Reconstructing millennial-scale streamflow variability to assess near-future risks to water-generated renewable energy. Hydroelectric power is a key component of Australia's national renewable energy policy. The project will combine Hydro Tasmania's water supply and distribution network with historical reconstructions of streamflow variability to conduct stress tests of future water supplies and hydroelectric generating capacity for the Australian power grid.
Social Futures & Life Pathways of Young People in Queensland: Waves 6 & 7. This project plans to extend a large longitudinal study of young people in Queensland to investigate the impact of social, political and economic changes on educational, workforce, partnering, family and housing transitions in early adulthood. The project is designed to combine large-scale survey research with in-depth qualitative interviewing to track stability and change in the values, aspirations, health and wellbeing ....Social Futures & Life Pathways of Young People in Queensland: Waves 6 & 7. This project plans to extend a large longitudinal study of young people in Queensland to investigate the impact of social, political and economic changes on educational, workforce, partnering, family and housing transitions in early adulthood. The project is designed to combine large-scale survey research with in-depth qualitative interviewing to track stability and change in the values, aspirations, health and wellbeing of a cohort of young people who were first surveyed as secondary school students a decade earlier. This aims to inform social policy by identifying factors that promote positive career, relationship, housing and health outcomes for young adults, and those which place young adults at risk of unemployment, tertiary non-completion, residential and relationship instability, and poorer mental and physical wellbeing.Read moreRead less
Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. This project aims to develop indices that link change in invertebrate communities to specific environmental stressors, and combine these indices with innovative, low cost molecular approaches to species identification to rapidly identify the causes of decline. River health assessment methods, usually based on aquatic invertebrates, identify if rivers are impaire ....Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. This project aims to develop indices that link change in invertebrate communities to specific environmental stressors, and combine these indices with innovative, low cost molecular approaches to species identification to rapidly identify the causes of decline. River health assessment methods, usually based on aquatic invertebrates, identify if rivers are impaired but must be developed to identify the causes of decline. The intended outcomes are improved sustainable water resource management within and among states, and improved natural resource policy development.Read moreRead less
Multi-Country Study on Health Effects of Bushfire Air Pollution. Catastrophic bushfires are a major natural disaster, causing serious air pollution. However, aligning bushfire air pollution and public health policies becomes a significant challenge, because limited studies are available on relationships between bushfire air pollution and human health, particularly for the prolonged exposure. We will characterize the nature of the relationships between bushfire air pollution and mortality/morbidi ....Multi-Country Study on Health Effects of Bushfire Air Pollution. Catastrophic bushfires are a major natural disaster, causing serious air pollution. However, aligning bushfire air pollution and public health policies becomes a significant challenge, because limited studies are available on relationships between bushfire air pollution and human health, particularly for the prolonged exposure. We will characterize the nature of the relationships between bushfire air pollution and mortality/morbidity by developing a multi-country study; and estimate the burden of diseases attributed to bushfire air pollution. This project will provide essential scientific evidence to policy-makers and stakeholders in the development, prioritization and implementation of health protection strategies and policies.
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Activating and maintaining community participation in natural and cultural resources initiatives in the Murray-Darling Basin. The project goes beyond the rhetoric of participation to discover what factors activate communities and individuals to become involved in programs and voluntary initiatives for natural resource management. It assesses the effectiveness of existing communication channels and develops new models for more effective and representative participation. It combines the National M ....Activating and maintaining community participation in natural and cultural resources initiatives in the Murray-Darling Basin. The project goes beyond the rhetoric of participation to discover what factors activate communities and individuals to become involved in programs and voluntary initiatives for natural resource management. It assesses the effectiveness of existing communication channels and develops new models for more effective and representative participation. It combines the National Museum of Australia's expertise in environmental history and public communication with the imperative of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission to improve community participation in natural resource management. The potential for harnessing communications technology to facilitate new channels for participation is assessed through carefully evaluated pilot programs.Read moreRead less
Discovery Indigenous Researchers Development - Grant ID: DI0882982
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$200,000.00
Summary
Building and supporting community led partnership initiatives to respond to Indigenous family violence in Victoria. This project contributes to the evidence base of responses to Indigenous family violence by detailing models of practice in Victoria. It will focus on how partnerships between Indigenous and mainstream responses can be built and sustained. The critical analysis of these models of practice and partnerships will also have implications for future policy and funding directions. The ....Building and supporting community led partnership initiatives to respond to Indigenous family violence in Victoria. This project contributes to the evidence base of responses to Indigenous family violence by detailing models of practice in Victoria. It will focus on how partnerships between Indigenous and mainstream responses can be built and sustained. The critical analysis of these models of practice and partnerships will also have implications for future policy and funding directions. The research will be most beneficial within the local family violence sector. The research methodology facilitates a process of information brokerage and critical reflection within and between Indigenous and mainstream family violence interventions that may influence ongoing community and organisational practices.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354531
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Social research network for sustainable rural communities. The triple bottom line of social, economic and environmental imperatives forms the accepted ingredients of sustainability. While the economic and environmental dimensions have been relatively well researched, there is insufficient understanding of the socio-cultural dimensions and how these determine environmental and health outcomes. The interactions between the dimensions are also poorly understood. While there are some researchers in ....Social research network for sustainable rural communities. The triple bottom line of social, economic and environmental imperatives forms the accepted ingredients of sustainability. While the economic and environmental dimensions have been relatively well researched, there is insufficient understanding of the socio-cultural dimensions and how these determine environmental and health outcomes. The interactions between the dimensions are also poorly understood. While there are some researchers in this field, they have tended to work in isolation. The development of a resourced interdisciplinary network to facilitate collaboration will increase the contribution and innovativeness of their collective research and contribute to understanding socio-economic determinants of dynamic regions and healthy rural communities.Read moreRead less
Are coastal wetlands vulnerable to bushfires? The ‘Black Summer’ fires burned extensive areas of coastal wetland not typically associated with fire impact. These wetlands rely upon plant growth and sediment delivery to respond to sea-level rise, processes which may be impacted by fire. This project aims to quantify the distribution and severity of fire impact, and establish post-fire vegetation and surface elevation trajectories. By integrating fire ecology and wetland science approaches, this p ....Are coastal wetlands vulnerable to bushfires? The ‘Black Summer’ fires burned extensive areas of coastal wetland not typically associated with fire impact. These wetlands rely upon plant growth and sediment delivery to respond to sea-level rise, processes which may be impacted by fire. This project aims to quantify the distribution and severity of fire impact, and establish post-fire vegetation and surface elevation trajectories. By integrating fire ecology and wetland science approaches, this project will ascertain the resilience of coastal wetlands to the cumulative impacts of fire and sea-level rise. Expected outcomes of this project include new, spatially-explicit fire management tools which will aid the sustainable, long-term management of coastal wetlands in a changing climate.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100141
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$420,000.00
Summary
High-resolution ITRAX XRF core scanning facility for global change research. This facility will enable researchers to obtain high-resolution geochemical profiles in the study of environmental change and climate variability. It will provide archive data on the variation of density and chemical element composition along sediment and soil cores, rock cores, wood samples, speleothems and corals. These archives contain important information such as human activity, climate variability, water quality c ....High-resolution ITRAX XRF core scanning facility for global change research. This facility will enable researchers to obtain high-resolution geochemical profiles in the study of environmental change and climate variability. It will provide archive data on the variation of density and chemical element composition along sediment and soil cores, rock cores, wood samples, speleothems and corals. These archives contain important information such as human activity, climate variability, water quality changes, pollution histories, recent geomorphological change, land-use change, introduction of invasive species and the occurrence of bushfires. A better understanding of the occurrence and timing of these major environmental issues is of national and regional importance.Read moreRead less