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Blogs

Paul Willis – Director

[ By freya on May 15, 2013 ]
Dr Paul Willis is a respected leader in the science community, and takes up his appointment at RiAus as the next step in an impressive career in science. Dr Willis' early interest in dinosaurs and fossils lead him to Sydney University to study zoology and geology, then on to further studies ... Continue Reading »

Bradley Abraham – General Manager

[ By PeterLugg ]
Bradley joins RiAus as a senior executive with significant experience in the not for profit sector. His career started with CPA Australia in the area of small business policy, before he was appointed General Manager of Swimming SA in 1997 leading up to the Sydney Olympics. Approached to take over the SPARC ... Continue Reading »

Diana De Hulsters – Partnerships Manager

[ By James Byrne on May 14, 2013 ]
Diana joined RiAus in May 2013 and brings with her more than two decades of international strategic sales and marketing experience in commercial and not-for-profit organisations. Diana has a global business network and expertise in business association management at executive level. Originally from Belgium, Diana moved to Adelaide in 2002. Past roles ... Continue Reading »

Lost In Translation: Evidence-based healthcare

[ By James Byrne on April 15, 2013 ]
Could changing the timing of a baby's first bath save its life?  Is it better for your health to have a private or shared hospital room?  Research is constantly discovering better health care solutions, but is often not adopted into best practice and policy. Somewhere these answers are lost in translation. In ... Continue Reading »

The Science Exchange: Historic Tour

[ By Petra Dzurovcinova on March 22, 2013 ]
We may be new, but there is more history than you know behind the Science Exchange! Before becoming the home of RiAus, it had an exciting history as the Adelaide Stock Exchange. Step back in time and imagine what it must have been like, from the frantic trading floor to ... Continue Reading »

2012

[ By Petra Dzurovcinova on December 14, 2012 ]
The festive season is almost upon us. Many cultures around the world have major celebrations around the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and a congruent theme of many of these celebrations is the expression of good will and happiness for others. It’s also a time for reflection on the achievements ... Continue Reading »

On Telly

[ By Petra Dzurovcinova on November 28, 2012 ]
As many of you will know, I made something of a dramatic career shift when I took up the job as Director here at RiAus. I’d spent the previous 14 years at the ABC as a science reporter, mostly on TV, on the Catalyst program. But I’m surprised how often ... Continue Reading »

How Much Can a Koala Bear?

[ By Petra Dzurovcinova on November 22, 2012 ]
Next week an army of citizen scientists will be out and about searching for koalas. But, how do you know if you've really found a koala? What are the signs? Midnight Koala Many years ago, I travelled on my own to the Grampians. The Grampians are a ... Continue Reading »

Women in Science: It’s Not Rocket Science

[ By Petra Dzurovcinova on November 2, 2012 ]
Later this month, RiAus will hold an event called 'Best of the Best: Women in Science'. The first question this title raises is 'what does it mean to be a woman in science'. My answer is 'I don't know'. I'm not one of them. I'm keenly interested in ... Continue Reading »

Best of the Best: Women in Science

[ By Petra Dzurovcinova on September 21, 2012 ]
Three amazing personalities joined RiAus Director Paul Willis on stage to discuss their journeys as professional women in science and engineering. Each is at a different stage in their career, has overcome a range of obstacles and has had considerable success. These champions of science shared their inpsiration on ... Continue Reading »

We had lots of Fun with Fungi at the Adelaide Central Market

[ By Petra Dzurovcinova on September 3, 2012 ]
RiAus warmed up the lunchtime shoppers at the Adelaide Central Market with cooking demonstrations featuring edible mushrooms. Pam Tobin, from the Australian Mushroom Growers Association, and her chef entertained the crowd as they prepared two mouth-watering dishes which were offered out for taste testing. Feedback on the dishes was overwhelmingly ... Continue Reading »

Peter Yates AM Inaugural Chair

[ By editor on August 28, 2012 ]
Peter Yates is Chair of RiAus, the Australian Science Media Centre and the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne. He is also Chair of the Peony Capital General Partnership, the Royal Children's Hospital Foundation (Victoria) and a Director of Oceania Capital Partners Limited and MOKO.mobi. From ... Continue Reading »

The Hon Mike Rann CNZM

[ By Petra Dzurovcinova on August 17, 2012 ]
Mike Rann was Premier of South Australia for nine and a half years and served for 26 years in the South Australian Parliament. While Premier he was also Minister for Economic Development, Minister for the Arts, Australia's first Minister for Social Inclusion and Australia's – and one of the world's ... Continue Reading »

Can you Sci-ku? (10 August 2012)

[ By Petra Dzurovcinova on August 10, 2012 ]
RiAus is setting a challenge to all Australians - young and old - to take part in its 3rd Annual Sci-ku Poetry Competition. What is a Sci-ku? “A Sci-ku is a short three-line poem about science,” said competition co-ordinator, Kiran Shettigara. “Although it is inspired by the Japanese poetry form: ... Continue Reading »

A piece of heritage

[ By freya on June 21, 2012 ]
Who has the right to own a piece of heritage? Should the common heritage of all of us be held in some form of public trust or do we as individuals have the right to privately own heritage items? And if we do have rights of ownership, should there be ... Continue Reading »

A successful week in science

[ By freya on June 13, 2012 ]
Firstly, I’ve been absent from this blog for the last couple of weeks so an apology is in order to regular readers. One week I was crook with one of those nasty little lurgies that are going around at the moment and the next week I was up to my ... Continue Reading »

What states can do: Promoting science

[ By freya on May 25, 2012 ]
Governments, educationalists and business leaders around the world are keen to encourage young people to embrace science in school, at university and in their future careers. In Australia, a lack of interest in studying science in schools has been of real and growing concern. Many of the best careers of the ... Continue Reading »

The Science Exchange: An historic tour

[ By Petra Dzurovcinova on March 21, 2012 ]
We may be new, but there is more history than you know behind the Science Exchange! Before becoming the home of RiAus, it had an exciting history as the Adelaide Stock Exchange. Kay Bennetts led guided tours every Friday in May. We stepped back in time to imagine what is ... Continue Reading »

The hidden heat of climate science – By Paul Willis

[ By Petra Dzurovcinova on February 22, 2012 ]
I had something of a revelation last week, an explanation for a set of facts that didn’t come together quite the way I’d hoped. In hindsight, I can see that this was a few pieces of a puzzle that didn’t really fit the picture as I saw it but I’d ... Continue Reading »

Picking sides

[ By Petra Dzurovcinova on February 8, 2012 ]
At the core of so many issues confronting us today is a foundation of science and, all too often, there is a debate about the nature of that science. For the general population this presents a puzzling dilemma; how do you pick the right side in a science debate? This ... Continue Reading »

Prof Brian P. Schmidt AC

[ By Petra Dzurovcinova on January 31, 2012 ]
2011 Nobel Laureate Appointed a Companion (AC) in the General Division of the Order of Australia in 2013 Distinguished Professor, Australian National University Brian P Schmidt is a Laureate Fellow at The Australian National University's Mount Stromlo Observatory.  Brian was raised in Montana and Alaska, USA, and received undergraduate degrees in Physics and ... Continue Reading »

It’s official – RiAus changes lives!

[ By freya on November 7, 2011 ]
During its first two years of existence, RiAus has touched many hearts. RiAus is a venue for science lovers to gather for events made vibrant by the passion and knowledge of experts. With a sparkling program of science activities, RiAus brings like-minded people together to hear and talk about the thing ... Continue Reading »

RiAus Second Birthday Celebration Competition winners announced

[ By freya on November 4, 2011 ]
How has RiAus changed your life? This was the question RiAus asked during its Second Birthday Celebration Competition. RiAus opened its doors on 8 October 2009. Two years later, the science-communications organisation is a vibrant cultural hub. For the month of October 2011, members of the RiAus community were asked to tell ... Continue Reading »

Word on the street at the Festival of Ideas

[ By freya on October 6, 2011 ]
RiAus is participating at the Festival of Ideas with a bunch of great talks about battling uncertainty with science. (We’re also celebrating our birthday on Saturday, but that’s not what this blog post is about.) Two artists have put their heads together and come up with the fabulous idea ... Continue Reading »

Engaging the young

[ By freya on September 28, 2011 ]
At RiAus, we are all about science engagement. It’s not enough these days to simply take a scientist, put them on a podium and let them talk about their favourite bit of science. We need to connect with the audience, engage with the community, in ways that provide access to ... Continue Reading »

Bright Young Scientists

[ By freya on September 14, 2011 ]
The Science Exchange is destined to be many things, many of which would not have been in the minds of the original architects when the building was built in 1901. Originally it was the Stock Exchange for Adelaide with offices for various traders and a clubroom in the basement where ... Continue Reading »

Acceptance or belief?

[ By freya on August 10, 2011 ]
A couple of weeks back I commented on a graph plotting acceptance of evolution against average individual wealth. I’ve had a few comments about my use of language in that blog. The graph itself refers to ‘Belief in Evolution’ but in the text I use the term ‘acceptance ... Continue Reading »

Why do we do it?

[ By freya on August 3, 2011 ]
I’ve touched on this theme in previous blogs: why do we go out there and talk science to the world? The truth is there are several reasons why it’s important to not only communicate science but to engage the general public in the conversations of science. But I’d ... Continue Reading »

Judging Time

[ By Petra Dzurovcinova on July 20, 2011 ]
Last weekend was my first experience as a judge on the SCINEMA science film-making competition. I’m always uncomfortable in the position of a judge on any competition because invariably you are making choices between several high-quality entrants based on almost trivial differences between them. And this years’ SCINEMA ... Continue Reading »

How time flies!

[ By Petra Dzurovcinova on June 29, 2011 ]
Week 8!  I’ve been here at RiAus for seven weeks and only now getting around to writing my first blog!  I do hope you don’t think it remiss of me for not having written earlier but, as you can well imagine, I’ve been extremely busy.  Steep learning curve and all ... Continue Reading »

Business Leaders Acknowledged (13 June 2011) – The Sydney Morning Herald

[ By freya on June 13, 2011 ]
A slew of high-profile business leaders have featured in the Queen's Birthday honours this year for services to commerce, including Commonwealth Bank's long-serving former chairman, John Schubert. The list includes some who weathered the global financial crisis, such as Trevor Rowe, the chairman of troubled Brisbane toll-road company BrisConnections, and Barbara ... Continue Reading »

Speakers showcase opportunities for students (2 June 2011)

[ By freya on June 2, 2011 ]
Roxby Downs students received an insight into an expanse of career opportunities when Advantage SA visited with its Speakers in Schools program last week. Presentations from three speakers at Saint Barbara's Parish School and Roxby Downs Area School gave students the opportunity to be inspired by career success stories. Advantage SA ... Continue Reading »

Science as culture (June 2011) – The Adelaide Review

[ By freya on June 1, 2011 ]
I sat in the bar at The Science Exchange at the end of my first week as Director of RiAus and reflected on what a smart scene there is here in Adelaide. While renowned for its cultural festivals and hyper-active arts community, the development of a vibrant science society here ... Continue Reading »

Steven Abbey – Facilities Supervisor

[ By editor ]
Steven was born and raised in South Australia and is proud to share the same initials. At the end of the last century he spent four years majoring in photography at the South Australian School of Art and subsequently worked for five years as a tutor in art theory at ... Continue Reading »

Bianca Attard – Functions Manager

[ By on May 30, 2011 ]
Adelaide-born Bianca travelled extensively and worked in London and the US before joining RiAus, attracted to working with a new organisation and in an area she had not previously considered. As well as being its first point of contact for venue hire clients, she brings her organisational skills to her ... Continue Reading »

Lisa Bailey – Programs Manager

[ By editor on May 29, 2011 ]
Lisa obtained her Bachelor of Biotechnology at Flinders University and a PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Adelaide. She is passionate about science, and about promoting public understanding of science and technology - not just to produce new scientists but to produce citizens who can make their own informed ... Continue Reading »

James Byrne – Programs Co-ordinator

[ By freya ]
James completed his PhD in Microbial Pathogenesis in 2012 where he worked primarily on determining how the molecular machinery on bacterial surfaces allows them to infect humans. While still completing his PhD James accepted a teaching role and was appointed an Associate Lecturer which honed his communication skills in preparation ... Continue Reading »
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