Southern Cross Matters

Over a good many years now, I’ve had the privilege of standing up in front of audiences of high school students from our region and many of their teachers, explaining who we are and what we do through the lens of stories just like those included in Southern Cross Matters. 

It is extraordinary to see the way that the young people of our region react and the excitement that they so evidently show when we share just a little bit of what we do here. Everyone at the University can play a part in getting that message out, and I hope that reading this month’s edition makes you feel empowered and equipped to do so. 

As always, if you have ideas for stories or themes that you would like to see covered in future editions, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Warmest wishes,

Tyrone

Located high in the mountains of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi in a remote limestone cave system, a painting depicts a hunting scene, with three human figures and a wild beast. 

Using cutting-edge laser-ablation technology, housed at Southern Cross University’s Biomics facility, Professor Joannes-Boyau co-developed the new LA-U-series dating method, which has accurately dated what is now the oldest known cave art image in the world.
 
“Using a high precision laser beam four times smaller than the size of a human hair, we were able to create geochemical maps of the tiny samples,” Professor Joannes-Boyau said. 
 
“The team obtained ages of carbonate layers directly in contact with the prehistoric art revealing an incredible age of 51,000 years, making this rock out the oldest example of storytelling by our ancestors and attesting to the complex spiritual world of early humans.”
 
Read more about their findings, published by Nature: ‘Narrative cave art in Indonesia by 51,200 years ago’.

Meanwhile, a global research team, including the University’s Chair of Science and Entomologist Professor Nigel Andrew, has unearthed a quick and cost-effective new way to map biodiversity: through spores in the air. 

“DNA from all species living on land is floating around in the air. This DNA can be used to sample and assess the diversity and distribution of all species, and give us poorly known taxa – such as fungi,” Professor Andrews said.

The research article ‘Airborne DNA reveals predictable spatial and seasonal dynamics of fungi’ looks at evidence from DNA sampling from air samples collected from 47 sites around the world which reveals new information about spatial and seasonal dynamics of fungi. This includes local data provided by Professor Andrews from the NSW New England Tablelands. 

“It is a great experience working in these large international teams. What seems like a simple process at one site, can be technically challenging to replicate and analyse globally. Collecting ecological data in your local patch and relating to other sites globally is really exciting. It helps us better understand our environment when it is undergoing rapid climatic and land-use change.”

“My aim is to examine drought and cold tolerance in rice and, once I’ve found genotypes with the necessary stress tolerance level, I’ll dissect their genetic background to identify which part of their genome carries stress tolerance genes. This will help us to develop new climate smart varieties of rice,” said Dr Lehoczki-Krsjak.

Dr Lehoczki-Krsjak's research has secured an Australian Research Council (ARC) Industry Fellowship worth $417,391 over three years. 

“The ARC Early Career Industry Fellowship will support us in developing a ‘speed-breeding’ method by extending the rice growing period to investigate stress tolerance and to grow and select two crops per year at the nursery,” affirmed Dr Lehoczki-Krsjak. 

The Natural Rice Company, based at Kyogle, is the project’s industry partner. 

“Producing dryland rice eliminates methane and irrigation. This needs to be the goal of food production into the future,” said Steve Rogers, General Manager of The Natural Rice Company.  

Dr Lehoczki-Krsjak’s earlier research, conducted in conjunction with Professor Tobias Kretzschmar, has seen the development of new ‘climate smart’ lines of rice that not only help save irrigation water, but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions generated by the Australian rice industry. These ‘climate smart’ rices include dryland-grown black rices that are high in natural fibre and antioxidant anthocyanins, making them a healthy dietary choice.

After decades spent working in her local Tweed community as an Aboriginal health officer and counsellor, while also earning her Masters in Trauma through Southern Cross University, Darlene saw a disturbing trend emerge. 

“I witnessed an increase in Aboriginal health workers seeking counselling, who were struggling in their jobs,” she said, “mainly because of a lack of understanding within mainstream organisations around Aboriginal (Identified) roles and how they work.” 

“That was creating tension for these workers, and they were presenting with their own health problems.” 

Realising these stresses could lead some Indigenous health professionals to abandon the system, Darlene launched into her PhD research. 

“I wanted to hear from the people themselves what it's like to navigate the cultural interface as Aboriginal (Identified) health workers within a mainstream health context,” she said. 

“I heard of a resistance to bringing Indigenous people into the conversation, to applying the protocols of respectful listening and looking at ways that we can work together.” 
However, she was heartened by stories of cultural pride. 

“I was delighted to hear about the strength of identity, and connection to country and culture of these workers,” she said, “and the love of doing their job.” 

“My PhD was such an exciting opportunity to help the voice of Aboriginal health workers to be heard.” 

As a lecturer, Darlene also draws hope from Gnibi College students who, when enlightened by their studies, will help build a health system where Indigenous and non-Indigenous professionals work together seamlessly, and where cultural safety is a fundamental component of healthcare. Read more about Darlene’s PhD journey.

Her most popular article “9 signs you have inflammation in your body. Could an anti-inflammatory diet help?” delivers practical, low-fuss, research-based dietary advice that is resonating with people the world over. 

“This work is really about taking scientific knowledge and making it easily accessible to the broader community who want to apply the latest nutrition research to their lives,” says Dr Burch, who is a regular guest on ABC radio and wider media expert for all things nutrition.
 
“People’s interest in nutrition and diet has increased dramatically in recent years, partly because of social media and viral trends. A lot of what we do in writing those articles is sifting through what’s true and what’s not in real time – basically what is evidence-based and what has no scientific backing at all. 

“Some trends do have evidence for them, such as natural supplements for lowering cholesterol. It’s nice for the public to know they can go to The Conversation and type in ‘high cholesterol’, for example, and read about what might actually work based on the latest research. 

“When I first started working with The Conversation, I was primarily pitching ideas based on the nutrition questions I found people had in my dietetics clinic.  

“Now, I mainly respond to their expert requests calling out for opinion and analysis on specific topics. Sometimes the editors will also contact me directly if there are trending topics or article ideas. I really enjoy writing, science communication and sifting through evidence, so it’s very fun for me. I co-author most articles with my colleague Professor Lauren Ball and we work really well as a writing team. 

“We’re strategic in the articles we write and I work with Southern Cross University’s Media and Content team to reach further media outlets, and we share it across our own social channels such as Twitter and LinkedIn. 

“Nutrition is actually so simple, the evidence always leads back to the same core principles that have been around forever. If you are eating lots of unprocessed, whole foods that are rich in vitamins, nutrients and minerals and not much of the processed stuff that comes in a packet with a label then chances are you don’t need supplements or fancy products.”  

Dr Burch says working in the collaborative close-knit Southern Cross University environment “you get to know everyone by name, which I like”. 

And while some of her students are aware of Dr Burch’s viral appeal, many of them appreciate her dedicated hands-on approach to helping them upskill with the Graduate Certificate in Diabetes Education and Management alongside their burgeoning health careers. 

“This is a part-time postgraduate course for health professionals who often work full-time. We have nurses, midwives, dietitians, pharmacists, doctors, exercise physiologists and other allied health in the course who are looking to become diabetes leaders. They really enjoy autonomy over their learning in a self-paced environment, while interacting with expert educators one subject at a time.”