36 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report The Potter name in the Environment & Conservation area is perhaps most synonymous with the funding of an ‘exercise in farm planning’, which would become known as the Potter Farmland Plan. Twenty years on, the Potter Farmland Plan continues to infl uence the agenda for funding by the Foundation. Sustainable development of land and land management practices remain at the forefront of the Foundation’s funding guidelines and practices. The Foundation believes that community, government and business partnerships are the key to solving the great environmental challenges of our time. The Ian Potter Foundation continues to support and promote the funding of research and on-the-ground works that promote the preservation of species and increase public awareness of the environmental challenges facing Australian communities. Funding Objectives • To develop partnerships with communities, government and the private sector to help prevent irreversible damage to the environment and to encourage the maintenance of biodiversity • To support programs and policies that are committed to the economic and ecologically sustainable development of land, and the preservation of species • To foster a broad public awareness of the environmental challenges facing urban and rural Australia • To assist communities that are threatened with serious economic hardship due to the degradation of land and water resources, and to develop policies to manage the social, economic and cultural changes needed for survival • To assist projects designed to preserve the built environment that has cultural signifi cance

Left Sea Anemone, Epiactis australiensis/Epiactis thomsoni Environment & Conservation

The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 37 DOLPHIN RESEARCH INSTITUTE LTD VICTORIA $25,000 to the response to multiple deaths and disease of Victorian coastal Bottlenose Dolphins in the Gippsland Lakes Mr Jeff Weir, Director www.dolphinresearch.org.au

Protecting the health and wellbeing of our marine environment

Nine dolphins have died in Victoria’s Gippsland Lakes since Monash University is a key partner in this project, with academic November 2006, some heavily covered with fi st-sized fungal support provided via a research committee. A recent Monash skin lesions that had penetrated deep into the dolphins’ University graduate student project supported by DRI has blubber layer. Initial monitoring by the Dolphin Research provided some crucial early understandings around the toxin Institute (DRI) in December 2007 revealed that up to one-third levels in Victorian waters that may be impacting on dolphins. of the dolphins in some groups were signifi cantly affected by Funding from The Ian Potter Foundation is helping DRI, the skin lesions. their volunteers and university partners to gain a clearer Inadequate understanding of the nature of the disease and the understanding of the current population dynamics and the population dynamics of the Gippsland Lakes dolphins make it nature and cause of the disease among the Gippsland Lakes diffi cult to assess both the signifi cance of the deaths and the dolphins. The research will go some way to highlighting issues potential for the disease to spread. affecting the health and wellbeing of not only Victoria’s dolphin population but also the marine environment.

Above Victorian coastal Bottlenose Dolphins in the Gippsland Lakes

38 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report MARINE CARE – RICKETTS POINT INC VICTORIA $10,000 to develop a pictorial book revealing Victoria’s natural marine world Mr Hakan Dellal, Vice President

Creating opportunities to learn about and access our magnifi cent marine environment

Marine Care – Ricketts Point with the support of the Foundation is currently embarking on the creation of a pictorial book that will provide greater insight and interpretation of Victoria’s natural marine beauty. The book will be particularly useful for snorkellers, recreational beachgoers, local communities and marine enthusiasts. It is hoped that once completed the book will encourage people to use the easy-to-master skill of snorkelling to learn more about their local marine environment. Special underwater photography will highlight selected marine sanctuaries, national parks, marine life and vegetation of interest. The book will also provide information and guidance on how to access and enjoy protected marine areas, allowed recreational activities, and details on how to care for and protect these environments. The book will complement the already successful outreach work undertaken by volunteers at Marine Care – Ricketts Point.

Above Left Spider Crabs, Leptomithrax gaimardii Above Right Big-belly Seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis Right Blue Blubber Sea Jelly, Catostylus mosaicus

39 MERRI CREEK MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE ENVIRONMENT DEFENDERS VICTORIA OFFICE LTD (VIC) $16,100 to Out on a Limb – Reaching out to schools VICTORIA in distant waterways $17,517 towards EnviroLaw.org.au (national component) Ms Angela Foley, Catchment Programs Ms Mandy Johnson, Administration and Project Coordinator www.mcmc.org.au www.edo.org.au/edovic

Inspiring students about local environmental diversity Empowering communities to take action on changes to their environment Out on a Limb is an education project designed to extend The Environment Defenders Offi ce (EDO) in Victoria primarily the reach of Merri Creek Management Committee’s (MCMC) works to support members of the community who may face environmental programs with schools. MCMC has a long history social or economic barriers to accessing legal advice relating to of working with schools and local communities to help people environmental issues they are confronting in their communities. gain a better understanding of their indigenous environments. The EDO relies on the support of volunteers and the provision of In the past MCMC has focused on working with schools in pro bono assistance from legal and other professionals. relatively close proximity to creek environs, enabling easy Funding from The Ian Potter Foundation and the Victorian connection with the indigenous landscapes that MCMC works Law Foundation is helping the EDO to create an environmental to conserve. Out on a Limb will offer established MCMC law wiki that will allow solicitors and barristers with particular activities in the form of school incursions and excursions to expertise to feed directly into a national online version of the extend, stimulate and develop catchment and geographic EDO’s popular environmental laws publications. awareness for schools not close to waterways. This program Once ‘live’ the website will be an invaluable source of information offers students a great opportunity to learn about diverse and legal knowledge on important environmental issues affecting landscapes and put their understanding to work within their communities. The wiki will empower individuals and communities own school environment. to make decisions and take action. The site will also have a national focus, allowing users and volunteers a clearer view on legal issues within each State. Left ‘The engagement philosophy underpinning Out on a Limb is to guide students into lesser known natural areas and have them fi nd a sense of place and connection through a series of activities with many outcomes including these tiny detailed sketches.’ Angela Foley, Catchment Programs Leader for Merri Creek Management Committee Right Northcote Primary School students responded with wonder and concentration to Merri Park Wetland as part of a series of interactions with Merri Creek Management Committee

40 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report UNIVERSITY OF THE SUNSHINE COAST: SCIENCE, HEALTH AND EDUCATION QUEENSLAND $24,220 to the Fraser Island Young Explorer project Professor Greg Hill, Deputy Vice-Chancellor www.usc.edu.au Experience brings environmental science research to life The Fraser Island Young Explorer project will offer socio-economically disadvantaged Year 7 school students the opportunity to participate in ‘real’ environmental science on Fraser Island, Queensland. The project will give the students, supported by scientists at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), the chance to monitor and report scientifi c fi ndings for their own school-based projects and contribute to a long-term global research project on the challenges of environmental stability. Students will stay at USC accommodation in the Dilli Village Environmental Education Camp on the island for fi ve days, working with and learning from university researchers. Funding from the Foundation will signifi cantly subsidise the camp, ensuring that there are no fi nancial barriers to student participation in the project.

Top Rainforest walk beside crystal clear Wanggoolba Creek at Central Station, a former logging camp and now ranger and information station. Photograph © Dr Christian Jones Above Wreck of the luxury cruise ship Maheno, driven ashore in a cyclone in 1935, while being towed to Japan. Photograph © Dr Christian Jones

The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 41 42 ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS VICTORIA $1.25 million to the Australian Garden Project – Stage 2 (part of a commitment of $5 million over four years) Dr Phillip Moors, Chief Executive Offi cer www.rbg.vic.gov.au

Celebrating the beauty and diversity of Australian landscapes and plants The fi rst stage of Australia’s newest and most remarkable As with Stage 1, the western side of the garden will refl ect botanic garden, the Australian Garden at the Royal Botanic natural landscape infl uences. In this area the Eucalypt Walk Gardens (RBG) Cranbourne, opened in 2006. Set within 363 will be extended to enclose the new Ian Potter Lakeside Precinct hectares of natural bushland and heath on the Cranbourne – named in recognition of the Foundation’s signifi cant support site, the spectacular new garden is being created to display for the Australian Garden. The Precinct will be a large event native plants in the evocative context of the landscapes of space, with capacity for some 1,500 people, suitable for festivals, this continent. functions, live music and theatre. It will bring to RBG Cranbourne The fundamental aim of the Australian Garden is to reveal and the surrounding City of Casey a major new community and celebrate the beauty and diversity of Australian plants. benefi t. It also has the more practical aim of encouraging the Along the eastern side of Stage 2, visitors will follow the cultivation of native plants in home gardens. Alongside the waterside path of the River Bend Walk to the North and South natural landscape features and plantings there are thematic Display Gardens, past the striking Melaleuca Spits to the Exhibition Gardens that demonstrate ways of using native Continental Edge Gardens. The Display and Continental Edge plants in suburban gardens. Gardens give inspiration and examples for using Australian These dual aims are also evident in its central focus on water, plants in contemporary domestic and public settings, with making it truly a garden for the times. The garden is designed creating a sustainable future the key theme. around the concept of the presence and absence of water in In addition, Stage 2 of the Australian Garden also provides the Australian landscape, and visitors will be able to make nearby a large new family picnic and recreation space, the a metaphorical journey from the arid centre to the coastal Woodland Picnic Area, which opened in October 2008. wetlands. Visitors will also make discoveries about the use Extensions to the Australian Garden’s Visitor Centre, and conservation of water, about low water use plants suitable commencing in November, will enlarge Boonerwurrung Café, for their own gardens and about the practice of sustainable create a new indoor function room for 130 people, and add gardening. an auditorium for educational and other activities. The fi rst nine-hectare stage of the Australian Garden features the dramatic Red Sand Garden, spectacular Rockpool Waterway, the Eucalypt Walk, Dry River Bed and Arid Garden. Since its opening the new garden has attracted an increasing number of visitors – in the past year more than 58,000 – and also a rapidly increasing number of school students who participate in the RBG’s educational programs. The second stage, currently underway, will add another nine hectares to the Australian Garden and extend the amenities and services for visitors, tourists and the local community. A grant of $5 million from The Ian Potter Foundation in 2006 has helped the Royal Botanic Gardens leverage additional support for Stage 2 of the project, the most signifi cant of which was a $20.9 million commitment from the Victorian Government. The ‘potential to leverage’ is one of the key funding principles of The Ian Potter Foundation. The Foundation is happy to be one of many funders within a large project and is particularly keen to support organisations that are looking for funding leverage.

Opposite Page The Australian Garden, RBG Cranbourne. Photographs by Janusz Molinski. Reproduced courtesy of Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne

The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 43 DOWN THE TRACK ROYAL ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC $100,000 to the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby Recovery Program Dr David Taggart, Research Scientist www.adelaidezoo.com.au

Only two years ago the plight of the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby The highlight of the past twelve months has been the success looked to be irrecoverable. The only species of rock wallaby of the cutting edge science trialed to boost the wallaby numbers. found in South-Eastern Australia, the animal was extinct in the At the forefront of this science is a cross-fostering program Australian Capital Territory and less than ten were known to be which sees the young of Brush-tailed Rock Wallabies transferred living in the wild in Victoria and New South Wales. into the pouch of other wallaby species. The cross-fostering Commercial hunting of Brush-tailed Rock Wallabies from 1884 to allows the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby to be reared until 1914 resulted in over 1.1 million bounties being paid in Victoria and independence by the foster mother and frees the endangered New South Wales. By the end of the commercial hunting period Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby females to produce another young. the remaining population of Brush-tailed Rock Wallabies was This process is a world fi rst in endangered species recovery, facing the even greater ravages of new predators such as foxes, and in early 2008 the team was rewarded with the successful cats and wild dogs. At several points throughout the last century transfer of one male pouch young from Little River Gorge in the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby was feared extinct in Victoria, East Gippsland to the Adelaide Zoo, the fi rst successful transfer only for local landholders in the Grampians and Gippsland to since 2003. sight them once more. However, by the late 1990s the remaining The successful cross-fostering transfer is only one highlight Victorian populations had almost completely collapsed, with the of many in a successful twelve-month period for the Recovery last animals removed from their Grampian home and placed in Team. The success in the wild has been repeated in captivity with captivity for breeding. eight births already recorded in 2008. The period has also seen Recognising the fragile state of the population in the mid the expansion of the ‘hardening off’ enclosure in Dunkeld, which 1990s, a group of experts from the Victorian Department of is specifi cally designed to prepare the animal for release into the Sustainability and Environment, Parks Victoria, Healesville wild, and further success in the intensifi ed baiting program to rid Sanctuary, The University of Melbourne, Tidbinbilla Nature colonies of non-natural predators. Reserve, Waterfall Springs and the Adelaide Zoo came together The Recovery Program continues to excite all those involved with to form the Victorian Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby Recovery Team. it. Should the success of 2007 and early 2008 be repeated there The team set about creating a unique combination of new and is every chance the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby will continue its conventional wildlife management techniques to not only protect remarkable recovery. but also reinvigorate the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby population in South-Eastern Australia. The combined cutting edge science and leadership within the program was enough to convince The Ian Potter Foundation to contribute $100,000 in early 2007. Over the past twelve months, that funding, with additional support from private donors and Left Cross-fostered Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby pouch young. philanthropic foundations, has contributed to the remarkable Reproduced courtesy of the Department of Sustainability and Environment recovery of the species. Right Tiny Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby pouch young ready for transportation to a foster mother. Reproduced courtesy of the Department of Sustainability and Environment Opposite Page Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby. Reproduced courtesy of the Department of Sustainability and Environment

44 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report ENVIRONMENT & CONSERVATION GRANTS PAID 2007–2008

Australian Catholic University Newman College, Parkville Restoration of Central Hall – restoration of ACU’s historic Central Hall, $216,766 Stonework restoration at Newman College – the restoration of the historic $100,000 located in Fitzroy. Newman College at The University of Melbourne. (third payment of a commitment of up to $500,000 over four years) (fi nal payment of a $200,000 commitment over two years)

Dolphin Research Institute Inc Royal Botanic Gardens Response to multiple deaths and disease of Victorian coastal Bottlenose $25,000 Australian Garden Project (Cranbourne) – Stage 2 of the Australian Garden $1,250,000 Dolphins in the Gippsland Lakes – early research work into the deaths and incorporating the fi nal ten hectares of gardens. disease of Gippsland Lake dolphins, many of which are carrying unknown (second payment of a $5,000,000 commitment over four years) skin lesions. RMIT University Environment Defenders Offi ce Ltd (Vic) Beyond the Potter Farmland: Learning from the past – adapting for the $60,000 EnviroLaw.org.au (national component) – the creation of an $17,517 future – the project tackles, in an organised and integrated manner, environmental law wiki to empower communities to make decisions the complex challenges that are obstacles to developing sustainability about their environment. strategies at the implementation level.

Gympie and District Landcare Group Royal Zoological Society of South Australia Inc ‘KidZone’ Environmental Expo for Young Children – Extension Project – the $5,000 The Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby Recovery Program – support for the $100,000 production of a detailed manual on organising a ‘KidZone’ Environmental recovery program aimed at protecting the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby Education event, based on experiences of coordinating this event from in South-Eastern Australia from extinction. 2001–2007. St Paul’s Cathedral Melbourne Karkana Support Services Conservation of tessellated tiled fl oor of St Paul’s Cathedral – scoping work $50,000 Purchase and installation of a desalination plant for the market garden $15,000 and early restoration of William Butterfi eld’s magnifi cent tessellated tiles – assistance to purchase a desalination plant for Karkana to offset the at St Paul’s. water shortages facing the Horsham area. The Organ Historical Trust of Australia Keep Australia Beautiful (NSW) Reconstruction of two of the three windchests of the 1875 William Hill & Son $40,000 Knowledge Bank website – creation of a free web-based resource $6,000 organ – the fi nal stages of the overall reconstruction of this historic organ to assist community groups to successfully undertake environment in South Australia. and conservation projects. University of the Sunshine Coast Marine Care – Ricketts Point Inc Fraser Island Young Explorer project – to provide young people in $24,220 A pictorial book revealing Victoria’s natural marine world – to develop $10,000 Queensland with an opportunity to participate in direct scientifi c research a pictorial guide and representation of Port Phillip Bay’s natural beauty on Fraser Island. in order to sustain its resources for the future. Through photographic representation, the project aims to highlight and expose Victoria’s Wildlife Protection Association of Australia Inc marine biodiversity. Laptop and internet hosting – purchase of a laptop and fi ve years of $2,050 website hosting for the certifi cation of a Wildlife Friendly Backyard Merri Creek Management Committee Habitat. Out on a Limb – Reaching out to schools in distant waterways – the program $16,100 will offer established MCMC activities in the form of school incursions and excursions to extend, stimulate and develop catchment and geographic awareness for schools not close to waterways. Total Environment & Conservation $1,937,653

The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 45 One of the Foundation’s key funding principles focuses on prevention; we seek to fund projects that address the causes of problems rather than treat the symptoms. In no other funding area is this principle more important than in Health. The Foundation looks to support programs that help prevent disease and are forward-thinking in their strategies to advance community practice and approaches to health delivery. The Foundation is also acutely aware of the need to provide solutions and address issues of quality of life for those individuals living with chronic illness. As such we are interested in supporting innovative, replicable programs that improve the delivery of services and quality of life to individuals living with an illness or disability. Funding Objectives • To support organisations undertaking research into and treatment of major diseases • To support innovative programs designed to improve the delivery of services to people handicapped by health conditions • To support educational programs for the prevention of diseases Exclusions The Foundation will not normally support requests for funds for: • salaries of health personnel, research assistants, small items of equipment or programs that are substantially funded by government or major public health organisations • equipment and services that should properly be provided for in the usual operation of the hospital or health facility.

Left At Kununurra District High School Clontarf Football Academy students learn to cook and serve lunch to program participants and staff

Health

46 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report THE EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF MULTICULTURAL CENTRE FOR VICTORIA INC WOMEN’S HEALTH VICTORIA VICTORIA $15,000 to provide culturally relevant and $50,000 to the Diabetes Healthy Living Project: Diabetes accessible epilepsy information Prevention Education for Immigrant Women’s Health Mr Jeremy Maxwell, Development Manager and Wellbeing www.epinet.org.au Dr Adele Murdolo, Executive Director www.mcwh.com.au

Translations help break down barriers Bridging the cultural divide in diabetes “These translations will be a fantastic resource for “The key difference with the Diabetes Prevention so many communities here in Victoria. For the fi rst Education program is that it will provide information time they will have written materials that not only to women in their own languages. Women are cover fi rst aid for seizures but explain our services central as conduits for passing information around and how we can help them. Our health system can communities as well as improving the health of be a daunting prospect so having this material will their families. The Ian Potter funds have allowed allow them to gain access quickly to us.” this sought-after program to fi nally be provided.” Jeremy Maxwell Dr Adele Murdolo Epilepsy affects people of all ages, nationalities and The Diabetes Healthy Living Project will provide multilingual social backgrounds. information and education to culturally and linguistically The Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria provides a diverse background (CALDB) women in Victoria about diabetes comprehensive range of services to people living with prevention and strategies to promote healthier lifestyles. The epilepsy. These services include the provision of public project will target women from communities that have a high education, advocacy, employment programs, recreational incidence of type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes. support, individual and group counselling, support for The education sessions will be provided to women who are medical and psychosocial research, and accessible, working from home, or in informal employment such as outwork, comprehensive epilepsy information. unpaid caring, or in seasonal employment. The project will The Epilepsy Foundation has two essential brochures: Seizure develop a new diabetes education and prevention component First Aid and Our Services, currently available in English, as part of the Centre’s existing health promotion and education Cantonese and Mandarin. The Foundation plans to translate programs for CALDB women. The Diabetes Healthy Living these important documents into 18 languages to provide Project will be provided in a range of community languages to culturally relevant and accessible information to Victorians meet the needs of women whose fi rst language is not English. who speak limited or no English. This approach will enable the program to reach women who would otherwise be unlikely to receive quality information This will provide people with epilepsy and their families about diabetes-related issues, preventative strategies and with user-friendly information; reduce the already signifi cant available services. barriers people with epilepsy face; and make it easier for people with epilepsy to access appropriate services. The pilot project will run from June 2008 to June 2009. The Ian Potter Foundation believes in strengthening communities by supporting inclusive programs.

Left Lisa Rath (EFV counsellor) shows Zaeneb Abdul Said (Iraqi refugee) the fi rst aid translation Right Members of the Diabetes Healthy Living Project Team, L to R: Amira Rahmanovic (MCWH Education and Training Manager), Dr Regina Quiazon (Victoria University Diabetes Education Project Offi cer) and Carolyn Poljski (MCWH Diabetes Healthy Living Project Worker)

The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 47 INNER SOUTH COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICE INC VICTORIA $50,000 to support the Indigenous Health Outreach Program Mr Eamonn O’Toole, Coordinator, Indigenous Access & Equity Program www.ischs.org.au Inclusive healthcare model to improve outcomes for Indigenous community “The feedback [about the new program] has been The Inner South Community Health Service is a mainstream positive and many untreated conditions are now health organisation with a strong focus on marginalised groups. The aim of the Indigenous Health Outreach Program is to diagnosed and people are on treatment regimes.” improve health outcomes for the local Indigenous community Eamonn O’Toole in the St Kilda area of Melbourne by providing a friendlier model of care. The project will increase GP and nurse hours to a full day each week to respond to the increasing demand from the local Indigenous community. Every second week the program will use the organisation’s Health Bus to run outreach clinics. The GP and nurse will travel to regular gathering areas of the local Indigenous community to deliver primary health care services. Once a month these outreach clinics will include other allied health services, such as a podiatrist, physiotherapist and counsellors. The program will also complete health checks on clients, refer clients to outpatient clinics and assist with Medicare registration. This important project may provide a model of medical care for Indigenous communities that could be used in other areas.

Above GP practice nurse, Nuala, administering the infl uenza vaccine at Our Rainbow Place

48 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report RURAL HEALTH EDUCATION FOUNDATION AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY $10,000 to the Strong series, programs 3 and 4: Stay Strong and Strong and Deadly Mr Don Perlgut, Chief Executive Offi cer www.rhef.com.au

Communication fosters knowledge and strength for rural health promotion “Through this project, strong connections have been The aim of the Strong series is to empower both Indigenous established with the community itself, and the communities and health professionals working with them with information, knowledge and positive examples of ‘things residents have expressed this in their repeated and that work’ in order to effect change at a community level. The heartfelt invitation for return visits.” Don Perlgut Productivity Commission has identifi ed ‘things that work’ as important in providing examples of sustainable change at a local For more than sixteen years, the Rural Health Education level and in illustrating what may not be captured in national Foundation has been working to improve the health and data. In particular, the objective of these two programs is to wellbeing of Australians in rural and remote areas by providing increase the health and wellbeing of Indigenous children and accessible distance education to general practitioners, adolescents by providing high quality educational resources for pharmacists, nurses, Indigenous health workers and other health professionals and community members. The tyranny of health care professionals. distance continues to prove a fi nancial challenge to producing Funding from The Ian Potter Foundation has contributed to the educational programs that are relevant and meaningful to Rural Health Education Foundation’s groundbreaking television Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, many of which Strong series on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child and are located in the most remote parts of Australia. Sending a fi lm adolescent development: program 3, Stay Strong – Indigenous crew into very isolated areas of Australia to fi lm case studies Child Health 6–12 years; and program 4, Strong and Deadly – that add to the depth and relevance of Rural Health Education Indigenous Adolescent Health 13–18 years. Foundation programs is time consuming, resource-heavy and costly. However, fi lming in these remote areas develops strong relationships with Indigenous communities and makes the resulting programs all the more effective. Without the support of The Ian Potter Foundation, the cost of this aspect of programming would be prohibitive.

Left Danila Dilba Youth Service teenage girls being interviewed about what they would like offered at Danila Dilba Right Ray Pascoe with one of his students at East Kimberley Primary Academy, which has been set up to engage boys at an early age

The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 49 DOWN THE TRACK THE AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH ALLIANCE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH WESTERN AUSTRALIA A commitment of $400,000 in 2001 (paid over two years) to establish a national research partnership focusing on child development and wellbeing Mr Lance Emerson, Chief Executive Offi cer www.aracy.org.au

Creating a powerful force for innovative social change for Australia’s youth

While Australia’s economic and technological progress has been their experience and knowledge. ARACY supports face-to-face strong over recent decades, these benefi ts have not resulted meetings of members via workshops and conferences and in signifi cant improvements to the health and wellbeing of the is leading the use of technology to encourage cost-effective nation’s young people. In fact, many of the key indicators that knowledge exchange across distance. measure how young people are faring remain unchanged or are Since inception, ARACY has taken the lead on a number of highly worsening. These include substantiated cases of child abuse and innovative national initiatives to improve outcomes for young neglect, mental health, access to education, violent youth crime people. These include: and substance abuse. • Instigating the establishment of the National Data Network to The Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) encourage data sharing, link data sets and improve access to was founded by a group of eminent experts and organisations in data. This provides a foundation for the best possible evidence response to worrying trends such as these. base for policy decisions, and allows the best use of these With seed funding from The Ian Potter Foundation ARACY resources for research. recruited its fi rst staff members and began operations. ARACY • Using internet-based seminars (webinars) and access was able to leverage this initial funding to obtain additional grid technology to break down traditional barriers to fi nancial support from government, other philanthropic and communication over distance. This technology allows independent sources. collaboration between policy makers, researchers and ARACY now has a staff of nearly thirty across three cities and is practitioners that would otherwise not be possible. vigorously pursuing a work plan that aims to create an Australian • Launching the Commitment to Young Australians – a society in which all our children and young people have the declaration that Australia needs to move towards a social, opportunity to become the best they can be. cultural, political and economic environment in which the ARACY has built a national membership comprising 325 wellbeing and development of all children and young people organisations, 406 individuals, and nearly 1,000 subscribers. In can be assured. More than 100 Australian organisations are addition, through the ARACY Research Network a further 262 signatories to the Commitment. network participants and 57 contributing organisations have With The Ian Potter Foundation support, ARACY has become one joined in their activities. of the country’s most important research alliance organisations ARACY creates opportunities for members to share information for children and young people. and evidence. Because Australia is such a large country it can be diffi cult for researchers, practitioners and policy makers to share

Above Listening to young people – the launch of the Commitment to Young Australians Opposite Page Western Australian Commissioner for Children and Young People, Michelle Scott, at the signing of the Commitment to Young Australians

50 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report “The rates and types of problems that we are currently seeing in our children and youth are unprecedented. Complex problems require innovative solutions, but they have to be found quickly. That means bringing together the very best people and organisations to combine forces and collaborate in ways that haven’t been done before. That’s the ARACY challenge.” Professor Fiona Stanley, AC, Chairperson, ARACY

HEALTH GRANTS PAID 2007–2008

Bayside Health Service (Vic) (The Alfred Hospital) Rural Health Education Foundation Research Centre for Medication Use and Safety – to establish this $100,000 Strong series, programs 3 and 4: Stay Strong and Strong and Deadly – this $10,000 research centre. project will complete a groundbreaking series on Aboriginal and Torres (fi nal payment of a $200,000 commitment over two years) Strait Islander child development with the aim of increasing the health and wellbeing of Indigenous children and adolescents.

Inner South Community Health Service Inc The Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria Inc Indigenous Health Outreach Program – a pilot project to improve health $50,000 Providing culturally relevant and accessible epilepsy information – to fund $15,000 outcomes for a local Indigenous community and address urgent and acute a leafl et for epilepsy sufferers and their families with information in their medical needs. own language to reduce the signifi cant barriers people with epilepsy face and to make it easier for them to access appropriate services.

Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health Total Health $225,000 Diabetes Healthy Living Project: Diabetes Prevention Education for $50,000 Immigrant Women’s Health and Wellbeing – to provide multilingual information and education to women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in Victoria about diabetes prevention and strategies to promote healthier lifestyles.

The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 51 52 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report The Foundation has a long history of supporting major medical Funding Objectives research through grants to institutes such as the Howard Florey • To support major initiatives by leading Australian research Institute, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, institutes, universities and teaching hospitals in innovative the Menzies School of Health Research, the Baker Medical biomedical research, the anticipated benefi ts of which are Research Institute, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, as well likely to advance the institution as a whole as universities and hospitals across Australia. The Foundation continues its commitment to supporting world Exclusions class medical programs that utilise leading edge technology and The Foundation will not normally support requests for funds for: involve internationally respected experts. • projects suitable for submission to the Australian Research Council (ARC) and/or the National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) • salaries for researchers or research assistants and for equipment, which should be the subject of submissions to the ARC or the NH&MRC • purposes that are core to the operations of the organisation and should more appropriately be funded from institutional operating funds • research projects for which there would be a reasonable prospect of attracting commercial funding • research scholarships or projects that would be awarded by the grant seeker to third parties • projects with an immediate or short-term expectation of commercial interest.

Left Children in Oenpelli community watch in wonder as a friend has her eyes checked. Medical Research

The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 53 ST VINCENT’S HOSPITAL MELBOURNE VICTORIA $100,000 to support a randomised controlled trial of a novel medical treatment program for cannabis dependence Professor Jon Currie, Professor of Addiction Medicine www.svhm.org.au

“There is an urgent need to develop more effective ways to assist people who have problems with cannabis. If successful, the results from the clinical trial that we are now able to undertake will offer our community a new, medically based treatment for cannabis-related problems.” Professor Jon Currie Current treatment for cannabis dependence focuses on psychological and counselling modalities such as cognitive behavioural therapies. The success rates with these treatment approaches are usually relatively limited, often achieving abstinence rates of only 10–15%. This is because the majority of people who use cannabis regularly experience severe and persistent withdrawal symptoms that prevent them from successfully stopping cannabis use. The commonly used counselling-based treatment modalities do not adequately address the distressing nature of this cannabis withdrawal syndrome, nor the underlying neurobiological abnormalities that are associated with cannabis dependence and withdrawal. The treatment program at St Vincent’s Hospital uses a combination of three medications that target the effects of cannabis on brain function, augmented with physical and psychological support that specifi cally targets the reality of cannabis withdrawal. Pharmacotherapy dosages are tailored according to clinical need and symptom, and are combined with a stepped-care model of nurse-based, symptom-focused, supportive counselling, with additional psychological treatment available if required. In clinical studies to date, 72% of 290 patients initially treated in a hospital outpatient clinic setting, and 67% of 160 patients subsequently treated in a nurse-based outpatient setting successfully achieved and maintained abstinence from cannabis at three months. The Ian Potter Foundation funding will be used to support a more extensive pilot project to assess the effectiveness of this new intervention for cannabis users.

Above Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones with a patient in the treatment program for cannabis dependence

54 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE VICTORIA $200,000 to the Indigenous Eye Health Program (part of a commitment of $1 million over fi ve years) Professor Hugh Taylor, AC, Department of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences www.mdhs.unimelb.edu.au

Closing the gap in eye health for Indigenous Australians “Every Australian deserves quality eye care. The Potter Foundation grant will help us close the huge gap in vision care that exists for Indigenous Australians.” Professor Hugh Taylor

Professor Hugh Taylor is leading The University of Melbourne’s Indigenous Eye Health Program. With the support of $1 million from The Ian Potter Foundation, the program aims to eradicate trachoma and redress the devastating inequity of Indigenous eye health in Australia. Since his pioneering days in the 1970s with friend and mentor Professor Fred Hollows, Hugh Taylor has been a passionate advocate for the health and wellbeing of our Indigenous communities. Today he is on a mission to eradicate a disease that has been wiped out in every developed country except Australia. The endemic poor eye health of our Indigenous community impacts greatly on life expectancy and quality of life, education outcomes and employment opportunities. Poor eye health is a powerful indicator of the diffi culties Indigenous communities have in accessing health care. The Ian Potter Foundation is committed to assisting Professor Taylor in his quest and to ensuring that all Australians understand the devastating impact of poor eye health. The data relating to eye health in Indigenous Australia paints a distressing picture with reported blindness rates in Indigenous Australians ten times higher than in non-Indigenous Australians. Poor vision impedes healthy and independent living, can affect a child’s education and play, an adult’s work and leisure, and the likelihood of healthy aging. Unlike many illnesses and disabilities, most poor eye health is preventable. Professor Taylor invited Janet Hirst, CEO of The Ian Potter Foundation, to be a member of The University of Melbourne’s Indigenous Eye Health Advisory Board, which met for their inaugural meeting in May. The Board aims to develop key strategies to assist in the effective implementation of the program and advise on critical lobbying to the government for funding for Indigenous eye health. Professor Taylor is working tirelessly to spur the Commonwealth Government into action. He believes with concerted action and about $20 million from the government that active trachoma could be eradicated in Australia within three to fi ve years.

Above Professor Hugh Taylor examining a man’s eyes for trachoma as part of The University of Melbourne’s Indigenous Eye Health Program

The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 55 DOWN THE TRACK THE SUNDERLAND AWARD A commitment of $50,000 for fi ve awards of $10,000

The Sunderland Award was established in 1994 in honour of Sir Sydney Sunderland (1910–1993), an original Governor of The Ian Potter Foundation and an internationally recognised medical researcher in peripheral nerve injuries. The aim of the award was to support and provide new research experience to young Australian neurobiologists working on sensorimotor neurobiology questions. Five exceptional medical scientists were supported under the Sunderland Award. They have all gone on to be leading experts in their fi elds. We asked them for an insight into the value of the Sunderland Award for their careers.

1995 Professor Trevor Kilpatrick ‘The Sunderland Award enabled me to undertake a short period of study with Professors Ian McDonald and David Miller at the National Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, in London. This period of time was crucial in assisting me to assimilate my ideas concerning the ‘big picture’ issues facing researchers in my fi eld of interest, namely the study of demyelinating disease, specifi cally multiple sclerosis (MS). Professors McDonald and Miller were world experts in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and although my primary area of focus has been the molecular pathogenesis of MS, my exposure to advanced imaging techniques at Queen Square (in particular MRI) has since enabled me and my colleagues to develop a translational research focus that incorporates MRI.’

1996 Dr Vaughan Macefi eld ‘Being awarded a Sunderland Award in 1996 was a great honour, allowing me to pursue my research into sensorimotor control of the hand with, arguably, the world’s leading investigator – Professor Roland Johansson at the University of Umeå in Sweden. I had spent a year in his laboratory during my time as a National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) CJ Martin Fellow in 1990–1991, so the Sunderland Award provided the opportunity to cement our collaboration, which is continuing to this day. Indeed, one of Professor Johansson’s former PhD students, Dr Ingvars Birznieks, joined my laboratory at the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute in 2005 as a postdoctoral researcher and is now supported by a Thinking Systems grant from the NH&MRC and Australian Research Council. So, it is fair to say that the award allowed me to further develop my research career and to establish research facilities that have attracted postdoctoral researchers from Sweden, Denmark, Canada and Australia.’

1999 Dr Glenda Halliday ‘The award enabled me to collaborate on standardising our processes for the assessment and databasing of information gathered over time on patients with Parkinson’s disease who participate in regional brain donor programs based in Sydney and Melbourne. These assessments are now performed at a number of outpatient clinics in Sydney. Without these longitudinal assessments, many of the clinicopathological correlations we have identifi ed since the award would not have been possible. Neurodegenerative diseases of the brain are diffi cult to study for a number of reasons, including diffi culties with determining the molecular and cellular events occurring at the time of any defi cit, and understanding that the brain has an enormous capacity to compensate when under disease attack and therefore recognising that accurate timing of disease onset and progression may be very inaccurate. As we develop strategies for reducing systemic disease, infections and cancers, understanding how the brain actually develops, works and responds to a wide variety of stimuli, including diseases, will be the next major health issues as the population ages and neurodegenerative disorders become the next epidemic.’

Top Professor Trevor Kilpatrick in his laboratory Middle Dr Vaughan Macefi eld Bottom Professor Glenda Halliday

56 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 2000 Professor Kathryn North ‘Many children with inherited muscle disorders have disabling muscle weakness, often lose the ability to walk and may die at an early age due to failure of respiratory muscles. I run the Clinical Neuromuscular Service at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, which cares for over 400 families with inherited muscle disorders – particularly the muscular dystrophies and congenital myopathies. My laboratory research is focused on identifying the genetic basis of inherited muscle disorders and understanding the mechanisms underlying the muscle weakness. I received the Sunderland Award in 2000, and used the funds to visit three collaborators in the United States. The time spent in Boston resulted in new collaborative studies using DNA microarray technology to understand the molecular pathways involved in nemaline myopathy and dysferlin defi ciency. The time spent in Seattle greatly furthered progress in the study of a novel myopathy discovered in the North laboratory. Face-to-face meetings of scientifi c collaborators can never be replaced by email. The trip funded by the Sunderland Award helped to cement existing collaborations and to accelerate the progress of the joint research efforts of my laboratory.’

2001 Dr Simon Koblar ‘The Sunderland Award was a wonderful affi rmation that the research I was doing was valuable and regarded as signifi cant in relation to my Australian peers. I had returned from overseas to a less than ideal situation and was working hard to establish myself as a clinician-scientist, which is not an easy task. This award made sense to me as Sunderland himself was the prototypical clinician-scientist and a goliath in the fi eld of neuroscience. The Sunderland Award gave me status, which helped me to become a founding chief co-investigator in an Australian Research Council Special Research Centre for the Molecular Genetics of Development (CMGD). The CMGD allowed me to pursue high risk research over its nine-year funding lifespan. By 2008 my group and collaborators have discovered a novel brain specifi c gene, NPAS4, and we are strategically building the foundation for brain repair using human dental pulp stem cells, when a brain is damaged following stroke.’

Top Professor Kathryn North pictured at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead Bottom Dr Simon Koblar – Head, Stroke Research Programme, University of Adelaide and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, South Australia

MEDICAL RESEARCH GRANTS PAID 2007–2008

Baker Medical Research Institute St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, renal disease and obesity: characterising $1,000,000 Cannabis dependence treatment – a randomised controlled trial $100,000 the complex interactions of chronic disease in Australia’s Indigenous and of a novel medical treatment program for cannabis dependence. non-Indigenous populations – a contribution towards two major items of new equipment for the new Profi ling Facility. The Cancer Council of Victoria Health 2000 Cohort Study – funding towards Phase 2 of an ongoing study $50,000 Bionic Ear Institute that aims to identify lifestyle factors that may either increase or decrease The Bionic Eye Biocompatibility and Effi cacy Project – to support $250,000 the risk of cancer, particularly bowel, breast or prostate. the feasibility study. (fi nal payment of a $100,000 commitment over two years) (fi nal payment of a $500,000 commitment over two years) The Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine Health Ltd Formation of the new Florey Neuroscience Institutes which will focus $2,000,000 The Ian Potter Cancer Immunotherapy and Bio-Organic Chemistry Laboratory $250,000 on neuroscience research and the health signifi cance of brain disorders – to assist in funding new research space for the cancer immunotherapy (third payment of a $10,000,000 commitment over fi ve years) research group. (fi nal payment of a $500,000 commitment over two years) To establish a Neuropeptide Laboratory to facilitate the discovery $80,000 of new drugs to treat disorders of the brain. The University of Melbourne: Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences (fi nal payment of a $1,200,000 commitment over fi ve years) Indigenous Eye Health Program – a fi ve-year program that will address the $200,000 Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research gross disparities in eye health between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. To purchase a Luminex Multianalyser Proteomics Instrument in order $25,000 (fi rst payment of a $1,000,000 commitment over fi ve years) to develop a detection test for ovarian cancer. Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research Menzies School of Health Research (Murdoch Childrens Research Institute) Cancer research facilities – funding towards facilities that will enhance $500,000 WEHI’s capacity for cancer research within the WEHI redevelopment. Healthy Skin Program – to reduce chronic diseases in Indigenous $101,139 (fi rst payment of a $1,000,000 commitment over two years) communities. (fi nal payment of a $500,000 commitment over three years) Total Medical Research $4,596,139

Monash University: Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences OMX V2 platform – to purchase this instrument, which provides super $40,000 resolution and will be the fi rst of its kind in Australia. It will be used to support the research of a number of highly regarded groups.

The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 57 58 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report The Ian Potter Foundation has a long history of supporting projects of high scientifi c merit, and in recent years this has extended to investing in Australia’s next generation of scientifi c minds. In 2007–2008 the Foundation continued to support outstanding researchers with Doctoral Fellowships at Lizard Island. The Foundation has built upon its commitment to support young scientists via the new Fellowship at Museum Victoria. The Fellowship was developed for early career researchers wishing to undertake a research project focusing on biodiversity and utilising a faunal group represented in Museum Victoria’s natural history collections. Funding Objectives • To support high quality scientifi c research of particular value to the development and enhancement of the economic and ecological sustainability of Australian enterprises • To support high quality scientifi c research to preserve Australian fl ora and fauna Exclusions The Foundation will not normally support requests for funds for: • projects suitable for submission to the Australian Research Council (ARC) and/or the National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) • salaries for researchers or research assistants and for equipment, which should be the subject of submissions to the ARC • purposes that are core to the operations of the organisation and should more appropriately be funded from institutional operating funds • research projects for which there would be a reasonable prospect of attracting commercial funding.

Left Adult Shy Albatross on Albatross Island

Science

The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 59 MUSEUM VICTORIA VICTORIA $50,000 for The Ian Potter Fellowship for Biodiversity Research at Museum Victoria (part of a commitment of $150,000 over three years) Dr Robin Hirst, Director, Collections, Research and Exhibitions www.museumvictoria.com.au

Evolving a better understanding of our marine environment “A talented young researcher now has at his Australian waters, 26 of which are unique to this region. Because disposal the facilities, collections and research of their soft bodies, specifi c physical characteristics useful for species identifi cation are limited. A molecular perspective is wisdom of Museum Victoria, through which he essential to assess taxonomic diversity and potentially identify can explore an important species in our marine new species. Cuttlefi sh are ecologically important predators, environment.” Dr Robin Hirst and commercial cuttlefi sh exploitation has recently and rapidly expanded. An assessment of cuttlefi sh diversity is therefore In January 2008 Dr Adnan Moussalli commenced The Ian urgently needed. Potter Fellowship for Biodiversity Research at Museum Dr Moussalli’s research complements traditional taxonomic Victoria. The Fellowship was developed to provide an (species classifi cation) work with modern molecular genetic opportunity for an early career researcher to undertake a techniques. Using Museum Victoria’s modern molecular research project focusing on biodiversity by investigating laboratory (which was developed using an Ian Potter Foundation a faunal group represented in Museum Victoria’s natural grant in 2002) Dr Moussalli aims to sequence a number of genes history collections, both the extensive historical items and the for as many species as possible. This information will allow the material newly acquired as part of ongoing projects. Museum reconstruction of the evolutionary relationships among species Victoria’s research curators act as mentors to the Fellow, to to create a ‘phylogenetic tree’, which, similar to a family tree, provide direct advice, moral support and guidance in order to will identify species that are closely or distantly related and help develop the Fellow’s skills, initiative and independence – potentially identify new species. essential qualities for a career in science. Although a great deal of important taxonomic work has Museum Victoria has a long and well-established history of been done over the last century, much uncertainty remains research into the taxonomy and systematics of Cephalopods regarding the age of the group and the evolutionary processes (octopuses, cuttlefi sh, squid and nautiluses). Dr Moussalli’s underpinning its diversity. The phylogenetic tree can help to research focuses on the evolutionary history and relationships resolve these issues. It can also be used in conjunction with between species of the family Sepiidae, commonly known as geographic information on the distribution of each species to cuttlefi sh. This group is globally distributed and very diverse, identify hot spots of genetic and species diversity, which, in turn, with more than 120 species currently recognised. Australia is can guide conservation efforts. a centre of diversity and endemicity with 34 species found in

Left Dr Moussalli studying cuttlefi sh specimens from Museum Victoria’s collection Right Dr Adnan Moussalli, The Ian Potter Fellow for Biodiversity Research, observes cuttlefi sh behaviour off Whyalla, SA

60 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY QUEENSLAND $20,000 for conserving turtles through understanding diving and diet Dr Ivan Lawler, Lecturer, School of Tropical Environment Studies and Geography www.jcu.edu.au

Environmental factors key to survival of diverse turtle populations Most Australian freshwater turtles feed on a low energy Unfortunately, this new knowledge is matched by a growing herbivorous diet. Dr Lawler and his colleagues propose that concern that these species may be negatively affected by our if low dietary energy limits activity, the marginal benefi t use of water resources, particularly by the construction of dams. gained via cloacal respiration – the ability to take water Many of these turtles use cloacal respiration, often referred to, into the cloaca and absorb oxygen from it to enable longer not very politely, as ‘bum breathing’. Bum breathing only works submergence times between surfacing to breathe – may well in cool, well-oxygenated water. In contrast, when water is provide a competitive advantage to habitat specialists. held in an impoundment it becomes still and often results in low There is increasing realisation that there are a range of oxygen levels, conditions under which bum breathing is impeded. interesting and previously unrecognised turtles in rivers In impounded waters we usually see a change in the turtle in Queensland. In northern Queensland these include community. The bum breathing turtles become less common, and Elseya irwini, or Irwin’s Turtle (named after its discoverers, normally respiring species, such as the common Krefft’s River Bob and Steve Irwin) from the Burdekin River, and Elseya Turtle, become dominant. stirlingi, the White Throated Snapping Turtle, from the The Ian Potter Foundation provided funding for the purchase of Johnstone River. a gas analyser machine. Energy use is most easily estimated by measuring how much oxygen an animal consumes. Experiments will be conducted with turtles in chambers of different depths to see how much extra oxygen they need to surface. Comparisons will be made between the bum breathers and normal breathers. But that’s not the whole story. The energy costs of surfacing are not likely to be very large, so Dr Lawler and his colleagues reason that energy costs may only be important if energy for turtles is very limited. Irwin’s Turtle seems to eat a very low energy diet, consisting of such delicacies as eucalyptus fl ower buds; while Krefft’s River Turtle has a more varied and likely more energy-rich diet. The interaction between diet, energy use and mode of respiration may be the key to understanding why bum breathers don’t do well in low oxygen waters. Just the cost of digesting a meal can be expensive for a reptile.

Above The White Throated Snapping Turtle (Elseya stirlingi) from the Johnstone River, Queensland Left Irwin’s Turtle (Elseya irwini) from the Burdekin River, Queensland, is named after its discoverers, Bob and Steve Irwin

The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 61 LIZARD ISLAND REEF RESEARCH FOUNDATION QUEENSLAND $12,000 to The Ian Potter Doctoral Fellowship Program (part of a commitment of $60,000 over fi ve years) Mr Charlie Shuetrim, Trustee www.lizardisland.net.au Revealing pathways for reef survival

“The traditional approach of conserving biodiversity may not be suffi cient to protect these precious ecosystems. The loss of this single Using seaweed that had been transplanted from coastal reefs to species may compromise the resilience of these the reef surrounding Lizard Island, Dr Hoey was able to simulate conditions of a reef facing increased seaweed abundance. The reefs, making them extremely vulnerable to future consumption of transplanted seaweed was rapid, with up to 90% disturbance events.” Dr Andrew Hoey of the mass being removed within eight hours and almost totally consumed within twenty-four hours. While these results indicated The Ian Potter Foundation Doctoral Fellowship Program is that these reefs are highly resilient and capable of preventing to support fi eld work at the Lizard Island Research Station the proliferation of seaweed following disturbances, a key on the Great Barrier Reef. questioned remained: Which species were responsible for eating Dr Andrew Hoey was awarded the Fellowship in 2007 for the seaweed? a three-year period to investigate the signifi cance of the Using stationary underwater video cameras to fi lm the Bluespine Unicornfi sh (Naso unicornis) to the survival of the transplanted seaweed, the species responsible for removing it Great Barrier Reef. were identifi ed. Despite over fi fty species of herbivorous fi shes Coral reefs are under increasing pressure from both being recorded on the reefs surrounding Lizard Island, a single natural (eg coral bleaching, disease, storms) and human species, the Bluespine Unicornfi sh, was almost solely responsible (eg pollution, sedimentation) disturbances. Over the past for consuming the seaweed. The remaining species displayed twenty years many reefs have failed to regenerate after such little interest in the seaweed and were observed taking very disturbances and have instead undergone a ‘phase-shift’, from few bites. Therefore, the capacity of the Great Barrier Reef, and a coral-dominated state to a degraded state dominated by potentially all Indo-Pacifi c reefs, to remain healthy and prevent fl eshy seaweed. The inability of these reefs to recover from the proliferation of seaweed may rely on just one species. disturbances has been largely attributed to the removal of This fi nding has extremely important ramifi cations for herbivorous, or plant-eating fi shes through overfi shing. A the management of coral reefs worldwide. The Bluespine similar decline to a seaweed-dominated state represents the Unicornfi sh lives for approximately thirty years, making it single greatest threat to the Great Barrier Reef. Identifying extremely vulnerable to overfi shing. In fact, it is one of the those species of herbivorous fi sh that are capable of not top three species targeted by fi sheries in many locations in only preventing phase-shifts on healthy coral reefs, but also the western Indian Ocean. These reefs may already be on the reversing such phase-shifts is a critical step in the protection brink of collapse a single disturbance may push them on a of the Great Barrier Reef, and coral reefs worldwide. rapid trajectory to seaweed domination. While biodiversity is an important component of coral reef management, these results show that future management regimes will need to focus on protecting critical species and maintaining processes if the future of our reefs is to be assured.

Left Dr Andrew Hoey transplants seaweed for the research project Right The Bluespine Unicornfi sh keeps seaweed at healthy levels

62 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report DOWN THE TRACK UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA TASMANIA $30,000 in 2001 for disease investigation in Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta Gould 1841) chicks at Albatross Island, Bass Strait, Tasmania Dr Rupert Wood, Veterinarian and Team Leader www.utas.edu.au

In March 2001 The Ian Potter Foundation funded a preliminary cent of dead chicks autopsied featured pox in their cells and an disease survey of Shy Albatross chicks at Albatross Island. Shy additional 59% had signs of infection characterised by blisters Albatrosses are endemic to Australia, and breed on three small on their feet. Emaciation and apparent starvation was present islands off the coast of Tasmania. They are considered vulnerable in 66% of the chicks. There was no evidence of other viral to extinction and are one of the least studied of all albatross infections and testing for environmental contaminants in the species. liver were all negative. The main breeding site for the bird, Albatross Island, is slowly The preliminary fi ndings of this work suggest that poxvirus is a recovering from the devastation of early century feather hunters factor in the death of Shy Albatross chicks at Albatross Island. and egg collectors. A poxvirus is believed to be the cause of It is likely that the virus is able to persist in the environment, death for up to 90% of chicks in some years. Coupled with the and that ticks and fl eas are most likely responsible for its threats associated with longline fi shing (baited fi sh hooks on spread. How a chick responds to disease is highly dependent lines of up to 80 miles long towed behind vessels), this disease on how healthy it is and the level of stress it is exposed to – has the potential to signifi cantly affect the overall recovery of environmental conditions, disease and starvation. The poor this species. Despite this fact, almost nothing is known of the condition of many birds suggests that nutritional factors may nature of this poxvirus or its impact upon the population be signifi cant determinants of the impact of the disease. Impacts as a whole. of the longline fi shing industry on maternal care need to be The Foundation’s grant was provided to the University of investigated in this species. Tasmania as part of an initial investigation into the cause of Based on the preliminary results of this work it would appear death among Shy Albatross chicks on Albatross Island. The that there is suffi cient evidence to warrant a structured disease funding, provided over three years, was to be used to help investigation into the cause of death of Shy Albatross chicks at scientists identify strategies to control the spread of diseases Albatross Island. The data also suggest that an understanding on the Island that may be hampering the long-term survival of the cause and determinants of disease and chick mortality of the species. could be used to increase the Shy Albatross population on A fi eld laboratory was set up at Albatross Island from 22 March Albatross Island. 2002 until 6 April 2002. The conditions for scientists were very Investigation of disease in wild populations of animals is a challenging: the island has no power, fresh water or facilities, diffi cult and resource-heavy exercise. By funding this work and all equipment was transported to the island by boat. The Ian Potter Foundation has allowed the most fundamental Initially scientists set about observing the colonies. Dead chicks question in any problem-solving exercise to be answered: Do we were collected and given an external examination. They then have a problem? At Albatross Island we can now say that we do underwent an autopsy and samples were collected to assess have a problem and, given what we now know, management of whether any parasites, pesticides, heavy metals or diseases were disease within the colony is one possible part of the solution. present at the time of death. A key area of future work will be in attempting to develop and Forty-one autopsies were conducted over a two-week period. The test a vaccine for the disease. results showed a range of infectious and parasitic diseases, with poxvirus infections in chicks being the most notable. Seven per Left Dr Rupert Woods and Al Wiltshire collecting Shy Albatross blood samples Right Dead Shy Albatross chicks

The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 63 Left Shy Albatross nesting on Albatross Island Below Poxvirus particles under transmission electron microscopy. Photographer J. Loh Opposite Page The 32nd congress of the International Committee of the History of Art at the National Gallery of Victoria

SCIENCE GRANTS PAID 2007–2008

James Cook University: Science, Engineering and Information Museum Victoria Technology School of Earth and Environmental Sciences The Ian Potter Fellowship for Biodiversity Research at Museum Victoria – to $50,000 Conserving turtles through understanding diving and diet – to examine $20,000 establish a postdoctoral fellowship for biodiversity research. the hypothesis that the advantage of cloacal respiration is conferred via (fi rst payment of a $150,000 commitment over three years) allowing turtles to reduce energetic expenditure on surfacing to breathe and thus maintain a positive energy balance on a low quality diet. Total Science $590,100 The Yongala’s Halo of Holes: Who’s Digging It? – a research study that aims $8,100 to document the rays’ home range and their usage of the Yongala ecosystem wreck.

Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation The Ian Potter Tropical Marine Research Centre – for the research and $500,000 education complex. (fi nal payment of a $1,500,000 commitment over three years) The Ian Potter Doctoral Fellowship Program – for fi eld work, travel and $12,000 bench expenses of at least 100 person-days at the Lizard Island Research Station by the fellow and his or her assistant. (fourth payment of a $60,000 commitment over fi ve years)

64 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report Travel The Travel Grants program gives early career researchers an opportunity to present their fi ndings at international conferences. With each year, we are seeing increasing diversity of applicants across a variety of sectors of research and learning. Recipients report being reinvigorated, challenged and inspired as a result of their travels. The Travel Grants program takes them a step closer to fulfi lling their potential as they strive to use their knowledge to contribute to the Australian community. Funding Objective The objective of our Travel Grants program is to assist early career staff members with an appointment of at least three years to attend overseas conferences to develop their research, and to interact with their peers in the international scene. Generally the destination needs to be outside Australia. In some instances, such as staff working in the Technical and Further Education sector, if a strong case is made for travel within Australia in terms of the professional development opportunity it will give to the individual and the potential benefi ts to their organisation, the application will be considered. Exclusions The Foundation does not provide Travel Grants for: • domestic travel • undergraduate, masters or doctoral students • retrospective grants for travel already undertaken in part or in whole Conference The Conference Grants program is an important aspect of the Foundation’s commitment to excellence, particularly as it relates to exchanging and sharing knowledge. The program allows organisations to bring to this country keynote speakers of international renown. The speakers in turn lend their knowledge and expertise to their peers in Australia by presenting at symposia and conferences. Funding Objective The objective of our Conference Grants program is to support symposia and conferences of international status to be held within Australia. Generally grants are made to assist with the travel and accommodation costs of an international keynote speaker.

Travel and Conference

The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 65 JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY TASMANIAN MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY QUEENSLAND TASMANIA $2,560 Travel Grant to attend the International $2,500 Travel Grant to attend the conference Neocraft: Symposium and Workshop on Tropical Peatland, Modernity and the Crafts, Halifax, Canada; and a study Yogyakarta, Indonesia, August 2007 tour in New York City, USA, November 2007 Dr Raphael Wust, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences Mr Peter Hughes, Curator of Decorative Arts www.jcu.edu.au www.tmag.tas.gov.au

Understanding the role of peatland in natural Crafting a sustainable future carbon storage “In Australia, only a few people work on “Viewing these institutions will be of great assistance peatlands… the conference provided an ideal both when considering the overall redevelopment opportunity to meet other scientists from around strategies at TMAG, but also in the development of the world who work on this topic and discuss decorative arts and contemporary craft exhibitions.” critical issues directly, which cannot be achieved in Peter Hughes Australia. The attendance has led to new research At the Neocraft conference Mr Peter Hughes presented the and funding opportunities.” Dr Raphael Wust paper ‘Ecological is political: Toward an environmental theory for craft in the 21st century’. The paper dealt with studio crafts and Over the past four years Dr Wust has collected new data on contemporary environmental concerns with regard to both the peatland distribution and their potential as carbon storage need for crafts practitioners to respond to these issues while also over the last 28,000 years, including evidence for signifi cant recognising some of the advantages that might arise for them environmental changes during the last Glacial Maximum out of growing awareness of environmental concerns. While at (20,000–15,000 years ago). These fi ndings were presented the conference Peter Hughes met with colleagues from Australia, at the conference in the paper titled ‘Peatland evolution of New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom. SE-Asia through the last 35,000 cal years: Implications for evaluating their carbon storage potential’. Dr Wust was able to collect two peat cores: one from a ‘fi re’-prone area and one from a native peat swamp forest environment. He has already applied for funding to determine the amount of carbon lost to the atmosphere during the 1997–1998 and 2002 peatland fi res in Indonesia.

Left A muddy Raphael Wust (centre) obtaining a peat core in Indonesia. Geochemical data of these peatlands show the vital role of native vegetation in the context of elemental recycling within the peat soils of South-East Asia. Right View of Architecture and Design Galleries, Museum of Modern Art, New York

66 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY NEW SOUTH WALES WESTERN AUSTRALIA $1,675 Travel Grant to attend the 7th International $2,000 Travel Grant to attend the 17th International Diabetes Federation – Western Pacifi c Region Congress, Biohydrometallurgy Symposium, Frankfurt, Germany, Wellington, New Zealand, September 2007 March – April 2008 Dr Elizabeth Watkin, School of Biomedical Sciences Dr Alexandra Buckley, Diabetes Unit, Australian Health Policy www.curtin.edu.au Institute, School of Public Health www.usyd.edu.au Seeking solutions for Diabetes Discovering new tools for advanced research

“The project that I am managing is at the stage “A major benefi t of attending the symposium was where locally relevant models of diabetes care exposure to the latest developments in methods used are being developed and implemented. I gained to answer questions in the areas of diversity and the signifi cant benefi t from listening to presentations functional genomics of biomining microorganisms. on other diabetes care work that has been recently These microorganisms are particularly diffi cult to carried out in other developing countries, as I was culture and the recent advances in non-culture able to gain insight into what works and what dependent molecular tools for examining microbial doesn’t in similar countries to those that I work populations have opened up this fi eld of research.” in. I also contributed to this knowledge transfer Dr Elizabeth Watkins by presenting some of the possible solutions to The symposium, the only international symposium in the fi eld of improving diabetes care that we have already biohydrometallurgy, attracted 210 delegates from twenty-eight implemented in Vanuatu, namely the national countries. The scope of the symposium was broad, with session topics ranging from Bioleaching Biotechnology to Molecular and health worker training program to ensure that Microbiology. The sessions of particular interest to Dr Watkin all health workers are working in a standardised were Molecular and Microbiology and Interfacial Processes. manner.” Dr Alexandra Buckley The 7th International Diabetes Federation – Western Pacifi c Region Congress was an extremely informative meeting, offering presentations at the forefront of all areas of diabetes research, including basic science, clinical health services and public health research. International researchers from developing and developed countries attended the meeting. Given that Dr Buckley’s current work is based in developing countries of the Pacifi c, this was of particular relevance to her. Dr Buckley was an author on three abstracts that were Left Dr Alexandra Buckley accepted for oral presentation. Right Dr Elizabeth Watkin presents one of her two posters detailing her research group’s work investigating the population dynamics of microbial populations in biomining systems

The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 67 JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY MURDOCH CHILDRENS RESEARCH INSTITUTE QUEENSLAND VICTORIA $2,100 Travel Grant to attend the International Atomic $2,750 Travel Grant to present at the Pediatric Traumatic Energy Agency Radium and Radon Workshop, Venice, Brain Injury Conference, San Diego, USA, November Italy, April 2008 2007; and to train at the Functional Neuroimaging Unit Dr Thomas Stieglitz, Department of Science, (McGill University and University of Montreal), Canada, Engineering and Information Technology October – November 2007 www.jcu.edu.au Dr Miriam Beauchamp, Post-Doctoral Fellow www.mcri.edu.au Understanding the energy of our oceans Towards better outcomes for children with brain injury “My future sampling technique is likely to improve “The conference brought together a remarkable based on discussions during the workshop. group of international researchers and covered a wide New collaborations are on the horizon and old range of topics in traumatic brain injury. The range partnerships with fellow members of international and depth of topics helped gain a good overview working groups have been fostered.” of current and future directions in the fi eld … The Dr Thomas Stieglitz time at the Functional Neuroimaging Unit (FNU) As part of Dr Thomas Stieglitz’s ongoing research of was an incomparable opportunity to gain cutting land–ocean interaction, he is using the naturally occurring edge knowledge regarding innovative neuroimaging radionuclides radium and radon to study physical processes techniques and analysis….These opportunities have in the ocean, such as the infl ux of groundwater into the ocean, or mixing rates of the ocean. been exceptional in motivating and further fuelling In Venice, fi fty-two scientists participated in the IAEA Radium my research interests.” Dr Miriam Beauchamp and Radon Workshop, all of whom use radioactive tools to Dr Beauchamp presented the results of her research entitled study aquatic processes. During the course of the workshop ‘The relationship between brain volume and social skills in Dr Stieglitz discussed many aspects of his joint interests with children with TBI’. The proceedings and abstracts associated with most of the participants. One day of the workshop was set aside the meeting will be published in a special issue of Developmental to form working groups on issues that were found to require Rehabilitation in 2008. in-depth discussions. Dr Stieglitz participated in a working group on the application of radium and radon in freshwater systems, with the view of expanding his ocean applications to inland water bodies in the future.

Left Jordan Clark and Thomas Stieglitz sampling for radionuclides in Australian mangroves Right Dr Miriam Beauchamp presents her neuroimaging fi ndings at the Paediatric Traumatic Brain Injury Conference in San Diego, November 2007

68 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report TRAVEL GRANTS PAID 2007–2008

Asthma and Allergy Research Institute Incorporated Ms Sara Noonan – to attend the XXVII Lancefi eld International Symposium $2,000 Dr Sylwia Wilkosz – to attend the PAX Society International Meeting, $1,594 on Streptococci and Streptococcal Diseases, Porto Heli, Greece, June 2008. Leuven, Belgium, September 2006. Ms Leisha Richardson – to attend the XXVII Lancefi eld International $1,500 Australian National University Symposium on Streptococci and Streptococcal Diseases, Porto Heli, Greece, June 2008. Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies Child Health Division Dr Joern Fischer – to carry out collaborative research on environmental $3,000 conservation and resilience with Professor Carl Folke at the Stockholm Ms Kim Hare – to attend the 6th International Symposium on Pneumococci $2,000 Resilience Centre, Stockholm, Sweden, 2008. and Pneumococcal Diseases, Reykjavik, Iceland, June 2008. Ms Gabrielle McCallum – to attend the 6th International Symposium on $1,500 Baker Medical Research Institute Pneumococci and Pneumococcal Diseases, Reykjavik, Iceland, June 2008. Dr Michael Skilton – to attend Hypertension 2008, the joint meeting of $3,000 Monash Institute of Medical Research the International Society of Hypertension and the European Society of Hypertension, Berlin, Germany, June 2008. Dr Katja M Wolski – to attend the American Society of Andrology 22nd $2,500 Annual Conference, New Mexico, USA, April 2008; and the 15th European Brain Research Institute Pty Ltd Testis Workshop, Naantali, Finland, May 2008. Dr Fernando Calamante – to attend the 15th Annual Meeting of the $2,203 Monash University International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Berlin, Germany, Centre for Reproduction and Development May 2007. Dr Duangporn Jamsai – to attend the Endocrine Society of Australia and $770 Bulimba Creek Catchment Coordinating Committee the Society for Reproductive Biology 2007 Annual Meetings, Christchurch, Mr Wayne Cameron – to attend the World Expo Zaragoza 2008, Zaragoza, $7,000 New Zealand, September 2007. Spain, June – September 2008. Physiology Department Centenary Institute of Cancer Medicine and Cell Biology Dr Nigel Stepto – to present a paper at the 10th International Symposium $3,000 Dr Denise Ming Tse Yu – to attend the 3rd International Conference on $2,000 on Insulin Receptors and Insulin Action, Stockholm, Sweden, May 2007; Dipeptidyl Peptidases and Related Proteins, Antwerp, Belgium, April 2008. and to conduct tissue analysis in Professor Zierath’s Laboratory. Centre for Eye Research Australia Limited Department of Medicine Dr Maria Schache – to attend the European Society of Human Genetics $2,310 Dr Miranda Shehu-Xhilaga – to attend a conference titled Retroviruses, $1,500 Conference, Barcelona, Spain, June 2008. Cold Spring Harbour Laboratories, New York City, USA, May 2007. Department of Theory of Art and Design Children’s Cancer Institute Australia Dr Luke Morgan – to undertake research in London in order to edit an $3,000 Dr Bellamy Cheung – to attend the BIT World Cancer Congress, Shanghai, $2,000 international refereed journal Studies in the History of Gardens and China, June 2008. Designed Landscapes, London, UK, June – July 2008. Curtin University of Technology School of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology School of Biomedical Sciences Dr Travis Beddoe – to attend the Gordon Research Conference: Microbial $2,000 Dr Elizabeth Watkin – to attend the 17th International Biohydrometallurgy $2,000 Toxins and Pathogenicity, Proctor Academy, New Haven, USA, July 2008. Symposium, Frankfurt, Germany, September 2007. School of Nursing and Midwifery Flinders University of South Australia Ms Sharyn Streitberg – to attend the 2nd International Nursing Education $2,800 Dr Alison Hutton – to undertake a study tour visiting the Summer Research $2,500 Conference, Dublin, Ireland, June 2008. Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA, May – June 2008. School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine Griffi th University Dr Penelope Anne Hasking – to present at the XXIX International Congress $1,000 School of Nursing and Midwifery of Psychology, Berlin, Germany, July 2008. Dr Jennifer Gamble – to attend the International Network for PTSD $2,000 School of Social and Political Inquiry following Childbirth meeting, an initiative funded by the Economic and Dr Terry Macdonald – to attend the World International Studies Conference, $3,000 Social Research Council and British Psychological Society, Sheffi eld, UK, Ljubljana, Slovenia, July 2008. October 2007. Moreland Community Health Service School of Psychology Ms Lowell Wan – to attend the 34th Global Social Work Congress, Durban, $1,300 Dr Tracy Ludlow – to attend the 13th European Conference on $2,000 South Africa, July 2008. Developmental Psychology, Jena, Germany, August 2007. Murdoch Childrens Research Institute Howard Florey Institute Dr Miriam Beauchamp – to present at the Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury $2,750 Brain Development Conference, San Diego, USA, November 2007; and to train at the Functional Dr Jenny Gunnersen – to present at Cortial Development: Neural Stem $2,200 Neuroimaging Unit (McGill University and University of Montreal) Canada, Cells to Neural Circuits, Chiania, Crete, May 2008. October – November 2007. James Cook University National Stroke Research Institute ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies Dr Michelle Porritt – to work in the laboratory of Professor Michael Nilsson, $3,000 The Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Department of Clinical Dr Tracey Ainsworth – to attend the 11th International Coral Reef $2,600 Neurosciences, Goteborg University, September – November 2007, Sweden; Symposium, Fort Lauderdale, USA, July 2008. and to attend the Society for Neuroscience Annual Conference, San Diego, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences USA, November 2007. Dr Thomas Stieglitz – to attend the International Atomic Energy Agency $2,100 Radium and Radon Workshop, Venice, Italy, April 2008. National Trust of Queensland Dr Raphael Wust – to attend the International Symposium and Workshop $2,560 Ms Tina Niblock – to visit Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Jersey Zoo, $5,853 on Tropical Peatland, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, August 2007. Channel Islands, July 2008; to visit San Diego Zoo, Avian Propagation Centre, San Diego, USA, September 2008; and to gain experience in La Trobe University incubation and rearing of kiwi chicks for release to the wild in the School of Health and Physical Education Operation Nest Egg program, Auckland Zoo, New Zealand, January 2009. Dr Karen (Zali) Yager – to present at the Higher Education Academy $2,000 Orygen Research Centre Conference, Harrogate, UK; and the European Association for Research Dr Christopher Barnaby Nelson – to attend the Schizophrenia International $1,600 in Learning and Instruction, Leuven, Belgium, July 2008. Research Society conference, Venice, Italy, June 2008. Menzies Research Institute Palmerston Association Inc Dr Kristen Hynes – to attend the Australian and New Zealand Bone and $1,000 Mr Damian Walsh – to attend the 2008 International Counselling $1,900 Mineral Society Annual Scientifi c Meeting, Queenstown, New Zealand, Conference – Coming Together of Neighbours, Hong Kong, July 2008. September 2007. Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research Dr Ingrid van der Mei – to undertake a study tour to Harvard School $3,000 of Public Health, Boston, USA, December 2007 – February 2008. Dr Kristy Brown – to attend the Endocrine Society’s 90th Annual Meeting $2,000 (ENDO), San Francisco, USA, June 2008. Menzies School of Health Research Dr Lynette Kilpatrick – to attend the 5th General Meeting of the $2,125 Ms Michelle Dowden – to present at the International Forum on Quality $2,000 International Proteolysis Society (IPS2007), Patras, Greece, October 2007. and Safety in Healthcare, Paris, France, April 2008.

The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 69 Dr Izabella Czajka-Oraniec – to attend the Endocrine Society’s 90th Annual $1,600 The Diabetes Unit, Australian Health Policy Institute, Meeting (ENDO), San Francisco, USA, June 2008. School of Public Health Department of Steroid Receptor Biology Dr Alexandra Buckley – to attend the 7th International Diabetes $1,675 Dr Jyotsna Pippal – to attend and present at the Keystone Symposia $2,500 Federation – Western Pacifi c Region Congress, Wellington, New Zealand, Nuclear Receptors: Steroid Sisters (z2), British Columbia, Canada, March – March – April 2008. April 2008. Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre Female Reproductive Biology Dr Nicole Lee – to attend the World Congress on Behavioural and Cognitive $3,500 Dr Mai Sarraj – to present at the inaugural World Congress on Reproductive $3,000 Therapies, Barcelona, Spain, July 2007. Biology followed by the 41st Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study Ms Suzanne Nielsen – to attend the College on Problems of Drug $2,000 of Reproduction, Hawaii; and to deliver a seminar at the Michael Griswold Dependence 70th Annual Meeting, and associated NIDA International Laboratory, Washington State University, Washington, USA, May 2008. Forum, San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 2008. Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute University of Adelaide Dr Peter Martin – to attend the Mechanisms of Plasticity and Disease $1,700 School of Earth and Environmental Sciences in Motorneurons conference, Seattle, USA, June 2008 Dr Bayden Russell – to present at the Effects of Climate Change on the $1,637 Queensland Institute of Medical Research World’s Oceans International Symposium, Gijon, Spain; and undertake a Dr Katherine Andrews – to attend the 56th Annual Meeting of the $1,532 research visit to the Ecology Group, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Philadelphia, USA, May 2008. November 2007. School of Population Health and Clinical Practice Queensland University of Technology: Institute of Health and Dr Anne Wilson – to present at the South Pacifi c Underwater Medicine $2,788 Biomedical Innovation Society 37th Annual Scientifi c Meeting, Kimbe, West New Britain, Papua Dr Ying Dong – to attend the 2nd International Symposium on Kallikrein $1,870 New Guinea, May 2008. and Kallikrein-Related Peptidases, Santorini, Greece, October 2007. University of Newcastle RMIT University Centre for Organic Electronics and Organ Biosensors School of Education Dr Nicholas William Turner – to make an oral and a poster presentation $1,700 Dr Phillip John Doecke – to present at the Fourth International Teaching $1,655 at the Biosensors 2008 Conference, Shanghai, China, May 2008. Games for Understanding Conference, University of British Columbia, School of Medicine and Public Health / Centre for Brain and Mental Vancouver, Canada, May 2008. Health Research Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Ms Linda Campbell – to attend the 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome 6th $1,700 Mr Peter Hughes – to attend the Neocraft: Modernity and the Crafts $2,500 International Conference, Utrecht, The Netherlands, June 2008. conference, Halifax, Canada, November 2007; and undertake a study tour University of New South Wales in New York City, USA, November 2007. Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering The University of Melbourne Dr Penny Martens – to attend the International Congress on Biohydrogels, $2,550 Ms Elizabeth Cham – to conduct research into historical American $2,400 Viareggio, Italy, November 2007; to visit a research laboratory, Belgium, philanthropic investment in Australia, Rockefeller Archive Centre, November 2007; and to visit the collaborators’ laboratory at the Indian New York, USA, October 2007 Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, December 2007. Centre for Animal Biotechnology NSW Injury Risk Management Research Centre Dr Deanne Greenwood – to attend Challenges of Global Vaccine $2,000 Dr Julie Hatfi eld – to attend the 9th World Conference on Injury Prevention $4,700 Development, part of the Keystone Symposia Global Health Series, and Safety Promotion, Merida, Mexico, March 2008; and to visit Dr Jean South Africa, October 2007. Shope, University of Michigan, Michigan, USA and Dr Daniel Mayhew, Traffi c Clinical Department: Psychiatry Injury Research Foundation, Ontario, Canada, March – April 2008. Dr Alison Ruth Yung – to visit colleagues at the London, Manchester $3,000 University of Queensland and Warwick PACE Clinics for six weeks, UK, November 2007. Centre for Marine Studies Department of Microbiology and Immunology Dr Maria Gomez Cabrera – to attend the 11th International Coral Reef $1,600 Dr Dimitri Diavatopoulos – to attend the 13th International Congress on $1,600 Symposium, Fort Lauderdale, USA, July 2008. Mucosal Immunology, Tokyo, Japan, July 2007. The Perinatal Research Centre Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning Dr Stella Bjorkman – to attend the Sixth Hershey Conference on $2,300 Mr Ajibade Airbinu – to attend and present a research paper at the Royal $2,000 Developmental Brain Injury, Paris, France, June 2008. Institution of Chartered Surveyors Construction and Building Research Dr Margo Pritchard – to attend the 48th Annual Meeting of the European $2,000 (COBRA) Conference, Atlanta, USA, September 2007. Society for Paediatric Research, Prague, Czech Republic, October 2007. Dr Anoma Darshani Pieris – to attend the International Planning History $2,000 University of Tasmania Society Conference, Chicago, USA, July 2008. Centre for Marine Science School of Agriculture and Food Systems Dr Helen Phillips – to participate in the Philippines Straits Dynamics $2,927 Dr Nicola Cooley – to attend the Macrowine Conference, Montpellier, $2,000 Experiment: Joint Cruise – Oceanographic Research Cruise, Manila, France, June 2008. Philippines, November – January 2008. School of Historical Studies Tasmania Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute Ms Catherine Nunn – to attend the International Institute for Conservation $2,800 Dr Bridget Green – to attend the 8th International Conference and $2,800 Congress, London, UK, September 2008. Workshop on Lobster Biology and Management, Charlottetown, Canada, School of Physiotherapy September – October 2007. Dr Andrea Bialocerkowski – to present at the American Society of Hand $2,154 Dr Michaela Guest – to attend the European Symposium on Marine $2,500 Therapy Electives Course, New Orleans, Louisiana; to visit Professor Protected Areas as a Tool for Fisheries Management and Ecosystem Richard Berger at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; and to visit Conservation, Murcia, Spain, September 2007. Dr Prudence Plummer-D’Amatio, Department of Neurology, UCLA, Los Victoria University of Technology Angeles, USA, February 2008. Department of Visual Art, Design and Multimedia The University of Sydney Mr Mark O’Rourke – to attend the American Association for Artifi cial $1,100 Department of Dermatology Intelligence Symposium, Arlington, USA, November 2008; and to undertake Dr Sabita Rana – to attend the 13th International Congress of Immunology, $2,400 research at the Institute for Creative Technologies, University of Southern Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 2007; and the 12th Congress of the European California, Los Angeles, USA, September – December 2007. Society for Photobiology, Bath, England, September 2007. School of Molecular Sciences School of Biological Sciences Dr Lawrence Ngeh – to give a presentation on the use of Magnetic $500 Dr Tanya Latty – to attend the International Congress of Entomology, $2,000 Particle Technology in the treatment of oiled wildlife at the International Durban, South Africa, July 2008. Conference on Effects of Oil on Wildlife, Monterey, USA, June 2007. School of Physiotherapy Dr Martin Mackey, to attend the 2nd International Congress on Physical $2,500 Activity and Public Health, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, April 2008. Total Travel $177,353

70 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE AUSGLASS LIMITED VICTORIA VICTORIA $20,000 Conference Grant to support keynote speakers $8,000 Conference Grant to bring three key artists for a Melbourne Conversation as part of the 32nd to Open House: 14th Biennial Ausglass Conference, Congress of the International Committee of the History Canberra, January 2008 of Art, Melbourne, January 2008 Ms Maureen Williams, President Ausglass Professor Jaynie Anderson, www.ausglass.org.au School of Art History, Cinema, Classics and Archaeology www.unimelb.edu.au The art of conversation The next era in the art of glass ‘‘The benefi ts of the congress will be considerable… “The conference facilitated a broad and continuing Many projects were conceived and born in exchange of ideas and technical expertise… Janet this congress. Exhibitions are to be curated Laurence’s address was key in providing a critical by Australians for international venues and evaluation of the extended possibilities of glass art historians from abroad who have agreed to in a sculptural environment. Silvia Levenson’s collaborate with our institutions. Research programs unique approach to her work practice provided an and research networks will be activated. A shared outstanding lecture, as did her demonstration. Julie ambition is to create an Institute for Advanced Conway raised awareness of sustainability and energy Research in the Visual Arts at Melbourne, which consumption, promoting continuing debate and could develop themes of the congress. Cambridge discussion throughout the conference. This issue was University Press has commissioned a companion so popular it will be further addressed at our next to Australian art with the cross-cultural theme as a conference in Tasmania in 2009.” Maureen Williams basis and many of the contributors will be invited The Foundation’s grant brought three internationally acclaimed to participate.’’ Professor Jaynie Anderson artists to the Ausglass conference in Canberra: Janet Laurence, a high profi le Australian artist who is internationally renowned; Seven hundred people from fi fty countries participated in the Silvia Levenson, born in Argentina and now living in Italy, who 32nd Congress of the International Committee of the History is one of the world’s most established visual artists working in of Art: Crossing Cultures – Confl ict, Migration and Convergence. glass; and Julie Conway, an artist and environmentalist from Two hundred and twenty-fi ve papers were given, some of the USA. which will be included in the proceedings of the Congress, to be published by Melbourne University Publishing on the anniversary of the Congress in January 2009. The Foundation’s grant was used to support the Melbourne Conversation, a free public event, which brought the themes of the Congress to a wider audience. The Melbourne Conversation included talks from Professor Jaynie Anderson, The University of Melbourne; Ronald de Leeuw, Director of the Rijksmuseum, Left The last day of the Congress, 18 January 2008, at the National Gallery of Amsterdam; Howard Morphy, Australian National University; Victoria. L to R: Professor Homi Bhabha (Harvard), Professor Jaynie Anderson Michael Brand, Director of the John Paul Getty Museum, Los (Convenor, University of Melbourne) and Neil McGregor (British Museum) Angeles; and Ruth Phillips, Carleton University, Ottawa. Right Janet Laurence at the Canberra Glassworks

The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 71 UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE TASMANIA VICTORIA $6,000 Conference Grant to bring keynote speakers to $2,538 Conference Grant to bring one of the keynote The Evolution of Parental Effects: Conceptual Issues and speakers to the 12th International Aegean Conference, Empirical Patterns, University of Wollongong, January – DAIS: The Aegean Feast, Melbourne, March 2008 February 2008 Dr Louise Hitchcock, School of Historical Studies Dr Erik Wapstra and Dr Tobias Uller, School of Zoology www.unimelb.edu.au www.utas.edu.au

Bringing new understanding of An historical feast evolutionary infl uences “The keynote speakers provided excellent “Dr Hamilakis took time to interact with both presentations that greatly enhanced the international presenters and with University of advancement of understanding by delegates Melbourne postgraduate students. He was also at the conference.” Professor Erik Wapstra interviewed by Neos Kosmos, the leading Greek The Foundation’s grant was used to support the travel of newspaper in Australia, as well as by SBS radio.” Professor Alex Badyaev, University of Arizona, USA, and Dr Louise Hitchcock Professor Charles Fox, University of Kentucky, USA, both world leaders in the fi eld of parental and maternal effects – an In the last few years, archaeological research in the prehistoric important and growing discipline within evolutionary biology. Aegean has turned its attention to feasting. This echoes developments in archaeology overall, but it also signifi es a At the end of the conference the organisers believed they had dramatic change from the situation until the middle 1990s, when achieved the aim of bringing together leading theoretical and most research on foods was either simply data gathering or fell empirical researchers working on plants, invertebrates and within the paradigms of ‘subsistence’ and ‘survival’, the discourse vertebrates, in a forum for discussion and where there was a of animal and plant husbandry, and the logic of formalist free exchange of ideas on the evolution of parental effects. economics. The organisers were able to increase the profi le of evolutionary biology in Australia by giving many early career researchers Dr Yannis Hamilakis, from the University of Southampton, the opportunity to interact with the international speakers. touched upon the importance of studying the relationship Many long-term collaborations were initiated between between drinking and commensality. Australian and international delegates. There was a great opportunity for scholarly interaction at the conference. In all, forty-seven papers were presented and fourteen countries represented. The results will be published in 2009 in the Aegean series, published by the University of Liege Above Conference delegates with convenor Dr Erik Wapstra and edited by Professor Robert Laffi neur. (front row, second from left) Opposite Page Keynote speaker Yannis Hamilakis presenting at the 12th International Aegean Conference, DAIS: the Aegean Feast

72 The Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report CONFERENCE GRANTS PAID 2007–2008

Ausglass Limited The University of Melbourne Ms Maureen Williams, President Ausglass – to bring three key artists to $8,000 School of Culture and Communication Open House, 14th Biennial Ausglass Conference, Canberra, January 2008. Dr Chris Healy – to bring Professor Antione Hennion, Professor John Law, $5,000 Professor Barbara Kirschenblatt-Gimblett and Professor Steve Woolgar Flinders University of South Australia as keynote speakers to an international workshop which will focus on Department of Archaeology the role of expertise in assembling culture, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, December 2007. Associate Professor Claire Smith – to bring keynote speaker Jan Turek $3,107 to the Archaeology, Social Justice and Ethical Globalisation Conference, Centre for Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood Adelaide, October 2007. Dr Glenda MacNaughton – for Professor Paul Connolly to present a $1,900 keynote address at the Honoring the Child, Honoring Equity Conference, Kyabra Community Association Inc The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, November 2007. Mr David O’Toole – for costs of four speakers to attend the $3,000 School of Art History, Cinema, Classics and Archaelogy Strengths-Based Practice Conference, Brisbane, October 2006. Professor Jaynie Anderson – to support keynote speakers for a Melbourne $20,000 La Trobe University Conversation, as part of the 32nd Congress of the International Committee of the History of Art, Melbourne, January 2008. Centre for Dialogue School of Historical Studies Professor Joseph Camilleri – to bring Rabbi Melissa Wentraub, Dr Chandra $9,450 Muzaffar and Associate Professor Chaiwat Satha-Anad as speakers for the Dr K O Chong-Gossard – to bring Professor Jonathon Hall as a keynote $2,500 Globalisation for the Common Good: An Interfaith Perspective Seventh speaker to Private and Public Lies: The Discourse of Despotism and Deceit Annual Conference, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, in the Ancient World, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, July 2008. June – July 2008. Dr Louise Hitchcock – to bring one of the keynote speakers to the 12th $2,538 Faculty of Education International Aegean Conference: DAIS: The Aegean Feast, Melbourne, March 2008. Associate Professor Bernie Neville – to bring Professor Makarand $2,987 Paranjape as keynote speaker to the Integrity: Truth, Reality and University of Tasmania Globalisation 37th Annual Conference of the International Gebser Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, June 2008. School of Zoology Dr Erik Wapstra and Dr Tobias Uller – to bring keynote speakers to The $6,000 Evolution of Parental Effects: Conceptual Issues and Empirical Patterns, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, January 2008 – February 2008.

Total Conference $64,482 The Ian Potter Foundation Limited ACN 004 603 972 ABN 42 004 603 972 Level 3, 111 Collins Street Melbourne Victoria 3000 Tel: 03 9650 3188 Fax: 03 9650 7986 [email protected]

www.ianpotter.org.au Design Dianna Wells