22 Aug: Vol 24, #12 - UWA News staff magazine - The University of ...

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UWAnewsGermination discoverya big dealHutch Ranck and Professor Alan Robson sign the agreementF a r m e r s a l l o v e r t h eworld should be able,within a decade, to use aseed germination processdiscovered at UWA and KingsPark.In a deal described as one of themost exciting commercialisationagreements with which the Universityhas been involved, international chemicalcompany DuPont has signed a researchdevelopment licence to evaluate andexplore the seed germination technology.Hutch Ranck, Managing Director ofDuPont Australian and New Zealand, saidhis company could spend up to $US 200million on the project.And Australia’s only Nobel Prizewinningchemist has also taken an interestin the work.Researchers in different parts of theworld had been trying for 15 years toisolate the chemical compound in smokethat could germinate seeds. Years ofhard work by Adjunct Professor KingsleyDixon (Kings Park and Plant Biology),Professor Emil Ghisalberti (Chemistry)supervising PhD student Gavin Flematti,and Professor Robert Trengove (sincemoved to Murdoch University) hit thejackpot and, in 2003, the team applied fora patent.Their ground-breaking research waspublished in Science in June 2004.Dr Andy Sierakowski, Director of theOffice of Innovation and Industry, whohas a background as an organic chemist,admitted that the smoke deal had been apet project for him.“Simon Handford, in OII, has done aremarkable amount of work negotiatingthe deal between the researchers andDuPont and thanks must go to him forkeeping me on track,” Dr Sierakowskisaid. “I must have driven Simon crazy, butI was just so excited by the prospects,which are now coming to fruition.”Dr Sierakowski completed apostdoctoral research project in organicchemistry with Nobel Prize winnerJohn Cornforth, and he contacted hisformer supervisor, knowing he would beinterested in the research.“John is also excited about this discoveryand subsequent commercialisation bid, andhe has come up with a couple of ideas onwhich some Honours students are nowworking,” he said.Dr Sierakowski said DuPont had beenchosen because the universities needed apartner who had a recognised researchand development capability, access tothe agri-chemical production world, anda seed technology company. It was alsoimportant that DuPont had a good recordof working with Australian universities.“I had worked in my own agri-chemicalcompany as an organic chemist and Iknew the players in the field, which alsohelped,” he said.At the signing of the deal, Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor DougMcEachern said having a brightidea, working it through andgetting the science right wasnot the end of a project.“We recognise that we, asa university, don’t have theexpertise and capabilities tofollow through this bright idea,and we thank DuPont for taking up thechallenge.”Mr Ranck said the chemical andanalytical skills and the botanic andbiological knowledge of the researcherswere world class.“Today is the first step on a journeyof bio-prospecting. At the end of it, wewill be able to replicate one of nature’sphenomena and the prospects of usingthis compound are truly exciting. But thejourney will take at least five to sevenyears.”As reported in UWAnews on July 25this year, the compound has the potentialto be used to control weed germinationthat could save Australian farmers billionsof dollars a year. It could be used togerminate native species without the useof fire, thereby saving native fauna. And itcould help with swift restoration of minesites by germinating seeds in the topsoil.Dr Andy Sierakowski …a pet projectTHE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA • 22 AUGUST 2005
UWAnewsIn the 1980s young Australian women wereenjoying the fruits of the feminism battle, workingalongside men in every area of endeavour —except, it seems, geology.In that decade, it was still not acceptable for women to work onoffshore drilling rigs. The story of how that changed was the winningentry in the Share Your History competition, run by UWA’s Centre forWestern Australian History.When the Centre launched its Historical Encyclopedia of WesternAustralia project, community response was so enthusiastic thatthe centre ran a Share Your History promotion to encourage localcontributions, the best of which would be posted on the encyclopediawebsite.The response was a deluge of entries, “and some of them were sogood that we decided to have an adult and junior prize for the bestones,” editor-in-chief Associate Professor Jenny Gregory said.The winning junior entry came from Imogen Forbes-Macphail,and the adult winner was UWA research fellow Marjorie Apthorpe,whose contribution revealed that it was not until the 1980s thatwomen geologists were accepted as co-workers on offshorepetroleum drilling rigs in Australia.The breakthrough for Ms Apthorpe came only because of atechnical problem at a Woodside Petroleum offshore site. Drillinghad not reached the expected target at the expected depth, andthe company needed speedy answers to pressing questions, so MsApthorpe and production geologist Judy Garstone were flown byhelicopter to the drill ship.Their arrival created “something of a stir,” recalls Ms Apthorpe(pictured right on the rig). “Not all the crew were happy about thisradical new staff development; we were told that at least one drillerhad to rummage for shorts to cover his normal off-duty garb ofunderpants.”The two women set to work, and after midnight on day two MsApthorpe confirmed that the rock samples she was examining werewithin 30 metres of the top of the gas reservoir. Within minutes thedrill bit was cutting into the top of the reservoir and the gas pressurewas showing up on the instrument monitors. “We had finally reachedthe sandstone reservoir, and it contained gas! Collective relief spreadrapidly through the entire crew.”Women quickly became accepted on the team of geologists,reservoir engineers, paleontologists (usually palynologists) and otherswho now regularly work on offshore rigs. “Young women entering thepetroleum industry today are often totally unaware of how recentlythis acceptance of women occurred.”You can see the winning contributions, plus a selection of the bestentries on the HEWA website: www.encyclopedia.uwapress.uwa.edu.au.Although the stories generated by the promotion will not be includedin the encyclopedia, a selection of commissioned entries intended forpublication can be seen on the WA Snapshots page of the website.As expected, compiling an encyclopedia is a huge undertaking. “Wehave commissioned 837 entries and received 748, so things are goingwell - though of course every entry has to go on to an expert readeror reviewer,” editor Dr Jan Gothard said. “We have 479 writersworking for us, and 152 expert readers involved.”The entries are compiled according to a number of selectedthemes such as Aboriginal history, sport and recreation, agricultureand so on. If all goes according to plan, the encyclopedia will belaunched in 2006.Womenon rigsa very short historyTHE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA • 22 AUGUST 2005
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