Evolution in tooth and claw: exploring the relationship between the radiation of marsupial herbivores and late Cenozoic climate change. Establishing how animals responded to past environmental changes is essential for understanding the ecology of modern species and managing them in light of contemporary climatic trends. By applying several novel analytical methods this project will unravel the links between the radiation of Australian marsupials and key stages in climatic evolution.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE130100115
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$180,000.00
Summary
Confocal microscope for high-resolution microtopographic analysis of surfaces in historical, forensic and polymer sciences. High-resolution analyses of microscopic patterns on surfaces using confocal microscopy can provide vital clues into the nature of ancient diets and environments, adaptive evolution, weapons used in crimes, and properties of polymers. This instrument will heighten Australia’s capacity for world-leading research in areas of major national importance.
Fire and rain: Drivers of deep-time ecosystem assembly in Australia. This project aims to investigate the influence of bushfires and shifting rainfall patterns on the development of Australia’s dominant ecosystems. By combining a range of novel geochemical, isotopic and palaeontological techniques, this research seeks to reveal the causes and consequences of Australia’s transformation from a forested to mainly open landscape of grassland, shrubland and savannah. The expected outcome is detailed ....Fire and rain: Drivers of deep-time ecosystem assembly in Australia. This project aims to investigate the influence of bushfires and shifting rainfall patterns on the development of Australia’s dominant ecosystems. By combining a range of novel geochemical, isotopic and palaeontological techniques, this research seeks to reveal the causes and consequences of Australia’s transformation from a forested to mainly open landscape of grassland, shrubland and savannah. The expected outcome is detailed knowledge of how changes in fire and rain shaped the ecology and evolution of plants and animals. This knowledge is key to understanding how Australian ecosystems function and to protecting their cultural, economic and environmental values, especially as climate and fire regimes continue to change into the future.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200322
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$281,446.00
Summary
Understanding the water cultures of the Murray-Darling Basin. The project aims to generate new knowledge of the formation and evolution of cultural values and practices relating to water in the Murray-Darling Basin. By applying innovative approaches from the environmental humanities, it will investigate the development of cultures of water and their role in long-standing water-sharing conflicts. The expected outcome is a greater understanding of influential ideas about the value of water and riv ....Understanding the water cultures of the Murray-Darling Basin. The project aims to generate new knowledge of the formation and evolution of cultural values and practices relating to water in the Murray-Darling Basin. By applying innovative approaches from the environmental humanities, it will investigate the development of cultures of water and their role in long-standing water-sharing conflicts. The expected outcome is a greater understanding of influential ideas about the value of water and rivers and a Water Cultures Network to facilitate collaboration between humanities and social science scholars, environmental scientists, and water managers. The public will benefit from knowing how water use behaviours evolved in the Basin and how they might be reframed to adapt to a hotter, drier future. Read moreRead less
Faunal responses to environmental change and isolation on an Australian land-bridge island. Establishing how faunas responded to past isolation and environmental changes offers great potential for predicting long-term impacts of habitat fragmentation. By combining novel methods we will track extinction rates, diet and body-size shifts on Kangaroo Island, the only known land-bridge island with a fossil record spanning the past 100,000 years.
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200066
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$258,908.00
Summary
Parched: cultures of drought in regional Victoria. Drought is a recurrent feature of Australian climate and a formative influence on Australian history, culture and identity. The project aims to generate new knowledge about the cultures of drought: the changing ways Victorians have lived with, imagined, understood and represented drought. Using an innovative environmental humanities approach, it will link cultural and media practices with climate histories to establish a new interdisciplinary mo ....Parched: cultures of drought in regional Victoria. Drought is a recurrent feature of Australian climate and a formative influence on Australian history, culture and identity. The project aims to generate new knowledge about the cultures of drought: the changing ways Victorians have lived with, imagined, understood and represented drought. Using an innovative environmental humanities approach, it will link cultural and media practices with climate histories to establish a new interdisciplinary model of drought cultures. Expected outcomes include a deeper understanding of the cultural legacies of drought and their impacts on current environmental practice and policy. Benefits should include identifying new resources for cultural and social resilience for future periods of water scarcity.Read moreRead less