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Beach,
bike rides, and high tech toys
By
Sarah Coggan
How
many scientists have an office at the beach, ride motorbikes
to meetings, and try to make pigs fly?
Stuart Bunt is the Professorial Fellow of Anatomy and Human
Biology at the University of Western Australia (UWA), which
is situated alongside the pristine Swan River in Perth. A
twist to what might at first seem to be an ordinary science
career is that he is also the Scientific Director of SymbioticA.
SymbioticA is a research laboratory with interesting artworks
showcased by artists and scientists who collaborate in making
exhibits of experimental tissue culture.
Although most of Prof. Bunt’s time is taken up with his role
in SymbioticA, Wednesday, the 12th of April, was a busy day
bike riding and attending to many of his other projects.
Check out Prof. Bunt’s diary for the day in the life of Science,
or click the link at the bottom to learn more about the weird
wonders of SymbioticA.
“The best thing about my job is I am never bored.”
Prof. Stuart Bunt’s diary entry for Wed April 12th
9:00am – Shopping for high tech toys
The ‘Focus on Microscopy’ course was in its third day in Freemantle.
I shot down there on the motorbike to have a quick look at
the high tech "toys." I am trying to add a special
confocal
microscope to our centre for biological live cell imaging
at the university.
10:30am- Appointment with University Ophthalmologist
In this meeting, I saw a demonstration of the system he is
working on to allow children from the far north of Western
Australia to communicate with speech therapists in Perth over
the internet, or for hospital patients in Perth to talk with
their friends at home.
11am- At the Union Office having my say
I checked my e-mail and responded to the roughly 30 emails
a day I receive. I have always been an active member of the
union, for freedom of speech and action is greatly under threat
at present in Australia. I worry about our future under this
government. I am president of UWA's staff association and
vice president of the UWA branch of the NTEU (the National
Tertiary Education Union).
1pm- Bike ride along beach to Seminar
UWA has a small but elongated campus alongside the Swan River
so I peddle down from the union office to my school which
is holding a seminar by a visiting professor from the Netherlands.
I like to tease such European colleagues by telling them that
I work on a beach (it’s actually across the road but who's
measuring?).
The seminar I attended was about using evidence based medicine
in the treatment of intractable pain. This was relevant to
my previous field of research which was in spinal chord injury,
and looking at the factors that guide regenerating nerve fibres.
2pm- Motorbike to hospital- (only way you can get
a parking place at midday)
Here at the hospital I grab a late lunch and meet with colleagues
who I am working with on a program for diagnosing ear diseases.
We are all part of the company Paradigm Diagnostics, and today
we are negotiating a contract with the Lions Hearing Institute
who is paying for the research.
4:30pm
I head back to the school to talk with my PhD student who
is working on the diagnosis of depression using heart rate.
At 6pm, I return to my office to spend another hour on paperwork
before heading home on the bike.
Pigs
with Wings? To find out about a more artistic exploration
of scientific knowledge, learn about SymbioticA!
Read more articles on SymbioticA scientists
Want to go to University
at the beach? Click this link! |
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