Category: Griffith University Feed

Andrew O’Neil, Professor of Political Science with Griffith Business School
North Korea’s announcement that it has successfully tested a ballistic missile with an intercontinental range has been highly anticipated for some time. Despite a string of recent highly publicised failures, the country’s missile testing program has been coming along in leaps and bounds over the past three decades.
Professor Andrew O’Neil
Yesterday’s flight-test of the Hwasong-14 was intended to send a strong signal to the US – it occurred on 4 July – that the Kim Jong-un regime now possesses the option of striking the continental United States with a nuclear warhead if it chooses to do so.
But we should probably be a little cautious in concluding Pyongyang’s claim is necessarily credible. Its announcement of the test noted the missile flew just 933km; the accepted minimum range of an ICBM is 5,500km, and Los Angeles is just under 10,000km. That said, the

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Teacher knowledge of autism-related behaviour is a key factor in successful classroom outcomes.
PhD candidate Libby Macdonald from Griffith University and The Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), said with about 73 per cent of students on the autism spectrum enrolled in mainstream schools in Australia, the focus should be on ensuring all teachers and students are supported in an environment.
“There is evidence that all children benefit from having students with disabilities in the classrooms,” she said.
“They can learn more about other members of their community, and become more understanding and tolerant by witnessing and contributing to the care and support of children with different needs.
“If there are concerns about the impact of having students with disabilities in our classrooms, perhaps the focus should be on providing additional teaching and professional development resources rather than singling out a student or group of students.”
Ms Macdonald said strategies designed for use

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By Jemima Desbrow
More than 60 per cent of Australians currently have unwanted medicines in their home according to a new study conducted by Griffith School of Human Services and Social work.
And the majority of respondents (more than 80 per cent) was completely unaware of the Return Unwanted Medicines (RUM) Project. The most common method of disposal was through household garbage.
Funded by the Commonwealth Government, the RUM Project is hailed as a world first in the management and removal of unwanted and out-of-date medicines from the community.
RUM’s new national awareness campaign is being held next week and will ask people to follow three simple steps of READ, REMOVE and RETURN. This is in order to minimise the risk of unintended poisonings and medication mix ups, and do their bit to protect the environment.
The Griffith research team includes chief investigator Professor Amanda Wheeler, from the university’s School of Human Services and Social work.
Researchers conducted

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A young female Griffith University scientist is among 30 in the country recognised as the first Superstars of STEM.
Ready to smash stereotypes and forge a new generation of role models for young women and girls, the scientists and technolgists will receive training and development to use social media, TV, radio and public speaking opportunities to carve out a more diverse face for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Dr Róisín McMahon, an early career researcher at the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, was selected among more than 300 applicants who vied for a spot to be a Superstar and inspire others to consider a career in STEM.
Dr McMahon’s passion – outside sparkly shoes – is investigating new antimicrobial drug targets and identifying chemicals to block their activity. Antibiotic resistance is a looming health catastrophe, undermining routine medical procedures and threatening a return to death from common infections. Her research seeks to disrupt the ability

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Professor Paul Mazerolle
Pro Vice Chancellor
Arts, Education and Law
On behalf of the Arts, Education and Law Group, I take great pleasure in recognising some remarkable academic award recipients within our community, in what has been a very active first half of 2017.
The Australian Research Council (ARC) has announced the outcomes of the 2017 ARC Future Fellowship scheme. We are very happy to report that Associate Professor Maxime Aubert was granted $998,804 for the project “The unknown ‘Ice Age’ artists of Borneo”, which will be hosted jointly by the Environmental Futures Research Institute and the Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research.
The Vice Chancellor’s Research Excellence Awards were also held recently, and celebrate the University’s research achievements and acknowledge the achievements of outstanding individual researchers and research groups. Congratulations to the following winners and I commend the far-reaching benefits and diversity of their research.
Early Career Researcher – Dr Lyndel Bates, Griffith Criminology Institute
Dr Bates’

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Griffith Law School is among the top 50 in the world, according to the ShanghaiRankings’ Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2017.
Law came in at number 38 after the ARWU evaluated 4000 universities in 52 subjects across natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, medical sciences and social sciences.
Griffith Law School Dean Professor Pene Mathew said it was a fantastic result.
“This ranking places Law at Griffith at third place in Australia, and first in Queensland, recognising the high quality of both our researchers and students,’’ she said.
“The ARWU takes into account a range of indicators of quality research, including publications in quality journals and number of citations, thus demonstrating the high quality of legal research at Griffith University.”
Research scholarship
Professor Don Anton, Director of the Law Futures Centre at Griffith, said the result reflected the outstanding research produced by legal scholars at the Griffith Law School.
“We are aiming to demonstrate our research is ERA 5

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Dean Foley has no regrets about the turn his life has taken.
Mind you, he wouldn’t recommend others follow the same path.
The founder of Barayamal, an business accelerator program for Indigenous start-ups, left a career with Royal Australian Air Force to pursue his dream of getting into business in Brisbane.
“It wasn’t the smartest idea, leaving secure employment to live off zero dollars,” he said.
However, he was accepted into a Graduate Certificate of Business Administration at Griffith University and used his own experiences to launch the grass-roots, indigenous-owned initiative.  
A proud Kamilaroi man, Dean Foley was born in Brisbane but grew up in Gunnedah, New South Wales.
Believing he wasn’t smart enough to go to university, he pursued another goal – serving in the Australian Defence Force.
His time with the RAAF proved valuable – teaching Mr Foley a range of skills, including discipline, and opening his eyes to the world outside his small

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Griffith University painted the town red over the weekend, with a team of 800 taking part in events for the Gold Coast Airport Marathon.
The red-singlet clad Team Griffith ranged from 5 to 75 in age, with more than 300 taking part in the half-marathon and 120 pounding the pavement for the full 42 kilometres.

Braving an early-morning temperature of just 10 degrees – freezing, by Southeast Queensland standards – competitors arrived in jumpers and beanies before hitting the course.
“It starts cold, dark and busy, and with a lot of anticipation,” said Professor Martin Betts, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Engagement).
“But once you get moving it’s just fantastic. The atmosphere out on the course with people cheering you on and so many Griffith vests – it’s incredible to see that on the Gold Coast.”
A “relieved and exhausted” Professor Betts said it’s a fantastic way for everyone at the university – staff, students and alumni

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What do an Olympic gold medallist, State of Origin great, former New Zealand rugby league representative, and the Queensland Academy of Sport performance coordinator think about the future of sport in Logan?
Griffith Business School is hosting a seminar focussed on growing the city’s sporting excellence, and they’ve enlisted some of the world’s best to help.
Dr Caroline Riot, Griffith Business School
To be held at the Logan campus on Tuesday July 4, the seminar will feature conversations around talent pathways, and look at building resilience in athletes and players.  
Speakers include:

Michael Hancock, Queensland State of Origin great and current Game Development/Community Officer with the Brisbane Broncos
Naomi McCarthy, Olympian and Manager of Griffith’s Sport College
Sione Faumuina, former NRL and Kiwi-League International and TSP coaching business owner
Lawrie Fabian, Senior Performance Services Coordinator with the Queensland Academy of Sport
Caroline Riot, Director of Engagement with the Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management

Dr Caroline Riot

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They may not quite match the two hours, 11 minutes, 15 seconds clocked by one Griffith graduate in Glasgow three years ago, but an 800-strong Griffith University team is set to take on the annual Gold Coast Airport Marathon.
The official Griffith contingent is again expected to be one of the largest groups participating under one banner, including 120 lining up for the full marathon and 308 for the half marathon on Sunday morning.
The sea of Griffith red will also be on the move early on Saturday with more than 350 registered in total for the 10km and 5.7km challenge, including the oldest member of the Griffith team aged 75.
Five-year-old Riyo Kawabatta will be the youngest member of the Griffith troop, running the 2km Junior dash.
More than 27,000 are expected to take part in the Gold Coast Airport Marathon over the weekend.

FACEBOOK: Griffith and the Gold Coast Marathon

Vice Chancellor Professor Ian

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