More international experience visits campus

Two more International Fellows visited the University of Adelaide North Terrace campus in July.

Dr Kuishuang Feng, of the University of Maryland, and Dr Daan van Uhm, of Utrecht University, spent a month building connections with local researchers and students.

Dr van Uhm is an Associate Professor of Criminology, specialising in Green Criminology, and shared his time with the Adelaide Law School, School of Biological Sciences and Environment Institute.

“In the past 10 years, the field of green criminology has really grown as environmental concerns have come into focus due to changing values,” said Dr van Uhm.

“There are a lot of ecological challenges in the world in a variety of fields, from deforestation and the destruction of natural environments as well as wildlife trafficking.

“It is important to take an interdisciplinary approach to these issues because they will affect all parts of life and require different ideas.

“This fellowship has been a great example of this and has been important for relationship building as well.”

Dr van Uhm has been working with staff, PhD students across all three schools and connecting with interstate authorities.

“We all have important roles to play, from lawyers to environmentalists, it’s all important to the cause," he said.

Dr Feng is a member of the University of Maryland’s Human Dimension of Global Change program and is focused developing coupled human and natural system models to gain a better understanding of various resources and environmental management issues.

“I worked with Professors on the green economy, in particular solar panels in Australia and evaluating why some areas have installed panels and others have not,” said Dr Feng.

“We also been exploring topics like climate management and change and how that relates to Australia.”

While in Adelaide, Dr Feng was based in the School of Architecture and Civil Engineering and has also worked on the importance of a circular economy.

“Australia has a great opportunity to set up a role model for the whole world to further efforts into sustainable practices,” he said.

The University’s International Fellows Award (IFA) is designed to bring some of the very best research minds from around the globe to Adelaide to work with our researchers and students on key global challenges.

Six Fellowships are available each year to internationally renowned researchers from institutions ranked within the top 100 for research.

The University is set to host its next International Fellow, Professor Chunsheng Wang from the University of Maryland, later this month.

Professor Wang will work on developing a safe, low-cost and long-life aqueous battery for grid-scale energy storage.