Director's Message

Colleagues,

 I like to draw your attention to two important documents released last week.

 First, applying to staff, is the new ANU Enterprise Agreement 2017-2021 effective of the 23rd March 2018, which can be found at  https://services.anu.edu.au/human-resources/enterprise-agreement. There are a number of significant changes to the agreement including excess leave thresholds in the case of Long Service Leave and Annual Leave.

Second, applying to students, is the new Discipline Rule which came into effect on 21 March.  It is a vastly improved set of Rules that creates clarity around the types of behaviour that constitute misconduct, including sexual harassment and assault. The new Discipline Rule demonstrates a clear commitment by the University to cultural change, and provides mechanisms for accountability while preserving procedural fairness. https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2018L00319

In sporting news, amid the abysmal calamity in which Australian test cricket finds itself, I am pleased to be able to report that allegations of bowl bias tampering have not been sustained following last week’s crushing defeat of students by staff,

 Best wishes for the week ahead and have a safe and relaxing Easter long-weekend break

 Steve

Chappell Endowment - Field based project support

Congratulations to:

Katherine Robb – Tracing the depth of I-type granite formation in the Bega Batholith ($6000)

Andrew Palm – Formation of alkali-rich and silica-undersaturated magmas - Blue Mountain and York River Skarn/Princess Sodalite Mine, Ontario ($7500)

Durgalakshmi - The petrogenesis, chronology and thermal history of a possible late Archaean crustal cross-section, Tamil Nadu, southern India ($7500; to be expended in 2019)

Staff v Students Bowls

On Wednesday, the Staff agreed to meet the Student’s challenge. The venue... Turner. The sport... lawn bowls. The result... yes, you guessed it... the staff crushing the students by 56-43. 

Let's keep it simple - the students were treated to a masterclass by a staff side that, to put it simply, were outstanding. Led by the talents of Nerilie Abram, Stewart Fallow and Malcolm Sambridge (and partially hindered by the deceptively poor skills of Antony Burnham), the staff did more than enough to take home the trophy.

The take home message for the students... #MustDoBetter

Our group, (Brocks) as part of a larger collaborative effort (ANU, MIT, MPI and others), but with work largely performed at RSES, won the 2015 Best Paper Award from the Organic Geochemistry Division of the Geochemical Society ("Reappraisal of hydrocarbon biomarkers in Archaean rocks"  by French et al., PNAS, 2015).

From the award letter:

“There are few papers that have made such a profound contribution to this field,’ and ‘…this paper was the most important contribution to organic geochemistry in 2015.’ The members of the committee wholeheartedly concur with these opinions in recommending French et al. for the Best Paper Award for 2015.”

 In a strategic exchange between universities funded through the Agouron Institute, the analytical work was largely performed in the Biomarker Laboratory at RSES by MIT student Kate French, and the breakthrough results of the work are based on methodologies developed in our school. I regard the award as a recognition for the cumulative work on trace biomarker analysis performed at RSES over the past ten years. It would not have been possible without the generous support of the school through NIG funds that built a dedicated laboratory for this purpose, funded Janet (who’s skills were vital and who is a co-author), and the workshops who helped with instrument design and construction.  

HDR Student Rep

Monkia Misztela has been elected as representative of the HDR students at RSES and convenes a Student Forum every two months.  The term of the election is one calendar year.  The Student Representative is responsible for coordinating HDR representation on all School committees, ensuring that all students have an opportunity to be involved.  They are also responsible for organising, or delegating the organisation of, various social and collegial events such as the PhD student dinner, Welcome Day, Student Conference and Staff vs Student sports events. The Student Representative should be the first point of contact for the School in relation to any matter involving the student body that requires its input or participation.

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