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The Great Southern has a new world-class science facility.

It will support the research and teaching and learning programs of UWA Albany , including the Centre for Excellence in Natural Resource Management (CENRM) and the Rural Clinical School of WA .

The new $6.2 million Albany Science Building was opened last month, expanding the opportunities for research in the region and undergraduate and post-graduate teaching and learning programs.

The University is ranked 26th in the world for life and agricultural sciences studies and also highly for clinical medicine and pharmacy, and the new state-of-the-art research and teaching facilities will further boost our programs and centres in the region.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Robyn Owens said the opening marked a significant milestone in the advancement of world-class teaching and scientific research in regional Western Australia.

“The Great Southern is a biodiversity hotspot – a natural laboratory for advanced science to provide sustainable environmental solutions that will benefit industry, government agencies and the entire regional community,” Professor Owens said.

“It’s also a natural place to teach and research rural medicine in the context of local health needs and regional community expectations.”

Opening the centre, Brendon Grylls, Minister for Regional Development and Minister Assisting the Minister for State Development, said the State Government had invested $1.5 million of WA Royalties for Regions funds for science research and teaching in Albany State support for science down south to help reinforce UWA’s strong contribution and potential in the Great Southern.

In addition to Royalties for Regions funding, the project is supported by a further $1.5 million in State Government funding, $2.24 million from the Federal Government and $1m from UWA.

Albany’s new science facility will be used to teach medical students from UWA and the University of Notre Dame Australia in a program designed specifically to attract more doctors to regional, rural and remote communities, including the Great Southern.

It will also expand the CENRM’s leadership role – in partnership with Federal, State and local government agencies – in solving natural resource management issues through advanced research in areas such as water management, salt-tolerant tree crops, commercial horticulture, dairy farm ecology, abalone farming, nitrogeninduced algal blooms and fish kills, and the environmental impact of mining on wetlands.

Peter Collier, WA’s Minister for Education, and internationally renowned plant conservation biologist Professor Stephen Hopper , who is UWA’s new Chair in Biodiversity, attended the opening. Professor Hopper will be conducting some of his research in the region, based in the new science centre.

Jennifer O’Neil , UWA Albany Centre Director, said the new science facilities provided an excellent base for research in the nearby Fitzgerald National Park and the Stirling Ranges. “We also have the Great Southern Ocean on our doorstep and, from next year, we will be offering a marine science major,” she said. “The Oceans Institute will be closely aligned with the Albany program.”

Students have been using laboratories throughout the town of Albany for their practical work. From the beginning of 2013, undergraduate, postgraduate, summer school and international students will able to work together under the one roof.

The local community was invited to inspect the building before the official opening, with UWA staff and students demonstrating chemistry, biology and other laboratory activities.

Published in UWA News , 12 November 2012