TV, radio, print and online – our researchers share their expertise and profile their recent work across a range of media outlets. Here are some examples from the last month. Sign up to our daily media report to get regular updates directly to your inbox.

Mystery mummies
Dr Yann Tristant from the Department of Ancient History, and Professor John Magnussen, former Head of Radiology at ASAM featured in an ABC Catalyst piece about their work with the Australian Museum in scanning an ancient mummy in the University’s CT scanner, to piece together its history.

Sparrow study gauges climate impact
Professor Simon Griffith from the Department of Biological Sciences has received substantial ABC coverage around his current study into the house sparrows’ adaptability, during a research trip in Tasmania. Broadcast coverage appeared on ABC News 24, and ABC Weekend Radio in Hobart, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Alice Springs, and Melbourne. A written piece also appeared in Yahoo! News. 

CEO warning signs
Associate Professor Sue Wright from the Department of Applied Finance and Actuarial Studies spoke on SKY Business News Switzer about new research that shows if a CEO is on their way out, they will usually do what they can to stay, including manipulating financial data.

Professor David Christian, Big History
As the intellectual birthplace of Big History, the origins of the Big History Institute and Big History Project can be seen at Macquarie University in the work of Professor David Christian. Since capturing the interest of Bill Gates, the interdisciplinary approach to historical study has spread to schools, universities, TEDx talks, the Vivid festival and the History Channel. The New York Times recently wrote an extensive piece on how it all came about.

More coverage below.

Professor Simon George and Sarah Houlahan, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Professors George and Houlahan recently joined a team of geologists to explore the Arkaroola region in search of stromatolite fossils, which are suspected to be the world’s earliest examples of life on earth. ABC North and West SA reported at length on their mission, which also included testing a Mars rover prototype. Fairfax Science columnist Peter Spinks accompanied the team and has published a feature piece including video, graphics and a photo gallery.

More coverage below.

Professor John Boyages, Australian School of Advanced Medicine
Professor Boyages maintains a regular presence in the media, providing expertise on a variety of breast cancer topics. Most recently, he has spoken with ABC Radio National Life Matters about treating pre-cancerous conditions, following the launch of his book, DCIS of the Breast: Taking Control. He also spoke on Channel 7 Sunrise about double mastectomies and how they may not increase women’s chances of survival, according to new research. Professor Boyages also shares many of these media items on Facebook.

More coverage below.

How long have you been a researcher at Macquarie?
I have been teaching and researching at Macquarie since 1998.

I was drawn to research because…
I have always seen the social sciences as being evidence-based explorations of social worlds and the possibilities they contain. Right now my interest is focused on the growing influence of renewable energies around the world, and particularly in China.

What would be an ‘elevator pitch’ of your research area?
For several years my research focused on the rise of newly industrialised economies in East Asia, particularly Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, and on how they deployed smart strategies of technology leverage to catch up with the advanced economies.

Now my focus is on how China is doing the same thing, but at a vastly greater scale – and with a deliberate focus on the physical realities of its industrialisation process. This means looking at how China is building a fresh energy system based on renewables which complement its earlier dependence on fossil fuels and nuclear; and its circular economy to enhance resource efficiency.

In layman’s terms, what is the wider impact of your research?
The wider impact of this research is that it studies how countries can escape “carbon lock-in” created by fossil fuels and build their industrial systems around the manufacturing of renewables, which in this way offer superior energy security. At the same time, this strategy will lead to energy systems that have lower carbon emissions.

In ten years I see my research…
In ten years I see my research contributing to understanding how a giant economy like China’s, and following that the economy of India, can raise incomes for billions of people without costing the earth.

My favourite and/or most proud research moment was when…
On September 11 2014, when I saw that Nature published a commentary article on these themes from myself and collaborator Dr Hao Tan.

Read more about John’s recent article.

TV, radio, print and online – our researchers share their expertise and profile their recent work across a range of media outlets. Here are some examples from the last month. Sign up to our daily media report to get regular updates directly to your inbox.

Dr Jana Jones, Ancient History
As part of an international team, Jana discovered that the practice of mummifying dead bodies might have started 1500 years earlier than first thought. The revelation sparked a media frenzy. In fact, the ABC took such an interest that it was arranged for Jana to base herself at their Ultimo studios, so programs from around the country could interview her consecutively. Jana also boosted her profile in this discovery by writing media pieces for The Conversation and the Guardian.

Professor Michael Gillings, Biological Sciences
Michael’s research paper Were there evolutionary advantages to premenstrual syndrome? was the trigger for vigorous debate online in news, social media and a spot on Channel 10′s panel show The Project (see 31 min) via satellite. The research was posted on social aggregation site reddit, which generated 2, 383 ‘upvotes’, 501 comments, and contributed to 60 000+ page views of the Macquarie Newsroom media release overnight.

Associate Professor Joanne Mulligan, School of Education
Joanne has been advocating in the media for the Opening Real Science program; a national initiative designed to boost science and maths in classrooms. Over recent months she has been available to talk to a range of media outlets wishing to speak about science in teaching and in the classroom.

TV, radio, print and online – our researchers share their expertise and profile their recent work across a range of media outlets. Here are some examples from the last month. Sign up to our daily media report to get regular updates directly to your inbox.

Professor Rob Harcourt, Biological Sciences
Science writer in residence, Daily Telegraph:
During a residency set up by the Australian Science Media Centre, Robhas authored and featured in News Corp media on a variety of subjects, including the ineffectiveness of pingers to make whales steer clear of fishing nets, data tracking seals in the Southern Ocean, deadly jellyfish now surviving in the warming waters of Sydney harbour, and tagging sharks in Sydney Harbour.

Dr Karin Sowada, Ancient History
Regular segment speaker, 702 ABC Drive:
You might recognise Karin’s regular “Self Improvement Wednesday” spot on 702 ABC Sydney Drive. This month, she spokeabout workers strikes in Ancient Egypt. Listen to the segment here: Self Improvement: History’s first recorded workers’ strike.

Dr Monica Awasthy and Dr Simon Griffith, Biological Sciences Regional research tour, regional media engagement:
Monica, Simon and team are currently touring regional NSW and QLD as part of their study into sparrows and climate adaptability. Coverage of their research has appeared in the Armidale Express Extra and the Toowoomba Chronicle .

Dr Sonia Allan, Macquarie Law School
Opinion pieces:
Sonia hascontributed opinion about the issues around commercial surrogacy and the case of baby Gammy, to a range of local and international outlets, including The Guardian and The Conversation. Her pieces have led to interviews with BBC World, CNN and more.

Did you know that the marketing unit sends out a daily media report?

Delivering a media highlights overview to your inbox every day, it’s a great way to keep up to date with initiatives and events across the University, and to celebrate our successes. Contact the media team (communications@mq.edu.au) to sign up or for more information.

A snapshot from recent reports

Associate Professor Culum Brown from the Department of Biological Sciences received extensive media coverage on new research that found that fish have feelings and intelligence on a par with other animals, and deserve better consideration of their welfare. Coverage included the Australian (an AAP article also syndicated in the Courier Mail, SBS, NZ Herald, Belfast Telegraph, and Irish Examiner), News.com.au, the Gold Coast Bulletin, Townsville Bulletin, Newcastle Herald, Canberra Times, Herald Sun, the Northern Territory News, Huffington Post, NBC News, 3 News NZ, Business Standard, Nature World News, Newstalk ZB, Zee News, and theDaily Press. Radio coverage included 5AA Adelaide, 666 ABC Canberra Breakfast, 3AW Melbourne Drive, and 774 ABC Melbourne Breakfast.

Read more about the success of Culum’s story.

Associate Professor Blake Johnson and Professor Stephen Crain from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders (CCD) featured in several news pieces alongside Wally Lewis’ daughter Jamie Lee-Lewis, who recently kicked off a brain scanning program for children with cochlear implants. Coverage appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, WA Today, Health Canal, the Northern District Times, Channel 10 Eyewitness News, Channel 9 News Sydney, Channel 9 News Brisbane, Channel 9 News Darwin, WIN Hobart, SBS World News, and SKY News PVO Newshour.

Dr Sally Fitzpatrickfrom the Centre for Emotional Health has received further coverage discussing new intervention programs to assist primary schoolers to overcome and protect themselves against bullying. Coverage appeared the Daily Telegraph piece, Herald Sun and Perth Now. Radio coverage included 2GB Sydney 15:00 News, 2GB Sydney19:00 News, 2SM Sydney 16:00 News, 2SM Sydney 19:00 News, 2DAY FM 16:00 News, and 2HD Newcastle Breakfast.

Vice-Chancellor Professor S. Bruce Dowton featured in several media pieces explaining new university selection criteria that looks for all-round qualities, not just academic ranking. Coverage appeared in the Daily Telegraph, Sydney News, 2GB Sydney 6:00 News, 7:00 News,8:00 News, and 11:00 News, 2SM Sydney 11:00 News, 2SM Sydney 12:00 News, 2UE Sydney14:00 News, and Channel 9 Weekend Today.  

 Professor Ron Rapee from the Centre for Emotional Health featured extensively in the media following discussion around the fact that one or two children in every Australian classroom suffer an anxiety disorder, and many of them go untreated. Coverage included the Daily Telegraph, NineMSN, Herald Sun, Courier Mail, Adelaide Advertiser, Hobart Mercury, Weekend Post Cairns, Newcastle Herald, Daily Advertiser, 2SM Sydney 6:00 News, 6PR Perth 6:00News, WAVE FM News Wollongong 9:00 News, WAVE FM News Wollongong 11:00 News, 3AW Melbourne 9:00 News, 2UE Sydney 11:00 News, i98 FM Wollongong 11:00 News, 2CC Canberra12:00 News, and 3AW Melbourne 12:00 News. Professor Jennie Hudson, also from the Centre for Emotional Health, spoke on the same topic on Channel Nine’s Weekend Today.

Did you know that the marketing unit sends out a daily media report?

Delivering a media highlights overview to your inbox every day, it’s a great way to keep up to date with initiatives and events across the University, and to celebrate our successes. Contact the media team (communications@mq.edu.au) to sign up or for more information.

A snapshot from recent reports

Dr Steve Collins from the Department of Media, Music, Communication and Cultural Studies contributed the piece “Apple and beats: where musicians and geeks collide” to The Conversation. Following its publication he spoke on Radio Adelaide Breakfast, and 2SER The Daily on the topic, regarding online streaming.

Professor Eryk Dutkiewicz from the Department of Engineering received coverage based on his team’s involvement in an international line-up of universities to develop 5G wireless technologies. Coverage appeared in the Brisbane Times, the Sydney Morning Herald, Comms Critical and Communications Day.

PhD Candidate Marine Desprez from the Department of Environment and Geography was mentioned in ABC Science online, which reported that southern elephant female seals breeding for the first time have a lower survival rate than others, and this points to possible deficiencies in the seals’ feeding grounds in and around Antarctica.

Daniela Carollo from the Department of Physics and Astronomy spoke on ABC Science Star Stuff about her research, which discovered in the outskirts of our galaxy ancient stars formed directly out of the first stars in the universe.

Professor Jennie Hudson from the Centre for Emotional Health appeared on Studio 10 on ‘Walk Safely to School Day’, to discuss the emotional benefits of walking.

A new research project led by Deputy Vice Chancellor of Research Professor Sakkie Pretorius with Professor Ian Paulsen and Professor Nikki Packer from the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, featured in several media pieces. The international collaborative project aims to develop and link all 16 chromosomes that make up yeast by 2017, in a world’s first synthetic version of a complex living organism. The Australian Science Media Centre published their media briefing on the topic here.

Coverage appeared in the Australian, Sydney Morning Herald, Business Insider, News.com.au, 666 ABC Canberra AM, the Australian Food Network, Sydney News, Australian Life Scientist, The Herald Sun, and the Newcastle Herald. The AAP syndicated story was also shared on a variety of major news websites, such as The Daily Telegraph and NineMSN.

Professor Sakkie Pretorius also contributed the piece “Making ‘designer genes’ from scratch begins with yeast” to The Conversation, and appeared on Channel 10′s The Project.

Did you know that the Marketing Unit sends out a daily media report?

Delivering a media highlights overview to your email inbox every day, it’s a great way to keep up to date with initiatives and events across the University, and to celebrate our successes. Contact the media team (communications@mq.edu.au) to sign up or for more information.

A snapshot from recent reports

Aaron McKay from the Department of Physics and Astronomy was referenced in an ABC Online piece which reports his team’s harnessing of diamonds to improve the quality of laser beams.

Professor Mark Taylor from the Department of Environment and Geography was referenced in G Magazine, in a piece about soil contaminants in garden beds and veggie patches. His VegeSafe program, which offers rapid soil metal testing, continues to attract media interest. Professor Taylor has also co-authored two pieces in The Conversation “Australia’s dirty secret: who’s breathing toxic air?“, and “Reducing the harms of toxic air in mining and smelting communities”.

Associate Professor Amanda Barnier, Professor John Sutton and Misia Temler from the Department of Cognitive Science and ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders (CCD) contributed to The Conversation “Total recall: truth, memory and the trial of Oscar Pistorius”. This piece generated further media including an interview for A/Prof Barnier on SKY Reporting live with Stan Grant about the Oscar Pistorious trial, and his ability to accurately recall events. Coverage also appeared in Newstalk ZB, and ABC Ballarat.

Harvey Broadbent from Modern History’s Gallipoli Centenary Research Project spoke with several media outlets ahead of ANZAC day. Coverage included a Northern District Times piece about his research into the Gallipoli story from the perspective of previously unexamined Turkish military documents, and his public lecture on the same topic was broadcast live by A-PAC TV.