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<h1><em>simon says...</em></h1>
<div><img height="226" alt="" hspace="3" width="150" align="left" vspace="3" src="/sites/all/files/image/Simon%20photo%20new(2).jpg" />Like all years, October is a very busy month for us with the deadline to submit our <em>Annual Report.</em> This has now been completed and submitted to the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research as well as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The Annual Report can be viewed by clicking <a href="http://www.crcplantbiosecurity.com.au/publication/2009-10-annual-report">here</a>.</div>
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<div>Running alongside completion of the <em>Annual Report</em> has been our preparations for the re-bid interview. A critical stage in preparation for the interview on 10 November has been two mock interviews on 25 and then again on 26 October. For both interviews, the interview team were subjected to the same restrictions which will apply at the real interview. I thank Dr John Curran, Mr Vince Logan, Professor Tony Peacock and Mr Andrew Inglis who all gave up their valuable time to participate in the mock interviews. I also thank Dr John Radcliffe who could not attend but provided us with a comprehensive list of challenging questions. This exercise has enabled us the opportunity to be prepared as best as possible for the interview.</div>
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<div>The interview will involve a 30 minute PowerPoint presentation made by our Chairman, Professor John Lovett, Mr Rob Delane, Director General from the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) and myself. This will then be followed by 90 minutes of questions from the panel.</div>
<div>The other members of the interview team will be Mr Tony Russell, General Manager of Apple and Pear Ltd, Ms Alison Watkins, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of GrainCorp, the four Program Leaders, Dr Ruth Wallace, Dr Paul De Barro, Ms Jane Moran and Associate Professor Tony Clarke and Education Leader, Dr Kirsty Bayliss.</div>
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<div>We will provide everyone with a report after the interview and hopefully we will have a nice early Christmas present with the bid granted.</div>
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<div>And to make sure we were kept busy, the CRC also printed its new corporate publication, <em>Plant Biosecurity – collaborative research initiatives</em> this week. Copies of the publication have been mailed to everyone on our database. If you would like an additional copy or two or did not receive one please email <a href="mailto:info@crcplantbiosecurity.com.au?subject=Plant%20Biosecurity%3A%20collaborative%20research%20initiatives">info@crcplantbiosecurity.com.au </a>and we will arrange to mail a copy. The publication is a great showcase of the diversity of research undertaken within our CRC and illustrates the benefit we provide to our end-users. We have included one of the articles in this edition of <em>The Leaflet </em>to give you a sneak peak of the publication.</div>
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<div>In the previous edition of <em>The Leaflet,</em> Mark Stanaway had just presented his final seminar for his PhD. His thesis has now been submitted and another significant milestone was achieved this wednesday when Nichole Hammond submitted her PhD thesis. Nichole commenced her PhD in 2007 at Murdoch University and the title of her thesis is ‘<em>Evaluation of emergency plant pathogen surveillance and surveillance methods for demonstrating area freedom’</em>. A big congratulations to both of them on this well-deserved achievement.</div>
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<div>This month also saw an Honours thesis submitted by Mr Cameron Brumley. Cameron’s research was focused on the lettuce aphid in Western Australia. It is very positive to see our government participants actively supporting staff to continue their study with Nichole and Cameron both being staff members from DAFWA and Mark from Queensland’s Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation.</div>
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<div>Another of our PhD students, Matthew Tan also won an award this month. Matthew presented a poster at the 20th Annual Combined Biological Sciences Meeting (CBSM) in Western Australia and won the CBSM student Plant Science Poster Award.</div>
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<div>In the previous edition of <em>The Leaflet,</em> I alluded to our nomination for Lachlan Dobson as a candidate for the Biosecurity Farmer of the Year awards. I am pleased to let readers know that the panel also recognised his commitment to biosecurity and was the winner of the award. You can read more about the awards in this edition.</div>
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<div>Until next time…. (when hopefully I can report a successful bid…)</div>
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<div> <img height="62" alt="Simon McKirdy Signature" width="110" src="http://www.crcplantbiosecurity.com.au/sites/all/files/images/S_McKirdy.jpg" /></div>
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<div>Dr Simon McKirdy<br />
<strong>Chief Executive Officer</strong></div>
