Western Sydney insect infestation

Dr Markus Riegler from the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, together with Blacktown City Council have been awarded a UWS Research Partnership grant to identify the key characteristics of the current psyllid infestation in the endangered remnant Cumberland Plain Woodlands.

‘Eucalypts in the endangered remnant Cumberland Plain Woodlands throughout Western Sydney are currently experiencing massive infestation by lace lerp insects, Australian native insects in the family of Psyllidae (Hemiptera),’ explains Dr Riegler. ‘In large numbers, these insects cause defoliation through their plant sap feeding activity on leaves and repeated infestations is likely to also result in tree mortality. Information about the population dynamics of the current psyllid infestation will be collected in the affected woodlands of Western Sydney, in particular of the Blacktown City Council, in order to predict future development and to help with design of management strategies.’

The research team will first assess the geographic expansion of the infestation using vegetation maps and climatic events that have occurred in the region over the last 5 years. We will identify and characterise the lace lerp species and study life history traits such as developmental times, reproductive potential and number of generations per year. We will test the host plant specificity on the Grey Box, Eucalyptus moluccana, measure plant physiological and biochemical traits in order to obtain an understanding of their stress status. We will look for variation in lace lerp population densities between individual trees within and between stands with different canopy cover and understorey.

The research will provide information about the lace lerp outbreak and the monitoring data obtained will be used to test different management options for the recovery of lands affected by lace lerps.

If you would like to find out more about research and innovation at UWS contact us ip@uws.edu.au.

"Man Up" Project

Professor Gregory Kolt from the School of Science and Health and Professor Anthony Maeder from the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics are part of a large team undertaking research into men’s physical activity and nutritional behavioural change. This project is supported by the Department of Health, Queensland.

‘Health and well-being is clearly linked to the everyday life and work experiences of all men and is becoming an increasingly important issue,’ says Professor Kolt. ‘Interventions delivered via the internet have emerged as a novel and popular promotion strategy with the potential for wide population reach, and could be a way to engage hard-to-reach groups such as middle-aged men. Although social media with a high degree of interactivity can be effective in communicating and producing behaviour change by promoting physical activity and healthy nutrition to the general population, the newer generation of web-based applications, including social networking websites, need to be studied to determine their effectiveness in terms of participant engagement and retention in physical activity and nutritional behaviour change.’

Based on a systematic review of current literature, this project will develop tailored e-health support materials for 2nd generation web-based applications including mobile-phones. These "apps" will be integrated into a community-based and supported intervention. Interest in workplace health and wellbeing on the part of community consortium members will provide an important conduit for the dissemination phase of the project which will take place after completion of the trial phase and involve the development of marketing plans to engage organisations in the launch of the program.

Health promotion programs can improve health and wellbeing, decrease medical and disability costs and reduce absenteeism from work. Increased general good health and fitness also improves mental alertness, morale and job satisfaction.

If you have an interest in working with top academics at UWS contact us at ip@uws.edu.au

The Research Consortium: Central Queensland University (administering institution), University of Western Sydney, the Australian E-Health Research Centre, and the CSIRO Centre for Human Nutrition. The research team is also supported by a variety of research, industry, government and non-government agencies.

Raising the Bar; IP changes for Researchers

Australia’s Patents Act 1990 will be changing for the better for researchers...

An Amendment (Raising the Bar) Bill 2012 was passed by the House of Representatives 20 March 2012. The Bill will now be assented to (signed by the Governor General).  Most provisions will come into effect 12 months later (in 2013).

The Bill includes several significant reforms, the most important is a research exemption which will allow researchers to conduct experiments on patented matter without risking infringement (N.B. this is research only, doing more than research with your new findings may need agreement with another party or there could be new results/findings which could be protected and commercialised).

The other major reform is tightening the conditions for granting new patents.  This will align Australian patent law more closely with international standards.

The Bill also simplifies IP application processes, streamlines patent and trademark procedures and improves trademark and copyright enforcement.

If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact UWS Innovation on ip@uws.edu.au.

Remember, if you are a UWS researcher and believe you have an invention, we would like to hear from you. (http://www.uws.edu.au/innovate/innovate/guidelines,_policies_and_forms)