Ngaiire Joseph is continuing her enrolment with the Bachelor of Jazz Studies at Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Mackay, despite a growing profile on the national pop music scene.

On last night's (Wednesday, May 17) edition of ABC Television's 'Spicks and Specks', Ngaiire discussed her Club Chart Top Ten song collaboration with Paul Mac ('It's Not Me It's You'), her Papua New Guinea heritage and her Pidgin language release in PNG.

On Tuesday May 23, 53 people will tour significant local Darumbal sites including Mount Archer National Park, Mount Jim Crow National Park, Bluff Point National Park, Tanby Point and Mount Wheeler.

The response to this tour has been so great that a follow-up tour on June 5 has been planned to accommodate all bookings.

Professor David Midmore, Associate Professor Stewart Lockie and Dr Grant Zhu spent last week in the Philippines, undertaking 4 research activities.

Professor Midmore and Dr Zhu met with Philippines’ cooperators on an Australian Centre for Agricultural Research (ACIAR) funded bamboo project to finalise data analyses and to determine dates for an end-of-project mini-symposium.

An audit of the University's cash handling practices was recently undertaken by staff from the Health and Safety Unit, with assistance from Constable Juanita Saltmer of the Queensland Police Crime Prevention Unit.

The audit reviewed the University's existing in-house practices and procedures to ensure safety of staff, compliance with Health and Safety legislation and to reduce the threat of armed robbery on campus.

Under 8's Week in Mackay kicks off this week with a whole host of activities for the little ones - all designed to celebrate children in the early childhood years by helping them to learn with joy, fun and happiness.

Early Childhood students from Central Queensland University (CQU) Mackay have organised a variety of activities at the Gordon White Library, particularly suited to children aged 3 to 8 years.

Sohail Qureshi and Shamsa Syeda of CQU’s Plant Sciences Group became ambassadors for CQU during a recent visit to Pakistan.

During their visit they introduced CQU to officials from 15 different departments and ministries and discussed the prospects and opportunities of higher education and research at CQU.

Former CQU academic, Professor William Lauder has recognized the efforts of CQU’s Population Research Lab which provided the data for a loneliness study which has since been reported on more than 10,000 websites internationally.

Professor Lauder, who now works at the University of Dundee, Scotland, congratulated the PRL and its director Professor Kerry Mummery saying that the PRL’s “annual survey is a huge resource which clearly has a growing international profile”.

Andrew Mamo, lecturer in the Bachelor of Multimedia Studies at CQU’s Sydney International Campus, has been selected as a Master Award Winner in digital art for EXPOSI, an annual publication celebrating the talents of digital artists worldwide.

EXPOSI 4 is judged by an internationally-acclaimed panel of artists and creative directors, including Sharon Calahan, Director of Photography at Pixar Animation Studios, Christopher Sloan, Art Director for the National Geographic Magazine, and Dan Curry, Visual Effects Producer for 'Star Trek: Voyager'.

CQU alumnus Nigel Jones is in his element as principal of an 11-student school in Central Queensland.

Nigel is the only teacher and principal of St Lawrence School, located between Rockhampton and Mackay, off the Bruce Highway.

The Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Education has presented $500 to Yeppoon High School to support students on an excursion to Japan in September.

Faculty spokesperson Jim Jensen said the excursion would encourage students to study the Japanese language and perhaps influence a decision to enrol in the Bachelor of Learning Management (Japanese).