What’s happening

A new report has found that half of regional mature-age students are at risk of dropping out of their studies, due to reasons such as stress or feeling overwhelmed by their study load.

“I’ve talked with students who have been unable to submit an assessment by the due date because they’ve had a baby, their roster changed or they had been impacted by a large bushfire, and they weren’t granted an extension because their reasons weren’t written in the rules," says report author Dr Nicole Crawford.

In other news, Curtin students in the Mid-West region of WA can now access local support and 24-hour study facilities at the Geraldton Universities Centre (@geraldton_universities_centre), following the signing of a new Service Level Agreement!

What do you think about these announcements? Drop a comment below.

Illustrations of regional students by Morag Porteous.

#CurtinCommunity #regionalstudents #regionalWA #matureagestudents #geraldton #GUC ...

Jacinta Hampson's incredible story is one of resilience and hope.

Jacinta is a former Curtin journalism student, who has lived with a disability since an accident at 18 years old left her with catastrophic head injuries and completely paralysed on one side of her body.

Doctors said she wouldn't survive, but when Jacinta awoke from a coma she slowly taught herself to do everything again from scratch - including returning to university studies and working as a journalist at the Fremantle Herald.

"Looking on the positive side of things, the accident laid the foundations for my writing career," says Jacinta. "I’ve learned a lot about human nature [from my experiences]...

"I once read: 'Don’t dwell in the past, just live in the present and dream of the future.' And that’s exactly what I intend to do."

📷 Photos of Jacinta Hampson supplied by Uniting WA.

#CurtinGrad #journalism #writing #humanities #inspiring ...

A team of Curtin researchers, in collaboration with Monash University, have developed an oxygen conversion unit that will enable doctors to provide life-saving oxygen treatment for people with COVID, particularly in India.

“It was deeply distressing and hard to believe that only a few weeks ago, people in India were dying due to lack of oxygen," says Doctor of Philosophy (Chemical Engineering) graduate Dr Tejas Bhatelia, one of the team members involved.

"This project can be a gamechanger for rural parts of India. These units are easy to build and do not require a lot of power to operate... If or rather when the third wave hits India, we hope that this technology may be able to provide some breath of relief.”

The conversion unit (swipe right to see), which can supply oxygen to up to 30 patients at a time, was designed to be built from materials found at local Indian hardware stores, meaning any technician with the design specifications can transport it to village hospitals.

📷 From left to right: Dean of Engineering Prof Vishnu Pareek, and Curtin graduates Dr Biao Sun and Dr Tejas Bhatelia.

#CurtinGrad #CurtinResearch #engineering #science #inspiring #inspiration #COVID ...

Any young graduates wanting to network over delicious drinks and nibbles? 😎🍸

Our Young Alumni Cocktails & Conversations event is happening on Wednesday evening 21 July at the Grand Bar & Bistro in Perth. Register via the link in our bio to catch up with fellow grads, meet new people and learn more about our emerging leaders.

#CurtinGrad #youngalumni #CurtinCommunity #networking #Perthnetworking ...

With the support of a prestigious fellowship, Curtin wildlife ecologist Dr Brenton von Takach is going to spend the next 18 months investigating the decline of vertebrate species worldwide as a result of climate change, habitat degradation, invasive species, and land clearing.

This includes animals like our own Australian rock ringtail possum - swipe right to see two for yourself!

Our Vice Chancellor Harlene Hayne says that the Forrest Research Foundation Prospect Fellowship will allow Brenton to acquire important data that will be used to protect threatened or declining vertebrate species in the future.

“This is particularly important in Australia," she says, "which has highly unique and diverse fauna and has been exceptionally vulnerable to the effects of environmental and land-use changes.”

What do you think about this Curtin research? 💭

📷 Photos from Brenton von Takach.

#CurtinResearch #environment #biodiversity #wildlife #conservation #ecology #climatechange #research ...

Meet Western Australia's Chief Health Officer and #CurtinGrad, Dr Andy Robertson.

Andy graduated from Curtin with a Graduate Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety, a Master of Public Health, and a Master of Health Services Management. Now he is currently leading Western Australia’s health response to the coronavirus pandemic as WA's Chief Health Officer.

Last year, we celebrated Andy's professional achievements in the health sciences with a 2020 Curtin Alumni Award. If you know an inspiring graduate like Andy, who is going above and beyond to serve their community, nominate them for an Alumni Award today via the link in our bio.

And don't miss out! Nominations close this Friday July 16. 🤗

#CurtinCommunity #AlumniAwards #CurtinUniversity #inspiration #leader #healthsciences #publichealth #WAhealth ...

Ever walked around the Perth CBD and wanted to see a bit more energy and vibrancy?

Well, our Curtin architecture students are working on doing just that! They've been tasked with thinking of ideas to revitalise the King Street precinct and west end of the city. Students are doing site visits, working with industry representatives and organising discussions on redefining 'luxury.' Swipe right to see them in action!

Senior lecturer Dr Annette Condello says the future of luxury in Perth is local.

"A lot of luxury stores are based over east. I think we need to make places that are specifically about Perth and linking into Indigenous culture."

Do you have any ideas on what could be done to transform the CBD? Tell us in the comments. 👇

📷 Dr Annette Condello.

#CurtinUniversity #Perth #architecture #luxury #design ...

This year's NAIDOC Week theme is 'Healing Country!' We want to celebrate an inspiring Curtin researcher who is highlighting the importance of caring for Country.

Darryl Kickett is leading a project called 'Healing Land, Healing People' that will unite modern Western science with historical and cultural knowledge from local Nyungar Elders to conserve the biodiversity of the Dryandra Woodlands near Narrogin, Western Australia.

Darryl believes there’s a greater need for Aboriginal input when addressing issues around conservation and protecting biodiversity.

“We’ve got to work out how to shift the way we live to accommodate the changes that are needed to prevent the disastrous things that are happening around the planet,” Darryl says. "We have an opportunity here to not only potentially find something to slow the decline in biodiversity, but also progress reconciliation."

Thank you Darryl and the other researchers involved in this.

📷 Carnaby's Black Cockatoo, considered an endangered species, spotted in Dryandra Woodlands, WA. Photo by Patrick Hornby.

#CurtinResearch #NAIDOC #NAIDOCWeek #HealCountry #conservation #biodiversity ...