Thank you for your meaningful support. As the first half of this year draws to a close, it is heartening to reflect on the many ways our donor community has enabled UNSW to make an extraordinary impact on the world. Hearing your stories – about why you give and your vision for a better future – is undoubtably one of the most inspiring parts of my job.

Here are some highlights of recent generous acts by our donors that are driving positive change locally, nationally and globally:

· Valiant CEO and UNSW alumnus Michael Sternberg provides support for Professor Veena Sahajwalla’s pioneering microrecycling research and has a deep commitment to embed sustainable practices within his own company. [read more]

· Wavelength International’s new scholarship helps bring more Indigenous medical professionals into rural and remote communities – a wonderful example of how a single act of philanthropy can be the catalyst for real and meaningful change. [read more]

· Professor Barry Fox’s support for student prizes at UNSW honours his late wife, Associate Professor Marilyn Fox, and celebrates their shared passion for learning. [read more]

· Community support for Wild Deserts from 430 donors helps reintroduce endangered native Australian animals into Sturt National Park, and our Platypus Conservation Initiative achieves an exciting new feat with the successful reintroduction of the beloved platypus to the Royal National Park after more than 50 years of absence. [read more]

Next month marks an incredible 75 years since UNSW was founded. I hope you will join me in celebrating this important milestone and all the amazing things we have achieved together.

Thank you again for your generosity and support and for all you do to ensure that our University has a positive societal impact.

Sincerely,

Lindsay Robinson
Chief Development Officer

_{If you would like to share your story about why you give to UNSW, please contact the Donor Experience team on T: +61 2 9348 1320 or E: philanthropy@unsw.edu.au}

Commercial innovator Michael Sternberg of furniture hire company Valiant has thrown his philanthropic support behind UNSW recycling science pioneer Professor Veena Sahajwalla in a bid to reduce manufacturing waste.

Veena Sahajwalla is a Professor of Materials Science in the UNSW Faculty of Science and the Director of the UNSW Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology. She is also a celebrated inventor, having pioneered a product known as ‘green steel’, which is manufactured with recycled tyres instead of coal-based resources.

Now, Veena has turned her attention to reducing manufacturing waste on an entirely different front and at a vastly different scale: regenerating metal alloys from e-waste. She calls it ‘microrecycling’.

“I coined that term years ago,” she laughs. “It was really about recognising that we need to look at the other end of the spectrum. For example, a big car at the end of its life is put through a shredder. You have one major component—steel—and you can separate that out and send it off for recycling. Then there are products like batteries. They contain a variety of elements, many of which can be regenerated and re-used.”

The microrecycling takes place in ‘microfactories’: small-scale facilities that, because of their size, can be set up to operate in decentralised locations and promote safe and sustainable practices. In 2021, the Microrecycling Research Hub was established with foundational funding from the Australian Research Council and a vision to develop microrecycling science and capabilities.

“It's about always making products that can forever be put back into a circular economy and recognising that the materials that are there in our products are going to continue to be useful, even if the product itself is no longer functioning,” explains Veena.

The same notion has inspired another innovator: UNSW alumnus and CEO of furniture hire company Valiant, Michael Sternberg.

In 2020, under Michael’s leadership, Valiant became the first hire company to transition to an entirely paperless inventory system. Two years later, it had become Australia’s first 100 percent carbon-neutral furniture hire business, following an overhaul of the company’s inventory, which currently houses more than 15 ranges of furniture crafted from post-consumer recycled and reformed plastics including bottle tops and yoghurt tubs.

“Everyone always talks about doing the right thing environmentally, but talk is cheap. I was determined to drive the company forward in a positive and sustainable manner,” says Michael. “The biggest initial challenge was showing that we were serious about reducing office waste and getting everyone on board to use the recycling bins. Once that was in place, the staff began to see that we were serious about working together to create an environmentally conscious and sustainable company, and our efforts have grown exponentially since then.” 

After meeting with Veena, it became obvious to Michael that there was a valuable synergy between the work she is leading at UNSW and the innovations being pursued at Valiant. With Michael’s philanthropic investment, Veena’s team will be able to advance the scientific solutions needed to pilot real-world testing for battery microrecycling.

This partnership with UNSW marks another significant step forward in Valiant's journey towards sustainability. The company is embarking on innovative projects aimed at recycling furniture and repurposing materials found at large-scale events.

“It may sound like a cliché, but it feels good to be part of something bigger,” says Michael. “Doing something to help the environment by donating to the research being undertaken by Veena and her team, and by leading a company to be truly sustainable and carbon-neutral—that is very important to me. There is so much more for us to accomplish at Valiant, and I am very hopeful that our partnership with UNSW will help us to continue making big, sustainable strides.”

When Wavelength International saw a need to bring more Indigenous health professionals into rural and regional communities, they partnered with UNSW to make it happen: one student at a time.

Claire Ponsford and Dr John Bethell launched their medical recruitment business in 1999, armed with a vision to help passionate health professionals build meaningful careers and to strengthen the health system with each position they filled.

In the early days, the extreme need for doctors in rural areas quickly became clear, especially in remote areas home to vulnerable Indigenous communities. Giving back had always been part of the plan, and while in the first 10 years of business Wavelength made many affiliations and donations to charitable organisations, the founders were looking to make a more direct and meaningful impact. The idea of supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to study medicine soon took hold, and their partnership with UNSW began in 2011.

“We were a much smaller business then, so the amount we could donate was smaller,” explains Claire, “but we worked with the UNSW Scholarships Office to find the thing that would be most beneficial given the amount of money that we had to offer.”

In 2011, Wavelength began funding the Indigenous Travel Scholarship at UNSW to cover the cost for students to travel back home to family and friends during semester breaks. Over the next 12 years, 11 medical students benefitted from this scholarship. Over time, the conversation with UNSW turned to one of the biggest barriers for would-be students: the cost of accommodation. In early 2023, UNSW launched the Wavelength International Indigenous Medical Accommodation Scholarship (replacing the Travel Scholarship), with an annual stipend of up to $25,000 to cover a student’s accommodation costs through to graduation.

“The support from the scholarship has made my educational journey more fulfilling and less stressful, empowering me to pursue my academic and career goals with greater confidence," says Patrick Kerrigan, a recipient of the newly established scholarship.

“I definitely want to work in rural and remote communities, such as up in Arnhem Land, like my parents have done with teaching, because I feel like that’s where a huge burden of health and disease lies and where I can really make a difference."

Since the scholarship support began, Claire and Wavelength have connected with students above and beyond providing financial support. Over the years, many students have taken the opportunity to visit the Wavelength offices, meeting with staff, sharing stories and perspectives, and attending networking events.

“I think that's what's given us the most fulfilment – meeting some of the students and hearing their stories,” says Claire. “It's really inspiring, and it's certainly engaged our staff in how meaningful this donation actually is.”

There is still much work to be done, but Claire is pleased to reflect on the impact that supporting even one student can have.

“All of the students we’ve met over the years have a strong desire to give back,” she says. “They return to their communities, they speak at the local high schools, they say to students who are really not that much younger than them, ‘You can do this. Don't think that it's closed off to you.’ I think that's a big thing – a broader awareness of what's possible. If you really want to pursue a career in medicine, you can.”

For almost four decades, Professor Barry Fox and his wife, Associate Professor Marilyn Fox, studied, worked and travelled the world side by side. Now, Barry is ensuring their remarkable bond lives on with a gift in his Will to the University.

Barry and Marilyn Fox were inseparable throughout their lives. They flourished in a variety of different and evolving roles—yet they always remained in lockstep.

Both grew up in the Newcastle area of New South Wales, Barry in Swansea and Marilyn in Cardiff. After school, Barry started a degree in physics and met Marilyn at a dance at the end of his first year. Once his physics degree was completed, Barry joined Marilyn in her second and final year at the Newcastle Teachers College. They were married and heading to Wollongong to take up their first posts as high school teachers later that year.

After a few years of teaching, the couple made a life-changing move to Canada. It was there, while working at a high school in Ontario, that Marilyn completed a science degree in botany and Barry a masters in solid state physics, with some additional courses including one in community ecology.

“Three weeks into it, I knew that's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” recalls Barry. “I was interested in the way in which different species of animals make up a community in any one place.”

The adventurous couple then bought a Volkswagen Kombi and spent the next twelve months travelling through Europe. Upon returning to Australia, they both completed PhD studies at Macquarie University. In 1979, Marilyn was appointed to the National Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney as a plant ecologist, and Barry began working as a tutor at UNSW, eventually earning a coveted lectureship in the School of Zoology in 1982.

Some years later in 1990, Marilyn joined Barry at UNSW as a senior lecturer in the School of Geography in the Faculty of Applied Science.

“There was an ad for a senior lecturer in any of five different fields, and Marilyn had published papers in all five of them,” Barry says with obvious pride. “It was like the job was written for her. She started there in 1990 and four years later she was Head of School.”

In 2000, when both Marilyn and Barry were at the peak of their careers, they discovered Marilyn had incurable ovarian cancer. Within a month, Marilyn had taken a medical retirement. Shortly afterwards, Barry retired from his position to care for her. They returned to Newcastle, where Marilyn passed away in 2002.

It was a sudden and very sad end to what had been an extraordinary partnership.

Barry generously established the Marilyn Fox Prize in Environmental Science at UNSW in his wife’s honour. The prize supports students who give the best performance in the University’s four-year Bachelor of Environmental Science degree. He also founded the Marilyn Fox Memorial Dux Award at the primary school Marilyn had attended in Cardiff, a prize he is proud to present in person each year. Speaking to the children and their parents, he likes to recall Marilyn’s lifelong passion for learning.

“I hope the example of her life may inspire you all and show you that you can expect many changes in the direction of your career throughout your lifetime. I hope it also demonstrates the important role education plays in these changes of direction,” he says on presentation day.

Barry has recently made a new gift to UNSW to establish the Barry Fox Prize in Ecology. He has also made arrangements to establish the Barry Fox Prize in Biology through a meaningful gift in his Will. These prizes are a fitting tribute to a couple who were united by a love of learning and a fierce embrace of change and growth.

“I've lived a very interesting life, and now I’m very comfortable,” says Barry, with great humility. “I'm lucky enough to have the money to do this sort of thing, and I’m very happy to be doing it.”

^{Pioneering researchers, backed by community giving, are transforming conservation efforts, ensuring a thriving future for Australia's unique wildlife.}

Dr Bec West and Dr Reece Pedler, researchers with the UNSW Wild Deserts project, live more than 1,000 kilometres from Sydney as the on-site custodians of a feral-proof safe haven for native mammals – but they’re not alone.

In 2023, 430 donors from across the UNSW community provided vital funds through the University’s end-of-year appeal to support Bec, Reece and the Wild Deserts team, helping bring wildlife back to fragile desert ecosystems.

Over the past four years, the Wild Deserts team has reintroduced seven locally extinct species into Sturt National Park in the north-western corner of New South Wales. Recent surveys suggest the populations of bilbies, crest-tailed mulgaras, Shark Bay bandicoots and golden bandicoots are now booming.

“These results are so important for the long-term goal of restoring this magnificent desert ecosystem back to something like it once was,” says Professor Richard Kingsford, who leads the Wild Deserts project.

Richard is also a key contributor to the Platypus Conservation Initiative (PCI), led by Dr Gilad Bino. Since launching in 2016, the intrepid PCI team has had a string of achievements – most notably the successful reintroduction of a platypus colony to the Royal National Park in South Sydney in 2023, after more than 50 years of absence.

“The whole project was quite an emotional roller coaster. I have such a strong feeling of responsibility for these platypuses. I wanted to be sure they would be able to establish themselves in their new home,” says Gilad. “We’ve been anxiously tracking the platypuses over the past year, and we’re very glad to see them settling in. In March this year we met a new-emerged juvenile platypus, and it was very uplifting to know that at least one couple has had a puggle.”

Over the past eight years, the PCI team has managed the rescue and short-term relocation of drought-affected platypuses in Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, collaborated with the Australian Conservation Foundation on the Platy-Project app, developed a Platy-Camp for primary school students in the Illawarra region, and released an animated TED-Ed lesson on ‘one of Earth's weirdest animals’ that has been viewed more than 1.1 million times.

These impactful achievements are the consolidation of years of innovative research, encompassing everything from popular citizen-science data collection projects to the deployment of cutting-edge acoustic and radio-tracking technologies that have changed the way fieldwork is conducted.

The Royal National Park reintroduction, conducted in collaboration with the Taronga Conservation Society, the World Wide Fund for Nature and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, pioneered a holistic approach to species restoration that included an intensive program of baiting for invasive predators.

“This has established conditions that not only benefit the platypus but also enhance the ecological integrity of the entire region,” Gilad explains. “It is providing a resilient habitat for a range of native species and enriching the biodiversity of the Park for future generations.”

Capitalising on the success of the project, Gilad and his team are currently seeking funding to undertake further reintroductions in the Park in 2025.

“I hope the work we are doing fosters a sense of stewardship in people,” says Gilad. “I hope Australians can take pride in the wonderful biodiversity of the land we share.”

If you would like to find out more about supporting the Platypus Conservation Initiative, please contact Development Manager Luis Severiano on T: +61 2 9348 1320 or E: l.severiano@unsw.edu.au