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HANOI
Renowned rural experts coming to Hamilton
RMIT University Hamilton will this week bring renowned authors and rural issues
experts to Hamilton for a one-day forum exploring the challenges and opportunities
facing rural communities.
The free rural think tank, The Big Issues, is open to all community members and
will be held at RMIT University Hamilton on Friday, 28 May.
Guest speakers include renowned author, journalist, editor and science
communicator, Professor Julian Cribb, and author, social psychologist and
researcher, Dr Neil Barr.
Professor Cribb is currently penning the book, The Coming Famine: The Global
Food Crisis and What We Can Do to Avoid It, while Dr Barr has recently released
The House on the Hill, which explores the transformation of Australia’s farming
communities.
Other key speakers include Dr Stephen Davis, an expert on using mathematical
modelling to approach public health problems in rural communities who is well
known for his work on the bubonic plague in Kazakhstan, and RMIT Professor
John Buckeridge, an expert in natural resource engineering, environmental ethics,
marine biology and palaeobiology.
Dr Davis will present on the topic Percolation, satellite images and plague in
Kazakhstan, while Professor Buckeridge will discuss Managing both biodiversity
and society's interests: are these compatible?
At a local level, representatives from the Great South Coast Regional Strategic
Plan Project Group will present the recently released Great South Coast Regional
Strategic Plan Discussion Paper for review and discussion.
RMIT Hamilton Manager, Dr Kaye Scholfield, said: “We are fortunate to have these
experts in Hamilton to offer varied perspectives that will engage local and regional
leaders, by unpacking key issues, exploring skills required by future leaders and
optimal leadership strategies.”
The program is made possible by funding through the Department of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).
Date:
Friday, 28 May
Time:
9am–3.15 pm (Participants can attend all or part of the day)
Place:
RMIT University Hamilton, 200 Ballarat Road, Hamilton
Contact:
(03) 5572 0500
For interviews: RMIT University Hamilton Manager, Dr Kaye Scholfield, (03)
5572 0500.
For general media enquiries: RMIT University Hamilton Communications
Officer, Rachel McDonald, (03) 5572 0505.
24 May, 2010
NEWS 
