Spatial Knowledge and the Built Environment: The Design Implications of Making, Processing and Digitally Prototyping Architectural Models. The construction industry accounts for 6.7% of Australia's GDP. Beyond the more pragmatic economic benefits, however, lies the potential to influence the physical quality and appearance of our nation's building within an existing economic framework. The evaluation of differing modelling methods in design will have considerable implications for the way in whic ....Spatial Knowledge and the Built Environment: The Design Implications of Making, Processing and Digitally Prototyping Architectural Models. The construction industry accounts for 6.7% of Australia's GDP. Beyond the more pragmatic economic benefits, however, lies the potential to influence the physical quality and appearance of our nation's building within an existing economic framework. The evaluation of differing modelling methods in design will have considerable implications for the way in which designing is carried out. It will lead to new kinds of computer strategies that will guide the direction of development of programs used in design modelling by showing that current tools do not properly facilitate certain kinds of design inquiry available by more traditionally established means.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354740
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
CaGaWaLo: regulation of carbon gain and water loss by woody vegetation. Trees and shrubs are widely perceived as central to solving problems of national and international significance. Seed funding is sought to facilitate establishment of a research network focused on their ability to sequester carbon and transmit water to the atmosphere. The proposed network is broadly based in plant physiology and ecology and contains a strong cross-section of leading international expertise in relevant sub- ....CaGaWaLo: regulation of carbon gain and water loss by woody vegetation. Trees and shrubs are widely perceived as central to solving problems of national and international significance. Seed funding is sought to facilitate establishment of a research network focused on their ability to sequester carbon and transmit water to the atmosphere. The proposed network is broadly based in plant physiology and ecology and contains a strong cross-section of leading international expertise in relevant sub-disciplines. By leveraging the huge pool of international expertise and focusing on a range of scales (from molecular to biosphere scales), this network will yield new ideas and approaches that will produce outputs and outcomes of national significance.Read moreRead less
A new hypothesis for the development of hollows in Box-Ironbark forest. Timber harvesting in Box-Ironbark forest over the past 150 years has significantly affected the habitat of hollow dependent fauna. Current management aims at speeding the growth of trees to accelerate hollow formation. Recent studies suggest that hollows form in trees of the Box-Ironbark forest following basal stem damage by fire or windstorm, rather than from branch damage as previously assumed. This hypothesis will be t ....A new hypothesis for the development of hollows in Box-Ironbark forest. Timber harvesting in Box-Ironbark forest over the past 150 years has significantly affected the habitat of hollow dependent fauna. Current management aims at speeding the growth of trees to accelerate hollow formation. Recent studies suggest that hollows form in trees of the Box-Ironbark forest following basal stem damage by fire or windstorm, rather than from branch damage as previously assumed. This hypothesis will be tested in relation to wildfires in 1985, 1991 and 1993 and by experimental simulation of these events. The results of this research are likely to have major implications for the management of Box- Ironbark forests.Read moreRead less
Remotely sensed forest water use in space and time. Remotely sensed forest water use in space and time. This project aims to develop and apply new methods to scale forest water use from plot to catchment-level, using relationships between plot-level annual evapotranspiration and biophysical and biochemical properties of stands detectable by unmanned aircraft systems and other remote sensing platforms. Australia's water security depends on understanding how changes in forests from disturbance and ....Remotely sensed forest water use in space and time. Remotely sensed forest water use in space and time. This project aims to develop and apply new methods to scale forest water use from plot to catchment-level, using relationships between plot-level annual evapotranspiration and biophysical and biochemical properties of stands detectable by unmanned aircraft systems and other remote sensing platforms. Australia's water security depends on understanding how changes in forests from disturbance and climate change influence catchment water yields. This project will estimate water yields over time and space in ungauged catchments with disturbed eucalypt forests. This research is expected to enable more effective risk mitigation and planning for augmentations; improved fire management strategies; and better water management of the Murray Darling Basin.Read moreRead less
New methods for mapping variation in forest water use in time and space. Disturbance of eucalypt forests can have dramatic impacts on catchment water yields. In partnership with Melbourne Water Corporation, this project will develop and test new methods for accurate mapping of variation in water use across forested water supply catchments and for accurately determining the effects of this on water supplies.
Architectural Work Cultures: professional identity, education and wellbeing. This project aims to examine the work and study cultures of architecture in Australia, in relation to professional identity, and in terms of impact on wellbeing, with a whole-of-career scope spanning education to retirement. It will generate the first comprehensive account of work-related wellbeing problems for both architectural practitioners and students, via qualitative and quantitative methods and a vigorous engagem ....Architectural Work Cultures: professional identity, education and wellbeing. This project aims to examine the work and study cultures of architecture in Australia, in relation to professional identity, and in terms of impact on wellbeing, with a whole-of-career scope spanning education to retirement. It will generate the first comprehensive account of work-related wellbeing problems for both architectural practitioners and students, via qualitative and quantitative methods and a vigorous engagement with the profession. Expected outcomes include two toolkits to assist the profession to support cultural change across educational, workplace and institutional settings. This should provide significant benefits for the wellbeing of architects at all career stages, and also support the long-term viability of the sector.Read moreRead less
Fate of endocrine disrupting chemicals in water repellent soil. The fate of endocrine system disrupting chemicals in soils has not been studied, even though some have been linked to human health effects. Many are found in municipal sewage wastes. This project will measure chemical concentrations in water repellent forest plantation soils irrigated with municipal wastewater. The outcome will be data specifically addressing (1) the risks when forest plantations are irrigated with municipal wastewa ....Fate of endocrine disrupting chemicals in water repellent soil. The fate of endocrine system disrupting chemicals in soils has not been studied, even though some have been linked to human health effects. Many are found in municipal sewage wastes. This project will measure chemical concentrations in water repellent forest plantation soils irrigated with municipal wastewater. The outcome will be data specifically addressing (1) the risks when forest plantations are irrigated with municipal wastewater in Victoria and, by extension applicable to other Australian ecosystems, (2) Environment Australia's stated need for information directly applicable to ecosystem and human health risk assessment of the environmental risks posed by endocrine disrupting chemicals.Read moreRead less
Tree-mediated methane fluxes: A new frontier in the global carbon cycle. Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas. Recent evidence suggests that tree-mediated fluxes may be a significant, but overlooked source of methane to the atmosphere. This project aims to quantify the magnitude and drivers of tree-mediated methane fluxes from Australia’s dominant forest types. Innovatively, we will be using a novel combination of empirical field based measurements, gas tracer experiments, microbial ana ....Tree-mediated methane fluxes: A new frontier in the global carbon cycle. Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas. Recent evidence suggests that tree-mediated fluxes may be a significant, but overlooked source of methane to the atmosphere. This project aims to quantify the magnitude and drivers of tree-mediated methane fluxes from Australia’s dominant forest types. Innovatively, we will be using a novel combination of empirical field based measurements, gas tracer experiments, microbial analysis and modelling methods. Expected outcomes are a mechanistic understanding of tree-mediated methane fluxes, helping to constrain regional, national and global methane budgets. The results of this study will help inform publicly funded greenhouse gas abatement strategies, ensuring a maximal return on investment.Read moreRead less
Cellular automata model of forest stands to predict size-class distribution and survival. Existing forest growth models predict well stand level processes such as growth. However, they provide little information on forest structure and how this affects commercial forest products, risks of growing plantations and stand dynamics that determine carbon sequestration and water-use and result in age-related decline in productivity and self-thinning. By using newly developed technology to quantify in ....Cellular automata model of forest stands to predict size-class distribution and survival. Existing forest growth models predict well stand level processes such as growth. However, they provide little information on forest structure and how this affects commercial forest products, risks of growing plantations and stand dynamics that determine carbon sequestration and water-use and result in age-related decline in productivity and self-thinning. By using newly developed technology to quantify inter-tree competition, tree level resource supply, between tree genetic differences and the importance of chance events this project will draw on complexity theory to develop an innovative model that partitions stand level production to forecast the growth and size of individual trees.Read moreRead less
Muscle memory: The key to novel interactive memory support systems. This project aims to investigate how the use of muscle memory as a deliberate interaction design resource can effectively support declarative memory. The project brings together memory interaction design and bodily activity design to address increasing concerns surrounding Australians’ memory. By investigating muscle memory in interaction design, the project is expected to advance international understanding of scholarly and pra ....Muscle memory: The key to novel interactive memory support systems. This project aims to investigate how the use of muscle memory as a deliberate interaction design resource can effectively support declarative memory. The project brings together memory interaction design and bodily activity design to address increasing concerns surrounding Australians’ memory. By investigating muscle memory in interaction design, the project is expected to advance international understanding of scholarly and practical processes that complement design for declarative memory. The project will lay the foundation for extending research which will assist movement, rehabilitation, health and educational sports practitioners that can create engaging experiences that use muscle memory for the benefit of all Australians.Read moreRead less