Occupational injury prevention in high temperature environments. This project aims to explore the contribution of heat as a risk factor in work-related illness and injury. Approximately 600 000 Australians experience a work-related illness or injury each year. Hot weather may directly or indirectly lead to accidents, but heat as a risk factor has not been systematically explored, and is particularly relevant in a warming climate. This project aims to improve safety and productivity in Australian ....Occupational injury prevention in high temperature environments. This project aims to explore the contribution of heat as a risk factor in work-related illness and injury. Approximately 600 000 Australians experience a work-related illness or injury each year. Hot weather may directly or indirectly lead to accidents, but heat as a risk factor has not been systematically explored, and is particularly relevant in a warming climate. This project aims to improve safety and productivity in Australian industry by generating new evidence and predictive models to inform injury prevention policy and guidance, and facilitating the development of practical, targeted resources. This project expects to add to the body of knowledge regarding workers’ health and safety and to be of benefit to industry and subpopulations at risk.Read moreRead less
Advanced solar powered hydrogen production systems based on green algal cells. This project aims to enhance the efficiency of solar powered hydrogen production from water and will facilitate the co-production of H2 and oil through microalgal biofuel systems. This frontier science project will therefore deliver a process with high solar conversion efficiency and will deliver multiple product streams increasing profitability.
Climate and health benefits of restoring tropical peat swamp forests. This project aims to investigate the climate and health benefits of restoring the tropical peat swamp forests. The project will integrate novel, field-based paleo-reconstruction of the historical conditions, satellite observations of temperature and rainfall, and high-resolution modelling of the regional climate processes under different restoration scenarios. It will use this information to determine how restoration activitie ....Climate and health benefits of restoring tropical peat swamp forests. This project aims to investigate the climate and health benefits of restoring the tropical peat swamp forests. The project will integrate novel, field-based paleo-reconstruction of the historical conditions, satellite observations of temperature and rainfall, and high-resolution modelling of the regional climate processes under different restoration scenarios. It will use this information to determine how restoration activities affect the regional climate, how changes in climate affect peatland fires and regional smoke haze, and how changes to regional climate and smoke haze affect human respiratory health and heat stress.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101791
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$427,082.00
Summary
Mathematically optimal R&D for coral reef conservation. This project aims to develop mathematical methodologies for optimising Research & Development (R&D) of technologies that will secure complex and uncertain ecosystems into the future. Current conventional management approaches will not prevent the degradation of threatened ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef, so new technologies are needed. The biggest challenge in choosing these technologies is the long delay between development and depl ....Mathematically optimal R&D for coral reef conservation. This project aims to develop mathematical methodologies for optimising Research & Development (R&D) of technologies that will secure complex and uncertain ecosystems into the future. Current conventional management approaches will not prevent the degradation of threatened ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef, so new technologies are needed. The biggest challenge in choosing these technologies is the long delay between development and deployment, in which time ecosystem function may collapse and complex, dynamic ecological and social systems will change. The mathematical methods and theory developed will inform a Great Barrier Reef case study, and will be ready for rapid application to other ecosystems as the urgent need arises.Read moreRead less
Understanding (and responding to) scepticism about science. Many people hold beliefs that defy scientific consensus. A standard response when a scientist faces resistance to an evidence-based message is to keep explaining the evidence as clearly and thoroughly as possible (explication). It is argued that explication often fails because people are motivated to hold on to non-scientific beliefs for reasons other than the motivation to find the truth. It is proposed that qualitative and quantitativ ....Understanding (and responding to) scepticism about science. Many people hold beliefs that defy scientific consensus. A standard response when a scientist faces resistance to an evidence-based message is to keep explaining the evidence as clearly and thoroughly as possible (explication). It is argued that explication often fails because people are motivated to hold on to non-scientific beliefs for reasons other than the motivation to find the truth. It is proposed that qualitative and quantitative techniques to identify these hidden motivations. These insights will be used to test psychologically tailored interventions designed to interrupt or circumnavigate these underlying motives, with the goal of promoting environmental responsibility and population health.Read moreRead less
Optimising community-based climate change adaptation in the Pacific Islands. Optimising community-based climate change adaptation in the Pacific Islands. This project aims to evaluate community level climate change interventions in the Pacific to provide guidelines for better practice. The effects of climate change—rising sea levels, more droughts, and more frequent and intense storm activity—have been particularly concentrated in tropical areas such as the Pacific Islands. In response, interven ....Optimising community-based climate change adaptation in the Pacific Islands. Optimising community-based climate change adaptation in the Pacific Islands. This project aims to evaluate community level climate change interventions in the Pacific to provide guidelines for better practice. The effects of climate change—rising sea levels, more droughts, and more frequent and intense storm activity—have been particularly concentrated in tropical areas such as the Pacific Islands. In response, interventions to adapt to a diversity of impacts have accelerated at the community level across the region, but there has been no analysis of their long-term effectiveness in reducing livelihood and resource vulnerability to climate change.Read moreRead less
Enabling social innovation for local climate adaptability. Climate variability and change is likely to be felt most acutely at the local scale in Australia. This is where inter/national and State policies are translated into practices to prepare for, and adapt to, anticipated impacts of heatwaves, bushfires and floods. This project will investigate tensions and potentialities between risk-based assessments by local governance agencies and innovations by local groups and Non-Government Organisati ....Enabling social innovation for local climate adaptability. Climate variability and change is likely to be felt most acutely at the local scale in Australia. This is where inter/national and State policies are translated into practices to prepare for, and adapt to, anticipated impacts of heatwaves, bushfires and floods. This project will investigate tensions and potentialities between risk-based assessments by local governance agencies and innovations by local groups and Non-Government Organisations. The research will utilise an innovative mixed-methods approach to investigate and to analyse the strategies and experiments of adaptation practices. It aims to develop new ways of identifying and implementing practical, local, adaptive responses that are contextually relevant, socially innovative and capacity building.Read moreRead less
The actor and institutional dynamics in emerging socio-technical transitions. The project addresses the translation of environmental resource policies to widespread practice in the face of institutional inertia. The outcome informs the design of policy mechanisms for enabling the emergence and mainstreaming of alternative resource technologies and consolidates Australia's leadership in urban water resource management.
Integrating climate adaptation into rainforest restoration plantings. This project aims to investigate the impact of within species adaptation to climate on restoratoin success in the Australian Wet Tropics. For a suite of six species of tropical tree frequently employed in rainforest restoration plantings in northeast Queensland, this project aims to test the hypothesis that collecting seed from populations in similar ecoclimatic settings to the planting site will result in superior seedling gr ....Integrating climate adaptation into rainforest restoration plantings. This project aims to investigate the impact of within species adaptation to climate on restoratoin success in the Australian Wet Tropics. For a suite of six species of tropical tree frequently employed in rainforest restoration plantings in northeast Queensland, this project aims to test the hypothesis that collecting seed from populations in similar ecoclimatic settings to the planting site will result in superior seedling growth and survival. The expected outcome is to provide practical advice to restoration practitioners about the importance of matching the provenance of seed source to planting sites, and opportunities for selecting provenances pre-adapted to predicted future climatic conditions at planting sites.Read moreRead less
Defend or retreat? Adapting to the impacts of sea level rise as a result of rapid climate change.
. Rapid sea level rise has been identified as a major threat to coastal Australia, where most of the Australian population lives. Our understanding and ability to respond to this threat is extremely limited at this point. This project will directly benefit Australian communities and businesses, specifically those in southeast Queensland by bringing together a team of distinguished, multidiscipli ....Defend or retreat? Adapting to the impacts of sea level rise as a result of rapid climate change.
. Rapid sea level rise has been identified as a major threat to coastal Australia, where most of the Australian population lives. Our understanding and ability to respond to this threat is extremely limited at this point. This project will directly benefit Australian communities and businesses, specifically those in southeast Queensland by bringing together a team of distinguished, multidisciplinary researchers and Super Science Fellows to explore the threats and challenges posed by rapidly rising sea levels. By building capacity and answering many urgent and difficult questions related to the legal, environmental and planning ramifications of sea level rise, this project will prepare communities and policymakers for the difficult times ahead.Read moreRead less