University of Tasmania Alumni: Issue 54, 2023

alumni MAGAZINE

▶ Ryan Hartshorn,

Innovation all the whey

Tasmania's gateway to space Reducing the impact of multiple sclerosis Associate Professor Scott Ling on protecting our reefs

ISSUE 54 | 2023

Acknowledgement of Country We acknowledge the Palawa/Pakana of Lutruwita/Tasmania and Gadigal people of Sydney, the traditional owners of the land upon which we live and work. We pay respects to Elders past and present as the knowledge holders and sharers. We honour their strong culture and knowledges as vital to the self-determination, wellbeing and resilience of their communities. We stand for a future that profoundly respects and acknowledges Aboriginal perspectives, culture, language and history.

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Contents ■ W E LC O M E

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Community home to Country

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Residency boosts literary success

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From the Vice-Chancellor

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Connecting our alumni

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The Outback: taking on one of the world’s biggest classrooms

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River’s Edge opens at Inveresk

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Lighting the way to equity in education

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Law alumna Dr Alice Edwards

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A tender examination of life’s precariousness

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Behavioural insights for a better Tasmania

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Celebrating alumni success

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A shared goal to reduce the impact of multiple sclerosis

Celebrating 60 years of agricultural science

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Alumni in numbers

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From TB to COVID-19 and back again

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Alumni receptions

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Medicine under pressure

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Graduation ceremonies

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How a backyard project inspired a career that is protecting our reefs

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Highlight events

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Innovation all the whey

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Accounting for the future

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Tasmania’s future as a high-tech gateway to space is bright

◀ Cover photo Ryan Hartshorn, Hartshorn Distillery I Photo: Jess Oakenfull

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alumni Magazine / Issue 54 / 2023

Coming home to Country Professor Ian Anderson AO Professor Ian Anderson has inspired many in the fields of Indigenous education and health nationwide. A public health physician, he has been a national policy leader in Indigenous affairs and higher education policy and programs. In 2023, he returned to Country, taking up the position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at the University of Tasmania. Here, he shares with Alumni magazine some thoughts on his journey home.

I am honoured and profoundly privileged to have been appointed the University of Tasmania’s new Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic).

I was born in Devonport on the North-West Coast of Lutruwita/Tasmania. My mother is Palawa and my father comes from a rural family of farm labourers.

Our traditional culture and community are tied to tebrakunna country in the State’s north-east. My non-Aboriginal family are largely of convict descent from across Lutruwita/Tasmania.

When I was young, it was often the case that if you had educational promise, you left the North-West Coast and only very rarely returned.

My journey was similar but slightly different. We left Devonport just before my tenth birthday. My dad worked in towns in New South Wales and Victoria.

I finished high school in Bendigo and left to study medicine at the University of Melbourne and build a career in public health research and policy, particularly the social and cultural determinants of health. In 2006, I was awarded a PhD in Sociology and Anthropology.

I served as a Deputy Secretary in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and from there was appointed as a Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student and University Experience) at the Australian National University.

There is much that we are doing that is already nation leading. Our overall course satisfaction is up to 82 per cent, nearly three percentage points above the national average and higher than all the Group of Eight universities. The percentage of our graduates who secure full-time employment has also risen by nine percentage points to 80 per cent, which is three percentage points above the national average. And our domestic students enjoy the highest median graduate salary in Australia at $86,000, more than $10,000 above the national average.

These are tangible outcomes that are improving the lives of all Tasmanians, including those who in the past may not have had access to higher education, despite having the ability. It is vitally important that Indigenous Australians and Australians from regional areas and educationally disadvantaged communities all have opportunities to excel and give back to their community.

The University of Tasmania’s deeply place-based mission and commitment to embedding Indigenous knowledge to transform the institution is unique in the sector. The work of my colleagues (and cousins), Distinguished Professor Emerita Maggie Walter and Professor Greg Lehman, intellectual leaders in cultural and Indigenous sociology, has ensured we truly can lead the nation and indeed be global leaders.

We have an incredible opportunity as a university to invest in the social transformation and economic productivity of an entire state. And, in this year that the Australian people have the opportunity to vote to recognise Indigenous Australians in our constitution, we have a particular opportunity to further embed Indigenous knowledge by reflecting the Aboriginal notion of place in our strategy. I am excited about the possibilities before us.

I have spent more than 20 years promoting access to higher education for Indigenous Australians and for Australians from regional areas and educationally disadvantaged communities. The opportunity to return to Tasmania to continue this work was not one I could pass up.

I didn’t realise how profoundly I was affected by returning to Tasmania until I was sitting down for a counter meal at the Neptune Grand Hotel in Penguin in my first week in this role. I looked around the room and was overcome by the emotion of recognising I was among folks as if I had never left. I realised I had finally come home to Country.

As much as I am moulded by my Tasmanian upbringing, it is fortunate that times have changed since my days on the North-West Coast. I have come back to the island to make sure this wave of change continues. I am privileged to lead our wonderful new campuses on the Coast and at Inveresk as well as our agenda of building a distinctive course portfolio and stronger pathways to access these courses.

▲ Professor Ian Anderson is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at the University of Tasmania | Photo: Jamie Kidston/ANU

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Welcome From the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Rufus Black We’re living through times where our expectations about what is ‘usual’ are being upended.

Temperatures on land and sea are breaking heat records across the globe, regardless of season. There is war in Europe and geopolitical tensions are simmering in the South China Sea. Biodiversity is declining, and waste increasing. Here in Australia, the cost of living keeps rising, and inequality with it. Meanwhile, the economy is showing problems – such as low productivity – that are starting to become entrenched.

We are entering an era very different to the long period of post-war prosperity. We not only face headwinds from an aging population and global competition, we also need to transform our society and economy rapidly if we are to meet the sustainability challenges of our time, of which reaching zero-carbon by 2050 is just one.

There are also plenty of reasons for hope. There are places on the planet where we are making real progress and Tasmania with its 100% renewable energy capacity is an example. There is much work going on in the University aimed at solving these problems and you can see in the lives of our alumni passionate and brilliant work that is making a difference.

As I look through the contents of this year’s Alumni Magazine, it’s clear that many of our University’s graduates are making significant contributions in this way, and have been for some time.

This is intriguing, for it suggests there is something about Tasmania, and those that choose to study here, that encourages this.

It is also affirming, as it tells us that our current strategy is on the right track, seeking to make a difference here in Tasmania and – calling on Tasmania’s special attributes – well beyond our shores.

Already we’ve been named number 1 university in the world for climate action, for two years running, giving us a taste of what we can achieve. It has demonstrated we can be world leaders in sustainability and help Tasmania become a model for other places. As we refine our strategy in the coming months, I’m confident we can make an even bigger difference, focused on the urgent tasks we face.

This isn’t a small undertaking, and it reminds us that we need as many people as possible, from many different places and life experiences, to have the opportunity to gain the skills and knowledge required to do this work.

For remaking our society depends on imagination, creativity and innovation across all that supports it – health, education, law, arts, culture, agriculture, business, economics, architecture, science and more. And this happens best when we can draw on diverse perspectives.

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▲ Vice-Chancellor Professor Rufus Black That’s why increasing accessibility to the University of Tasmania is so important.

Diverse perspectives in the global arena are also important, and that’s something else we’re well placed to offer. For Tasmania is a special and not-so-usual place and international efforts to remake the status quo in these new and ‘unusual’ times can only benefit from our contribution.

Wherever you’re located, and however you’re making a contribution, I thank you for your ongoing interest in the University of Tasmania and invite you to explore the stories on the following pages about what your fellow graduates are offering, and can offer, the world.

Connecting our alumni 2023 has been an extraordinary year, and one where we’ve had the opportunity to reconnect with members of the University’s alumni community here on the Island, in Sydney and Melbourne and indeed overseas. We’ve been truly inspired by the remarkable achievements of our alumni across the globe.

Words by Rebecca Cuthill, Director Advancement and Rob Blandford, Associate Director, Alumni Relations 2023 has presented the world with unprecedented challenges and, amidst turbulent times, our alumni have consistently exemplified the University’s commitment to making a positive difference in society.

The University of Tasmania prides itself on nurturing professionals, thinkers and change-makers who strive for excellence and lead impactful lives. It is a delight to witness our alumni contributing significantly in diverse fields and cultivating a culture of innovation, resilience and compassion.

Across the globe, our alumni have demonstrated exceptional leadership in tackling environmental issues.

From spearheading conservation efforts to rolling out innovative solutions to climate change, they play a pivotal role in shaping a sustainable future.

Furthermore, our alumni have been providing invaluable contributions to healthcare and community wellbeing, with groundbreaking medical research making a tangible impact in the lives of people worldwide.

Through their ventures, they have fostered employment opportunities, facilitated knowledge transfer and brought forth transformative solutions to real-world problems.

We are proud to acknowledge that our alumni have not only excelled in their respective fields but have also actively contributed back to the University community.

As mentors, guest lecturers and donors, they continue to act as a guiding light for generations to come.

While this year has presented challenges, it has also reinforced the strength of the University of Tasmania alumni network. The passion, dedication and impact showcased by our graduates are a testament to the transformative power of education and the shared vision of our community.

As we pave the way for future success, we honour and celebrate the achievements of our alumni. We encourage you to stay connected and help shape tomorrow by remaining engaged in our vibrant network.

Equally inspiring is the entrepreneurial spirit that our alumni embody. They have demonstrated resilience in adapting to the changing global landscape, creating businesses and technologies that drive innovation and economic growth.

▼ Rob Blandford and Rebecca Cuthill

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River’s Edge opens at Inveresk Hundreds of Launceston students and staff have been enjoying their brand-new view in semester two. The River's Edge building at Inveresk is complete with flexible study spaces and staff workplaces. Learning, teaching, events and conferences are all in full swing.

Words by Chelsea Wingrove

▲ Internal view of River's Edge building | Photo: Adam Gibson

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River’s Edge has opened in Inveresk, transforming the experience of studying and working at the University in Launceston. Members of the public, too, are invited to use the quintessentially Launceston building which, through outstanding architecture, invites aspiration and possibility.

In its use of earthy materials and forms, and the heritage setting of The Inveresk Railyards, River’s Edge speaks to the industrial, working-class history that was such a foundation for this city. Framing views of the meandering Lakekeler/North Esk River, and fringed by the Riawunna Garden, River’s Edge also acknowledges the deep history and natural beauty of the region. In its generously sculpted spaces and fine craftsmanship, it seeks to make a positive difference to the educational and civic life of Launceston.

River’s Edge offers the best facilities available, providing students, wherever they come from in Tasmania or elsewhere, with an education as good as anywhere in the world. The legacy will be in these students’ changed lives, their expanded opportunities, and their ability to contribute. The building has been purpose-built for modern teaching to encourage interactive learning.

When students come onto campus, they are taught in a smaller group setting and can focus on hands-on, discussion or practical-based learning in a mix of small (12 person) to larger (50 person) collaborative teaching spaces.

More broadly, the design of the emerging Inveresk precinct encourages people to connect and collaborate (or find a quiet space to focus if they need to), so you won’t see buildings labelled for individual Schools.

The result is a precinct that is easy to navigate, inclusive and welcoming to all, enabling students to get to know others from outside their area of study, enriching their university life.

But the vision extends further than this. Inveresk is a shared and valued place for the entire community, where education, sport, creativity and history all meet.

This makes it a vibrant location for local industry and business leaders to meet and connect with students and staff, building future partnerships and career connections. University buildings are open and welcoming to the public, who are encouraged to visit and participate in what’s happening around the campus, whether it’s borrowing a book from the Inveresk Library or getting involved in the Community Garden.

▲ The new River's Edge building, Inveresk | Photo: Adam Gibson

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So, what’s it like to move in and start working and teaching from the new River’s Edge facilities?

Dr Nicholas Hookway (BA Hons 2004, PhD 2011), Senior Lecturer in Sociology in the School of Social Sciences, shares his experiences so far.

How have you and other staff found the new building; how was the move and leaving Newnham?

I’m really enjoying the new spaces and being at Inveresk; it’s a place people want to be. From my honours year to teaching thousands of students over the years, I have many fond memories of Newnham so there was a sadness about leaving, but overwhelmingly my colleagues and I are excited about being at River’s Edge – a building that is not only beautiful but fit for how we now work and teach.

The new campus has created a sense of wanting to go to work. It helps build connections. My research area is around social connection and how we create communities in contemporary life. This is being achieved here, through good design and intentional creation of spaces.

There have of course been anxieties and uncertainties about the move, but we are figuring out new ways to work and be together and are finding our new normal.

I’m already chatting and interacting with new people across the College of Arts Law and Education and that is really energising and positive. We know we work better when we know each other on a personal level and have that sense of care and connection. It’s certainly a great reset after COVID, which intensified feelings of disconnection. If you design great spaces, people will want to be there.

What are you enjoying most about being at the new Inveresk campus, and how will the teaching and learning be experienced differently for our students?

It’s a place our staff and students can feel proud of, a place you want to bring members of the public to and have a coffee meeting in the local café.

The technology in the teaching rooms is state-of-theart but easy to use; some office spaces are open plan but there are plenty of meeting spaces for quiet and focused work. I teach first-year sociology with a large cohort of 300 students, and I can’t wait to teach them here face-to-face and take advantage of the technology to find new ways to bring on-campus and off-campus students together.

From members of the public visiting the museum to people running the trails of nearby Heritage Forest, there is a feeling of civic connection and belonging at the new campus. The campus also provides students opportunities to reach outside their disciplinary boundaries and feel part of something bigger.

Going to uni is a big marker in a person’s life and, particularly for young people, it can be a period of change and vulnerability, so forming new connections is important. The new buildings and Inveresk site will help foster this.

The connection to the city and the wider community is clear too. With buildings visible and publicly accessible, this provides new and exciting ways for our research and teaching to connect with business, community organisations and the wider public.

For example, I’m on the board for Headspace North so we could host meetings here, hold youth events and conduct research together.

Having university buildings embedded in the city and the community like this also helps demystify university.

We know in Tassie there are lower levels of educational attainment. As a kid from the North-West, I was the first in my family to study at university and I felt like a fish out of water. If this is a space I regularly hang out at – whether it’s visiting the museum, playing basketball on the community courts or going to the footy – then university begins to feel like a place where I belong and fit. That’s really important and something I’m really excited to be part of. ▲ Left: River's Edge building, Inveresk | Photo: Adam Gibson Right: Dr Nicholas Hookway in the new teaching spaces

◀ New teaching spaces overlooking the North Esk Above: Central atrium

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Tasmania’s future as a high-tech gateway to space is bright Space isn’t a new frontier for University of Tasmania researchers, but it is an exhilarating field of research and commercial enterprise that should be at the top of our national and local agenda, says space scientist Professor Simon Ellingsen (BSc Hons 1992, PhD 1996).

Words by Genevieve Mackintosh

For more than 30 years, alumnus Professor Simon Ellingsen has marvelled at the wonders of nature beyond Earth. Now, Ellingsen is the Dean of the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Tasmania, and he is the academic leader for the University’s activities in spacecraft tracking and space domain awareness.

“When I did honours in 1991, we did everything with computers that had significantly less processing power than the phones we carry in our pockets today.

Everything was very manual and required a person at the observatory swapping cables, flicking switches and the like,” Ellingsen said.

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He has also used the array of radio telescopes to make measurements of the scale and structure of the Milky Way with unprecedented accuracy.

“Distance is one of the hardest things to measure in astronomy, but it's probably the single most important piece of information.

“My research now mainly focuses on exploring the formation of massive stars.

“Measuring the distance to stars and other objects in our galaxy – the Milky Way – is surprisingly hard: a bit like trying to understand the extent of a forest while standing in the middle of it. But our understanding of the Milky Way is a key part of the foundational knowledge required to make sense of other more distant and exotic galaxies, so this work was a valuable contribution to the field.”

“This year, using the University of Tasmania’s suite of radio telescopes and others around the world, my team and I were able to show exactly how high-mass stars are born – it’s a really exciting field to be part of.”

Ellingsen and his team use the University’s world-class telescopes through all their work, and they consider it a priority to continually innovate to improve the state of space science in Tasmania and far beyond.

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▲ Greenhill Observatory, Bisdee Tier, Southern Tasmania | Photo: Oi Studios

The University’s history of space and astronomy research dates back to the 1950s when the world’s first radio astronomer, Grote Reber, moved to Tasmania to pursue his research.

Reber saw the undeniable value of our unique geographic situation, close to the geomagnetic pole and perfect for viewing the southern skies and southern lights, ‘Aurora Australis’.

The University is now world renowned for our network of six radio telescopes that stretch proudly across Australia in the globe’s only university-coordinated continental array, all managed remotely from Hobart by a team of local experts from the University.

Together, the team provides ground support to commercial and scientific activities exploring near and deep space, and covering satellites in polar and equatorial orbits.

They have worked with NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Australian Space Agency (ASA), and prestigious space industry leaders like SpaceX, Skykraft and HENSOLDT. The array that makes up the University’s Southern Skies Network includes three 12-metre antennas in Hobart, Yarragadee (Western Australia) and in Katherine (Northern Territory), a 26-metre antenna near Hobart and a 30-metre antenna near Ceduna (South Australia).

In early 2023, Ellingsen helped to unveil a new 7.3-metre communications antenna at the Greenhill Observatory in southern Tasmania, adding new capability to the network. A partnership between the University and the Australian Space Agency, it was funded jointly by the Australian Government’s Space Infrastructure Fund and the University, with the investment designed to help grow the Australian space sector and advance national space infrastructure.

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“The new ‘Bisdee Tier’ antenna is the southernmost of its kind in the world,” Ellingsen said.

The new facility provides ground support to space missions in low-earth orbit and will help reduce the chance of collisions for spacecraft.

“With almost 85 per cent of all satellites currently in orbit sitting in this low-earth orbit range, and launches happening at an increasing rate, we’re seeing potential obstructions pop up that need to be managed,” he said.

“To launch safely and to keep the assets safe once they are in orbit, we need to know where the stuff that is already up there, like spacecraft and debris, is sitting – this is called ‘space domain awareness’.

“In 2018 there were around 2000 active satellites in orbit, then this doubled in less than two years.

“In August 2023 around 7300 active satellites were in space, and almost 3700 of those were from one company alone: SpaceX, through their Starlink program.

“The growth is exponential, so we are working on innovative techniques and technologies to tackle the challenges this brings, and our new antenna plays an important role in this work.

“In the past, we have only been able to listen to transmissions from spacecraft but now we are able to transmit messages through radio frequency communications to spacecraft, sending commands as well as receiving data,” Ellingsen said.

“Space technology, like satellites, is critical in supporting our everyday life and wellbeing, and we’re working hard at the University to keep at the forefront of this field so we can learn more about the universe and also protect this vital technology in our skies.”

▶ Students with telescope technical off icer Bryn Emptage ▼ Aerial view of Greenhill Observatory | Photos: Oi Studios

Behavioural insights for a better Tasmania For teacher and alumnus Matt Dalziel (BA 2000, BTeach 2006), studying through the Tasmanian Behavioural Lab has been eye-opening.

Words by Jacob Foreman This year, the University of Tasmania celebrated the launch of the State’s first behavioural insights research lab.

“Using behavioural insights, we were able to develop and test interventions that provided online gamblers with feedback on their losses,” Chuah said.

The Tasmanian Behavioural Lab is a state-of-the-art facility that conducts research and teaching, and provides businesses, not-for-profit agencies and government departments with access to behavioural insights to improve the lives of Tasmanians.

“By presenting them with evidence of their activities through statements detailing their deposits, withdrawals, wins and losses, we were able to reduce the amounts gambled.”

To understand why behavioural insights matter, you need to understand how underlying psychological factors and biases influence decisions that affect us all, says Tasmanian Behavioural Lab Director Professor Swee-Hoon Chuah.

"By understanding why people make the decisions they do, like deciding to smoke or eat highly processed food, we can suggest and test methods to encourage more positive choices through behaviour change policy and programs to create a better, healthier and more sustainable Tasmania,” Chuah said.

“These strategies and interventions can also be applied in the private sector, and we recently helped an international app developer to improve customer engagement and retention on their app.”

Before launching the Tasmanian Behavioural Lab, Professor Chuah worked at the Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government on projects like Better Choices, which looked at helping online gamblers make informed decisions.

With teaching and research activities well underway, the next generation of behavioural economists are already exploring what makes Tasmanians tick.

For Hobart College economics teacher and alumnus Matt Dalziel, studying a Graduate Certificate in Behavioural Insights with the Tasmanian Behavioural Lab has been eye-opening.

“Initially, it was just curiosity that made me enrol, but after studying with the lab, I realised how much potential there is across so many different sectors to utilise behavioural insights,” Dalziel said.

“It can be taught and applied in education in lots of different ways, and it’s really appealing to my students because it opens their eyes to what economics can be.”

▲ Professor Swee-Hoon Chuah in the Tasmanian Behavioural Lab, Hobart | Photo: Oi Studios

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A shared goal to reduce the impact of multiple sclerosis There’s currently no cure for multiple sclerosis (MS), but these alumni researchers aim to make a positive difference for people with MS and the community.

Words by Rachel Clemons Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a devastating disease of the central nervous system. Both environmental and genetic risk factors contribute to its development as the most common chronic neurological disease affecting young adults. There are more than 33,000 Australians living with MS, with Tasmania having the highest prevalence.

As yet there’s no known cause or cure, but alumni working within the MS Research Flagship at the University of Tasmania’s Menzies Institute for Medical Research are intent on providing some answers.

Dr Alice Saul (BSc Hons 2014, PhD 2023) Dr Alice Saul was inspired to get involved in MS research as she has experienced firsthand the impact that MS can have on individuals and their families.

“I understand the challenges that MS presents, and I’m passionate about making a difference in the lives of others by addressing these issues,” Saul said.

“Doing my postdoc at Menzies was a natural progression for me. After all, the unique concentration of MS in Tasmania is one of the reasons why Menzies conducts internationally significant MS research – to improve the lives of Tasmanians living with MS.”

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Saul’s current research project is exploring the role of pain in MS. Pain is prevalent in MS and is commonly treated, but low levels of relief have been reported and there’s no clear guidance on how pain should be managed.

“My project will improve the understanding of individual types of pain in people with MS and design treatment intervention studies for specific types of pain,” she said.

Saul thrives on the challenges presented by researching a disease that has proven to be so elusive to determining cause or cure.

“Often, we have only a handful of clues to figure out a research question, so finding the solutions to the puzzle that is MS is a tremendous feat. I enjoy learning new skills to do this and love teaming up with researchers all over the world. I also find it very rewarding when these discoveries can make a difference in people’s lives,” she said.

▲ Dr Alice Saul ▶ Professor Tracey Dickson | Above: Dr Nicholas Blackburn (right)

Dr Nicholas Blackburn (BSc Hons 2010, PhD 2015) It’s the potential for discovery that inspired Dr Nicholas Blackburn to get involved in MS research.

“MS research was a field change for me. I’ve worked across a range of different diseases both in humans and in animals, but in 2020 I saw an opportunity to apply my skills to make significant advancements in understanding the underlying genetic causes of MS,” Blackburn said.

The project he leads looks at how genetic variation contributes to MS. “We don’t know why some families have multiple relatives affected by MS. We think they may have a stronger genetic risk to develop the disease, so my team and I are working to understand the DNA code of these families. I invite families that have multiple family members with MS to join our MS Family Study. They provide their DNA through a blood or saliva sample.

I then look for changes in their genetic code that are shared between all family members with MS and are not present in their unaffected family members.”

“We go on to use this information to study whether other people with MS have the same or similar genetic changes, potentially uncovering several mechanisms as to why MS develops, which will tell us where to target our efforts to develop new MS therapies,” he said.

Menzies has a long history of international research collaborations in the MS space, and for Blackburn’s research these collaborations are crucial.

“When we share data and connect different experiments across the world, I believe we really have a shot at understanding every aspect of MS development – and how we can focus that to find better therapies, preventions, or cures,” he said.

It’s the people, however, who consistently provide motivation for his work.

“I came for the discoveries but it’s the people with MS that I connect with now that continue to inspire me to push forward with my research.

“Consumer and community involvement is integral to our projects at the MS Research Flagship, and I find the value of conducting research with consumer partners to be immense.

“It’s through consumer partnerships that I can see the importance of my work as a researcher,” he said.

Tracey Dickson (BSc Hons 1996, PhD 2000) Menzies Director Professor Tracey Dickson says that Menzies has proudly been at the forefront of research advancements in MS for more than twenty years.

“It was out of this intensive focus and research capability that we established our MS Research Flagship, a hub of multidisciplinary, consumer driven MS research with a vision to reduce the impact of MS for individuals and the community,” Dickson said.

“The Flagship’s projects, such as those being led by Dr Blackburn and Dr Saul, have huge potential to make a real difference for people living with MS.”

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▲ Dr Clare Smith (centre) in the Smith Lab

From TB to COVID-19 and back again How a chance work-experience placement led to a career in medical science and one grand US adventure.

Words by Lucie van den Berg Dr Clare Smith’s face is beaming. She’s standing in front of a small silver plaque fastened to a white brick wall.

Underneath the name of her department, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, are two words that signal the start of a new chapter in her medical research career: Smith Lab. It’s January 2020, the start of her new role as Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator of a mammalian genetics and infectious disease lab that bears her surname at Duke University in North Carolina.

Even though her team is charged with investigating the host and pathogen genetics underlying tuberculosis (TB), a new respiratory illness, caused by a virus, has emerged.

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“I was a new Professor, building my lab from scratch, when the pandemic began and the shutdowns occurred, but because my lab is trained for highcontainment biosafety work with dangerous pathogens, people looked to us to help lead the COVID-19 research effort,” Smith said.

“My team and I leapt into action and I spent my first year training and working with virologists on COVID-19 in moonsuits in our lab; it was an amazing experience to contribute to understanding a deadly new virus that was impacting the world.”

Smith has now switched her focus back to TB, a disease that killed more than 1.6 million people in 2021. It is the greatest killer of humankind over history.

Her lab specialises in investigating interactions between our genetics and the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB) and aims to uncover new ways to treat or prevent the disease.

“Despite the perception that TB is a disease of the past, one in three people worldwide are latently infected with the disease,” Smith said.

“It’s very sneaky, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis can hide in your host cells and sometimes it can stay hidden for decades, so you could have TB, but you remain unaware until it remerges.

“Since the pandemic, TB rates are rising again and we don’t know whether that’s because contracting this respiratory virus somehow reactivates TB, which mainly affects the lungs.”

Her lab is unique because it specialises in using genetically diverse models to study TB. “When people are infected with TB, our unique genetics influence how we interact with the disease.

“By replicating this diversity in our mouse models, we can gain better insights into the interactions between the host and the pathogen.”

Looking back on her career, it’s incredible to think that until a chance work experience opportunity at Claremont High School, Smith had never considered a career in science.

“I never thought I would end up staying in the US for ten years, but I’ve always just taken the next opportunity and, so far, that has taken me on one grand adventure.”

The lure of her island home always beckons, which is why Smith returns to Tasmania as often as she can.

“I never thought I would end up staying in the US for ten years, but I’ve always just taken the next opportunity and, so far, that has taken me on one grand adventure.”

Dr Clare Smith

Her long-term goal is to set up collaborations and training pathways between Australia and American medical researchers.

Her advice to the next generation of medical researchers draws on her own experience and echoes the advice she received all those years ago at Menzies: always be open to new opportunities, you never know where they may take you.

“My teacher suggested I go to the Menzies Institute for Medical Research for my work experience placement and that’s when I discovered the impact that you could make on people’s lives and it set me on my medical research pathway.”

Smith completed a Bachelor of Biotechnology with First-Class Honours from the University of Tasmania where she first discovered the world of host genetics and disease susceptibility.

Her PhD supervisor, Adjunct Professor Simon Foote (DSc 2010), the former Director of Menzies, was an incredible source of support.

“Simon is so enigmatic and inspirational and an expert in so many research fields. His fearless pursuit of big ideas still influences the type of science that I do,” Smith recalls.

After gaining a grounding in host genetics, she had the opportunity to combine her expertise with bacterial technologies to investigate tuberculosis at Umass Medical School in Massachusetts.

Inspired by the international stories of female mentors and role models at Menzies, including Professor Lisa Foa, Associate Professor Michelle Keske, Professor Kaylene Young and neuroscientist Professor Tracey Dickson (BSc Hons 1996, PhD 2000), the current Director of Menzies, she knew she wanted to experience science in the States.

Smith bid farewell to her family and their farm, complete with three pet alpacas, in the Derwent Valley. That was a decade ago.

▲ Dr Clare Smith (left) with members of her team

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Medicine under pressure It is a minor miracle that humans have found ways of breathing underwater, whether venturing into the deep blue for recreation or work. For nearly four decades, Dr David Smart AM has been at the forefront of helping them to do so safely.

Words by Katherine Johnson

Dr David Smart (BMedSci 1981, MBBS Hons1 1984, MD 2005) understands pressure. He is a world leader in diving and hyperbaric medicine, alongside his career in emergency medicine, having practiced, researched and taught across these fields.

When he graduated from Medicine in 1984, the top medical graduate in Tasmania that year, neither emergency medicine nor hyperbaric medicine were recognised specialties – something he has helped to change.

Six years later, Smart received the Buchanan Prize from the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine for being the top graduate in Australia in his Fellowship exams. In 2004, he was awarded an Order of the International Federation of Emergency Medicine for his international contributions to emergency medicine.

Smart went on to chair the Scientific Committee of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. He was also Director of Emergency Medicine at both Calvary Private Hospital and the Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH) – a role that saw him lead the medical response to the Port Arthur tragedy in 1996.

“RHH had a comprehensive disaster plan, which we had finalised only weeks preceding that event,” he said of the coordinated response that is widely regarded as having been world-class. Without such preparation, the event could have been even more tragic.

In the field of diving and hyperbaric medicine (DHM), Smart was Medical Director as well as Supervisor of Training at the RHH hyperbaric facility – used to treat divers suffering from ‘the bends’ (decompression sickness) and other patients requiring the healing benefits of hyperbaric oxygen, such as for wound treatment.

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Pragmatic is how he describes his research interests, which have led to 130 published scientific papers and abstracts. “I am interested in research associated with trying to fix a problem,” he said.

“I’m proud of what we’ve been able to do for Tasmania’s aquaculture industry. Our field research led to safe diving tables that didn’t exist previously. These are now utilised worldwide.

“Another major achievement was leading the design and commissioning of the new world-class RHH hyperbaric facility, which also has hypobaric (lowpressure) functionality and unique capability for future research.”

Passing on knowledge is also important to Smart.

For three decades, he has been teaching medical students at the University of Tasmania in an honorary role and was appointed Clinical Professor in 2015. “It has been a privilege throughout my whole career to teach.

You touch the future with teaching,” he said.

And then there is his 25-year-long association with Fiji, leading emergency life-support training of remote doctors, a program developed by a team of Australian doctors that was rolled out in the Asia/Pacific region.

“We also teach management of serious illness in remote environments to nurses in Fiji,” Smart said.

“More than 200 doctors and nurses, many being sole nurse practitioners on distant islands or junior doctors on postings, have now completed the courses.”

He adds there are many Tasmanian medical connections with Fiji, including the late Emeritus Professor Ian Lewis AO, a previous professor of paediatrics at the University of Tasmania’s School of Medicine.

Smart is also lead DHM Examiner with the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and pastpresident of the South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society. In 2014, he was invited to provide medical supervision of the Australian Antarctic Diving Program at Casey Base.

“I feel incredibly fortunate to have trained and studied in Tasmania and to use it as a launching pad to work at national and international levels,” he said.

He challenges the way many people, including Tasmanians themselves, sometimes underrate Australia’s smallest State in terms of capacity and ability.

“I feel incredibly fortunate to have trained and studied in Tasmania and to use it as a launching pad to work at national and international levels.”

Dr David Smart

“It’s been an advantage to come from Tassie where you are not painted into a narrow, specialist corner,” Smart said.

And then there is the place itself. “The opportunity to be able to access that amazing scenery and environment is a big advantage,” he said.

His advice to medical graduates is to choose your partner carefully, take your time when deciding on a specialty after finishing your initial degree, and find a medical field that stimulates you.

“You also need to know when to lift the drawbridge,” he said. “You can make a lot of difference to other people’s lives, but you have to make sure it is not at your own, or your family's, expense.”

“One of my resilience and survival techniques when there is too much in your portfolio is to intermittently rationalise and fine tune it.”

He describes experiencing burnout in 1998 after juggling a large workload with limited resources.

Personal experiences have also influenced his outlook on life. At just eighteen, his sister died suddenly from encephalitis. Then, several decades later, his eighteenyear-old daughter had a near-fatal anaphylaxis. Smart was the first doctor to attend to her, the worst case of anaphylaxis he had encountered, but his daughter survived, supported by excellent pre-hospital care.

Consequently, one of his mottos is, “Today is called to-day not one-day – don’t put off until one day what you can do today.”

“You have to see the bigger picture because there is a need to be across a broader range of skills and ideas here … I’ve really enjoyed the variety of medicine over my career. A degree from UTAS, working and training in Tasmanian hospitals, means you are able to mix it with anyone from the bigger centres.” ▲ Dr David Smart diving in Fiji | Photo: Annette Smart

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How a backyard project inspired a career that is protecting our reefs Tasmanian born and bred, marine ecologist Scott Ling is keen to encourage a new generation of marine scientists to base themselves in the state, which is a hotspot of global warming.

Words by Katherine Johnson Associate Professor Scott Ling’s (BSc Hons 2000, PhD 2009) fascination with science began as a backyard project when he was a boy growing up in Tasmania.

With his cocker spaniel by his side, he became aware of a brown trout in the stream that ran through his family’s garden. Keen to encourage more fish, he read widely and built a system of dams and weirs to improve the local aquatic habitat.

By the time he was a teenager, he was rewarded with a population of 30 trout, a healthy creek and a love for ecology. He could identify each trout by their pattern of spots and observed how the fish behaved.

But when his cocker spaniel passed away at fifteen, something unexpected happened. Ducks, which the dog had kept away, began to muddy the waters and eat the snails that had controlled the amount of water weed. The system collapsed.

“There was this cascading change in my backyard,” Ling said. “It wasn't until I got to third year at university and started reading freshwater ecology journals that I realised, ‘This is what I've seen, but I just haven't recorded any of it.’ ” “And so, for me, university was about getting formal training in how to record these changes, and then how to run experiments to really work out what was going on.” ▼ An urchin barren on Tasmania's east coast I Photo: Scott Ling

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Ling is now Associate Professor and Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow in marine ecology at the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS). His research focuses on how and why productive reef ecosystems collapse into impoverished systems that can be difficult to reverse.

Growing up, Ling also spent time at his family shack at Bicheno on Tasmania’s east coast, where he keenly fished and dived in marine habitats rich with giant kelp.

“The kelp was so thick, boats would tie off on it, rather than anchoring,” he said.

Since then, the population of giant kelp along Tasmania’s east coast has declined by 95 per cent and has been replaced by more warm-tolerant understorey kelp species. The reason – climate change and a related extension of warm, nutrient-poor water coming from the mainland. There has also been a dramatic influx of long-spined sea urchins from northern waters that is creating urchin barrens devoid of all seaweeds – in stark contrast to healthy reefs which support rock lobsters, abalone and a raft of endemic species.

On return visits to his family shack, he noticed mainland fish species appearing in the Bicheno gulch.

“There has been a real regime shift in the ecology of eastern Tasmania from my childhood to the present day,” he said.

“We need to build resilience of these systems to further changes. Once the ecosystems collapse, they are very hard to recover.”

Associate Professor Scott Ling

After completing a Bachelor of Science, Ling did his honours and PhD in marine ecology at the University under the supervision of alumnus Professor Craig Johnson (BSc Hons 1979). A take-home message from his studies was that, to look after our marine environments, an ounce of prevention is worth a tonne of cure.

“We need to build resilience of these systems to further changes. Once the ecosystems collapse, they are very hard to recover,” Ling said.

“One way of building in resilience is mass removal of sea urchins before the barrens form. We also need a better balance between predators (rock lobsters) and prey (urchins).”

The research team Ling is part of has shown that building up the numbers of big lobsters is key for keeping urchins in check. And then there is giant kelp forest restoration research, which for him focuses on locally reducing competition from warm-tolerant understorey kelp species to allow giant kelp to re-establish a foothold.

Ling says there is a shift towards ecosystem-based management, which is based on scientific understanding of predators, prey and competitors within the context of the changing physical environment of reefs.

As part of his ARC Future Fellowship, Ling is comparing temperate and tropical reefs in terms of how they collapse and recover.

“While most people put temperate and tropical reef systems in distinctly separate boxes, there is this continuum of change in reefs across Australia, and, as we warm here in Tasmania, we need to understand what that will mean for our cool reef ecosystems down the track,” he said.

“Growing up, I was told I needed to go to the Great Barrier Reef to be a marine biologist, but now the tables have turned. I’m really keen to grow opportunities for local Tasmanians and others to study in Tasmania – a hotspot for global warming – as we’ve been understanding the natural history of these dramatic changes for a long time and the spotlight is on us as we work with industry to find scalable solutions, before it is too late.”

▲ Associate Professor Scott Ling runs a f ield course for pre-university students on Maria Island on Tasmania’s east coast teaching students that, ‘You can’t manage it if you can’t measure it.’

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Innovation all the whey

They say you should never mix family and business, but alumnus Ryan Hartshorn (BCom 2007) likes to do things differently.

Words by Lucie van den Berg After all, the Tasmanian entrepreneur has made his mark turning sheep whey into a world-class tipple.

Hartshorn’s success story began with a move from the sunny climes of Queensland to Tasmania two decades ago.

His mother, Diane, had purchased 40 acres in Birchs Bay, 40km out of Hobart, and started an organic sheep dairy and cheesery, Grandvewe.

“Back then Tassie wasn’t known as the cool destination it is now and I was studying in Queensland, so I said: ‘Good luck with that mum’,” recalls Hartshorn.

He jokes that as a former psychologist, she “knows how to mess with her children’s brains”.

“She told me if I moved down I could help manage the business and put my education into action.”

It was too enticing to resist.

“I transferred my Bachelor of Business Degree from UQ to UTAS and I found the course here really refreshing: at the time it was the only one in Australia offering an entrepreneurship course.”

He credits his education with teaching him the skills to save the now renowned Tasmanian cheesery in the face of crippling challenges in its infancy.

It has also underpinned his own business endeavours.

In 2018, he launched Hartshorn Distillery. It began with a small copper still, purchased online, and a boiler made from a beer keg.

“The distillery was going to operate alongside the cheesery, but then I had this ‘genius’ moment, which was to use the sheep whey to make the alcohol.

“It didn’t impact on the cheese production and it allowed me to turn waste into a new product.

“I also took a big gamble and decided not to filter the vodka.

“I thought: what's the point in starting with such a unique ingredient base and then having it taste like everything else on the market?”

After a period of intense experimentation, he devised a top drop.

In 2018, Hartshorn Distillery won the World’s Best Vodka.

“Six years later and we are now the largest producer of vodka in Tasmania,” he said.

Hartshorn’s products are now sold in every state in Australia and overseas, but his entrepreneurial spirit is insatiable with plans for a new product underway.

The family business has also been expanding. His sister Nicole Gulliver has launched Ewecare, which turns milk unfit to be made into cheese into cosmetics. ◀ Ryan Hartshorn, Hartshorn Distillery and Grandewe Cheeses Photos: Jess Oakenfull

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Accounting for the future When we think about sustainability, accounting isn’t the first thing that usually springs to mind, but University of Tasmania alumna and carbon accountant Himadri Mayadunne is working to change that.

Words by Jacob Foreman As businesses around the world respond to the challenges and opportunities of climate change, people in the emerging field of carbon and climate accounting, like Himadri Mayadunne (MBA(I) 2021), are leading the way in sustainable business.

“To me, being a carbon accountant means having the passion to assist the world in addressing climate change using the expertise of an accountant,” Mayadunne said.

“Carbon accounting is a relatively new and interesting field, and my role involves collaborating with organisations to calculate their carbon emissions and provide advice to ensure that they meet regulatory requirements.”

A Dean’s Honour Roll student, Mayadunne studied a Master of Business Administration at the University of Tasmania before commencing her role at ER Advisory, an award-winning Tasmanian accounting firm based in Burnie and specialising in traditional and carbon accounting services.

“It is truly exhilarating to contribute towards a more sustainable future through the application of accounting practices.”

Reflecting on her time at university, Himadri says that the Corporate Internship Program (now the Business Placements program) was a defining moment of her studies that influenced her career trajectory.

“I had a remarkable opportunity to engage in a research study focused on natural capital accounting. The findings of this study were presented to the Australian Accounting Standards Board Working Paper Series, with the intention of incorporating them into standard accounting practices in the future.

“This exciting experience in natural capital accounting shaped my passion for the field and played a significant role in shaping the path I have chosen for my career.”

“Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in awareness about climate change and its associated damages, and businesses now recognise the importance of measuring and reducing carbon emissions to address climate change,” she said.

▲ Carbon accountant Himadri Mayadunne | Photo: Peter W Allen

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Residency boosts literary success Author Robbie Arnott reflects on his latest novel and the gift of time to write, and to give back.

Words by David Beniuk One of the books of the year emerged from the inaugural Hedberg Writer-in-Residence program, but author Robbie Arnott gained so much more from the experience.

Arnott used the precious time to write his third novel, Limberlost, which this year was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and won the Age Book of the Year for fiction.

Based on the life of Arnott’s grandfather, it tells the story of teenager Ned on his family’s Tasmanian orchard during World War II. The University’s Hedberg residency was integral to the creation of the book, Arnott says.

“It was amazing,” he said. “I got three months just to focus on writing a book. It was essentially a full-time job just to work on a book.”

It was a rewarding return to the University for Arnott, who moved from Launceston to Hobart in 2008 to hedge his bets with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business.

“I knew I loved novels and I wanted to know what made them work and why they elicited such a strong response in me, so I came to learn about that,” he said.

“Just being immersed in literature and language and words, and for that to be treated seriously, made me realise it would be okay to devote a lot of my time to this.”

As part of his residency, Arnott conducted workshops with the University’s writing students. They were equally rewarding for him, he says.

“While I might have been able to help with some technical things, in terms of emotional resonance I learned a lot from some of the students,” he said.

“Some writers visited us when I was studying, and I found that really helpful.

“It’s really nice to think that I could be part of that cycle of gaining a lot from those people, going away and doing my own thing and then giving back.”

▲ Robbie Arnott (left) with Dr Emmett Stinson, Head of the School of Humanities | Photo: Peter W Allen

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The Outback: taking on one of the world’s biggest classrooms When Kylie Jones (BHM 2011) left Tasmania after university to teach, she was assigned a primary school class in Alice Springs.

Now her classroom extends across the Northern Territory and into Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia.

Words by Katherine Johnson

After four years teaching at an Alice Springs primary school, Kylie Jones took a job as a governess on a Northern Territory cattle station and a new life presented itself.

Families aren’t charged for the service, which Jones first began with her own savings. She now receives funding from grants and groups such as Decodable Readers Australia and the Ningana Trust.

In her second year, she took the students in her care to visit another cattle station, 800 kilometres away, where the governess was a young woman, straight out of school. While enthusiastic, the young governess had no classroom experience, and Jones was able to assist her in building her capacity as a teacher.

“I’m passionate about building a love of learning in children and believe it has an enormous impact across rural and remote Australia,” she said. “Education can change the world – from health to businesses to the agricultural sector. It all relies on building foundational learning.”

“I saw the need for more support in that role to ensure that students obtain foundational numeracy and literacy skills,” Jones said.

One of the first students Jones worked with was a grade-two boy. “He absolutely hated school and would cry every day,” she said. She explains that many students have a sense of failure and that she had to build in this boy a love of learning, taking a very individualised approach and taking the teaching back to tasks the boy could succeed at and build confidence in.

And so began RAISEducation – a not-for-profit organisation that Jones set up to provide educational support to geographically isolated families across Australia. RAISEducation operates from a cattle property 200km north-east of Alice Springs, providing individualised learning support for children and their parents or governess.

With between 60 and 100 students in the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, Jones has hopes of increasing the number of students she helps to 1000 in the next five years.

▲ 2022 NTAgriFutures Rural Women’s award winner, teacher Kylie Jones is Founding Director of RAISEducation, which she runs f rom a remote cattle station in the Northern Territory.

Photo: Stephanie Coombes

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Later, at a sports gathering, the boy ran up to Jones and asked if he could read a book with her.

“Comments like that are incredible and make me feel like I’m making a difference,” she said.

Lighting the way to equity in education How scholarships set one alumnus on a path to an international career at the World Bank and ignited a passion to give others the same opportunity.

Words by Lucie van den Berg More than three decades ago, alumnus Dr Nicholas Hope AM signed his first credit for the World Bank. It was an education project, rather than an addition to infrastructure, and embodied a priority that became a cornerstone of Hope’s career. He still recalls the words of a senior Chinese education official who saw a role for bank finance in “raising the quality of China’s universities, without neglecting the brilliant sons and daughters of the poor”.

Hope believes strongly that reducing the financial barriers to accessing higher education is as essential for the development of society as it is for the individual.

“My education has been central to my career and so it should be for everyone,” he said.

During a recent visit to Tasmania, Hope met Southern Lights Scholar Ella Hill. “I was moved when she recounted that, after receiving her scholarship, she wept along with her father, appreciating the lifechanging opportunity presented to her.”

He commended her aspiration to use her higher education for the benefit of young people in her community in north-western Tasmania. Hope finds inspiration in Ella’s story and hopes his fellow alums will consider how they can help the next generation reach its full potential.

Hope has had an enviable international career, predominately at the World Bank and Stanford University’s Centre for International Development. His own educational journey, culminating in four degrees, began at the University of Tasmania and continued with vital support from scholarships. Hope’s parents encouraged his academic pursuits, even though they never had the opportunity to attend university.

Shell Company and Commonwealth Government scholarships supported him in his BSc from the University of Tasmania. Later, he was fortunate to be awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, which subsequently led to a life-defining decision to switch from studying mathematics to economics.

“The scholarship afforded me the luxury to be able to reconsider my career choices.”

Dr Nicholas Hope AM

“The scholarship afforded me the luxury to be able to reconsider my career choices,” Hope said.

Since retirement, Hope, who resides in the USA but has a house in Tasmania, has been committed to improving educational equity. He is a Director of the University of Tasmania Foundation USA, which provides philanthropic support for the University’s projects and people, including the Southern Lights Access Scholarship’s funding of students experiencing financial difficulty.

▲ Ella Hill with Dr Nicholas Hope AM | Photo: Richard Jupe

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Law alumna Dr Alice Edwards on ridding the world of torture and other human rights violations

Dr Alice Edwards (BA-LLB Hons 1997) makes it her business to speak truth to power on behalf of survivors and victims of human rights violations. Here, she shares with Alumni magazine readers what drives her, and her reflections on how ‘an island floating off the southern end of the Earth’ is, in fact, remarkably connected to the global stage.

Words by Katherine Johnson

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In July 2022, Dr Alice Edwards was appointed the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Based in Italy, she is the first woman to hold this position, which is considered the most important, and most daunting, in the sector. Edwards came to the role after a career working on behalf of victims of human rights violations and developing related standards in international law.

Most recently, Edwards was Head of the Secretariat of the Convention against Torture Initiative. During her tenure, 15 new States joined the Convention and started their journeys to implement it. Previously, she was Chief of Section, Protection Policy and Legal Advice at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Geneva, after years in UNHCR field operations.

A lawyer by training, Edwards’ breakthrough legal argument that rape and sexual violence are forms of torture and persecution is now accepted as doctrine globally, enabling hundreds of thousands of victims to claim refugee protection. Her fieldwork in the late 1990s in Bosnia and Herzegovina and elsewhere informed her award-winning book, Violence against Women under International Human Rights Law. During Edwards’ Rapporteurship she plans to put the rights of survivors and their families centre-stage, including their right to speak and to be heard, to participate in decisions affecting them, to rehabilitation and to remedy.

Can you please tell us what your role as UN Special Rapporteur on Torture involves, day to day?

There are three main functions of this independent expert position: •

daily raising my voice – for example, through diplomatic cables to governments, or through the press and public platforms – for victim-survivors and their families who have been subjected to torture or other cruel treatment or punishment

•

providing research reports to inform debates at the UN Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly when they discuss allegations of torture, and recommending action

•

carrying out fact-finding country visits, which involve investigating allegations of torture, inspecting places where persons are deprived of their liberty, and supporting governments to do better by recommending reforms.

Do you have observations and thoughts for governments that stem from your time working with refugees?

These days we could say that refugees and asylum seekers find themselves in a double bind.

On the one hand, 30-40 per cent of refugees are estimated to be victims of torture, while others have suffered comparable treatment and life-altering experiences. They seek asylum because they are at risk of harm at the hands of their own governments.

States have obligations to them as torture victims and as refugees.

And on the other hand, as solidarity towards refugees has waned and is actually becoming more hostile, refugees and asylum seekers are being treated in some countries very poorly. Some of that treatment is so cruel or inhuman it means that hosting countries are violating the UN Convention against Torture.

Regarding Australia’s record on this issue, I’ve raised my disapproval of the fact that Australia detains asylum seekers automatically – and without time limits.

Do you have memories of your time studying in Tasmania that you would like to share?

Although Tasmania is an island floating off the southern end of the Earth, UTAS is remarkably connected to the global stage, and I appreciated that outward orientation during my studies in law and political science. It made me feel as though ‘the world’ was within reach and accessible.

That connection was made through the broad range of subjects on offer, the world-class expertise of academic staff as well as the contributions of local, interstate and international students.

What do you like to do when you’re not working, to balance the very important, but confronting, work?

I try to close down my laptop, put away my papers, and shut the door to my office at the end of each day, and do something totally different – like yoga or a long walk or a meal out with non-UN friends! I know I have to pace myself. They have a great saying here in Italy, where I now live: ‘piano, piano’, which means ‘slowly, slowly’.

While much of what I do requires urgent attention, more structural changes require persistence over time.

If you want to make a difference in this world, sometimes there are breakthroughs but most of the time, it’s ‘piano, piano’.

The role requires a lot of persistence to find justice for victim-survivors. It involves trawling through evidence, as well as phone calls, meetings, research, analysis, travel, and sleepless nights.

◀ Dr Alice Edwards (BA/LLB Hons 1997) | Photo: Cordula Treml

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A tender examination of life’s precariousness “When I moved back from interstate, painting was restorative. My paintings were about repair, but it was the painting itself that was doing the mending.”

Jo Chew, winner of the Glover Prize 2023 for Tender, her oil-on-linen landscape painting about homelessness.

Words by Katherine Johnson When artist Jo Chew (BFA Hons 2018) returned to live in Tasmania with her daughter, she was confronted with a different housing market from the one she left.

“We lived with my parents for a year, unable to find a rental we could afford. It was easy to see why more and more people were forced into solutions like setting up a temporary home at the (Hobart) Showgrounds,” she said.

“I remember seeing prize cows at the Showgrounds as a kid; since returning home, kids have been growing up there in tents and caravans.”

Chew’s PhD studies have revealed homelessness to be a global issue. “There’s a new class of people who are working and sending their kids to school but they can’t afford to pay the rent or find a way forward.”

The experience led to her Glover Prize 2023 winning entry, Tender, a reflection on a broken housing market, and a rental market that prevents many from entering it. The prize is one of Australia’s premier landscape awards, this year attracting over 700 entries from around the world.

Chew, who recently finished her PhD on Displacement, Repair and the Precarity of Home, says artists have a long history of speaking to issues that are important.

“It’s a gentle way to present an idea or provoke a conversation,” she said.

Chew describes painting as nourishing. “It feels like an extension of yourself and your ideas – when it’s flowing, it’s quite a lovely place to be in.”

Here she answers some questions for Alumni magazine: Precarity, particularly as it relates to homelessness, is a theme of your work. Was there something in particular that sparked this interest?

Ideas of home and shelter have been a major part of my practice for a long time. I think I’ve always been aware of how vulnerable humans are and painting temporary forms of shelter stood in for that.

More recently, these ideas were in response to my situation at the time of recommencing study. It was a very difficult time emotionally and financially. People were looking out for us though. I feel like I was very lucky; a lot of people aren’t so lucky. ◀ Jo Chew’s Tender, winner of the Glover Prize 2023

Has art always been something that you have been drawn to practicing?

Yes, it was always my favourite subject and something I found a lot of joy in. My parents are both creative and fostered my interest in art.

Who are some of your favourite artists who you have drawn inspiration from?

That’s a hard question. I look at and love a lot of artists.

I guess, to boil it down, I’m drawn most to art that makes me feel something. I also like it when artists leave gaps in their work, in some way holding back on describing everything – like with good poetry.

Do you have any general advice to the students you teach about being an artist?

If you love it, keep at it. It’s worth doing even if you need to support it with other work. There’s a great story in David Bayles’ book Art and Fear where a ceramics class is divided into two groups. One half were set the task of making one pot as perfectly as they could, the other half just had to make as many as possible. Of course, the most beautiful pieces came out of the half that kept making.

Do you have memories of your time at university that have stayed with you? Perhaps advice from teachers or experiences with other students?

Many! Conversations with my supervisors and other teachers and students over the years have been very rewarding. You learn a lot by working with and alongside other artists.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I guess there’s no going back and changing things.

Some of the things I went through could have been avoided. I could have focused earlier on an art ‘career’.

But I wouldn’t have had my children if I chose a different path, and I’ve learnt things along the way that have fed my practice.

I think it’s okay to allow life to happen, for the good and the bad to shape you. I’ve had two exhibitions ten years apart with the same title – ‘Everything will be alright’.

The first was named after a song by the band Ween (all the titles for that show came from Ween songs); the second was a note to self during a hard time. I guess I’d say hang in there, you’re stronger than you think, and it all works out okay in the end.

Photo: The Glover Art Prize

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Celebrating alumni success Congratulations to our Alumni Award winners for 2023 Our alumni community has far-reaching impact around the globe, and this year’s award winners are no exception. From combatting antimicrobial resistance, to better understanding the Antarctic Ice Sheet, and advances in nursing, there is much to celebrate.

Distinguished Alumni Award recipient

Professor Tim Walsh OBE MAE BAppScMLS 1986, GradDip (Immunology and Microbiology) 1989

Tim Walsh is a Professor of Medical Microbiology at the University of Oxford and the Co-Director and Biology Lead for the Ineos Oxford Institute for Antimicrobial Research. He is director of BARNARDS, examining the burden of neonatal sepsis in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Rwanda, Burundi, Egypt, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Ethiopia. BARNARDS also examines infant gut development, maternal protection against sepsis, and the impact of female genital mutilation (FGM) on maternal infections and antibiotic use.

He is director of BALANCE, comparing the burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in high income countries (Poland, Italy and Turkey) to low-middle income countries (Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya and Sierra Leone) as well as understanding the role of insects in the global dissemination of AMR (AVIAR).

He is advisor to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Antimicrobial Resistance (STAG-AMR), and to the Fleming Fund (London). He holds a Doctor of Science and is a Member of the Academia Europaea. In 2020, he was awarded an OBE for ‘Microbiology and International Development’.

Professor Walsh will be visiting Tasmania in 2024 to deliver the University’s annual Arthur Cobbold Memorial Lecture on contemporary medical issues.

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International Alumni Award recipient

Professor Helen Amanda Fricker PhD 1999

Helen Amanda Fricker is Professor of Geophysics at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego.

She is a global leader in the study of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, having revolutionised our understanding of how the ice sheet works and how it interacts with the surrounding oceans.

Professor Fricker’s work was cited by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to establish the physical basis for climate change. She has briefed the Californian Governor on sea-level rise and recently accompanied Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, to Antarctica to highlight the changes underway and discuss the importance of climate research. She was awarded the Martha T. Muse Prize for Science and Policy in Antarctica, made a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, and has a named Antarctica feature (Fricker Ice Piedmont).

She is the Science Team Lead for NASA’s US$1 billion CESat-2 satellite mission. This mission is tasked with mapping the world’s ice sheets as they change over time and will deliver unparalleled insights into their response to climate change. ▲ Photo: Erik Jepsen

Young Alumni Award recipient

Mrs Annabel McKay GradCertN (Specialisation) 2018, GradDipN (Specialisation) 2019, MCN (Specialisation) 2022

Annabel McKay is a haematology oncology clinical nurse at Brisbane’s Mater Private Hospital and an Associate Lecturer and Academic Clinical Facilitator and Supervisor at the University of Southern Queensland.

She has received the Pride of Australia Medal for Care and Compassion, the Australian Nurse of the Year (Graduate Category), and the Professor Catherine Turner Medal for Excellence in Nursing. She was also a Queensland Finalist in the 2021 Young Australian of the Year awards and a Finalist in the Queensland Young Achiever of the Year awards.

McKay, who is also profoundly deaf, has been nominated as an Australia Day Ambassador from 2015 through to 2023 by the Queensland Premier.

Notable are her philanthropic and education efforts in Cambodia, where she has volunteered as a clinical nurse educator to upskill local staff. Her work has helped create policy change and a shift in mindset, demonstrating and creating an environment that elevates staff and patient safety and promotes nursing autonomy, pride and recognition.

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Celebrating 60 years of agricultural science The Tasmanian agriculture industry has changed dramatically since the Faculty of Agriculture was launched at the University of Tasmania in 1963, but some things remain the same.

Words by Jemima Hamer A strong spirit of camaraderie between staff and students and a passion for agriculture are common themes in accounts from Ag Science alumni (aka ‘aggies’) across the past sixty years.

During this time, our research and teaching staff have trained hundreds of successful agricultural leaders and innovators who are addressing some of the world’s biggest challenges using science, technology and business skills.

Oliver Roberts graduated with a Bachelor of Agriculture in 2015 and is the CEO of Pasture.io, an agtech startup company which he founded to empower farmers through automating critical elements of livestock grazing enterprises.

Reflecting on his time at the University of Tasmania, Roberts has fond memories from lab classes and field trips.

“Whether trudging through fields under the warm Tasmanian sun or huddled around a microscope in a bustling lab, those moments encapsulated the essence of the agricultural sciences,” Roberts said.

▼ TIA alumnus, Oliver Roberts

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“The camaraderie that was fostered among us students during these trips was unparalleled. The field trips gave us the chance to apply the theories we learned in the classroom to real-world scenarios, making learning a tangible and shared adventure.”

Looking towards the future, Oliver believes the agricultural sector will face further disruptions from technology and the rise of synthesising plant and animal protein.

“Our main goal should be to adapt to and incorporate these technologies wisely. We must strive to use them as tools for sustainable farming and productivity, while maintaining a vigilant stance to avoid pitfalls. The future of agriculture rests in our ability to be flexible and innovative, without losing sight of our ethical and environmental responsibilities,” he said.

Want to know more about research, industry development and education initiatives for agriculture and food sectors? Connect with the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture. Visit utas.edu.au/tia

Alumni in numbers NT 463 0.52%

QLD 7,679 8.58%

WA

SA

2,538 2.84%

NSW

1,888 2.11%

16,975 18.97%

VIC 8,304 9.28%

Contactable alumni by Australian state/territory

ACT 1,432 1.60%

TAS

Number of alumni

50,203 56.10%

Percentage of total Australian alumni

Age profile of contactable alumni 36,128 22,985

17,070

Number of alumni

20,138

11,156

5,524 1,403

14 18–19

20–29

30–39

40–49

50–59

60–69

70–79

80–89

231 90–99

151,134 Current number of alumni

Age group

130 Total number of countries where alumni reside

Australia 82%

Top 8 countries where alumni reside Australia

93,500

Hong Kong

1,297

China

9,136

India

1,277

Malaysia

2,680

Vietnam

493

Singapore

1,509

USA

454

International 18%

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Alumni receptions With more than 151,000 alumni across 130 countries, the University of Tasmania community is a large and growing one.

Thank you to our alumni who have participated in our program through speaking at graduations, sitting on career conversation panels, mentoring students and attending various reunions, events and receptions.

We love engaging with you and providing the opportunity for new experiences and lifelong relationships with each other and your university.

Enjoy reliving some of the events our alumni have enjoyed over the last 12 months!

Melbourne 18.05.2023

Sydney 01.06.2023

Kuala Lumpur 15.08.2023

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Singapore 14.08.2023

San Francisco Bay Area 17.08.2023

San Diego 18.08.2023

New York City 21.08.2023

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Graduation ceremonies The hard work and scholarship of thousands of students has been celebrated as we welcome them into an extraordinary community of graduates. The graduation ceremonies are a testament to the hard work, dedication, and academic excellence of the graduating classes. We are so proud of you all.

Cradle Coast 14.12.22

Sydney 22.04.23

Hobart 28.04.23

Shanghai Ocean University 13.06.23

Hobart 21.08.23 – 22.08.23

Launceston 26.08.23

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

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Highlight events

25.11.2022 MBBS 50th Reunion

17.03.23 Fisher College 60th Reunion

10.05.23 Tasmania University Law Society (TULS) Career Conversations Event

15.02.2023 1972 Teachers' College 50th Reunion

17.08.23 (Hobart), 12.09.23 (Launceston) College of Business and Economics (COBE) Career Conversations Events

Keeping in touch You are part of the University of Tasmania alumni community We hope you enjoyed the 2023 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

Other ways to stay connected Our monthly Alumni and Friends eNews shares your stories and keeps you informed about University news: utas.edu.au/community-and-partners/news-and-publications

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

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

Call us: +61 3 63243052 Email: Alumni.Office@utas.edu.au

Follow us on Facebook

Join our Alumni LinkedIn group

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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 all Tasmanians, giving everyone 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.

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