ScienceNetwork WA

Writen by Sarah Fletcher, of the Goldfields Education Mining Industry Alliance

Over three days and an evening session of April 4, 5 and 6, around 600 school children, many community members and educators enjoyed short talks, hands-on activities, workshops  and displays at the recent Science Awareness Festival at the Kalgoorlie Town Hall. 

IN HIS new role as Minister for Science, Premier Colin Barnett took time to brief ScienceNetwork on his vision for science in WA.

Writen by Sarah Fletcher, of the Goldfields Education Mining Industry Alliance

PROFESSOR Fiona Haslam Mckenzie, Principal Research Leader for the Enduring Community Value from Mining- Remote Economies program for the Co-operative Research Centre - Remote Economic Participation helped launched the Goldfields-Esperance Portal of the ScienceNetworkWA website in late November last year.

A NATIONAL surveillance study of hospitalised cases with chicken pox before and after the introduction of the freely available varicella vaccine in Australia has reported a drop of almost 70 per cent in cases with complications needing medical attention.

WA’s ChemCentre has begun a research initiative to further understand and curb Acid Mine Drainage (AMD), one of the leading environmental concerns produced by mining and development sites.

RESEARCHERS say an increasing amount of land in Western Australia is being managed for environmental conservation, however mining companies are the single largest lease holder of what was previously pastoral land.

AN article by Western Australian and American environmental scientists is putting forward a new way of looking at the native versus non-native species debate and proposes species origin is no longer the best judgement tool in the ever-changing environment.

AN INTERNATIONAL research project involving a local scientist has presented the results of a study which used the first non-destructive, three dimensional method of documenting binding attachments in fossil vertebrates.

UNIVERSITIES have welcomed Premier Colin Barnett’s move to raise the profile of science within government by taking ministerial responsibility for science policy.

THE declared rare flora poison pea (Gastrolobium graniticum) does not need fire to propagate as previously believed.

ESTABLISHING an industry founded on algae-based biodiesel could potentially overshadow Western Australia’s iron ore industry and could be up and running in as little as five years, according to a local expert.

TRADITIONAL owners are using a unique software program that collects environmental and cultural data to contribute to the land management and conservation of the desert rangelands areas in WA.

MURDOCH University scientists have created a technique using microfluidics which could revolutionise how resource companies recover high-value precious metals, making the process faster and cheaper.

A recent UWA study has investigated the nutrition-related issues affecting disadvantaged families with overweight or obese children.

THE highly successful Bromilow Soft Trap, used to catch wallabies in conservation efforts, has been upgraded by its inventors who created the trap more than 30 years ago.

THE United Nations has set a target to restore 150 million hectares of degraded land globally by 2020, but a UWA study has cautioned there are significant challenges facing global landscape-scale restoration efforts.

The Goldfields Education Mining Industry Alliance (GEMIA) Inc was established in 2008 to lift awareness, knowledge and interest in mining, mining and other sciences, and regional employment possibilities through active engagement with school students and the community.

A NEW study has dispelled the belief that heart disease is higher among rural Indigenous populations than those in urban centres.

IT’S been described as the missing link in precision agriculture—and it could save the agricultural industry between $500 million and $1 billion annually.

WA has a new hope for drought-tolerant fodder during the dry months after researchers announce the plant tedera holds promise as a new pasture species for sheep and cattle.