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SY D N E Y A LU M N I M AG A Z I N E ISSUE 13 — SEMESTER ONE 2021
Going viral
S TR ATEG I ES FO R VACCI N ATI O N
Women’s cricket and tennis teams, 1890. Archive photo G3_224_0005.
CONTENTS
04 07 18
Heart failure research Creating the next Uncovering the dark side
goes molecular generation solar cells of supply chains
University update Welcome 02
Newsbites Information 03
On my desk – Jude Philp Perspectives 10
Taking your best shot – Julie Leask Health 12
Thereby hangs a tail – Peter Banks Environment 15
Nothing by chance – Rebecca Peters Legislation 21
Timelines – the SILLIAC computer Historical profile 24
Classnotes Community 26
Just the facts Knowledge 28
Managing Editor: Alicia Simes Produced by Marketing and Distributed to more than 155,000 SAM AS A PDF
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Building, NSW 2006 ©2021 The
+61 2 9036 9222 Cover: Julie Leask with viruses University Download links are on the
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01
U N I V E RS I T Y U PDAT E
RISING TO
CHALLENGES
As I was delighted to announce in so far. Had they felt part of a learning
March, the University has appointed community? Did they have access
Mr Mark Scott as our 27th Vice- to the resources they needed? And
Chancellor and Principal. Mr Scott had they developed the critical and
will take up the role in July, and I analytical skills that are so important in
look forward to working with him to a university education?
help shape the future of Australia’s I am proud to report the survey
first university. responses gave the most positive
I also wish to express my sincere indication of student satisfaction that
thanks to Professor Stephen Garton we have had since 2015, reaffirming
for his steady leadership as Vice- that the University continues to achieve
Chancellor since the departure of Dr one of our key goals: educating the most
Michael Spence in December 2020. promising young minds of today to
Professor Garton returns to his role become the leaders of tomorrow.
as Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor Of course, not all change has been
with the gratitude of the whole in response to the virus. During 2020
University community. we opened the Chau Chak Wing
Mr Scott arrives at a time Museum, which has already been hailed
of tremendous change for the as a tremendous addition to Sydney’s
University, and indeed the world. cultural life. As well, colleagues
The circumstances of the COVID-19 moved into the new Susan Wakil
pandemic over the past year have seen Health Building.
us adapt to an unpredictable global Made possible by the largest-ever gift
environment; we have had to find ways to the University of $35 million from
not only to survive, but to innovate the Susan and Isaac Wakil Foundation,
and to thrive. this innovative building has put the
For example, even though our University’s health and medical
institution has a long history of face-to- disciplines under one roof, enhancing
face teaching, we were able to transition multi-disciplinary research and
quickly to an online learning model, a learning and readying our graduates for
feat that may have seemed improbable the 21st century health workforce.
to some at the outset. But through the The ancient Greek philosopher,
incredible resourcefulness of our staff Heraclitus, once said “change is the only
and the determination of our students, constant”, and it has never been more
we made this massive change while also true. But we are certain of this: a central
continuing to provide our students with aspiration of the University of Sydney
an excellent education. community will always be to improve
This continuation of our high the lives of others, around the world and
standards was borne out by a student in the communities we serve.
satisfaction survey carried out last
year. At the height of the COVID-19
lockdown that had made online
teaching necessary, we asked students Belinda Hutchinson AC
to reflect on their learning experiences (BEc ’76), Chancellor
02
NEWSBITES
S U S TA I N A B I LIT Y
We need to talk about cement
It’s the second most used commodity after water
but cement sucks in massive amounts of sand
and water and spews out enough CO2 to make it
the third largest carbon emitter after China and
the US. But the Waste Transformation Research
Hub might have a solution. Using fly ash and other
waste materials to create cement, the Hub team
have laid a test eco-pavement. It will be monitored
for 12 months, but laying it saved 752kg of dredged
sand and 327kg of emitted carbon dioxide.
SCIENCE MEDICINE
Earth to Mars Giving a sucker an even break
To examine the surface of Mars, the To see the positives in a blood-hungry tick, you’d
Perseverance rover has an aptly named really have to be a medicinal chemist like Professor
SuperCam, which itself is equipped with a Richard Payne, who just opened the ARC Centre
fragment of Australian sedimentary rock. Called for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science.
a chert, it’s from the Pilbara in Western Australia, Ticks have won him over with their impressive
which is geologically similar to the exploration arsenal of biologically active salivary proteins,
area. To maintain its accuracy, the SuperCam pumped into their hosts as painkillers along
recalibrates itself using 22 calibration points with some of the best blood-thinning
of which the chert fragment is one. University molecules known. They also produce
geoscientist, Associate Professor Patrice Rey, powerful anti-inflammatory
excavated the rock five years proteins called evasins which
ago and forgot about it, Professor Payne hopes
only hearing last year can treat respiratory
that it was off to Mars. illnesses that
feature lung
inflammation,
like COVID-19.
SuperCam
03
R E S E A RC H
The effects are profound, yet surprisingly, heart failure isn’t well understood.
Now Dr Sean Lal is finding new knowledge with help from the world’s largest
bank of heart tissue samples right here on the University campus.
MATTERS OF
THE HEART
Written by Elise Webster
Photography by Louise M Cooper
04
When Dr Sean Lal was 10 years old, his dad developed acute While treatments have come a long way
heart failure from a viral infection. A heart transplant, performed in the past 30 years, advances lag behind
by renowned cardiac surgeon Dr Victor Chang (BSc(MedSci) ’61, cancer research. Today, heart transplant is
MBBS ’63), gave his dad a few more years, but it wasn’t enough still the only treatment for end stage heart
to save him from a condition some medical experts have called failure, but with 60,000 new heart failure
‘more malignant than cancer’. cases diagnosed in Australia each year, only
Today, Lal is a consultant cardiologist at Royal Prince Alfred about 100 to 200 transplants are performed.
(RPA) Hospital and the Director of Acute Heart Failure Services. “We urgently need new treatments. I
He’s also an academic in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at hate seeing families go through what my
Sydney, where his lab studies the mechanisms of heart failure family went through,” says Lal, who has just
at the molecular level. recommended his latest patient at RPA be
This means he’s looking beyond the usual named causes of considered for the heart transplant waiting
heart failure, such as a heart attack, high blood pressure or list: a 41-year-old with a young family.
diabetes, to find its more fundamental drivers. As they work to slow the progression of
The most common cause of heart failure is blocked arteries heart failure, Lal’s team has access to an
which creates a particular problem for women. Only one in extraordinary resource: the largest bank
three women has the classic heart attack chest pain, instead of heart tissue in the world. Located on
most experience shortness of breath, nausea, and pain in one campus, it has helped give new insights into
or both arms. This means women are often misdiagnosed, with why heart failure occurs and how it differs
a recent Sydney study finding they are twice as likely to not in men and women.
receive the most appropriate treatment. This could delay their The hearts have been donated by
heart failure diagnosis. patients from St. Vincent’s Hospital who
“My patients ask me all the time why heart failure happened to have suffered from all kinds of heart failure
them. I can’t give them an answer right now, but I’m doing my best that necessitated a heart transplant.
to find out,” Lal says. Now, for the first time, heart failure
Full of energy, with a wide smile, Lal’s youthful demeanour samples are being collected from patients
belies his impressive resume, which includes fellowships undergoing all forms of heart surgery at
at world-renowned research facilities, the Massachusetts Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, where he
showed that the human heart has the potential to regenerate
following a heart attack.
“This goes against all the textbooks,” says Lal, whose work is
supported by donors to the University. “We had no idea that
the human heart had this potential and we think this drive to
regenerate could be the key to reversing heart failure.”
“We had no idea that
The term ‘heart failure’ conjures images of the heart suddenly
stopping. However, it actually refers to a failure of the heart to
the human heart had
pump enough blood around the body. In essence, the heart is still this potential… this
beating, but not well enough, causing shortness of breath, chest
pain, palpitations and many other effects that limit quality of life. drive to regenerate
could be the key to
The condition is incurable, with death a possibility. If you were
diagnosed with heart failure in the 1970s, your chance of surviving
beyond five years was 30%. Today, with new treatments and
faster diagnosis, the five-year survival rate is around 60% for the reversing heart failure.”
30 million people worldwide, including half a million Australians,
who currently have heart failure. — Dr Sean Lal
05
Liquid nitrogen vapour
pours off one of the
heart bank racks. Each
rack contains about
1000 cryopreserved
heart samples, with
the bank having about
20,000 samples in
all. Photography by
Stefanie Zingsheim
There are also healthy hearts of various
ages which were not used for heart
transplantation for logistical reasons. These
healthy hearts allow researchers to compare
diseased with non-diseased tissue.
The Heart Bank, of which Lal is now
Director, was created in 1989 by Sydney
Emeritus Professor Cristobal dos Remedios
and the aforementioned, Dr Victor Chang.
Their visionary idea was to snap freeze
hearts at -196°C using liquid nitrogen,
preserving the DNA, proteins and enzymes
within the heart tissue for future analysis, “When my dad died, it was difficult
when advancing technology might make for my mum to put me through uni. But I
more possible, as it has. knew from the age of 10, when my dad got
Today, the Sydney Heart Bank, which is sick, that I wanted to be a ‘heart doctor’.
completely not-for-profit, shares tissue “So I applied for an academic
samples and data with some of the best scholarship at Sydney and got it. I
heart researchers in the world, including completed my four degrees here, met
those at Harvard, Oxford, Imperial College my wife here and now I work here. I don’t
London and Johns Hopkins. think I can ever leave,” laughs Lal. Which Dr Sean Lal
Lal’s team recently drew on the heart is just as well because there is still so
bank to analyse what makes the heart tick much for him to do. D EG R E E
at the molecular level. They found changes Lal and his team are now hoping BMedSc (Hons) ‘03
in many important processes in the heart, to embark on the Heart Bank’s most MBBS ‘07 MPhil ‘09
including mechanisms that generate energy ambitious project to date – analysing the PhD ‘17
for the heart, pathways that deal with injury, genome and protein profile (proteome) of
clotting mechanisms, and processes that all 20,000 heart samples. This equates to W H AT E L S E
maintain structural integrity. more than 260 million pieces of data. YO U M I G H T
The team were also surprised to discover It would be the most comprehensive H AV E B E E N
that the thyroid hormone, which is present study of human heart failure ever A tennis player
in every organ and is crucial for metabolism, undertaken and will almost certainly but that would
was ‘switched off’ in the hearts of heart lead to world-first discoveries of what have meant having
failure patients. causes heart failure and new therapies enough talent!
All this has resulted in a much more to treat and cure it.
it.
layered and sophisticated view of how the FAVO U R I T E
heart maintains itself. CHILDHOOD
“We’re really excited about these T V SHOW
discoveries. Now we know more about the Blinky Bill
basic science underlying some of these KEEPING H E ARTS
processes, we can use them to design new
therapies that could treat or even prevent
STRONG YO U R L E A S T
FAVO U R I T E B I T
heart failure in the future,” Lal said. For more information or to help Dr Lal OF HOUSEWORK
Born in Brisbane to Fijian immigrants, Lal advance his ideas, please contact the That would imply
is bursting with drive, and single-minded alumni team on +61 2 9036 9222. that there is a
about curing heart failure. Email: alumni.office@sydney.edu.au favourite!
06
E N E RGY
HERE C
Photography by
Stefanie Zingsheim
OM
Written by
George Dodd
THE
ES
SU
N
The fight against
climate change might
be gaining pace,
but it seems green
energy silicon solar
cells are running out
of puff. The good
news? Professor
Anita Ho‑Baillie
is researching a
substance that might
be cheaper, easier
to handle and even
more efficient.
07
There is an enormous fission reactor
in our planet’s sky. In just one hour, this
“It used to take me four weeks to
reactor bathes the Earth’s surface in
enough energy to supply all humanity’s
make a silicon cell in the lab. With
electricity needs for a whole year. The perovskite, it takes only two days.”
problem is, the Sun’s energy arrives as
solar radiation but we need to turn it
— Professor Anita ho-Baillie
into electricity.
The most direct way to make the
conversion right now is with solar panels,
but there are other reasons why they’re
the great hope of renewable energy.
Their key component, silicon, is the “Solar panels need silicon that’s their natural characteristics, a laborious
second most abundant substance on 99.9999% pure, but you start with process. For her undergraduate thesis,
Earth after oxygen; since panels can be an impure rock called quartzite. The Ho-Baillie created an algorithm that
put where the power is needed – on purifying has to be done in four steps allowed mixed cells to be connected and
homes, factories, commercial buildings, and each step involves heating to 1000 still achieve maximum output.
road vehicles – there’s less need to degrees Celsius. When I realised that I “Imagine a factory that produces
transmit power across landscapes; and went ‘wow. That’s a lot of energy’.” hundreds of cells a minute, and
mass production means solar panels are Still, a solar panel will produce many my goodness, that’s a lot of sorting
now so cheap the economics of using times more emissions-free energy in its they don’t have to do anymore,”
them are becoming inarguable. lifetime than was used in its manufacture. Ho-Baillie says.
If you’re expecting a but, here it is: You might not expect a world expert in Now Ho-Baillie has turned her mind to
but silicon solar panels are reaching materials engineering, semi-conductor creating the next renewable evolution.
the practical limits of their efficiency physics, applied physics and chemistry The substance that has become the
because of some quite inconvenient laws to be playful and outgoing, but that’s focus of her research, and research
of physics. Commercial silicon solar cells how Ho-Baillie is. Hearing her talk about around the world, is part of a class of
are now only about 20% efficient (though her career (including stints at British crystalline compounds called perovskite;
up to 28% in lab environments. Their Aerospace, the telco Alcatel Australia specifically, metal halide perovskite.
practical limit being 30%). and various solar-related organisations), Like silicon, this crystalline substance
This means that solar panel technology you get the sense of someone who is is photoactive, meaning that when it’s
must soon evolve. A world leader in quickly recognised by industry people as hit by light, electrons in its structure
helping that evolution take place is an asset worth having. become excited enough to break
Professor Anita Ho-Baillie who was One of her early solar contributions away from their atoms (this freeing of
recently appointed the inaugural John concerned another little-known aspect electrons is the basis of all electricity
Hooke Chair of Nanoscience — a position of using solar panels; not all solar panels generation, from batteries to nuclear
supported by a $5 million donation are compatible. power plants). Allowing that electricity
to the University. Talking to her at the To get maximum output from a solar is in effect, a conga line of electrons,
University’s Sydney Nano labs, she points panel array, all the solar cells must be when the loose electrons from silicon
out another problem with using silicon. connected to other cells that match or perovskite are channelled into a wire,
electricity is the result.
An immediate benefit of perovskite for
Ho-Baillie is that it saves time. “It’s just
easier to handle than silicon,” she says.
“It used to take me four weeks to make a
Removing a
perovskite cell silicon cell in the lab. With perovskite, it
from a ‘inert box’,
takes only two days.”
which protects
the cell from That’s because perovskite is a
moisture and other
contaminants.
simple mixture of salt solutions that
is heated to 100-200C to establish its
photoactive properties. But the real
excitement is around perovskite’s energy
production potential.
08Down to
the wire The first perovskite devices in 2009, industry-critical heat and humidity test
converted just 3.8% of sunlight into set for solar panels by the International
All the methods electricity. By 2020, efficiency was Electrotechnical Commission. The
of electricity 25.5%, close to silicon’s lab record of Ho-Baillie device was the first to pass,
generation are 27.6%. There is a sense that its efficiency and it passed comfortably.
about freeing could soon reach 30%. “It took people The innovation that made it possible
electrons from 40 years to double the efficiency of was to laminate the perovskite cell with
their atoms. silicon,” say Ho-Baillie. “Perovskite glass and the sort of polymers used in
caught up with silicon in just ten years.” double-glazing windows. It was cheap and
Solar cells do this If you’re expecting a ‘but’ about easy to do and, as it turned out, effective.
with the energy perovskite, well, there are a couple. A This has given a huge boost to the
in sunlight. component of the perovskite crystalline prospects of perovskite and seen
lattice is lead. The quantity is tiny, but Ho-Baillie become highly cited by
Sunlight hitting the potential toxicity of lead means it is researchers internationally. The timing is
layers of silicon or a consideration. The real problem is that good too because the last few years have
perovskite knocks unprotected perovskite easily degrades offered something that could produce
electrons loose. through heat, moisture and humidity, the best solar cell efficiency ever seen.
unlike silicon panels which are routinely It’s called silicon perovskite tandeming
The electrons are sold with 25-year guarantees. where the two substances are layered
channeled away It’s the work Ho-Baillie and her team into the same cell to give a higher voltage
to the external are doing in this area that has recently than either could give on its own.
circuit. captured world attention. The goal This works because silicon is better
was for a perovskite cell to pass the at dealing low energy light waves, and
perovskite works well with higher energy
HI
EN GH visible light. Perovskite can also be
It’s tricky: ER
GY PEROVSKITE
Responds to high energy photons
tuned to absorb different wavelengths
a silicon/ (ultraviolet to visible light).
Absorption threshold can be tuned
of light – red, green, blue. With careful
perovskite to red, green or blue wavelengths aligning of silicon and perovskite, this
LO
EN W means each cell will turn more of the light
solar cell
ER
GY SILICON spectrum into energy.
Responds to low energy,
invisible photons like infrared. The numbers are impressive: a single
1. Sunlight strikes
the solar cell. layer could give 33% efficiency; stack two
cells, it’s 45%; three layers would give
51% efficiency. These sorts of figures, if
er
l ay they can be realised commercially, would
ti on
e flec 6. Electrons are revolutionise renewable energy.
t i- r
An d e channeled up to an
c t ro electron-specifi c Asked about the most fun part of her
2. A textured surface El e
reduces reflection and ye r
electrode then job, Ho-Baillie doesn’t hesitate, “The
g la
sent to the
traps light inside the cell. in students,” she says. “I love working with
el ect external circuit.
3. Light energy hits ro ns such bright young people. They’ll be able
the perovskite and slicons El ect
layers causing electrons (e-) to go out and change the world.”
and holes (h+) to break away
from their atoms. i te
ro vs k
4. Freed electrons (e-) Pe
ye r
g la
in the perovskite and silicon
in
ect
are negatively charged.
el
An electric fi eld within the
le s ye r
Ho g la
H ELP G REEN - P OW ER
solar cell attracts them
in
to the electron selecting
el ect
layer and repels them from s
ro n
hole selecting layer.
El e
ct TH E FUTU RE
5. Holes (h+) in the perovskite 7. Rear surfaces
and silicon are positively textured to For more information or to help
charged entities – left c on reflect light back
Sili into the cell.
Professor Ho-Baillie take solar energy
behind by freed perovskite
electrons. They are attracted to the next level, please contact the
er
to the hole selecting layer l ay 8. Holes recombine
alumni team on +61 2 9036 9222.
and repelled from the ti ng with electrons
e lec
electron selecting layer. le s completing the circuit. Email: alumni.office@sydney.edu.au
Ho e
od
c tr
El e
09PE RS PEC T I V E S
ON MY DESK:
DR JUDE PHILP Photography by
Louise M Cooper
SENIOR CURATOR OF THE
MACLEAY COLLECTIONS AT THE Jude Philp’s actual desk
has the usual computer
CHAU CHAK WING MUSEUM and notebooks. If there’s
the occasional set of
Papilio butterflies or
cyclopic horse skull,
they’re only in digital form.
“When I studied art
history and anthropology
in the 80s, there wasn’t a
huge exploration of other
cultures,” says Dr Jude
Philp who always wanted
to be a curator. “But I was
curious about what was
art in societies outside the
European tradition.” With
the Macleay Collection
now housed in the Chau
Chak Wing Museum, a
space made possible by
benefactors, including Dr
Chau Chak Wing, Philp
can fully indulge all her art
and history impulses. In her
warm but precise way, Philp
notes that to be a curator
you need a good visual
sense and to be a magpie for E V I D E N C E O F TH E B U N Y I P ?
knowledge, which is why a For eons, Aboriginal peoples have spoken of the
bunyip, which lived in watery places bellowing
favourite part of her job is
out its call. In 1847, the press reported a strange
the visitors. “They bring one-eyed skull found in a river as evidence
their own knowledge of of the bunyip. William Sharp Macleay refuted
this by using this very skull. He said both were
butterflies or 19th century
European animals born with a skeletal variation,
taxidermy,” she says. “It’s our skull being a one-eyed horse: in effect, a
valuable information.” cyclopic horse. The river skull is now lost.
10TH E A LI M E N TA RY
CA N A L O F A N
EC H I D N A
If I had to choose a
favourite this would be it
(today anyway!). It looks like
lace but it’s a meticulously
presented alimentary canal
of an echidna. In 1860s
Germany, a zoologist,
philosopher, physician, and
artist called Ernst Haeckel
(and others) changed how
science was presented to
the public. His work, (and
specimens like this) was
graphically powerful, and
inspirational for the art
nouveau movement. For
me this is where science
crosses over into art in
the creation of intriguing PA R RY I N G S H I E LD
aesthetic forms. AT T R I B U T E D TO
TH E BA N G E R A N G
PEO PLE O F TH E
E A R LY S T U D I O M U R R AY R I V E R
PH OTO G R A PH All we have in writing
Photography was volatile and about this is a label
complex technology in the from 1851 that says ‘N.
early days and mostly carried S. Wales’, which is more
out indoors by photographic than we know about
businesses. It meant a lot of some other Indigenous
sitting still for a long time and pieces we have. They
sometimes babies were tied were just taken with no
in place. The Macleay has a record kept. It’s a terrible
big photography collection shame that Indigenous
representing the evolution people looking for their
of the technology. This heritage objects can
glass plate positive image is be disappointed, even
incredible in its detail. Every angry, because we know
bead on the magnificent gown so little about what we
is in sharp focus. In modern have. But today we’re
terms it’s about 110 megabytes working with Aboriginal
of visual information, but it peoples to know and
was taken in the 1890s. understand more.
TH E W H I S TLE C R I C K E T
The Macleay has everything from scientific instruments to fossils. But it was started as an insect
collection by Alexander Macleay in 18th century London. It became one the most celebrated
insect collections in Europe, and Macleay brought it with him to Australia in 1826. His descendants
in NSW kept collecting before donating everything to the University in 1874. This is a Gryllus
spinulosus, or the whistle cricket and the oldest dated specimen in the collection. Its label says
“A curious insect from Barbary, the only one known of its kind in England. Geo Edwards, 1756”.
11H E A LT H
COVID-19 is now one of the super-villain diseases,
like smallpox and whooping cough, tackled by vaccination.
Though some people still won’t be vaccinated, their
reasons might not be what you think.
Taking your
best shot
Written by Illustration by Photography by
George Dodd Sam Bailey Stefanie Zingsheim
Know your enemy and know yourself. This piece of advice, behavioural and social drivers of vaccination, she influences
written 2500 years ago by military strategist and philosopher, global strategies. She also co-wrote the WHO’s COVID-19
Sun Tzu, now applies to the global battle being waged vaccine safety communication plan. As COVID-19 vaccines roll
against COVID-19. out, the plan is shaping how countries maximise uptake.
On the ‘know your enemy’ side of the equation, is one of “For some time, my team has been interviewing people
the most concentrated and goal-driven medical endeavours about COVID-19,” she says. “People from culturally and
ever undertaken, with thousands of researchers working linguistically diverse groups; people living in less wealthy
to understand a virus that before January 2020, was areas of Sydney; people in other parts of New South Wales
unknown to science. and in Melbourne’s hot spots. We’ve asked how COVID-19 has
As a range of vaccines are produced and rolled out, affected their lives.
the ‘know yourself’ element comes into play. That’s where “We’ve also looked at why some people who get symptoms
Professor Julie Leask works. She is a social scientist and don’t get tested and why some might not accept the vaccine.”
world authority on why people are and are not willing to be Once the information is assessed, the findings are
vaccinated. Currently she is applying her expertise to the fed through to state health departments to assist them
emerging data on COVID-19 to find new and useful insights. with planning and producing information in a way that’s
“It’s an area of huge complexity,” says Leask. “It incorporates most likely to be effective.
sociology, psychology, cultural studies, implementation It’s important work and Leask’s 23-year public health
science, public health, ethics, and other disciplines.” contribution hasn’t gone unnoticed. In 2019, at the Australian
Leask doesn’t do this thinking just for Australians. As chair Financial Review 100 Women of Influence awards, she won the
of a World Health Organisation (WHO) working group on the Global category then went on to become the overall winner.
12COVID-19
Smallpox
Whooping cough
Measles
Ebola
Polio
Antivaxxers aren’t the problem.
Professor Julie Leask takes
extensive research data and uses it
to understand the actual reasons
people might not be vaccinated.
13And the work continues. Leask has “Because my grandmother refused With the limited resources she
a small team at the University and vaccination, I went into the topic has, Leask doesn’t waste too many of
also works closely with former PhD seeing it as just an issue of personal them trying to convert the refusing
students now at the National Centre for belief,” she says, “So, when I started my groups. Instead, she focusses on
Immunisation Research and Surveillance. PhD, I made the assumptions most people what are called ‘the hesitant’. Still a
Together, they recently came up with make about why people don’t immunise. relatively small number of people, they
possible negative scenarios around the “Problem was, the research didn’t are the largest group of people not
COVID-19 vaccine rollout and how to support my preconceived ideas. It just vaccinating, though it would be unfair,
deal with them. Scenarios like: what if didn’t. There were other forces at play. and even counterproductive, to label
a stress-related fainting spell among a This was a slightly inconvenient fact for them anti-vaxxers.
group of people in a clinic is blamed on me and I had to reframe my PhD.” So, what will be the post-vaccination
the vaccine? What if people feel unwell Leask now calls this moment an future of COVID-19 in Australia? There is
after the jab and start putting their epiphany where she started seeing no predicting how a virus will behave
friends off having it? And what if reports people who weren’t vaccinating as a or how a vaccination program will
emerge linking the vaccine to a medical much broader group. play out; Leask certainly won’t
syndrome? That scenario has since In reality, most are people faced with commit to an outcome, instead
become real with reports of a very small day-to-day logistical barriers. They she emphasises the need for more
number of vaccinated people affected might be single parents or families with knowledge and education, which is
by blood clots from a condition called multiple children where vaccination another element of her work.
cerebral venous sinus thromboses (CVST). drops down the to-do list, or people with Originally studying to be a nurse (“I
“There are some key things in questions about vaccination who don’t found it too chaotic and I’m not a very
dealing effectively with anything have easy access to health professionals practical kind of person in that way”),
around vaccination uptake,” says Leask. they can talk to. Leask is glad that her road away from
“You must communicate honestly For Leask, the answer is developing nursing eventually led her back to it.
and transparently and communicate systems that address these obstacles. She now shares her knowledge about
uncertainty where it exists. “Where this is done, there is vaccination and evidence-based
“Choosing the right messengers is success,” says Leask. “With practice with nursing students
also critical, because people will usually busy parents, a simple at the University’s Susan
ask, ‘who is telling me this and can I trust reminder or a home Wakil School of Nursing
them and their motivations?’ before they visit can do the trick. and Midwifery. She is
even begin to listen.” And for people with also a member of the
A great advantage for Leask in questions, well- Marie Bashir Institute for
understanding those who refuse trained health Infectious Diseases and
vaccination is that her own grandmother professionals can Biosecurity and she has a
was against it, believing instead that encourage them connection to the School
healthy living would prevent and cure to be vaccinated with of Public Health through an
diseases. “She said it was the worst empathic questions and affiliate appointment.
day of her life when her grandchildren a recommendation.” “There’s a shared value of working
were vaccinated,” remembers Leask. “I Based on Leask’s research, she for the benefit of communities and
know those perspectives. They’re not anticipates the majority of Australians will society,” she says. “Public health is a
shocking to me.” welcome the COVID-19 vaccines, really constructive world to be in.”
In a world where so-called anti- as long as there aren’t any
vaxxers get a disproportionate major safety or other
amount of media attention hurdles. Some people will
considering their small be unsure because they E VEN STRONG ER
influence (vaccination don’t believe such a new vaccine PROTECTI O NS
rates in Australia have held can be safe. A smaller number will
between 91% and 93% since refuse it outright for any number To learn more about this story or to
2003), Leask admits that of reasons. An even smaller group support the work, please contact the
early in her studies, she also still will grab their keyboards to loudly alumni team on +61 2 9036 9222.
started down the wrong path. campaign against its use. Email: alumni.office@sydney.edu.au
14E N V I RO N M E N T
As the first Europeans set foot on Australian soil, the first European rats
weren’t far behind. These rats were the start of a tsunami of feral animals that
has engulfed many native species. Professor Peter Banks has an ingenious
idea that could bring the odds back in favour of the natives.
15 As COVID-19 closed down New York’s
restaurants and fast food joints, food waste quickly
disappeared from gutters, dumpsters and garbage
bins. Within days, there were stories of rat gangs
fighting in alley ways for scraps. There were stories of
rat cannibalism.
Though New York has the Norway or brown rat,
similar scenes possibly played out with Sydney’s
black rats which have the rakish scientific name of
Rattus rattus (brown rats are Rattus norvegicus).
While rat populations are less dense here, the
recent spike in rat-control callouts to suburban
homes can probably be explained by people spending
more time at home, post-COVID-19, and seeing the
rats they’ve always lived near.
An interested and informed observer of all this has
been Professor Peter Banks. He leads the Behavioural
Ecology and Conservation Lab in the School of Life
and Environmental Sciences. Rats are one of his
things. Though considering the bad-guy reputation
of Rattus rattus, he offers a more nuanced insight.
“They’re not very good competitors. Normally, He doesn’t want his work to be about documenting the
decline of the natural world. Professor Peter Banks
they’ll shy away from a fight,” he says. (above) wants to be a voice for plants and animals and do
Banks remembers as a youngster, standing in something positive. Photography Stefanie Zingsheim
front of his high school and talking about conserving
forests. An interest in science soon emerged; first
physics and chemistry, then biology came into focus.
His honours research was on the biology of native This is clearly demonstrated in the interaction of Australia’s
small mammals. His PhD was on the impact foxes feral rats and its native birds. The story starts with the arrival
had on native wildlife. of the First Fleet in 1788.
A key question for Banks, that frames much of As the first European foot touched Australian ground, the
his work, is this: why don’t native animals in their foot of the first European black rat wasn’t far behind. In fact,
own environments actually have an advantage they entrenched themselves so quickly, some settlers thought
over new arrivals? The main answer is often they were natives. Rats have since damaged agriculture, infested
habitat destruction but there’s more to it. One buildings and spread disease, bringing little of value to these
element is naivety. shores, except perhaps the inspiration for that quintessentially
“Naivety has many aspects but it can be as simple Australian remark, flash as a rat with a gold tooth.
as a native not recognising an introduced animal Those first rats soon realised they had family in their
as a predator,” says Banks, who travels Australia new home. Australia already had numerous species of local
observing animal interactions in the wild. “It’s an rodents, evolved from two previous rodent arrivals; one four
element of animal behaviour that shapes outcomes. million years ago (perhaps a single rat family clinging to a
But with the right knowledge, it can be manipulated palm frond), the other one million years ago, both facilitated
in favour of the natives.” by land bridges created as oceans rose and fell.
16“We put out a fake nest with a tiny amount of
bird nesting odour. Within a day, rats had
found the nest and eaten the egg.”
— Professor Peter Banks
Professor
Peter Banks
The key difference between most native Rattus “I’ve done a lot of work in feral pest D EG R E E
and the 18th century arrivals was that the newly management,” Banks says. “But to conserve BSc ‘92, PhD ‘97
arrived black rats were good climbers. This meant some things the ideal would be to not necessarily
the nests of Australian native birds were now up kill other things.” FAVO U R I T E
for pillaging by a new, egg-eating marauder. There Allowing that the phrase ‘eradication program’ P I EC E O F
haven’t been any definitive studies on what effect is often used in pest control circles, a reticence to T EC H N O LO GY
introduced rats have had on native bird populations eradicate seems perhaps anti-intuitive. Certainly, Wildlife cameras.
so, as a scientist, Banks can’t commit. there is a long list of animals most Australians They’ve opened
That said, he does note that rat-populated urban would happily see pushing up the native daisies: up the unseen
areas have very few small, native birds. He has also cane toads, feral pigs, feral carp. world of nocturnal
tested the proposition. Things get a bit more emotional with the cute wildlife. We
“We put out a fake nest with a tiny amount of ones, like the brumbies of Kosciusko. Sure, they’re couldn’t do
bird nesting odour,” he says. “Within a day, rats a numerous and destructive pest in a fragile anything without
had found the nest and eaten the egg.” environment, but no-one really wants to see them these little devices
A saving grace for native birds in the regions is being shot from helicopters.
that black rats tend to prefer disturbed landscapes “We haven’t killed anything in the New Zealand O C C U PAT I O N A L
near urban areas. Also, as mentioned earlier, bird experiment at all, but we reduced the impact HAZARD
black rats aren’t really up for a fight, “We did an of the invading species so the native species could Being bitten.
experiment that showed if you remove the black return. It’s understanding the ecology that makes The worst was the
rats and bring back the native rats, the black rats that possible. It can be applied in other places.” cutest - a sugar
find it harder to get back in,” says Banks. Places like Sydney itself. In a reversal of usual glider. Or when I
With the insight into nesting odour and rat outcomes, one native animal has made something had 120 ticks down
behaviour, came a perhaps game-changing idea: of a comeback; the bandicoot, which is a small my pants. Or the
what if you sprayed bird nesting odour all over an marsupial sometimes mistaken for a rat, and often mosquito that gave
area where birds like to nest so rats aren’t able to mistaken for a dinner by foxes and cats. me ross river fever.
actually pinpoint the nests at all? Banks has had a long-time interest in helping
“We tested that idea round Sydney, then took bandicoots hang on and he’s worked with local land H I D D E N TA L E N T
it to New Zealand, working with people from the managers at Sydney’s North Head to nurture the I like to cook.
Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research facility. natural population and protect it. I wanted to be a
The paper has just been published and notes that “Again, it’s about understanding biology so chef in year 10.
the method saw a doubling of breeding success for you can look after bandicoots better,” says Banks. My mum changed
endangered shore birds in the areas where it wasn’t “National Parks has had really encouraging success my mind.
possible to actually remove the predators. with it. The numbers have grown, the population is
“I didn’t believe it really,” says Banks still stable and slowly moving back into the suburbs. It’s
excited by the idea. “But it was there in the results. a good news story.”
It was amazing.”
In effect, this is a form of disruptive thinking.
Identify how invading species find their food
or prey, know where they like to take shelter,
DEFEN D OU R NATIVE S PECIES
understand why the native species don’t cope, then
come up with ideas to disrupt all that and tilt the To learn more about this story or to support the work of Professor
game back in favour of the natives. This game plan Banks, please contact the alumni team on +61 2 9036 9222.
plays to one of Banks’ key goals. Email: alumni.office@sydney.edu.au
17WO R LD T R A D E
1
6
5 2 7
4
8 3
Chain 9
Written by
George Dodd
reaction
Photography by
Louise M Cooper10
They bring us the goods we want and The rise of green investments has
made these insights important to more
need but hidden in the world’s supply people with financial advisors now
chains can be unethical or destructive competing to offer the greenest possible
investment portfolios to their clients.
practices. Dr Arne Geschke uses data At the same time, companies want to
find any dark dealings in their supply
to illuminate supply chains because chains before someone else drags them
you can’t fix what you can’t see.
into the light.
There are two main ways of gathering
supply chain information. The first
is called lifecycle assessment which
uses a bottom‑up approach. You start
Over the past few years, there has been an aggressive gathering information about a company
and sometimes corrupt agricultural push into the then move to its suppliers. “This is
Cerrado region of Brazil. labour‑intensive. What happens is
Since 2001, nearly 300,000 sq km of biodiverse forest, you quickly run out of puff or funds,”
grassland and scrub has been cut down or burned, with says Geschke, noting that supply
some of the land being used for the lucrative production of chains can have millions of data points
soybeans that are exported for animal feed. to interrogate.
A recent investigation in the UK found that chicken sold The other method, and the one 11
in major supermarkets were fed using these destructive mostly used at the University, is a top‑
soybeans. The question was asked, should consumers be down approach called input‑output
made aware of this, especially since some of the chicken analysis and it’s based on the fact
would have been labelled as sustainably produced, based that governments and organisations
only on how the chicken was raised in the UK? all around the world publish their
It’s up to regulators, producers and retailers to answer economic data. That is certainly the
that question, but scrutinising supply chains so there are case in Australia where businesses are
facts to inform the discussions is the task of researchers obliged to report in great detail to the
like Dr Arne Geschke. 12 Australian Bureau of Statistics which
“We essentially look at and assess the elements in the then publishes the information in about
supply chains operating in countries and industries. We 120 categories.
look at all relevant details,” Geschke says. One challenge is ensuring that the
Companies are often unaware of the complexity and information has integrity. For example,
implications of their own supply chains, but they may the laws of some countries might allow
well assess the larger elements that might allow them to products to be called sustainably
maximise profits by say, consolidating factories, reining produced that would never be allowed
in energy use or moving production to a country where that label here. Other countries simply
labour costs are lower. manipulate their figures. The ISA team,
The analysis done by Geschke has other goals. working out of the School of Physics,
Working with the University’s Integrated Sustainability puts a lot of effort into finding the most
Analysis (ISA) team, Greschke crunches huge supply reliable sources.
chain numbers that can reveal hidden environmental “You can ask a commercial data
devastation, worker exploitation, child labour provider for the carbon footprint of a big
and corruption. company, but different providers will
“It’s so easy to open a can of worms with this,” says have different numbers because there
Geschke who now, thanks to COVID‑19, mostly works isn’t a universally‑agreed way to compile
from his home in the Sydney beachside suburb of the information,” says Geschke.
Coogee. “Australia imports of a lot of carbon‑heavy tech “Here at the ISA, we’re working
goods. We might want to reduce our carbon load but on a system that would allow for a
we don’t always have control over it. There are hidden unified global approach that compares
interdependencies with other economies.” apples with apples.”
19
13“If you look at data on corruption, you
start to understand inequality and how 17
much our western bubble relies on
cheap labour from elsewhere.”
— Dr Arne Geschke
15
Helping with the mathematical and hardware Take the rare earth metals used in
design legwork is Geschke’s long‑time colleague, mobile phones. They might be mined in
Manfred Lenzen, who is Professor of Sustainability Uganda or Mongolia, taken to another
16 Research in the School of Physics. Any other names country for processing, sent on again
on the many papers they produce together are usually to become components, and again to
experts from the fields they are analysing; for a study wherever the phones are assembled.
on the impact of fishing, a fisheries expert would Then there are the phones’ other
join the team. metals, plastics, glass and constructed
Using the right information and mathematical components to consider.
modelling, you can stitch together the information Geschke has recently become one
of two or more countries to get a sense of how of the most internationally cited
they feed into supply chains for various products researchers in his field, especially
Dr Arne and commodities. This, and dealing with the
18
through a study that investigated
Geschke hugely powerful computers they use, is the the effect of COVID‑19 on the
fun part for Geschke. international economy.
He is also passionate about developing ways to see “That was massive,” he says. “A lot of
D EG R E E environmental and social problems that are hidden by news outlets ran it as a story.”
PhD ‘13, MEd ‘20 complexity, distance or outright deception. Drawing on the findings of another of
Still, seeing can be difficult, and sometimes people their studies that looked at the carbon
H I D D E N TA L E N T don’t want to see at all. footprint of international tourism,
I’m an avid remote 14 “Carbon footprint should be the star of full supply the ISA was able calculate that pre‑
control car driver chain studies and we’ve been raising the alarm for COVID‑19, international tourism was
of average talent maybe 25 years,” says Geschke. “But people are still responsible for between 7% and 10%
who likes setting umming and erring about it. There are times when I of carbon impacts around the world,
speed records think, ‘Why am I doing this?’ either directly or indirectly. That’s a
in parks. “But there are other important issues to pursue. sizeable proportion.
19
Like if you look at data on corruption, you start to “These effects are certainly
FAVO U R I T E understand inequality and how much our western interesting to look at scientifically,”
BAND bubble relies on cheap labour from elsewhere.” Geschke says. “But really, it all comes
Foo Fighters Without doubt, the modern world is held together down to how can we actually survive
forever. We by supply chains, but the ISA also looks at other areas. on this planet?”
are getting old “We’re currently running simulations for the
together. United Nations’ (UN) sustainable development
goals,” says Geschke. “There are seventeen and we
T H I N G YO U are officially tracking the global progress for a few FIN D W HAT
N E V E R WA N T of them. We use pretty serious computers to run N EEDS FIXING
TO D O AG A I N : programs but for each year they have to run non‑stop
Migrate to a for 48 to 50 hours.” For more information or to help
different country. Obviously, a sustainable development goal is a Dr Geschke dig even deeper,
Once is enough large enterprise to map. But even the supply chain of please contact the alumni team
and Australia is a a single consumer product can quickly reveal a vast on +61 2 9036 9222.
great place. landscape of inputs. Email: alumni.office@sydney.edu.au
20LEG I S L AT I O N
Written by George Dodd
Photography by Louise M Cooper
As Australians grappled with the horror of Tasmania’s
Port Arthur massacre in 1996, Rebecca Peters was at
the epicentre of the push for tougher gun laws. With
the 25th anniversary of the shooting, Peters still can’t
quite believe how it all came together.
21 In the immediate aftermath of the PAS SION
Port Arthur massacre, Rebecca Peters
(MAppSci(Res) ’20) spent long, frustrating
PROJECT
hours in her kitchen sending out faxes
on the same phone line she was telling Of the many who
journalists to call her back on (this was helped, four in
before the internet or mobile phones).
particular stood
The other volunteer members of
Australia’s Coalition for Gun Control (now strongly with
Gun Control Australia), mostly had full Rebecca Peters AO.
Julia Tsalis
NOW:
time jobs making it hard for them to be Nearly 25 years
fully on the front line to help, and where
Program Manager,
Writing NSW. Stephen Leeder AO
could they all work together anyway? later, they are BSc(MedSci) ’64, MBBS ’66,
THEN:
PhD ’75, MD ’06
As Peters was swamped by media photographed in Various arts jobs after
returning from the US.
demands, she knew there would only the Edward Ford Long hours in the Edward
NOW:
Emeritus Professor in the Men
zies
be a brief window when the horror of Ford Building.
Cent re for Health Polic y
Port Arthur might be used to enact real
Building where
STRONGEST MEMORY:
THEN:
change. Then an offer of space came Peters (centre), Standing at the front of Dean, Facu lty of Med icine.
the Domain rally with National President Publ ic
from the University. Peters and two team Tsalis and Giles people arriving in the rain Health Association of Aust ralia
to support gun control. .
members moved to a basement room Prov ided the room at the
put in long hours. After six years in the US, Edward Ford Building.
in the Edward Ford Building, which was I didn’t want to live in a
place where kids had to go
walking distance from the share house through a metal detector
STRONGEST MEMORY:
Colleagues argu ing that gun
where Peters was living. to go to school. cont rol was not a matter of publ
ic
There the small team worked round healt h. The courageous advocacy
of Rebecca, her team and Simo
n
the clock with meagre resources to help a Chapman . (Prime Min ister) John
Howard’s extraordinary strength
shocked and distraught nation understand
and courage. (Nat iona l Part y
the legislative failings that had led to such children and their teacher were killed leader) Tim Fisher’s guts.
a catastrophe and to know that there were in Scotland’s Dunblane massacre. With
clear steps to be taken that would make so many British-connected people in
Australia a safer place. Australia, the horror of it felt closer to
In the following weeks, Peters had to be home than massacres in the US; and very
reminded to eat, to sleep; one colleague significantly, John Howard OM AC (LLB ’61 In her early career as a journalist and
noted that at times she was so tired she DLitt ’16) had just won an election. radio producer, Peters had a strong
could barely walk. Unflinching, Peters “If an election had been coming up, social justice bent. She soon decided
became the face, voice and driving force Howard might have worried about a pro- to study law with a view to helping
for the vast majority of Australians who gun backlash that could cost him seats,” shape the issues that were important
wanted tougher gun laws. says Peters. “But an election was a long to her. This she did while still working
Despite the horrifying numbers – 35 way off so he could do more.” in the media (Peters is an audacious
dead, 18 injured - it would have been There was another factor. As multi-tasker).
easy for Port Arthur, like the many mass Australians confronted the shock of Port During her first year at law school, in
shootings before it, to have had no effect Arthur, the Coalition for Gun Control was 1991, there was a mass shooting in the
on gun laws at all. It only led to change already primed and ready for the fight inner west Sydney suburb of Strathfield.
because of the specific chemistry of to toughen gun laws. To a large extent, Seven people were killed. Though not part
Port Arthur. Peters can easily list off the this was because when Peters had first of the gun control movement at this time,
interactive elements. volunteered for the organisation five the furious community response to the
“Being a tourist spot, people from years previously, her first project was to Strathfield massacre made Peters curious
every state in Australia were killed and assess its resources and priorities. about the New South Wales gun laws.
injured in the shooting. It wasn’t personal Savvy, strategic, tireless and She found they were, at best, vague
for just one state. The whole country felt determined, Peters’ influence and patchy, “You want to believe that
it; six weeks before Port Arthur, 16 small was transformative. laws have been thought through so
22“Being a tourist spot,
people from every
state in Australia
were killed and
Jennifer Giles injured in the
LLB ’85, BA ’94
NOW:
Simon Chapman shooting. It wasn’t
PhD ’86
NSW Mag istrate.
THEN: NOW:
personal for just one
Emeritus Professor
Law yer loaned to the Edward Ford
state. The whole
, School of
Public Healt h, plu
team from The Women’s Lega l s other projec ts
g
Cent re, so the only person bein
paid . THEN:
STRONGEST MEMORY:
Associate Professor
Public Healt h. Co
, School of
-convenor of
country felt it.”
the Coalition for Gu
Ever yone across the nation was (19 94-19 96). Wrote
n Control
desperate for something to be “O ver ou r — Rebecca Peters
a dead bodies: Port
done about guns. Rebecca was Australia’s fight for
Ar thu r and
focus to pour out their grief and gu n control.”
ns
energy. I’ve overheard Aust ralia
STRONGEST MEMO
overseas skiti ng about our gun RY:
Doing lots of media
laws. But it was touch and go work;
there for a long time.
the overwhel mi ng
com mu nit y importation. Each State had its own laws
support; political
and relent less adv
un ity; around the purchase and use of guns.
ocacy to
safeguard the reform
s. Luckily, most state governments at the
time were of John Howard’s Liberal party,
they at least have the basic things,” says so his election victory gave him great
Peters. “But reading the gun statutes, powers of persuasion, and to his eternal
I actually thought a page was missing.” credit, he used them.
She laughs at this remark but the Once established, those uniform laws
expression in her eyes is still disbelieving. needed to ban all semi-automatic rifles,
Significantly, her investigations gave The problem was, the NSW gun laws shotguns and assault weapons. The guns
Peters her first contact with Australia’s at the time didn’t require that guns be that were allowed had to be registered
small gun control movement. But it was registered, so the police didn’t know how by their owners. And those owners, be
the Central Coast massacre in 1992, at many the gunman had. They confiscated they farmers, hunters, collectors or
Terrigal, that first introduced her to the the five they found. He owned six. sportspeople, had to provide proof of
news-watching public. Peters could speak In the years after the Central Coast their reasons to have a gun.
knowledgably to the media about the massacre, Peters and her colleagues at As Australia was deciding what to do
gun laws because she was writing her law the Coalition for Gun Control, laid out a after Port Arthur, the Coalition for Gun
thesis on the New South Wales gun laws game plan for the next mass shooting. As Control had already looked at every
after Strathfield. Terrigal demonstrated part of Peter’s review of the organisation’s state’s gun laws, saw what worked and
one of the laws’ greatest failings. strategies, she put together a shopping list didn’t work, and fashioned a proposal for
In the beach town of Terrigal, about of essential tasks. The trickiest part was broadly acceptable national standards.
95 kms north of Sydney, a man went on a the specifics of the changes they were On May 10 1996, just 12 days after the
shooting spree, killing six people. asking for. The list had to be short so the Port Arthur outrage, Australia’s state and
The murderer, now serving life in media could easily report it and politicians federal governments agreed to make their
prison, was known to police as a violent could more easily say yes to it. gun laws uniform. Over the following year,
man who owned guns. After a domestic First and foremost: uniform gun laws each parliament enacted the laws that are
dispute, the police raided his home across the country. But the Federal now a source of some international envy
to pre-emptively confiscate his guns. government could only regulate gun and true national pride.
23You can also read
