The origin of the first Australians. Using new DNA methods researchers aim to uncover the origins of the first Australians and to provide new evidence for when people came here and where they came from. This exciting work aims to determine some of the physical and metabolic characteristics of these early people.
Situating care: Addressing obesity in disadvantaged communities . The project aims to drive an urgently needed shift from top-down interventions that focus on obesity as an individual problem of diets and exercise, to collective solutions of care generated by families for families, empowering social change at a local, community level. In collaboration with Australia’s leading designers of social innovation, this anthropology project expects to generate new knowledge about care and food practic ....Situating care: Addressing obesity in disadvantaged communities . The project aims to drive an urgently needed shift from top-down interventions that focus on obesity as an individual problem of diets and exercise, to collective solutions of care generated by families for families, empowering social change at a local, community level. In collaboration with Australia’s leading designers of social innovation, this anthropology project expects to generate new knowledge about care and food practices in disadvantaged communities, and to construct new digital, policy, and program frameworks for broader adaptation. The advances are likely to have a strong bearing on how obesity interventions, and more equitable health policy and practice, evolve in Australia and internationally. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160101178
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$344,324.00
Summary
Water Harvesting and the Cultural Politics of Resource Equity. This project aims to provide a new framework for understanding water equity challenges in urban South Asia. Equitable water access is an everyday struggle in this region. For example, in New Delhi, millions suffer from inadequate supplies, while the wealthy enjoy more than their share. The project plans to investigate how people respond to water stress by adopting techniques such as water harvesting. It also plans to examine the degr ....Water Harvesting and the Cultural Politics of Resource Equity. This project aims to provide a new framework for understanding water equity challenges in urban South Asia. Equitable water access is an everyday struggle in this region. For example, in New Delhi, millions suffer from inadequate supplies, while the wealthy enjoy more than their share. The project plans to investigate how people respond to water stress by adopting techniques such as water harvesting. It also plans to examine the degree to which water harvesting leads to social inclusion or exclusion. Through ethnographic examinations of the water values, resource subjectivities and power dynamics that influence the success of urban water harvesting, the projects intends to gain insights to improve regional water policy and aid effectiveness.Read moreRead less
Cape Keerweer 1606-2006: an ethnographic history of the Wik region, Queensland. In this research with Wik Aboriginal people I investigate how key facets of the peoples' lives have changed since the first Dutch visit 400 years ago. I seek a credible empirical explanation for their descent into crisis, especially post-1978, something with wider implications for the national interest. I examine historical causes through shifts in demography, land tenure, occupations, power relations, violence, lang ....Cape Keerweer 1606-2006: an ethnographic history of the Wik region, Queensland. In this research with Wik Aboriginal people I investigate how key facets of the peoples' lives have changed since the first Dutch visit 400 years ago. I seek a credible empirical explanation for their descent into crisis, especially post-1978, something with wider implications for the national interest. I examine historical causes through shifts in demography, land tenure, occupations, power relations, violence, language use, and art production. From the intensely local, the past individuals and cultural landscapes of Cape Keerweer, I move outward in space and onward in time tracing gradual Wik engagement in regional, state, national and global relationships 1606-2006.Read moreRead less
Hydrosocial Adapatations to Water Risk in Australian Agriculture. This project aims to understand how Australian farmers adapt to water resource limitations and governance constraints. We will address this significant challenge by identifying how social and cultural perceptions of water risk inspire farmers to create resilient management solutions in line with policy guidelines. Through ethnographic fieldwork and the analysis of historical patterns of water use, the research seeks identify the h ....Hydrosocial Adapatations to Water Risk in Australian Agriculture. This project aims to understand how Australian farmers adapt to water resource limitations and governance constraints. We will address this significant challenge by identifying how social and cultural perceptions of water risk inspire farmers to create resilient management solutions in line with policy guidelines. Through ethnographic fieldwork and the analysis of historical patterns of water use, the research seeks identify the hydrosocial adaptations that enable farmers to effectively respond to change. The new knowledge will foster water risk management via the culturally appropriate tailoring of interventions. Outcomes will support the long-term viability of Australian agriculture, with relevant lessons for managing drought globally. Read moreRead less
Critical conversations: An ethnographic study of Australian organ donation. There is an urgent need for new culturally sensitive ways of improving organ donation rates in Australia, which are lower in culturally and linguistically diverse groups. The project aims to reorient the research focus from decisions made prior to death to the actual times and clinical spaces in which these decisions occur. Through a comparative cross-cultural analysis this research will provide essential knowledge that ....Critical conversations: An ethnographic study of Australian organ donation. There is an urgent need for new culturally sensitive ways of improving organ donation rates in Australia, which are lower in culturally and linguistically diverse groups. The project aims to reorient the research focus from decisions made prior to death to the actual times and clinical spaces in which these decisions occur. Through a comparative cross-cultural analysis this research will provide essential knowledge that will inform innovative approaches to understanding organ donation. The outcomes will have a strong bearing on how organ donation communication, professional protocols, and ultimately, organ donation practice evolve in Australia. Read moreRead less
Epigenetics and Indigenous Australia. This project aims to investigate how epigenetics is being received by Indigenous Australians, and to identify the potential risks and opportunities that narratives of biosocial damage entail. Epigenetics is a rapidly evolving science concerned with how life experiences, such as trauma or stress, can modify DNA and be passed on to negatively affect children's (and possibly grandchildren's) health and development. This project will offer an understanding of th ....Epigenetics and Indigenous Australia. This project aims to investigate how epigenetics is being received by Indigenous Australians, and to identify the potential risks and opportunities that narratives of biosocial damage entail. Epigenetics is a rapidly evolving science concerned with how life experiences, such as trauma or stress, can modify DNA and be passed on to negatively affect children's (and possibly grandchildren's) health and development. This project will offer an understanding of the relationships between Indigenous health and epigenetics that will help Indigenous researchers, policymakers, and government bodies make well-informed decisions about the application and direction of this new science. The research will make a significant contribution to understanding how the interplay of biology, race, and society unfold at the intersection of different knowledge systems and at the forefront of technological progress.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101506
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$327,612.00
Summary
Supporting end-of-life care in a culturally diverse society. Given Australia's diverse ageing population, there is increasingly urgent need for culturally sensitive end-of-life care. Currently, end-of-life planning is promoted and standardised in the form of advance care directives, which have a lower uptake in culturally and linguistically diverse groups. The project aims to identify and theorise points of uptake and resistance to advance care planning in Australia's largest Asian populations. ....Supporting end-of-life care in a culturally diverse society. Given Australia's diverse ageing population, there is increasingly urgent need for culturally sensitive end-of-life care. Currently, end-of-life planning is promoted and standardised in the form of advance care directives, which have a lower uptake in culturally and linguistically diverse groups. The project aims to identify and theorise points of uptake and resistance to advance care planning in Australia's largest Asian populations. This new knowledge will be used to develop strategies for cross-cultural understanding in relation to end-of-life care preferences. The outcomes will have a strong bearing on how community attitudes, the experience of individuals, professional protocols, and ultimately, legislation evolve in Australia.Read moreRead less
The Social Production of Science in Antarctica: A Study of Davis Station. Antarctica is a unique scientific laboratory. It is the only continent historically uninhabited by humans; access to its vast land and ice-scapes, and its surrounding oceans, is today almost exclusively reserved for scientists. Although these 'Antarcticans' represent multiple disciplines, and pursue a wide variety of research agendas, their shared experiences of working on the continent, and their shared professional netwo ....The Social Production of Science in Antarctica: A Study of Davis Station. Antarctica is a unique scientific laboratory. It is the only continent historically uninhabited by humans; access to its vast land and ice-scapes, and its surrounding oceans, is today almost exclusively reserved for scientists. Although these 'Antarcticans' represent multiple disciplines, and pursue a wide variety of research agendas, their shared experiences of working on the continent, and their shared professional networks, mean that they constitute a distinct community of practice. However, this community has yet to be subjected to detailed ethnographic enquiry. This project aims to examine Antarctic scientists' research practices, and their cultures of knowledge production, through an ethnographic study of Australia's Davis Station.Read moreRead less
Implications of morphological and molecular measures of diversity in papionine primates for interpretation of hominid phylogeny. Landmark morphometrics, superquadric modeling based on 3-D surface point mapping and conventional osteometric measurements, will be used to gauge morphological differences among macaques and baboons that are known to exchange genes across taxonomic boundaries. Morphological findings will be compared with genetic data (mitochondrial and some nuclear gene measures) on th ....Implications of morphological and molecular measures of diversity in papionine primates for interpretation of hominid phylogeny. Landmark morphometrics, superquadric modeling based on 3-D surface point mapping and conventional osteometric measurements, will be used to gauge morphological differences among macaques and baboons that are known to exchange genes across taxonomic boundaries. Morphological findings will be compared with genetic data (mitochondrial and some nuclear gene measures) on the same populations, to test for congruity between genetic and morphological divergence. The same techniques for measuring morphological divergence will be used on early hominid specimens (Miocene through Plio/Pleistocene). Comparisons between extents of morphological dispersion among hominids and monkeys will be used to test taxonomic and phylogenetic hypotheses about human evolution.Read moreRead less