First-year science students from Bundaberg and Mackay have travelled to Rockhampton to mingle and collaborate with their Beef City counterparts...

The recent campus mixer (March 13) culminated with a bioethics activity based on role play. The students, acting as crew members of a rescue spaceship, had to decide which 9 people to rescue from a group of 12 stranded on a crash site on the moon and then had to justify their decisions to a ‘parliament' comprising the rest of the students and staff.

L-R are Ricardo Lopes and Lisa Eising from Rockhampton campus, welcoming Rodney Mayfield and Donna Philip from Bundaberg and Katrina Hurst and Tania Screen from Mackay

This ties in with the new first-year science program, which covers the broader aspects of the responsibilities of a professional scientist, complementing the discipline-specific content.

Closer to earth, they got a real tour of the science laboratories and facilities and the Capricornia College, attending sessions covering environmental science, bioscience and chemistry.

Professor Rob Reed said that, apart from their involvement in a range of different learning activities, the day included opportunities for social mixing of students and staff from different campuses.

The science students meet at Rockhampton Campus 
Science students get involved in the role playing exercise 
Professor Rob Reed and Dr Fiona Coulson address the students