Fighting to feed the world - University researchers are taking the lead in the quest for food security - CDN
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university of melbourne magazine 2019
Fighting to
feed the world
University researchers are taking the lead
in the quest for food security
2 2019 E D I T I O N CONTENTS 3
alumni.unimelb.edu.au
INTERVIEW
The voice
for a new era
Vice-Chancellor
Duncan Maskell’s vision
for the University. PAGE 7
2019
COVER IMAGE: CHRIS HOPKINS
WE WELCOME MUSIC THERAPY
YOUR FEEDBACK
Email your comments to: Striking a chord
alumni-office@unimelb.edu.au How music is connecting
Write to us at: The Advancement Office,
The University of Melbourne, dementia patients
Victoria 3010, Australia and their carers. PAGE 10
Call us on: +61 3 8344 1751
For more exclusive content visit:
unimelb.edu.au/3010 COVER STORY
EDITORIAL Securing the
ADVISORY GROUP
DR JAMES ALLAN, DIRECTOR, ALUMNI
world’s food
AND STAKEHOLDER RELATIONS University researchers
DORON BEN-MEIR, VICE-PRINCIPAL
FOR ENTERPRISE
are fortifying global
ZOE FURMAN (BA(Hons) 1991), UNIVERSITY food sources. PAGE 12
OF MELBOURNE ALUMNI COUNCIL
DR JENNIFER HENRY (BAgr(Hons) 1990, INTELLIGENCE
PhD 2001), SENIOR MANAGER, GIFTS IN WILLS News from around the University 4
PETER KRONBORG (MBA 1979), UNIVERSITY
New life for
OF MELBOURNE ALUMNI COUNCIL KNOWLEDGE BANK
MAXINE McKEW, HONORARY ENTERPRISE FROM TOP:
The marvel that is
PROFESSOR AT THE MELBOURNE GRADUATE Tom Nicholson,
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION Towards a glass
the Minerva Access 18
DR DAMIAN POWELL (BA(Hons) 1989), monument, 2017–19 IT TAKES TWO
PRINCIPAL, JANET CLARKE HALL (installation
CAROLINE STRONG, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, photograph).
The King twins: global achievers 20
Old Quad
BRAND VISION AND DELIVERY Stained‑glass lead A VERY BAILLIEU BIRTHDAY
and steel frame in two
EDITORIAL TEAM screens, each containing
At 60, the University’s premier
MANAGING EDITOR NADA JOLIC 20 lancets. Realised library just keeps getting better 22
EDITOR SIMON MANN/MEDIAXPRESS through Monash Art
DESIGNER BILL FARR/MEDIAXPRESS FIVE QUESTIONS
Projects, Melbourne;
Geoffrey Wallace Stained Archaeologist Dr Brent Davis on
Glass, Melbourne; and decoding the Everest of scripts24
courtesy of Milani Gallery,
With its iconic archways and bold architectural Brisbane. LIVING BEQUESTS
This Publication is produced on a Forest presence, the Old Quad is the foundational building PICTURE: Sharing the beauty
CHRISTIAN CAPURRO.
Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper
that is produced at an FSC certified paper
of the Parkville campus and endures as the strongest © TOM NICHOLSON of maths by supporting
mill under an ISO14001 environmental connection to the University’s fledgling years. future teachers in the field 26
management system, using elemental Installation
chlorine-free whitening process. photography of OPEN (ART) HOUSES
Printed by Immij Pty Ltd, an ISO14001
An extensive restoration, completed in 2019, has Ancestral Memory Melbourne house museums,
Environmental management system and returned the 160-year-old North Wing and areas of exhibition, 2019.
both creations of alumni,
ISO9001 Quality management system
certified printer with FSC (Chain of Custody) the East Wing to their original design, allowing for PICTURE:
CHRISTIAN CAPURRO are drawing global acclaim 28
and Sustainable Green Print Level 3
certifications, printed on an environmentally
the display of items from the University’s cultural IMAGE © THE ARTISTS
ALUMNI PROFILES
friendly LED printing press using vegetable collections, including a dedicated temporary The Old Quad’s
How alumni are making their mark 31
based inks. iconic exterior.
This publication is fully recyclable –
exhibition space in the Treasury Gallery.
please dispose of it wisely. MILESTONES
Views expressed by contributors are not The heritage-listed architectural features and Appointments, honours
necessarily endorsed by the University. historic furniture demonstrate the early history of and accolades 36
ISSN: 2205-1112
Produced for the University of Melbourne by this original University of Melbourne building. THE LAST WORD
MEDIAXPRESS mediaxpress.net.au
CRICOS Provider Number 00116K
Marathon man 38
about.unimelb.edu.au/old-quad
4 I N T E L L I G E NC E I N T E L L I G E NC E 5
New buildings around campus IN BRIEF
FUNDING
PARTNERSHIPS
IAN POTTER SOUTHBANK CENTRE DNA STRENGTHENING
DETECTIVES: $4 million for RELATIONSHIPS
ON THE TRAIL IN INDIA AND INDONESIA
OF THE PLATYPUS Science Gallery n The University has recently launched
n University of Melbourne
researchers in collaboration with
Melbourne two five-year international strategies to
build closer relationships with India and
San Diego Zoo Global, Cesar and several Indonesia.
state agencies are using traces of Engaging with India (2020–2024)
platypus DNA left in the wild to track and Engaging with Indonesia (2020–
down dwindling populations. 2024) reflect on strong existing
Advances in genetic sequencing relationships with both nations and
technologies are allowing the outline further commitments to building
researchers to detect animals in their a shared future.
habitats without direct encounters. Vice-Chancellor Professor Duncan
The technology has been used to launch Maskell said the launch of the new
the largest investigation of platypus India strategy would “strengthen our
populations ever undertaken. longstanding ties and accelerate
Considering the difficulty of Science Gallery Melbourne has received a generous donation of $4 million from collaborations with our Indian partners
detecting platypuses in the wild, Ruth and Peter McMullin (BCom, LLB 1974) ahead of its opening in late 2020. to address shared social and scientific
exacerbated by population decline and Established as a space where science and art collide, Science Gallery creates global challenges”.
localised extinctions in some areas, the unique and interactive exhibitions with the goal of nurturing young people’s FUN FACTS: Similarly, the strategy in Indonesia
research is providing a more affordable interest in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics). n A microscope aims to strengthen existing partnerships.
and logistically viable way to shed light Announcing their gift during National Science Week, the McMullins said image of horse “Our academics are working with
on their true conservation status and they believed the gallery had the potential to make a genuine impact on young cartilage has been Indonesian scholars on research with an
the impacts of major threats to the people’s lives. used in the building impact on the priorities and needs of
platypus on a large scale. “By placing young people at the centre of programs, the Gallery genuinely facade as part of the Indonesian development and on the
The heart of the University’s Southbank campus, “Currently, the Faculty has more than 40,000 The project will also enable analysis reflects their voices and concerns,” they said. facility’s innovative regional challenges that Indonesians and
the Ian Potter Southbank Centre, officially opened campus visitors a year and hosts more than 220 of why populations have declined in “The Gallery provides experiences that are transformative at a crucial time in design. Australians share,” Professor Maskell said.
in June 2019. events, which will now be expanded with a public areas where they once thrived, a young person’s life. We believe Science Gallery will have a lasting impact on the n The complex has Both strategies, launched in August
The $109 million conservatorium is filled with program of events at the Conservatorium that informing actions to conserve this future and consider this gift an investment in Australia’s next generation of scientific a solar power system 2019, have been welcomed by Australian
state-of-the-art, world-class equipment. It can will enrich Melbourne’s thriving cultural scene.” unique, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, and creative trailblazers.” producing 140,000 representatives in each country —
accommodate more than 7000 students and The new Conservatorium is named after egg-laying Australian mammal. As the first Australian node of an international network, Science Gallery kWh of solar energy Harinder Sidhu, High Commissioner to
contains a 400-seat auditorium, 200-seat ground The Ian Potter Foundation due to its generous pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/ Melbourne will open as part of Melbourne Connect, the University’s new innovation a year — offsetting India, and Gary Quinlan, Ambassador to
floor studio and a variety of rehearsing, performing, donations totalling $14 million towards the on-the-dna-trail-of-the-platypus precinct on the former Royal Women’s Hospital site at the intersection of Swanston the power usage Indonesia. The University has developed
teaching and research spaces. revitalisation of the Southbank campus. The and Grattan Streets. Melbourne Connect will incorporate research, industry, for mechanical engagement plans for three key
Barry Conyngham, Dean of the Faculty of conservatorium has also been funded by the government and students in a single, purpose-built location. ventilation, fans, countries in the region: India, Indonesia
Fine Arts and Music, said he was excited about the University, the Victorian State Government and RESPECT: EVERYONE’S The McMullins’ gift includes an expectation that Science Gallery Melbourne will fume cupboards and China. Engaging with China
potential for expanding the program of events in other generous philanthropic supporters, RIGHT, EVERYONE’S use this opportunity to secure match funding from other supporters and friends. and lifts. (2020–2024) is due in 2020.
the new centre in coming years. particularly the Myer Foundation and family. RESPONSIBILITY
n In February 2019, Vice-Chancellor
Professor Duncan Maskell addressed the
LIFE SCIENCES COMPLEX issue of sexual assault and harassment Stroke solution in the skies
The newly opened $100 million Life Sciences on campus. In a video distributed to all Australia could become home to the world’s first
Complex at the corner of Tin Alley and Royal Parade students and staff, he acknowledged the stroke air ambulance, transforming rural and
boasts the most sophisticated STEMM teaching problem, shared current measures to regional access to emergency stroke treatment.
laboratories and facilities in Australia. combat the issue and highlighted future A research group led by Professor Geoffrey
It is the first time that staff and students from steps necessary to make the University Donnan and Stephen Davis at the University of
different faculties will share one building as home. a safer and more inclusive space. Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital was
Students from Science and Veterinary and “By working together, students, staff awarded a $1 million grant as part of the Australian
Agricultural Sciences, along with those from and the wider University community Government’s Medical Research Future Fund
Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, will have can help to eliminate sexual assault and Frontiers initiative. Medicine, Dentistry
access to three large practical teaching laboratories, harassment,” Professor Maskell said. They will develop, test and ultimately implement and Health Sciences
an object-based learning facility, three classrooms The video’s release was followed by portable brain imaging tools that can be transport- Dean Shitij Kapur,
for small group and problem-based learning, as well the launch of an anonymous register ed in air and road ambulances, allowing life-saving Stroke Foundation
as informal learning and study spaces — all of which where students, staff, alumni and visitors equipment to be taken directly to a patient. CEO Sharon McGowan,
are dedicated to preparing the bioscientists, doctors can privately report instances where This is critical in circumstances such as stroke Professor Davis,
and veterinarians of the future. they have witnessed or experienced onset in which the first hour is known as the ‘golden Minister for Health
The four-level, 6-star Green Star building will inappropriate behaviour. The register is hour’, offering the best chances of patient survival. Greg Hunt and
be a hub of interdisciplinary activities, further part of the Safer Community Program, Experts from more than 30 of Australia’s leading Professor Donnan at
demonstrating the University’s commitment to an online platform that provides support health and academic institutes and charities are the announcement.
global excellence in life science teaching, learning, and advice to members of the University involved in the project. PICTURE: Peter Casamento
research and engagement. community about their safety.
6 I N T E L L I G E NC E LEADERSHIP 7
alumni.unimelb.edu.au
IN BRIEF
UNIVERSITY
ESTABLISHES
FELLOWSHIP
IN HONOUR
OF ASSOCIATE
PROFESSOR
2019
ALLISON MILNER
The University of
Melbourne has established a
Fellowship to honour the legacy of Associate
Professor Allison Milner who was killed in a tragic
accident at Princes Park in Carlton in August.
Associate Professor Milner, 36, was Deputy
Head of the Disability and Health Unit at the
Centre for Health Equity at the University and
was highly regarded for her research in the field
of suicide prevention.
In her honour, the University has established
the ‘Allison Milner Early Career Research
Fellowship’ in public health to fund a talented
early career researcher to develop a program of
research to reduce inequities in line with
Associate Professor Milner’s values and interests.
The Fellow will demonstrate the values
and qualities that she emulated, including a
commitment to social justice, valuing of diversity
and inclusion in the workplace and collaborative
Esther Stewart installs team-based research that includes academics, PICTURE: CHRIS HOPKINS
The
her work at the Accademia government and non-government organisations
di Belle Arti di Firenze. and advocates.
PICTURE: O’ROUKE & GATES The University’s chief
ART
INAUGURAL LGBTIQA+
ALLY NETWORK
has a lot on his plate,
voice
Create a work that … The University of Melbourne’s LGBTIQA+ ally which he is relishing.
Represents the idea of human physical perfection (David – Michelangelo)
community, the Pride in Action Network (PiAN),
promotes visibility and inclusivity of diverse Peter Wilmoth talks
Divulges a deeply personal, yet unattainable desire (Self-Portrait with Monkeys – Frida Kahlo)
Pushes the boundaries of your discipline to the extreme (RMS Titanic)
gender and sexuality identities.
The idea of the network was first introduced to Vice-Chancellor
for a
These are some of the briefs 30 emerging choreographer and dancer Jack Riley,
to students and staff in an online consultation
process. Of 773 respondents, 98 per cent agreed
Duncan Maskell.
D
artists received from the Faculty of Fine Arts interactive composer Samuel Kreusler and that the aims of the group resonated with them.
and Music for their first commission. classical composer Danna Yun. This led to the network launch in 2019 at the uncan Maskell is well equipped for the role
At the time, they did not know that these University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor Midsumma Pride March. of University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor.
new
briefs were inspired by some of the most Professor Duncan Maskell, who launched Students and staff are encouraged to sign His rich academic career and varied lived
iconic art and cultural pieces currently in First Commissions in Florence, believes in up as allies and access free resources to equip experiences are proving – for a thought leader
existence. In response, these young artists the power of art in the 21st century. them with the knowledge and skills to proactively driving the University into a range of new areas
created a wide range of contemporary works, “As our world becomes increasingly create a safer campus and online environment both here and globally – extremely useful.
addressing issues from current global crises, automated, our creative artists and musicians for all. A microbiologist by training (he did his doctoral thesis on
such as climate change and refugee treatment have the ability to work together to solve PiAN has been involved in a number of finding vaccines to fight typhoid), Professor Maskell spent most
era
to age-old themes of love, grief and loss. problems and meet the challenges that we initiatives, including hosting panel discussions of his adult life at Cambridge University, studying (he was the
While the brief Michelangelo received in face in society,” said Professor Maskell. “A fine during the International Transgender Day of first in his family to attend university), teaching and then as
1501 led to the creation of David, an iconic arts and music education is transformative, Visibility, and the International Day Against its Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor. He arrived in Melbourne late
symbol for physical perfection, its and encourages confidence and a strong Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, as well in 2018 with his wife Sarah, also a microbiologist: “We met in
interpretation by Melbourne visual artist sense of self-belief. It gives students the as running free regular training sessions on how the lab at Oxford,” he says.
Esther Stewart and Australian Indigenous courage to think independently and critically. to be a good ally. His passions include soccer (his childhood dream was to play
artist Ashley Perry challenges traditional It fosters collaboration and creative risk- The group works closely with departmental for Manchester United), cricket (on his first visit to Melbourne in
understanding of being perfect. “Human taking, passion, determination and resilience.” and student-run LGBTIQA+ programs, including 1994 he attended the venerated Boxing Day Test at the MCG) and
physical perfection is whatever you want it Melbourne University Sport’s Pride in Sport, AFL football (for years, he watched highlights packages on TV in
to be, not what you are told it is,” said Perry. You can find all the artists’ responses UMSU (the University of Melbourne Student England and he has chosen Carlton as his team, mainly because
Beyond visual art, the commission inspired to their commissions here: Union) Queer Department and GSA (Graduate he lives opposite the Blues’ Princes Park). “I love AFL,” he says.
by David has also been interpreted by firstcommissions.com.au Student Association) Queer Department.
C O N T I N U E D PAG E 8
8 LEADERSHIP LEADERSHIP 9
alumni.unimelb.edu.au
F R O M PAG E 7 that anything we think we can predict we’re probably
“When I got here, people were surprised that I knew going to be wrong in 10 years’ time.”
the rules.” When at Cambridge, Professor Maskell had
We’ve met Professor Maskell at the Ian Potter posited the view that the university should not build
Southbank Centre, part of the Southbank campus in any new lecture theatres, which triggered some
the heart of Melbourne’s arts precinct. The centre is pushback.
the new home for the Melbourne Conservatorium of “That was a bit of a challenging statement,”
Music (it relocated from Parkville in March). He takes he reflects. “It was a challenge to make people
us on a tour of some of the performing spaces and think whether they really did need lecture theatres
2019
outside to the Linear Park precinct which will host in the future.
film screenings and music performances. Over the “I don’t know what it’s going to look like in 10
road is The Stables, home to the visual arts students. years. What I do know is that most of the students
It’s little wonder he’s excited to be overseeing get their factual information from the internet.
all this cultural activity; music has always been So, the idea that there’s going to be set-piece lectures
central in his life. Aged 11, he sang the solo part in for hundreds of students where a bloke like me
Benjamin Britten’s 60th birthday concert in London’s stands at the front and imparts my wisdom in terms
Queen Elizabeth Hall and later took up clarinet and of knowledge download, those days are numbered.
saxophone. The band he later joined was once on However, I do think personal contact is really
the same bill as Bob Geldof ’s Boomtown Rats. There important.”
was even some record company interest. “There were Professor Maskell likes the idea of deeper
a couple of opportunities we could have taken up,” collaboration with the corporate world whereby
he says, a touch wistfully. practitioners come onto campus and work alongside
He is about as far from the don-in-the-ivory-tower academics.
as you could get, which goes some way to explaining “I believe very strongly in collaboration. No single
why he has settled so well into Melbourne life. person has a monopoly on the good ideas.”
This eclectic CV will undoubtedly help with A corollary is the commercialisation of research,
the impressively ambitious and diverse array of another growth area. “Universities are there primarily
programs and collaborations Professor Maskell to be engines of discovery, to be basic research
is overseeing for the University: developing the engines,” he says. “However, if there are things
seven‑hectare engineering hub at Fisherman’s Bend coming out of the research that are translatable, then
and the Melbourne Connect project on the former they should be translated, and I think we should not
Royal Women’s Hospital site, “a connected innovation avoid our obligations to do that translation.
ecosystem in the heart of Melbourne” where “And translation, not just commercialisation. There
academics and industry will get into the same space are plenty of things that come out of the University that
to interact, he says. could be translated for the public good, which are not
PICTURE: DREW ECHBERG
“I’m hoping to do exhibitions “We want to get our art and cultural objects to
be much more visible and accessible to the public.
Professor Maskell sees great value in collaborations
with other countries. He recently visited India “We need to make sure
I’m hoping to do exhibitions and festivals and all and Indonesia to meet government and university
and festivals and all sorts of sorts of other things with the City of Melbourne
where we can really leverage our cultural assets and
counterparts to discuss opportunities, including
collaboration on research projects.
our students have an
other things with the City of do some really exciting things. I am energised by the
possibilities. It’s a big task but I actually thrive on
“We’re not in those countries primarily to recruit
students,” he says. “We want to make relationships
outstandingly good
Melbourne where we can having lots on my plate.”
The various projects will generate jobs and
with those countries. They are big and important
countries. We have not done as much as we could
experience at the
really leverage our cultural further embed the University into the daily life of
Melburnians. “It’s unavoidable that the University of
with those countries.
“We need to make good research relationships, University, that they
assets and do some really Melbourne is a key part of the city of Melbourne,” he
says. “Its foundation stone was laid on the same day
academic exchange and student relationships. By
doing those things then, yes, we may get more students get all the teaching
as the foundation stone of the State Library … What coming over from those countries as a happy accident.”
exciting things.” they need . . . ”
H
the University has to do is make sure it’s not just an
historical fact but that it’s meaningful here and now.” e says any great university has to
This is far from the only change the University be international and Melbourne
Its purpose is to place highest-calibre research, ABOVE: Professor is undergoing. “We all need to bear in mind that University could lead internationally necessarily easily monetised or commercialised. But
industry, government, higher-degree students Maskell taking part in universities are constantly evolving,” Professor in some areas – “and, in a sense, commercialisation is also important. If we can translate
and other elite thinkers in a single purpose-built the lighting of the Maskell says. This includes funding models. do our share of the heavy lifting in stuff that we produced and also make it commercially
precinct. One floor will be devoted to Science Gallery wilin (flame) International students – predominantly from China terms of global leadership.” viable and make money out of it, then I think that’s a
Melbourne, part of an international network designed ceremony at the Wilin – make up a significant proportion of the student Back home on campus there are issues to consider really good thing.”
to bring together students and members of the public Centre for Indigenous body. “I think there is always risk in over dependence around the learning experience, including the future But at its core, the University of Melbourne should
to explore science and art. Arts and Cultural on any one particular source of revenue,” he adds. of physical lecture theatres in the face of the digital “put the students at the heart of everything we do”. “We
Professor Maskell also wants the University to Development at the “Are we over-reliant on Chinese revenue? It’s possible revolution. need to make sure our students have an outstandingly
allow greater access to its valuable art collections Southbank campus in we are slightly. “Universities worldwide are all struggling to good experience at the University, that they get all the
and for the public to have a better experience of its May, marking the “I wouldn’t over-egg it though. It’s not too much. understand how their teaching program will change,” teaching they need … but also get a great deal of other
performing arts. “We are developing the Cultural start of National If it all changed tomorrow, we would be able to he says. “And it will change with the advent of digital challenges, the ability to expand their minds into other
Commons project,” he says. Reconciliation Week. survive for long enough to modify our model.” technology, which is moving so fast at the moment areas. They get taught how to think.” 3010
10 MUSIC THERAPY MUSIC THERAPY 11
A therapeutic
alumni.unimelb.edu.au
Music is helping people with The process involves carers using familiar
songs to tune in to the emotional states of
dementia to connect with their their loved one to encourage connection.
BEAT
“We show carers how to sing in a way
carers, writes Kate Cole-Adams. that initially matches the level of distress
in the person with dementia, and to then
T
slowly adapt the way they sing to
wo women are singing side study will assess the use of music as a encourage the person with dementia to
by side on a sofa, swaying to targeted intervention to improve the follow them and calm down.”
2019
the music. “I know you love quality of life not only for people with These strategies are not difficult to teach,
Amazing Grace,” the younger dementia, but also for those caring for she says. During the study, a trained music
woman reminds her mother. them at home, potentially enabling therapist comes to the home to provide
Now she plays another old favourite, people to live in familiar surroundings one-on-one training for the primary carer.
a slow song. The older woman joins in at for longer and saving millions of dollars Carers learn how to interpret the body
first, but then frowns and starts plucking along the way. language, behaviours and moods of the
restlessly at her hands. Suddenly, she stands “The beautiful thing about music, is person with dementia, and then how to
and moves away. Whimpers. Hides her that it has a unique potential to stimulate select music appropriate for that moment
face in her palms. autobiographical recall,” says Professor and adjust it when necessary.
It is a scene that may strike a chord for Baker, head of Music Therapy at the The study will include an economic
anyone who has a family member or loved Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, analysis comparing the cost-benefits of
one with advancing dementia: the abrupt and director of International Research delivering the intervention training with
changes of mood, the growing agitation. Partnerships for the Creative Arts and the costs of not. Given estimates that
And, for the carer, that familiar sense of Music Therapy Research Unit. the 2015 global cost of dementia was
helplessness. She says music activates brain pathways $US818 billion and rising, the stakes
are high.
The study is being coordinated
through the European Union’s Joint
Programme for Neuro-degenerative
Diseases, and funded locally by the
National Health and Medical Research
Council. Professor Baker and her teams
in Australia, Germany, the UK, Poland
and Norway are now recruiting
participants for the study.
T
he next step Professor Baker
and her team hope to develop
is different modes of training,
including a mobile device app,
so that the training can be
delivered globally, adapting the music
and the content of the interventions to
Professor Baker uses music to connect with people living with dementia. accommodate different cultural needs.
Professor Baker emphasises that you
But what happens next may not be so that remain relatively intact even in people don’t need to be a good singer. The aim
familiar. with advanced dementia. Familiar songs of the music is to support the central
As she registers her mother’s agitation, arouse positive emotions and help people relationship between the person with
Joanne calmly changes the music. This reconnect with their memories. dementia and their carer – and to help
time she puts on a jazzy number with a Unlike other studies that have focused each find new meaning in sometimes
distinct beat. Smiling, she takes her on the effects of music therapy in care- confusing moments. “Music is the
mother’s hands, moves them in time to the home settings, the Homeside study aims connector,” she says.
music, urges her to dance. “Spin me mum, to teach family carers of people with But the results can be transformative.
spin me! . . . I remember you and dad used dementia to use music strategically to “You see the person behind the dementia.
to do this all the time.” Her mother smiles help manage the distressing behaviours All of a sudden, they become activated,
back, tentative at first; now laughing. associated with dementia. they come out of themselves. They start
Together, they twirl. Crucially, as well as assessing the to look at you, recognise you, smile, and
This small exchange happened seven impact of the intervention on dementia through doing so, offer precious moments
years ago but has helped pave the way for symptoms such as agitation and of connecting with their carer.”
a new study that could help transform depression, this study measures changes
the care of people living with dementia, in the carers’ own quality of life, levels Professor Baker and her team are
including Alzheimer’s disease. The scene of depression and resilience, and how developing a music therapy app that
is depicted in a video reconstruction of competent they feel in the caring role. carers can use at home. Gifts will help
part of a pilot that has since evolved into Professor Baker uses the word fund the development of the app, which
a major multinational study. Led by “attunement” to describe how Joanne will support the lives of family carers
Professor Felicity Baker, the Homeside responded to her mother that day. and people living with dementia. 3010
PICTURE: STEPHEN McKENZIE
12 COVER STORY COVER STORY 13
Replenishing the
alumni.unimelb.edu.au 2019
global food bowl
Scientists are facing
up to the challenge
of food security and
sustainability on
myriad fronts.
BY GARY TIPPET
S
omewhere in the Pearl River valley After completing his PhD at Virginia Tech in the
region of China, perhaps as long ago as US, Dr Johnson first used genetic modification (GM)
13,500 years according to recent genetic technology to make new types of potatoes that were
evidence, a prehistoric farmer took a resistant to a major pest, the Colorado Potato Beetle.
type of wild grass and began the long He then turned his attention to rice, “digging through
process of domesticating it into what the genome to see how we could change the genes to
we now know and love as rice. make a better rice plant”.
Today, a variety of rice is grown on White rice grains contain a mere two-to-five parts
every inhabited continent and it is the staple food of per million (ppm) of iron, well short of the 13ppm
more than half the world’s population, with at least needed to address rampant iron deficiencies in rice-
3.5 billion people dependent on the grain for 20 dependent populations, and the tiny bit that’s in the
per cent of their daily energy. In poorer parts of Asia, grain is not very “bio-available”, or easily absorbed
that figure rises to more than 50 per cent. into the body. Dr Johnson’s team has studied a variety
But apart from carbs and calories, it gives them of genes that help rice to absorb iron from soil, and
little else. Common white, long-grain rice is low found that most of these genes only switch on when
in many essential micronutrients such as iron and the plant detects that it is iron-deficient.
zinc, with no vitamin A, vitamin C or beta-carotene, “We’ve just changed the way one of these genes is
and with very little fibre. These deficiencies can lead expressed so that it’s on at higher levels all the time,”
to serious health consequences, from anaemia and he says. “You could say, we’ve fooled the rice into
stunted growth to irreversible blindness. However, thinking it’s iron-hungry.”
thanks in part to pioneering biotech research by It has proved a win-win situation by a factor of
University of Melbourne plant biologist Associate three or four – the biofortified grains have reached
Professor Alex Johnson, that is changing. 15ppm iron in the field; they have had the added
Dr Johnson, of the University’s School of benefit of increased zinc concentration; the minerals
BioSciences, is an expert in the problem of “hidden are bio-available; and, the GM rice is just as high-
hunger”, a chronic lack of vitamins and minerals in yielding as existing varieties.
the human diet, and he and his team have developed a The technology is now being taken into Bangladesh,
new strain of “biofortified” rice enriched with iron and one of the most rice-dependent countries in the
zinc – promising significant improvements in nutrition, world and one of the worst-affected by iron and
health and quality of life for malnourished millions. zinc deficiency. Meanwhile, Dr Johnson’s team is
“It’s estimated that one in three children around the using the same technology – and the same rice
Associate Professor Alex Johnson is
world suffer from a lack of micronutrients,” he says. gene – to biofortify the world’s other great staple, using GM technology to bolster nutrients
“We need to tackle hidden hunger, and one way to do wheat. His team is aiming to bring iron biofortified in rice. “You could say, we’ve fooled the
that is to enrich our staple food crops with minerals wheat to Pakistan in the near future. rice into thinking it’s iron-hungry.”
and vitamins, referred to as biofortification.” C O N T I N U E D PAG E 1 4 PICTURE: CHRIS HOPKINS
14 COVER STORY COVER STORY 15
THE FOOD FIGHTERS
alumni.unimelb.edu.au 2019
PROFESSOR TIMOTHY REEVES DR DORIN GUPTA PROFESSOR PHILIP BATTERHAM
YOU MIGHT SAY TIM REEVES WAS team was looking for players. DORIN GUPTA BELIEVES SHE WAS “The world is primarily reliant on PHILIP BATTERHAM WAS STRUCK BY insecticides, particularly neonicotinoids,
born to agriculture. His family came from Now, 150 games later, the former blessed to grow up in Himachal Pradesh three major crops: wheat, rice and corn. a mural he saw on Facebook recently. has been blamed.
Kingston on Thames, just 15km from Director-General of the International in the Himalayan ranges of north India. We have narrowed down the diversity It showed a honeybee with the grim Professor Batterham, a global leader
London, but in the last year of World War II Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre and “I was born and brought up in nature,” of crops so much. There are more than promise: “When we go, we’re taking you in the genetics of insecticide resistance at
his pregnant mother was evacuated from now Professor in Residence at the Faculty she says. “I’ve seen how nature works 50,000 edible plants on Earth, and we are all with us.” the School of BioSciences’ Bio21 Institute,
the heavily-bombed city. of Veterinary and Agricultural Science, in harmony.” almost totally reliant on a handful, maybe Some scientists have warned that has devoted his career to better and
“I was actually born in a farming village Dookie, Reeves advocates “sustainable Dr Gupta moved to Australia in 2012 14 or 15, and those three are the major we face an ‘insect apocalypse’. A 2014 alternative pest control and, lately, to
and lived my first few months of life on a intensification” – making agriculture more and is senior lecturer in sustainable energy providers for most of the world. analysis of 452 species estimated that the downstream effects of low doses of
farm,” he says. “I’m thinking that’s where sustainable and also more productive to agriculture at Dookie campus where she “With the changing environment, we insect abundance had dropped 45 per cent insecticides on the environment and other
I caught the farming bug.” meet global nutritional needs. focuses on resource-efficient production need more diverse and native crops we over 40 years. In April this year, a study insect species.
An interest in biology took him into “We have to have much greater systems with the inclusion of technology, can tap into current production systems. warned four in 10 insect species could “But one thing I should say about
agriculture at the University of Nottingham diversity in our farming systems. I’m pre-breeding and breeding to increase They won’t replace the three staple crops become extinct. And, echoing that bee insecticides is that, while people are
and a talent for rugby brought him to confident we can meet these challenges disease and drought-resistance. She but will be part and parcel of adding on Facebook, Harvard entomologist looking at their downsides, without them
Rutherglen in north-east Victoria after a because we’re as good as any country is researching unexplored wild lentil more diversity and especially resilience, E O Wilson warned we could follow. there’d be a whole lot less food in the
State Department of Agriculture official in the world at scientists and farmers seeds for disease and drought-resistant because you don’t have to do much to Without insects, other life, and humanity world,” he says. “We cannot just stop using
correctly guessed he could transition to working together to help adapt our genes that have been bred out of them – they have been tried and tested “would mostly disappear … And within these chemicals; we need to find effective
the indigenous game and knew the local agricultural systems.” commercial crops. by time.” a few months”. Widespread use of and safe alternatives.”
F R O M PAG E 1 2 Medal, the highest honour in Australian • Adaptation to climate change – “now a 52 million are wasted; while, on the other and sustainability of our farming lands. onset of crop diseases well before they
B
agriculture. In his oration, he outlined crystal-clear reality right before our eyes” hand, 2 billion adults and 41 million “Sustainable intensification is one of the became visible to the naked eye. The
iofortification is just one area in what he described as the five Grand • Nitrogen fertiliser-use inefficiency children are overweight or obese. key pathways to ‘regenerative agriculture’ sensor, able to capture light in and outside
which University of Melbourne Challenges to food and nutritional • Food loss and waste To battle this, Professor Reeves because it concentrates on those five the visible spectrum in 100 times more
researchers are working to security, which were posing “a perfect • The neglect and erosion of rural believes the world needs a new revolution elements: conservation agriculture, soil colour channels than normal digital
address the pressing issue of storm” for agriculture. communities, with seven in every 10 of diversified and integrated farming, health, efficient water management, better cameras, was flown over tomato crops,
world food and nutritional “Globally, for me, these are absolutely people likely to be living in cities by 2050. aiming for – in what might sound genetic material and integrated pest detecting minute changes of pigment
security – defined by Dookie campus- humankind’s greatest challenge,” he tells “But in addition, it is vitally important like a contradiction – the “sustainable management.” indicating early signs of disease. It enabled
R
based sustainable agriculture scientist 3010. to view these challenges in the stark intensification” of agriculture. Dr Gupta and the team to build a spectral
Dr Dorin Gupta as the need to ensure With the global population growing by context of nutritional security,” he adds. “Basically, we have to produce more esearchers in Melbourne and library of tomato diseases.
“that all the people, all the time, have the 160 people every minute, the world will Malnutrition in its widest definition food from existing land with fewer Dookie, near Shepparton, “Matching the surveillance data to the
right quantities and, particularly, quality need to increase food production by 70 is rampant, with 88 per cent of resources, and do so more efficiently,” have been tackling many of library data with further advancement
of food, all year round.” per cent by 2060. And that will need to countries having two or more major he explains. “It can mean very specific these challenges – often with in interpretation of this data can assist
But that ambition is a daunting one. happen in the face of: concerns around nutrition. Two billion things but the way I define it is, you’re ground-breaking results and growers to selectively spray well in time
Professor Timothy Reeves, professor • The loss and degradation of natural people are malnourished and lack key looking at agriculture that is regenerating implications for food security. before a pathogen can establish to a level
in residence at Dookie, which is part of resources of air, land and water – with, micronutrients, with 800 million of the natural resource – you’re improving In 2017, Dr Gupta and a multi- of significant damage,” she says. “This
the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural for instance, one hectare of productive those going to bed hungry every night; soil health, you’re improving biodiversity disciplinary team used a hyper-spectral is part of precision agriculture; we don’t
Sciences, was recently awarded the Farrer land lost every 7.67 seconds 155 million children are stunted and and you’re improving the resilience sensor on board a drone to detect the C O N T I N U E D PAG E 1 6
16 COVER STORY COVER STORY 17
THE FOOD FIGHTERS
alumni.unimelb.edu.au 2019
PROFESSOR ARY HOFFMANN DR RACHEL CAREY ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR ALEX JOHNSON
AS A BOY ON HIS FAMILY’S VEGETABLE bacterial parasites, to block the spread ONE OF THE ATTRACTIONS THAT combined her experience and passion for ALEX JOHNSON’S INTEREST IN PLANTS team are utilising a wide range of biotech
farm near Christchurch, New Zealand, of viruses. enticed Rachel Carey, when she moved to good food to collaboratively designing bloomed early. As a child in Washington DC, strategies to biofortify rice and wheat with
Ary Hoffmann developed a keen “We can’t rely on broad-spectrum Melbourne from England 20 years ago, food systems that are healthy and he would follow his mother around the essential vitamins and minerals.
interest in bugs; beetles, wasps and pesticides anymore,” he says. was the city’s famed food culture. Now, sustainable, while designing policy to backyard helping her plant flowers and Dr Johnson says there is still resistance
lacewings were everywhere on the “They’re not selective. You’re not just she is protecting and enhancing that support that. vegetables, although his habit of digging to GM foods, but believes it is waning.
farm, some bugs preying on others. killing one particular pest but a lot aspect of her adopted home. “I think we’re not really aware of how them up to see how they were progressing “We’ve now had 23 years of commercialised
“My father certainly spent a lot of his of different insects – also the many A lecturer in food systems at Dookie, dependent Melbourne’s food culture is could be annoying. GM crops. People ask how many GM meals
time spraying,” he says, “And I always parasitoid wasps and the beetles Dr Carey was the lead author of Roadmap on the quality of fresh food that’s grown An interest in human health almost took have been consumed and it’s trillions,
thought, ‘This is crazy, we can’t keep that can potentially control the pests. for a Resilient and Sustainable Melbourne around the city,” she says. “I’d like to think him to medicine, but he realised he was and not a single health incident from any
going like this’.” There’s a whole lot of good guys out Foodbowl, which outlines the keys – future generations will be able to source more attuned to plant biology. At Virginia of them.
Young Ary was ahead of the curve. there. including recycling water and organic that same quality of food. Tech in the early years of commercialisation “The papaya industry in Hawaii was
Now, Melbourne Laureate Professor “We need to change our thinking waste, and protection of inner farmland “The consequence of not protecting of genetically modified crops in the US, he wiped out by virus decades ago and the
at the University of Melbourne School and come up with new ways of doing viability – to ensuring the fertile fringe these areas is we lose our supply of realised he could combine the two, studying only way back was GM. I was in Hawaii
of BioSciences, and a past president it. But those new ways have to make continues to provide some of Melbourne’s fresh, local food. As we become more how biotechnology could be used to make recently and made a point of eating a lot
of the Australian Entomological economic sense, and therein lies the fresh food needs. dependent on more distant sources healthier foods. of GM papaya. It was delicious.”
Society, Professor Hoffmann works challenge, because people want to pay Originally working in the field of food, we’ll have a less resilient food Now at the University of Melbourne’s
on integrated pest controls, including less for their loaf of bread, not more.” of human-centred design, Dr Carey supply.” School of BioSciences, Dr Johnson and his INTERVIEWS BY GARY TIPPET
Professor Philip Batterham describes BioSciences, says that in the past, same parasite might block the spread of faculty team produced a comprehensive
F R O M PAG E 1 5
himself as “the latest baton carrier in particularly in broad-acre agriculture, plant viruses.
“Right now, about and far-reaching plan, Roadmap for a
have to spray all the paddocks. And, in the a research relay team” that has studied farmers would “insurance-spray” But the threats to food security are not 55 per cent of people Resilient and Sustainable Melbourne
long term, it’s going to be beneficial for insecticide resistance at the University relatively cheap broad-spectrum just out in the broad hectares of wheat, Foodbowl. It outlines a vision for retaining
environmental health.” since 1977. His team have used genetic pesticides, “whacking it on just in case. rice and canola. Currently, the fertile food globally live in cities, a resilient, healthy and fair food supply
From Silent Spring to the “insect approaches to identify the proteins in The opposite of that is something we call bowl in Melbourne’s hinterland produces for the city, underpinned by key pillars
apocalypse”, populations of many insect the insect brain that are targeted by integrated management, but that’s a more enough food to meet 80 per cent of the but by 2050 we expect of farmland protection, farm viability,
species seem to be rapidly shrinking neonicotinoids. complicated game.” city’s demand for vegetables and 41 per water access and re-use, nutrient recycling
in size with insecticides being blamed. “But more recently, we’ve become Professor Hoffmann has worked with cent of its total food needs. But as the city’s almost 70 per cent of through composting city organic waste,
A collapse in European populations of
the major pollinator, honeybees – and
interested in the downstream effects of
low concentrations of neonicotinoids and
the wine industry to increase shelter belts
and understory that protect the beneficial
population heads toward 7 million, that
could fall to just 18 per cent.
people to do so. and sustainable farming.
All these advances are important in the
the subsequent threat to food production other insecticides on non-pest insects,” insects and mites that prey on pests; “Right now, about 55 per cent of people How we feed people in fight for food and nutritional security, but
– has led to the EU banning some says Professor Batterham. “We don’t have developed genetic markers to discover globally live in cities, but by 2050 we expect Professor Reeves warns: “One of the things
neonicotinoid insecticides. enough data at the moment. It’s like a jigsaw invasion patterns of earth mites; and fought almost 70 per cent of people to do so,” notes cities is a vital part of we have to be careful about is saying
Whatever the reality of impending puzzle with some holes … [but] we need dengue fever using the bacterial parasite Dr Rachel Carey, an expert in food systems. something like, ‘If we can get this right,
Armageddon, the University of Melbourne answers – and we need them quickly.” Wolbachia, which stops mosquitoes passing “How we feed people in cities is a vital part ensuring food security.” we’ll solve the world’s food problems’.
has a long, impressive history of work Professor Ary Hoffmann, Melbourne on the virus. of ensuring food security.” All these are just tools in the whole system.
towards better and alternative pest control. Laureate Professor in the School of His group is now investigating how the In March, Dr Carey and an inter- There is no silver bullet.” 3010
18 OPEN ACCESS OPEN ACCESS 19
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you’re entitled to access many of the
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3,976 open access theses
H
“Open access enables people who it, but if they can’t they’ll move on to
ow do we make knowledge otherwise wouldn’t have access to something else. It’s the main way people
available to everyone? peer-reviewed research created at our out there access our content.” 10,817 open access research publications
That question is driving University to access it for free.” McRostie says the University can’t rely
the growing “open access” Among the most popular works on readers coming to its websites to find (journal articles, book chapters, reports, etc)
movement in higher accessed in 2019 were a severe articles. Instead, they must be clever
education, which seeks to make research
available online, for free, to anybody who
thunderstorm climatology, a paper
comparing the experiences of physical
about coming up with ways to bring
content to readers.
6,116,477 total downloads
wants it. education teachers in Kenya and Australia, “One of our main aims is to make the
The University of Melbourne has had and a journal article on Mexican painter content as visible as possible, so users 1,306,730 total downloads for 2019
an open-access repository, known as Frida Kahlo. The most popular item of don’t actually have to know where to
Minerva Access, since 2001. The work
in the database collectively tells a story
2019 so far is an edited collection of letters
from Aboriginal women in Victoria from
come. Instead, you can do a search and
find this stuff using any mechanism that MINERVA’S TOP 10 MOST POPULAR ITEMS
about the University’s scholarship, says 1867 to 1926. you choose: Google, Google Scholar,
Donna McRostie, Deputy Director of Other highlights from the collection Trove, etc.” In the mood for The challenges of The mechanics of A dynamic structural Embedded:
Research and Collections in Scholarly include the first two PhD theses to ever be It’s a mammoth logistical undertaking, love: intersections teaching physical tractor-implement analysis of trees the Australian
Services. completed in Australia, as well as the first and staff can’t just click their fingers and of Hong Kong education: performance: subject to wind Red Cross in the
make everything freely available. modernity juxtaposing the theory and worked loading Second World War
“It’s a showcase of all the research at the thesis ever completed at the University of
Audrey Yue experiences of examples: a textbook Kenneth Ronald James Dr Jonathan A Spear
University, and all the student scholarship Melbourne (An examination of Teutonic “Permissions must be provided by
as well. It really profiles the breadth and Law, completed as part of a Doctor of students and academics, then there are 23,100 physical education for students and 23,270 16,870
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McRostie works closely with Jenny Indeed, Minerva houses more than “When we talk about digitising, that’s Michael N Wanyama 26,720 Letters from
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University academics consider making publications, including articles, book them discoverable, the online tools to get Constructing nurses’ Edited collection
their research available to anyone. chapters and even creative works. All up, them out there. We’re challenged to keep
Beyond black and professional identity 38,490
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close to retirement, and they want their (1994–2001)
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McKnight notes plays into ideas of Research suggests that people who then that their work will be there and 18,390
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equitable access that underpin the open work outside of universities rely on discoverable, even if a journal publisher
access movement. open-access databases to gain access gets bought out or closes everything up.”
“The vast majority of academic to knowledge that would otherwise be Adds McRostie: “It’s a work in
research outputs, globally, are behind unavailable to them. “Practitioners, progress, and finite resources limit what
*2002 – October 2019
paywalls. What that basically means is, policymakers, business professionals. we can do. But the opportunities here
minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au
if you’re outside a wealthy, often Western Typically, they will do a Google or are huge.” 3010You can also read
