Speaking Greek in diaspora: language contact, survival, and maintenance. Australia is a highly multilingual and multicultural country, speaking several hundred different indigenous and immigrant languages across the nation. Greek is the second largest language spoken in Australia (the second largest country of Greek diaspora in the world). A systematic investigation of the Greek language spoken in Australia by various generations, and its comparison with Greek as spoken in critical locations in ....Speaking Greek in diaspora: language contact, survival, and maintenance. Australia is a highly multilingual and multicultural country, speaking several hundred different indigenous and immigrant languages across the nation. Greek is the second largest language spoken in Australia (the second largest country of Greek diaspora in the world). A systematic investigation of the Greek language spoken in Australia by various generations, and its comparison with Greek as spoken in critical locations in South America, will enhance cross-cultural understanding and communication within Australia and world-wide. The project will fortify the scientific and economic links with the European community already established by the National Centre for Hellenic Studies and Research, in terms of social and economic benefit.Read moreRead less
Literature, Language and the Expression of Cultural Change in the Francophone Pacific. The proposal aims to analyse and document in monographs, critical editions, doctoral theses and other forms the evolution of linguistic and cultural change in the French Pacific through a comprehensive case study of the contemporary literature and press of New Caledonia. After years of civil unrest, stability was restored to this French Pacific Territory, a near neighbour of Australia, through the Matignon and ....Literature, Language and the Expression of Cultural Change in the Francophone Pacific. The proposal aims to analyse and document in monographs, critical editions, doctoral theses and other forms the evolution of linguistic and cultural change in the French Pacific through a comprehensive case study of the contemporary literature and press of New Caledonia. After years of civil unrest, stability was restored to this French Pacific Territory, a near neighbour of Australia, through the Matignon and Noumea Accords (1988, 1998).This has led to the emergence of new forms of cultural expression, particularly in literature, and a specific form of Pacific French, as part of a process of nation-building in New Caledonia.Read moreRead less
Improving engagement in learning and transition to mainstream schooling for newly-arrived Sudanese youth in the middle years of schooling. The 'new wave' of Sudanese refugees (48.3% of 2003 intake) with disrupted educational and social/emotional backgrounds is currently challenging Australian schools' expertise and resources. Using frameworks that draw on cultural theory, identity and language, the study will explore the social capital needs (skills and capacities, and resource needs) of Sudanes ....Improving engagement in learning and transition to mainstream schooling for newly-arrived Sudanese youth in the middle years of schooling. The 'new wave' of Sudanese refugees (48.3% of 2003 intake) with disrupted educational and social/emotional backgrounds is currently challenging Australian schools' expertise and resources. Using frameworks that draw on cultural theory, identity and language, the study will explore the social capital needs (skills and capacities, and resource needs) of Sudanese middle-schooling students enabling successful, productive and engaged transition from their on-arrival program into mainstream secondary schooling. The resulting model and web-based materials will provide a framework for educating other groups likely to follow from Africa/elsewhere, and meet the National Priority Goal: strengthening Australia's social fabric.Read moreRead less
Science on the continental shelf: securing our deep-sea biodiversity for the future. This project signals the start of exciting new research using manned submersibles to explore and describe the rich biodiversity inhabiting Australia’s deep-sea continental shelf. The outcomes will provide a sound basis for managing these environmental treasures against the pressing need to use the oil and gas reserves that lie under the seabed.
Islands of rocks: geckos as a model system to understand patterns of biodiversity, endemism and speciation in the Kimberley. Australia is renowned for its diversity of lizards, yet a plethora of new "cryptic" gecko species continue to be discovered. The project will densely sample the complex Kimberley to understand the evolution of its geckos, which will shed light on true levels of species diversity and the geological and environmental history of this biodiversity hotspot.
Participation in the administration of justice: deaf citizens as jurors. This project will pioneer international research on legal signed language interpreting and jury service; the results are likely to innovate law reform. The expected outcome will be to overturn previously held common law that deaf people cannot serve as jurors due to having an interpreter as the 13th person in the jury room as well as confidentiality issues.
Chinese imprint on Tasmania and consequent connnections with China. The project identifies and analyses Chinese cultural heritage in Tasmania and consequent connections with China. It will establish the veracity of life and work of Chinese settlers in Tasmania and of their descendants in China as a result. It will analyse Chinese traditional cultural values that underlined migrant motivation and behaviour patterns. Finally it will analyse how their connections with Tasmania influenced life of th ....Chinese imprint on Tasmania and consequent connnections with China. The project identifies and analyses Chinese cultural heritage in Tasmania and consequent connections with China. It will establish the veracity of life and work of Chinese settlers in Tasmania and of their descendants in China as a result. It will analyse Chinese traditional cultural values that underlined migrant motivation and behaviour patterns. Finally it will analyse how their connections with Tasmania influenced life of their descendants. The project will provide intellectual content for local community to establish Chinese aspect of cultural heritage and find a niche tourist market for affluent Chinese from where their ancestors came to Tasmania.Read moreRead less
Grey literature, policy innovation and access to knowledge: realising the value of informal publishing. This project examines the growth of informal research publishing, 'grey literature' in Australia, and the policies and practices that shape it. The project will make recommendations for producers, collecting institutions and policy-makers on how to maximise the considerable social and cultural benefit of 'grey literature'.
Improving stream management using ecological modelling and DNA barcodes. Rivers and streams provide invaluable ecosystem services, yet are commonly degraded by human activities: a problem likely to be exacerbated by thermal and flow regimes being altered by climate change. Stream biodiversity is both a value and an indicator of ecological health: effective stream management requires prediction of biodiversity responses to natural environmental and human-impact gradients. By compiling a dataset o ....Improving stream management using ecological modelling and DNA barcodes. Rivers and streams provide invaluable ecosystem services, yet are commonly degraded by human activities: a problem likely to be exacerbated by thermal and flow regimes being altered by climate change. Stream biodiversity is both a value and an indicator of ecological health: effective stream management requires prediction of biodiversity responses to natural environmental and human-impact gradients. By compiling a dataset of macroinvertebrate species using new DNA metabarcoding, modelling their distributions, and ranking biodiversity by reach, we will develop molecular and quantitative spatial tools to provide data-driven, landscape-scale decision support for protecting and restoring streams: an urgent need for stream managers globally.Read moreRead less
Phylogenomic assessment of conservation priorities in two biodiversity hotspots: the Pilbara and the Kimberley. This project applies new sequencing and analytical methods to measure how much unique genetic diversity is represented in current and planned reserves across two biodiversity hotspots – the Pilbara and Kimberley of north-west Australia. It combines university, museum and conservation agency researchers to improve ongoing conservation planning.