writer and director Wesley Enoch flew to Hobart for a 45-minute meeting to invite Naarah to portray.

“It was a huge role – I was the character that everyone was rooting for in the audience,” Naarah said. She said she enjoyed “digging into the history of Brisbane in the 1940s, into post-war Australia”. It was a time when clubs were ‘white only’ and Boundary Street divided Brisbane’s population based on race.

Naarah did a TikTok clip about how few people in Brisbane today know the history of Boundary Street, dividing black from white. “It was my biggest ever piece of content – it received 50,000 views,” she said.

In 2020 Naarah began touring Australia, fresh out of her degree, performing in the award-winning musical The Sapphires, playing the humorous role of Cynthia in the story of four Yorta Yorta women who sing classic soul music during the Vietnam War.

“I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to represent my culture, tell stories and entertain people, which is what I love to do,” she said. ■

You can follow Naarah on Instagram @n.a.a.r.a.h

◀ Naarah performing onstage | Photo: Brett Boardman

▲ Naarah Barnes (BMus 2019)

Meet the twin forces behind start-up success stories

Their innovative, inclusive and socially responsible approach seeks to shape our lives, and to ensure we find ways to do business better.

Words by Lucie van den Berg

Lucy Hosken’s maiden business started small.

In fact, it was all about ‘the smalls’ – a simple quest to find functional and fashionable shapewear.

Nearly Nude, a luxury lingerie label, was launched. Soon it had gone global.

After a decade with publishing powerhouse ACP publishing, Lucy’s first foray into establishing her own business has been a stunning success.

The groundwork for achieving her goal began years earlier when she chose to study Commerce with Arts.

She still draws upon the knowledge she learnt, particularly from Professor Rhett Walker’s classes.

“He was a marketing inspiration and I still remember many of his stories to this day,” Lucy said.

“They were by far my favourite classes and I never missed one!”

After graduation and a stint overseas, Lucy and her husband, Stewart, moved to Sydney. They love giving their children a taste of Tasmania during regular visits to see family. The couple even own several businesses in the State.

“I think growing up on The Apple Isle gives you a sense of serenity and peace, but also made me more ambitious to leave and see more of the world,” Lucy said. “It gives you a fabulous, grounded start.”

Lucy still feels extremely fortunate about how her first venture panned out.

“It was a lot of hard work, but there were many fabulous, serendipitous moments that led me to selling the business.”

Now, among other things, she is using her expertise as a brand consultant and strategist specialising in global growth, marketing and creative direction.

She has a passion for supporting new businesses and has recently co-founded a subscription self-care company Junni.co, which aims to make feminine hygiene products safer for people and the planet.

Lucy understands what it takes for a start-up to become a success.

Here’s a hint: you need to be highly driven, selfmotivated and resilient.

▼ Lucy Hosken

“I think to be successful you need to hustle, push onwards and never take no for an answer!” she said.

Above all, Lucy urges other budding entrepreneurs to “go for it”.

Being your own boss comes with benefits, such as having the final say, but also requires coping with pressure.

“I started Nearly Nude three years before we started a family. By the time my two babies were born, I was neck deep in the business’s growth, so I was working seven days a week, 15 hours a day – this was a real challenge.

“Although, I did love being able to pick my own hours and agenda – it’s just the best!”

Her advice to her younger self is to accept that: “You don’t have to do it all and you can’t have it all.” “If you think it’s possible, you are putting too much pressure on yourself.”

Penni Lamprey knows the pressures of running your own business all too well.

She saw her thriving Tasmanian workplace health and wellbeing consultancy collapse during the first wave of COVID-19.

“It was awful, I was middle aged and I had no idea what I was going to do next and then I saw that UTAS was offering online courses to Tasmanians to upskill,” Penni said.

Where others may have become consumed by the loss, she saw an opportunity.

Penni studied a Graduate Certificate in Business and, if that wasn’t challenging enough, she also decided to pursue her own personal quest to start a clothing company catering for tall people.

Standing at 184cm tall (6’1), the mother of three understands the struggles her customers face when they buy clothes.

“I spent most of my life not having clothes that fit me,” she said.

“In my previous career, I coached my clients on the elements of being well within their skin, but you can’t do that if you don’t fit into your own clothes.

“That’s why I took a huge risk and invested our savings into launching Miss G & Me, beautiful clothing for the tall.”

Penni wanted to create clothing that was sustainable and fashionable with all items designed and made in Australia.

She uses compostable bags, sources organic or high-grade fabrics and her patternmakers and manufacturers are Ethical Clothing Australia accredited, which protects the wages and working conditions of staff.

While she doesn’t have the budgets of the major retailers to turn plastic into fabric, by making quality clothing to fit the taller silhouette, she aims to reduce wasteful consumption for her customers.

To keep costs under control, Penni has even used crowd funding to produce her first blazer.

It’s been almost two years since she launched her label.

“Looking back, it was exceptionally scary to go back to study and start a new business, but it’s so rewarding. I get emails daily from people who say that my clothes changed their life.

“One of my customers is 190cm (6’3) and she cried when she realised that, for the first time in her life, she could shop online for good quality Australian-made clothing that will fit her.” ■

▲ Penni Lamprey’s workshop | Photo: Oi Studios

Providing opportunity

A long-term supporter of education

Words by Katherine Johnson

Moya Deigan (GDipBA 2007, MBA 2008) appreciates the value of education. Born in Wollongong, but a Tasmanian resident for over 30 years, Moya was the first in her family to go to university. Indeed, she was the first person in her family to receive her Higher School Certificate (HSC).

“I’m well aware of the financial constraints that higher education can put on people,” she said.

A long-term supporter of scholarships that increase access to university for students who may not have otherwise had the opportunity to take up higher education, Moya’s message to other alumni is one of sharing.

“Education is a gift that we’ve all had as alumni,” Moya said.

“I would encourage people to share your success with others so they can have the same opportunity.”

A passionate advocate and supporter of theatre, and with a 30-year career in the Australian Public Service (the then Department of Employment, Education, Training and Workplace Relations), Moya is certain education has enabled opportunity in her life.

Her time in the Australian Public Service included roles at the Commonwealth Employment Service (CES), managing State Public Affairs, and industry and business liaison. She also managed the Department’s accredited contract management and procurement training, which included running an Australian Public Service-wide Indigenous Diploma program. But not everyone values education, she says.

“I might have felt the same – I didn’t have that mentoring – it wasn’t necessarily something that our family felt able to do.”

It was doing her Masters later in life that really brought home the benefits of a university education to Moya.

“It’s about access to critical thinking – acquiring that collective wisdom of the generations that went before you,” she said. “That’s what is of greatest value to me.”

Moya has also made long-term contributions through volunteering for a range of theatre organisations, including the Hobart Rep (Hobart Repertory Theatre/ The Playhouse), where she has been involved for 25 years, typically producing a show a year. She has been Executive Officer for the Theatre Council of Tasmania, which saw her help to establish the statewide Tasmanian Theatre Awards program. Moya was also involved in the Tasmanian Theatre Company and continues to be engaged with MADE theatre.

Moya worked on the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery’s redevelopment, and has managed marketing for Arts organisations and media for canoeing events including the Wildwater World Cup, which was held in Tasmania in 2009.

She also volunteers as an adult migrant Englishlanguage tutor and was previously heavily involved with the Art Deco Society.

In an interesting twist, Moya was Secretary and Editor for the Astronomical Society of Tasmania, which has a long and close association with the University.

“I’ve always liked astronomy,” Moya said, adding that it was the first research area she donated to. She has also supported the University’s Menzies Institute for Medical Research.

But it was upon finishing her MBA that Moya turned her attention to access scholarships, namely the Southern Lights Access Scholarships, set up by the University as an opportunity for students to change their lives through education.

“That’s when I decided that I’d like to support the educational prospects of others, because my experience at University was a positive one,” Moya said. ■

If you have been inspired by Moya’s words and wish to join her in supporting student access scholarships please visit utas.edu.au/giving

◀ Moya Deigan | Photo: Oi Studios

Crown Princess Mary Scholarship reflections

With Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, perhaps the University of Tasmania’s most famous alumna (BCom-LLB 1995), turning 50 this year, it is timely to reflect on the scholarship set up in her name, and what it meant to one Tasmanian Law student.

Words by Katherine Johnson

One of the first recipients of the inaugural Crown Princess Mary Scholarship was Danielle Conlan (BCom-LLB Hons), whose world changed when she took up the opportunity to study in Denmark.

“Studying abroad indelibly changes you,” Danielle said. “I left for Denmark a shy, young girl with a limited understanding of the world outside The Apple Isle … After 5 months of studying in Copenhagen –immersing myself in a melting pot of students from more than 20 countries – I felt like I could finally see the world in all its magnificent shades.”

Danielle says she was privileged to receive the Scholarship, gifted to the Danish royal couple by the University of Copenhagen to commemorate their wedding. A reciprocal scholarship is offered to Danish students who are attending the University of Tasmania. The scholarships were coordinated by Wayne Goninon (BA 1981), who sadly passed away this year. Wayne’s dedication to ensuring the scholarships’ success was demonstrated across many years. He will be greatly missed.

Like Crown Princess Mary, Danielle studied Law and Commerce at the University of Tasmania. Danielle reflects on what drove her determination to go to university.

“Meeting Her Royal Highness was a phenomenal experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life … I can still feel the butterflies in my stomach during the hour leading up to our meeting! But, as countless others will concur, from the moment I met her, she greeted me with such warmth and grace that I felt instantly at ease,” Danielle said.

“I grew up understanding the importance of getting ‘that piece of paper’, which was promised to be the ticket to a life free of the suffering my parents (and their parents before them) had endured without formal education. So, I made it my mission to achieve the best piece of paper I could.

“I dedicated my life to studying Law and Commerce, choosing to specialise in corporate governance and ethics. I didn’t know it then, but I was a social entrepreneur from the start. I just didn’t have the terminology (or roadmap) go to with it.

“Back in 2006, it was all about ‘corporate social responsibility’, which Her Royal Highness and I discussed in brief during my audience with her.”

Danielle met the Crown Princess just before ANZAC Day and, during an informal conversation, asked her her preference for the ‘perfect’ ANZAC biscuit. The answer: “chewy”.

It was a conversation the Danish tabloid press retold in a two-page article on the two Tassie girls who shared brown hair and a love of chewy biscuits. So how has Danielle’s career evolved since completing her legal degree?

“All I knew at the time was that I wanted to pursue a career that would enable my family (and my future children) to escape the financial hardship my family had experienced,” Danielle said.

After working for some years in legal practice, Danielle turned her attention to the world of entrepreneurship, something she now lectures in at the University.

“It took losing my brother and father in sudden, traumatic circumstances for me to truly wake up and find my calling,” she explained.

“My lived experience (and a little naivety thrown in for good measure) gave me the gumption to start a social enterprise, Kindred Life, in an incredibly maledominated, shareholder-led industry: aged care and funeral services.

“It’s taken me almost four decades, but I have finally realised that you can be feminine and empathetic and still change the world. Being true to yourself is your greatest strength.”

And if Danielle could end with one sentiment?

“It would be simply this: don’t wait,” she said. “Do it today. Ask that question, launch that idea, leave that environment, and become the best version you can be. Life is not easy, and it appears it’s about to get harder. But, there is beauty to be found in every nook and cranny. We just have to summon the courage to look.”

Listen to Danielle talk about the six months she spent on exchange at the University of Copenhagen. bit.ly/UTAS-Danielle-Conlan ■

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Danielle Conlan pictured with Crown Princess Mary and Queensland student Joseph Kelly, fellow recipient of the Crown Princess Mary Scholarship in 2006

Celebrating alumni success

Congratulating our Alumni Award winners for 2022

Our alumni are changing the world for the better, across a wide range of disciplines.

The University of Tasmania’s 2022 Alumni Awards have recognised four such people, working in outstanding ways in the fields of policing, psychology, world peace and social justice.

Distinguished Alumni Award recipient

Commissioner Donna Adams GradCertPoliceSt 2002, MPoliceSt 2011

After three decades working in policing in Tasmania, in August 2022 Donna Adams was named the State’s 15th Commissioner of Police. She is the highest-ranking female member of the State’s police service and the first woman to take on the role of Commissioner in the service’s 125-year history. She is a mentor and supporter of other women in Tasmania Police, encouraging them to seek professional development and promotion, and to demonstrate leadership.

A strong advocate for lifelong learning, Donna attributes her successes to her university education, citing the way it challenged her thinking and widened the lens on how she sees, considers, and seeks to resolve issues.

International

US-based Professor Craske is one of the most celebrated psychologists in the field of anxiety and depression research. Indeed, she is one of the most decorated and influential psychologists of our time and in 2022 was recognised with the award of Officer of the Order of Australia.

A fter graduating from the University of Tasmania in 1981, majoring in Psychology and English Literature, she moved to the University of British Columbia, where she completed her PhD and has since built a career as one of the world’s pre-eminent authorities in her field. Professor Craske has published over 570 peer reviewed journal articles, authored books, including several self-help and therapist guides. Professor Craske’s publication record is such that she is listed on the Web of Science’s list of Most Highly Cited Researchers.

Alumni Award recipient Distinguished Professor Michelle Craske AO BA Hons 1981

Devonport-born, US-based Felicity Gray is a world leader in her field, working on the ground in Ukraine as Country Director with the humanitarian organisation Nonviolent Peaceforce. She operates on the frontlines of Mykolaiv, Odessa and Kharkiv, aiming to achieve peace, justice and strong institutions as envisioned in United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16.

Since winning the University Medal in 2011, she has enjoyed academic and professional success, with several published articles, and roles in policy development and Federal Parliamentary procedure. She is an expert in the field of civilian protection, particularly in the unarmed and nonviolent strategies that are used by civilians to protect one another in conflict zones.

Sarah Leary is a proud Palawa woman, diplomat and former journalist from North-West Tasmania.

At the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Sarah has led a number of high-profile trade and investment outcomes across the Indo-Pacific. On postings to Vietnam, Cambodia, Solomon Islands and the United States, she has been a strong advocate for supporting the meaningful participation of First Nations people in diplomacy, as well as supporting regional Australian youth.

As advisor to Australia’s Ambassador for Women and Girls, Sarah supported Australia’s UN Human Rights Council campaign. She also represented Australia at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in 2012.

One of Sarah’s proudest career achievements was establishing the successful $52m Pacific Step-up initiative – PacificAus Sports – to deepen Australia’s ties to the Pacific, culminating in the stronger inclusion of Pacific athletes in Australia’s Super Rugby Pacific franchise, and the Tokyo Olympics.

Joint Young Alumni Award recipient

Ms Sarah Leary BA 2013

Joint Young Alumni Award recipient

Ms Felicity Gray BA Hons 2011

▲ Image copyright: Nonviolent Peaceforce Ukraine

Singaporean bright spark

On engineering an unbreakable connection between two islands

Words by Lucie van den Berg

Richard Ngo vividly remembers his first night in Tasmania.

It was a quarter of a century ago and the firstyear Engineering student was fresh off the plane from Singapore. Rain and wind bore down on his room, as he lay in the pitch black, crying.

“I felt helpless, lonely and so much culture shock, and I missed my family back in Singapore,” Richard recalls.

“I was alone in a foreign land, so many miles away from home, and suddenly inside me there was an urge to pack my luggage and return to Singapore.”

He was stoic and vowed to stay the course.

Fortunately, Richard’s loneliness and culture shock were soon alleviated through the support and bonds that he found and forged through the Singapore Students Society.

“It gave me courage and comfort knowing that I was not alone in a faraway land, and I have memories from that time that I will cherish forever,” he said.

Richard recognised the power of the Singaporean network to transform lives and volunteered to serve on the committee and organise events.

“I felt a sense of pride and joy seeing fellow Singaporean students coming together enjoying the company of each other.”

He soon developed a deep love for Tasmania, an island where natural wonders are only a stone’s throw away from campuses and the pace of life is highly conducive to successful studies.

Even when he graduated from a Bachelor of Engineering in 1996, Richard remained resolute that he would continue to foster bonds between Singaporean students, this time as the Singapore Alumni Network Leader.

It’s almost impossible, even for an engineer, to quantify the number of hours Richard has contributed to his alumni community.

He combines his busy role as a Principal Engineer with SP Group in Singapore – where he manages the operation & maintenance of the 66kV transmission network in Singapore – with being our alumni ‘super connector.’

▲ Richard Ngo at Cradle Mountain in 1994

For more than two decades he has built relationships with established graduates, established bonds with new alums returning to Singapore, and kept fellow alums up-to-date with news of their alma mater and their second island home.

Richard volunteers to assist the University’s Alumni team with organising events and identifying graduates to participate in them. He has even participated in conversations about how to build an ever-stronger alumni network.

“Richard is the glue that binds together the Singapore network, ensuring that it remains strong and viable,” the University of Tasmania’s Associate Director, Alumni Relations Rob Blandford said.

“He has created a sense of belonging and support to alumni and assisted in facilitating lifelong connections and affinity with the University.

“We are incredibly grateful to Richard for his extraordinary and sustained contribution to building and maintaining a strong Singaporean alumni network.”

Richard jokes that he is indeed a “one man show” keeping the vital link between the islands alive.

“Everyone is busy when starting their career after uni, but if one has the passion or interest in doing something, they will make time for it,” he said.

Whilst the impact of Richard’s efforts is far reaching, there is also a personal and professional pleasure that he derives from engaging with his alumni community.

“Volunteering has enabled me to create opportunities for alums to connect with their alma mater, but it has also given me the opportunity to build up my planning, communication and networking skills,” he said.

In time, he hopes that other alums will be inspired to follow in his footsteps.

“One day my time will be up and I look forward to when another UTAS alumnus/alumna, who has the same passion, succeeds me and keeps the link between the University and the alumni alive, and maybe even brings it to the next level in the future.” In October 2022, Richard was appointed a Fellow of the University. ■

If you have been inspired by Richard’s story and would be keen to establish a University of Tasmania alumni network in your country or city, please email the team at Alumni.Office@utas.edu.au telling us a little about yourself.

◀ From left: The Hon Will Hodgman, Australian High Commissioner to Singapore; Richard Ngo; Professor Rufus Black, Vice-Chancellor; and The Hon Jeremy Rockliff, Premier of Tasmania, in Singapore at Richard’s appointment as a Fellow of the University

The ultimate place makers

Words by Lucie Van den Berg

The impact of our Architecture alumni is most pronounced on our island, but it’s by no means limited by its watery boundaries.

More than 2,600 graduates have completed Architecture-related courses at the University of Tasmania since 1975, and many have gained local, interstate and global recognition.

Central to their contribution is a deep connection with place. As the celebrated architecture theorist Juhani Pallasmaa wrote, “Architecture articulates and expresses space, time and place. The experience and creation of place is the most fundamental… of these architectural tasks.”

LIMINAL means at the threshold, exploring the potential of what can be Starting close to home, notable Architecture alums include Peta Heffernan (BEnvDes 1996) and Elvio Brianese (BEnvDes 1991, BArch Hons 1992), who established the award-winning LIMINAL Studio.

Together with WOHA, the practice has received five Tasmanian Architecture Awards for The Hedberg, in central Hobart. At the time of writing, The Hedberg is a finalist in the 2022 World Architecture Festival Awards, a winner in the Cultural Category of the 2022 Architecture MasterPrize international awards and winner of a National Interior Award from the Australian Institute of Architects. We asked Peta and Elvio to share their story with us. Tell us about the genesis of LIMINAL Studio, your own motivations for pursuing architecture as a profession and your partnership.

Architects, they are the ultimate place makers, influencing our lives deeply and discretely.

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The Hedberg. Architects: LIMINAL Architecture with WOHA | Photo: Dianna Snape

“Architecture is meaningful to us due to the impact it can have on the liveability of cities, people’s sense of wellbeing and placemaking that gives back to community.

The questioning that led to the creation of LIMINAL 11 years ago was how do we expand architecture?

Elvio has a fine arts and industrial design background and my architecture thesis was on the ‘spatial embodiment of dance’. We wanted to bring our passions for other art and design forms into everyday practice. This was not common in Australia and was breaking the traditional architectural mould. We created a working environment for the crossfertilisation and exchange of ideas with aspirational thinkers and creators. A bit like a dinner party, where you become so engaged in conversation that ideas flow effortlessly and the creative spark leads to an unexpected discovery or something remarkable. The desire to create this dynamism and realise it daily has informed LIMINAL’s culture.”

How does the place that you live and practice architecture impact your work?

“After time away, we recognised Tasmania as a drawcard for thought leaders, creative practitioners and artists. The creative energy here seems more palpable than in larger cities. Tasmania’s scale generates efficiency when it comes to meeting people across disciplines and backgrounds.

Spontaneous encounters often lead to projects.

Our belief in Tasmania frames our perspective. We see ourselves as a Studio operating on an island, on top of a large island, on the top of the world with unlimited connections, dissolving geographical boundaries. When researching the name for the Studio, we believed it needed to reflect something about the island, the importance of place and creative potential. ‘Liminal’ to us means at the edge, on the threshold, expanding our imaginations to explore the possibilities of what can be.”

You have been recognised for excellence for numerous projects, ranging from the Coastal Pavilions at Freycinet National Park to The Magic Box, a pop-up whisky tasting installation. Which projects are you most proud of and why?

“We are most proud of the projects embraced by community, that have inspired creative interactions and helped improve the lives of those who inhabit or experience them.

Our approach results in maximum impact with minimal means. We get a thrill from pushing an idea to its limit, solving the pragmatic through the poetic and maximising storytelling potential.

This extends to new and adaptive reuse projects such as schools, university spaces, cultural precincts, tourism accommodation, wellbeing centres, affordable and social housing, residences, as well as performances and objects.”

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Left: The Hedberg. Architects: LIMINAL Architecture with WOHA | Photo: Natasha Mulhall

Right: Peta Heffernan & Elvio Brianese in The Hedberg | Photo: Oi Studios

The Hedberg, a world-class arts precinct and the new home for the University Conservatorium, integrates our interdisciplinary world. The Hedberg demonstrates how a small team, working in collaboration with WOHA, a Singaporean multinational architectural design firm, and other collaborators, can enable the cultural development of Tasmania. We are excited by the opportunities this will generate not only for Tasmanian practitioners and the development of our creative talent, but also in attracting global performers, educators, Tasmanian commissions and collaborations.”

LIMINAL was founded 10 years ago, what does the next decade hold?

“Expanding our global collaborative network across the creative disciplines so we can continue to be inspired and forge paths not yet imagined. We are open to new perspectives and to connections with aspirational people who understand the potency of possibility when the right minds come together. Our experience and collaborative partnerships will continue to impact and contribute to the creation of a better world filled with beauty, generosity, wellbeing and joy.”

▼ The Hedberg. Architects: LIMINAL Architecture with WOHA | Photo: Natasha Mulhall

Exploring place – further afield

On the international stage, alumnus Luke Hayward (MArch Hons 2009) and Japanese interior designer Junko Nakatsuka are trailblazers. They founded atelier Luke, an architecture practice that operates between Japan and Australia.

Last year, Luke was the inaugural recipient of the Emerging Architect Prize at the Australian Institute of Architects International Chapter Architecture Awards. “Luke represents everything we would wish the School’s graduates to aspire to: fluently global and local, intellectual and artistic, sensitive and audacious,” Dr Julian Worrall, Head of School of Architecture and Professor of Architecture said.

Also in Asia, alumnus Alan Teh (BArch 1999) is taking the sustainable architecture scene by storm with his Green Building designs. Alan, who recalls his days at the University of Tasmania fondly, has been recognised as one of the Top 30 Emerging Architects of Malaysia.

Interstate, many of our alums – such as alumnus Ben Duckworth (BEnvDes 1996, BArch Hons 1998), Head of Design at Hassell – are carving out careers as sole practitioners, or commanding senior positions at large global firms.

Wherever our Architecture alumni find themselves, the inspiration that is Tasmania is bound to be articulated, in small or large ways, in their creative expression. ■

▲ Luke Haward | Photo: Jesse Smith

▲ Photo: Atelier Alan Teh Architect

Celebrating 50 years in Surveying and Spatial Sciences

Alumni gather as ambassadors to inspire a new generation.

Words by Keiva Matheson

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In 2005, Dr Elyse Allender embarked on a Surveying and Spatial Sciences Degree at the University of Tasmania with the ambition of pursuing a career in space.

Two decades on and the researcher and planetary scientist has applied those skills successfully to detect mineral locations on the planet Mars.

Elyse recently joined fellow Alumni Ambassadors for a weekend of celebrations to mark the 50 th Anniversary of Surveying and Spatial Sciences at the University of Tasmania.

The University’s Head of the School of Geography, Planning and Spatial Sciences, Professor Arko Lucieer, said the anniversary was an opportunity for our current spatial scientists to inspire a new generation.

“The spatial sciences have seen a rapid surge driven by technology and by the global hunger for more detailed and accurate spatial data,” he said.

“The University is proud that our discipline holds a key role in an industry that is among the nation’s fastest growing sectors. Our teaching has always been well connected to world-class research.

“Together we continue to employ our disciplinary skills and knowledge to help address problems of great social and environmental significance such as changing climates, rising sea levels, and biodiversity conservation.”

The anniversary events were a great opportunity for alumni to reconnect and share stories from the past 50 years.

The Alumni Ambassadors’ stories highlight the broad spectrum of careers that the University’s Surveying and Spatial Sciences graduates have embarked upon. Speaking at the Anniversary Dinner, Vice-Chancellor Professor Rufus Black said now is the time to look toward to the next 50 years.

“When you see where we’re at today, one feels that Spatial Science is only just starting to truly take off,” he said.

“Our satellite world is getting ever richer and denser data, enabling us to do things that were almost unimaginable – in near or actual real-time. That’s an incredible world. If that isn’t creating enormous personal and societal value over the next 50 years, I’d be very surprised.”

Assistant Director at the Australian Space Agency, Elyse mined data to detect distinct mineral locations on Mars’s surface.

“It was great to have the opportunity to pursue my interest in a career in space and apply the skills I learned to another planet!” she said.

As a member of the Panoramic Camera (PanCam) science team for the European Space Agency’s ExoMars rover mission, Elyse also collected imagery and developed software tools for analysing those images.

Ambassador Dr Antonius Wijanarto (BSurv Hons 1996, PhD 2000) arrived at the University under an Indonesian Government Scholarship to study Surveying, returning home a leader in his field.

Students and faculty in the 70s and 80s

Antonius established 200 CORS stations and 100 tidal stations, used as part of the Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System, and headed up the Centre for Data Management and the Centre for Geodetics Network and Geo-dynamics.

In 2019 he became Deputy Chairman for the Indonesian Geospatial Information Agency, and now works on the One Map Policy Program integrating all geospatial information for decision making: ensuring no duplication among ministries, agencies, and local governments.

“Government realised that to achieve our development goals, data, including Geo Information, plays a crucial role,” he said.

A visit from the University’s Dr Christopher Watson to a Year 12 class inspired Geoscience Australia (GA) Assistant Director Dr Anna Riddell into a bachelor’s degree in Surveying and Spatial Sciences.

Anna has worked on many projects including the AuScope Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) network, liaising with state and national counterparts to implement the new national datum (GDA2020), and working internationally for the adoption of a United Nations resolution on the importance of a global geodetic reference frame.

Anna’s PhD is in the field of Geodesy where she researched the vertical land motion of the Australian crustal plate using the AuScope GNSS network to maintain the Australian Geospatial Reference System.

“As society becomes more reliant on positioning services (think about using your phone for maps, in-car satellite navigation, or fitness tracker apps and devices like smart watches), we also need the foundational infrastructure that underpins positioning applications to align the different spatial information sources,” she said.

University Ambassador Alexander Leith (BSurvSpSc Hons 2010) is Deputy Director of the Australian Ocean Data Network for the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS).

Alex has had influence as a successful software developer and geospatial analyst.

“We established Digital Earth Africa to ensure that more than 3PB of data is effectively managed, updated and made accessible to decision makers across Africa, which means overseeing more than a million USD in cloud computing costs annually,” he said.

He said working with technical professionals from across the world at the global FOSS4G conference in Bucharest led to Sentinel-2 data being made available for free globally.

Also joining the celebrations were Alumni Ambassadors Paul Digney (BSurv Hons 1998) and Nicholas Davies (BGeom Hons 2003).

Paul is the Survey Technical Director for Jacobs Australia and is Director and President-Elect of the Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI).

Nicholas is Client Director Digital and Spatial at Veris. He also contributes his expertise as a board director and as a technical professional in 3D laser scanning (digital and spatial).

We congratulate all our alumni in Surveying and Spatial Sciences for the contributions they make to this fast-moving sector, delivering solutions ranging from the everyday positioning services we rely on to some of the world’s most pressing concerns. ■

Fieldwork on the Amery iceshelf in Antarctica

Graduations

Thousands of students celebrate university success

Cradle Coast 7.12.21

Marking the culmination of years of study and effort, 53 students graduated at the Town Hall in Burnie.

University of Tasmania Pro Vice-Chancellor (Cradle Coast) Professor Jim Cavaye congratulated the year’s graduating class on furthering their life-long learning.

Sydney 5.04.2022

Hundreds of Sydney students were joined by family, friends and the broader University community to celebrate graduation success.

Students from across the University’s colleges attended ceremonies at the Darling Harbour Theatre, where they were joined by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Rufus Black, and members of University Council including Chancellor Alison Watkins AM.

Hobart 3.05.2022

Graduation came early for more than 1000 University of Tasmania students who celebrated in the University’s first Autumn ceremonies.

Graduations have traditionally been held in August and December. The new May ceremonies reflects the changing ways people study and the flexibility of the university calendar to cater for student needs.

Chair of the University’s Academic Senate Professor Natalie Brown said increasing numbers of students were completing their studies outside the traditional semester periods.

“The University is committed to increasing access to higher education for everybody who wants it and part of that is making sure that students can fit study around all their other work and family commitments,” Professor Brown said.

Hobart 22.08.2022 – 23.08.2022

The culmination of years of study were celebrated when more than 3400 students graduated in the University of Tasmania’s Winter graduation ceremonies.

Hobart ceremonies saw students graduate from the College of Health and Medicine; Sciences and Engineering; Arts, Law and Education; Business and Economics as well as the Graduate Research Office.

Acclaimed author and alumna Dr Carmel Bird (BA 1961, DipEd 1963) was awarded a Doctor of Letters honoris causa for her outstanding creative contribution to Tasmanian, Australian and international literature. The award recognises Dr Bird’s profound legacy and the particular significance of her work in relation to Tasmania’s history and its place in contemporary cultural life.

Launceston 26.08.2022

Launceston ceremonies welcomed graduates from the College of Health and Medicine, College of Business and Economics, University College and the Graduate Research Office.

Professor Richard Scolyer AO (BMedSci 1987, MBBS 1990), who was the 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient for his world-leading work in melanoma, gave an address.

You can enjoy more moments from the celebrations at: bit.ly/UTAS-Graduation

Alumni receptions

With more than 146,500 alumni across 134 countries, the University of Tasmania community is a large and growing one. Melbourne

2022 saw the return of the opportunity to reconnect with alumni off-island, encouraging conversations about Tasmania and its future. At the Sydney and Melbourne alumni events, Chancellor Alison Watkins AM provided an update on the University and sought contributions from alumni on their views around the priorities for the University. Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) Rob Wilson engaged with alumni at the well-attended Singapore event.

Highlight events

TUBES alumni career networking event 24.08.22

Alumni working at Sustainable Timber Tasmania, Hops Products Australia, Hydro Tasmania, KPMG, UTAS, TasNetworks, Tasmanian Audit Office, and WLF Accounting & Advisory met seventeen current students at the Tasmanian University Business & Economics Society (TUBES) networking event at the University’s Hobart Apartments building.

Environment Student Society alumni career networking event 15.09.22

The Environment Student Society networking event at the Stanley Burbury lecture theatre was an excellent opportunity for alumni representing the Clarence City Council, City of Hobart, Landcare Tasmania, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, The Environment And Water, and CarbonLockCSIRO to share their industry knowledge with current students.

Keeping in touch

You are part of the University of Tasmania alumni community

We hope you enjoyed the 2022 Alumni magazine and take inspiration from some of the stories about our growing global community.

Share your story, learn more about opportunities and services available to University of Tasmania alumni, or update your contact details by visiting: utas.edu.au/alumni

We love hearing from members of our alumni community and want to keep in touch with you.

Call us: +61 3 63243052

Email: Alumni.Office@utas.edu.au

Other ways to stay connected

Our monthly Alumni and Friends eNews shares your stories and keeps you informed about University news: utas.alumni.org.au/eNews

Find out more about University of Tasmania events: utas.edu.au/events

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Education is a gift all University of Tasmania alumni share.

Not everyone with a desire to learn has the same opportunities, which is why we hope you will consider supporting scholarships at the University of Tasmania. Access scholarships help students living in remote or rural communities, or facing financial challenges, overcome barriers to higher education.

Big or small, a contribution to the ‘Southern Lights Access Scholarship Fund’ is a vote of confidence in young Tasmanians, giving them the chance to showcase their talents and fulfill their potential – a life-changing gift indeed.

Scan the QR code to donate online at utas.edu.au/giving or call us on (03) 6226 1920.