Investigating the educational impact of wildlife-based leisure experiences in supporting visitors? adoption of environmentally sustainable practices. National environmental policy makers acknowledge the central role education plays in addressing the many serious environmental problems facing the country and encouraging Australians to adopt environmentally sustainable practices. This project will inform the design of free-choice, wildlife-based learning experiences that are relevant, meaningful a ....Investigating the educational impact of wildlife-based leisure experiences in supporting visitors? adoption of environmentally sustainable practices. National environmental policy makers acknowledge the central role education plays in addressing the many serious environmental problems facing the country and encouraging Australians to adopt environmentally sustainable practices. This project will inform the design of free-choice, wildlife-based learning experiences that are relevant, meaningful and accessible to the majority of society. Wildlife-based learning experiences offer a way to secure sustainable economic benefits while supporting both wildlife conservation and local communities. By developing new tools to assess and enhance the educational impact of such experiences this project will contribute to building the capacity of visitors to adopt environmentally sustainable practices.Read moreRead less
Learning for sustainability: The role and impact of Outdoor and Environmental Education Centres. The proposed research will contribute to the National Research Priority for an Environmentally Sustainable Australia by addressing the effectiveness of educational interventions. Education plays a key role in providing the means and knowledge to address environmental issues, and research indicates that direct experiences with nature are a critical component. In Queensland, such experiences are provi ....Learning for sustainability: The role and impact of Outdoor and Environmental Education Centres. The proposed research will contribute to the National Research Priority for an Environmentally Sustainable Australia by addressing the effectiveness of educational interventions. Education plays a key role in providing the means and knowledge to address environmental issues, and research indicates that direct experiences with nature are a critical component. In Queensland, such experiences are provided by Outdoor and Environmental Education Centres (O&EECs). This research will advance our theoretical understanding of the role and impact of nature-based environmental learning experiences, identify factors that facilitate learning for sustainability, and develop empirically-based principles to support O&EECs in providing effective education for sustainability.Read moreRead less
Environmental change in northern Cenozoic Australia: a multidisciplinary approach. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that by 2020 to 2050, Australia will suffer significant biodiversity loss and water shortages. Our research will document and date the evolution of Australia's biota through three cycles of climate change over the last 25 million years to quantify and thereby better anticipate the nature and dimension of threats facing our natural and cultural communities ....Environmental change in northern Cenozoic Australia: a multidisciplinary approach. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that by 2020 to 2050, Australia will suffer significant biodiversity loss and water shortages. Our research will document and date the evolution of Australia's biota through three cycles of climate change over the last 25 million years to quantify and thereby better anticipate the nature and dimension of threats facing our natural and cultural communities. We will develop innovative techniques to date prehistoric biotic and climatic events and, using a range of tracers, characterize ancient environments and groundwater. This project will assist rural and regional Australia through education and job creation in geotourism and natural resource interpretation and provide a mechanism to combat generational skill shortage.Read moreRead less
The evolution of Australian rainforest faunas and the implications of continuing climate change. Australia's rainforest animals and ecosystems have been evolving for millions of years yet we routinely use only the last 200 years to assess changes that will affect their future - far too short a time interval to distinguish short-term perturbations from long-term trends in lineage health or community response. Our multidisciplinary team proposes to learn from 55 million years of response to rainfa ....The evolution of Australian rainforest faunas and the implications of continuing climate change. Australia's rainforest animals and ecosystems have been evolving for millions of years yet we routinely use only the last 200 years to assess changes that will affect their future - far too short a time interval to distinguish short-term perturbations from long-term trends in lineage health or community response. Our multidisciplinary team proposes to learn from 55 million years of response to rainfall and other climate change documented by the spectacular national, natural treasures in the fossil deposits of Tingamarra, Riversleigh and Rockhampton, to assess probable impacts of future environmental change and inform development of effective, long-term conservation strategies for rainforest communities. Read moreRead less
The skin of commerce: the role of plastic packaging in the construction of food security, waste and consumer activism in Australia. Plastic packaging has been important to ensuring food security in Australia, however it is also a major waste burden. This project will critically assess new approaches to reducing plastic packaging in food markets and waste streams and will produce key insights into how sustainable food systems can be organised with less reliance on plastic.
An Assessment of Social-Ecological Resilience in the Context of Marine Resource Management in Melanesia. Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands are part of the so-called 'Arc of Instability'. Despite enjoying relatively high levels of food security, mainly due to low human population densities, both countries have low Human Development Indices, particularly in Health and Education, and sustainable development is hindered by a range of problems, including complex and often socially destructive resp ....An Assessment of Social-Ecological Resilience in the Context of Marine Resource Management in Melanesia. Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands are part of the so-called 'Arc of Instability'. Despite enjoying relatively high levels of food security, mainly due to low human population densities, both countries have low Human Development Indices, particularly in Health and Education, and sustainable development is hindered by a range of problems, including complex and often socially destructive responses to global markets. Meanwhile fishery resources of both countries are being rapidly depleted by accelerating global commodity demand, threatening food security and undermining progress towards sustainable human development. Targeted, socially-informed resource management policy can prevent these problems from becoming ours as well.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354804
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
ARC Research Network on Degraded Environment Assessment and Remediation. There are over 80,000 contaminated sites in Australia and >750,000,000 hectares of land impacted by soil acidity, sodicity, heavy-metals, nutrients and agricultural chemicals. The research network advances assessment, management and remediation of degraded environments (land, water, and air) through collaboration of the research programs developing sustainable solutions. The collective focus is minimising disposal and impac ....ARC Research Network on Degraded Environment Assessment and Remediation. There are over 80,000 contaminated sites in Australia and >750,000,000 hectares of land impacted by soil acidity, sodicity, heavy-metals, nutrients and agricultural chemicals. The research network advances assessment, management and remediation of degraded environments (land, water, and air) through collaboration of the research programs developing sustainable solutions. The collective focus is minimising disposal and impacts of contaminated soil and wastes, and land remediation. By facilitating communication, the network enhances national and international research coordination, interaction with regulators, end-users, industry, and other stakeholders, achievement of critical mass for new initiatives, enhances research training and contributes to a critical National Priority.Read moreRead less
The Devonian Gogo Fauna: Diversity, Palaeoecology and Global Significance. The late Devonian Gogo Formation (380 million years old) is undoubtedly one of the richest and best-preserved assemblages of fossil fishes and invertebrates from this age anywhere on Earth. This project will use CT scanning for stomach contents, plus use biomechanical and morphometric analyses to reconstruct tropic relationships of reef-dwelling organisms and test the resilience of the reef ecosystem. Several new species .... The Devonian Gogo Fauna: Diversity, Palaeoecology and Global Significance. The late Devonian Gogo Formation (380 million years old) is undoubtedly one of the richest and best-preserved assemblages of fossil fishes and invertebrates from this age anywhere on Earth. This project will use CT scanning for stomach contents, plus use biomechanical and morphometric analyses to reconstruct tropic relationships of reef-dwelling organisms and test the resilience of the reef ecosystem. Several new species will be published and the heritage significance of the site will be assessed. Working with local indigenous stakeholders, the scientific findings will feed into developing a long-term management plan to protect and conserve the site for future research work and to grow tourism in the region.Read moreRead less
Changing Seas at Cellular to Cross-Ocean Scales. Australia relies greatly upon its rich natural environmental resources for goods, services and for economic growth (tourism, fisheries, and recreational industries). Climate change is one of the biggest threats to the natural marine environment. As the climate warms and oceans become more acidic, corals, the framework builders of reefs, experience unfavourable conditions. This project aims to better understand the processes by which ocean acidifi ....Changing Seas at Cellular to Cross-Ocean Scales. Australia relies greatly upon its rich natural environmental resources for goods, services and for economic growth (tourism, fisheries, and recreational industries). Climate change is one of the biggest threats to the natural marine environment. As the climate warms and oceans become more acidic, corals, the framework builders of reefs, experience unfavourable conditions. This project aims to better understand the processes by which ocean acidification and climate change affect corals, and to develop management tools for the mitigation of, and acclimation to, climate change. By so doing, this project will enable managers of Australia's Great Barrier Reef to better respond to the threatening challenges that climate change poses. Read moreRead less
Saving our Species: Creating Systemic Change in Regional Communities. Australia is facing a crisis of species extinction. The Dept of Planning and Environment has identified a serious problem; a lack of effective communication with environmentally disengaged communities located with threatened species. To address this, our aim is to research 5 regional communities, run a series of targeted events with them and, through effective communication, build community stewardship of the identified specie ....Saving our Species: Creating Systemic Change in Regional Communities. Australia is facing a crisis of species extinction. The Dept of Planning and Environment has identified a serious problem; a lack of effective communication with environmentally disengaged communities located with threatened species. To address this, our aim is to research 5 regional communities, run a series of targeted events with them and, through effective communication, build community stewardship of the identified species. This is significant as it addresses an important problem for conservation managers worldwide. The expected outcome will be a change in community attitude. The benefits to Australians will be an expansion of knowledge of how communities can be successfully communicated with to encourage environmental sustainability.Read moreRead less