Welcome from Neville, September 2020 E-News

Welcome to the September internal e-newsletter – it’s hard to believe we are just four months out from the end of 2020, it’s certainly a year we won’t forget for a long time.

That said, we have in many ways returned to business as normal – or rather business in a new normal - and it’s wonderful to see so many of you back on site.

The holding of events has changed dramatically in recent months, and this was very evident in the 2020 ‘virtual’ 3MT competition. My thanks to all our students who entered, I appreciate putting together a video presentation is not a straight forward task. Congratulations to our winner BRC’s Rocio Vargas Soto who went on to take out second place at the all institutes final, and to JKMRC’s Joyce Siong and CMLR’s Jandira Morias who shared the SMI runner-up position.

I had my first meeting with UQ’s new Vice-Chancellor this week, Professor Debbie Terry. Debbie worked at UQ for over 20 years before taking up the role of VC at Curtin University in 2014, and as a result she knows UQ and many of the staff extremely well. Debbie is familiar with the work and the aims of the Sustainable Minerals Institute, and is committed to educating graduates, engaging in research and enriching communities. I am very much looking forward to working with Debbie moving forward.

You will all have received an email last week from Tyson Cronin regarding a SMI course ‘Introduction to Risk Assessment’ for staff and students. Understanding risk management and assessments is key to maintaining a workplace that is safe for everyone – and I would encourage you all to attend. It’s a four hour course led by Tyson and Ben Seligmann and there are a number of courses running at St Lucia and Indooroopilly between now and the Christmas break.

You will see featured in this e-news details of SMI’s new Social and Engagement Committee, which aims to build a sense of community across the Institute. Obviously physical gatherings are tricky at the moment but if you have ideas or suggestions for activities please do contact the committee or the member from you area.

Have a great month and enjoy