Work, income, spending, and wellbeing in Australia: A multi-level, longitudinal analysis of individuals and households. Social science research on the effects of income on wellbeing is substantial, however, this research has largely missed five crucial factors. These factors include: the work people do to generate income; how they use income; effects on physical and social wellbeing; effects at the household level; and causal effects at multiple levels. This project aims to address all of these ....Work, income, spending, and wellbeing in Australia: A multi-level, longitudinal analysis of individuals and households. Social science research on the effects of income on wellbeing is substantial, however, this research has largely missed five crucial factors. These factors include: the work people do to generate income; how they use income; effects on physical and social wellbeing; effects at the household level; and causal effects at multiple levels. This project aims to address all of these factors with a new model of wellbeing, the Work-Income-Spending-Effects (WISE) model, and utilises the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia database. This project also aims to demonstrate trade-offs among work, income, spending, and multiple types of wellbeing within a new paradigm for engaging the Australian public, organisations, and policy makers.Read moreRead less
Evaluating the Quality of Scientific Research in Psychology. Buttressing public trust in science has never been more important, yet many sciences are experiencing a crisis of confidence. The current system of relying on journal prestige to calibrate our confidence in individual research findings has created corrupt incentives for scientists, and risks undermining public trust in science. Thousands of scientists and institutions around the world have indicated that research evaluation needs an ov ....Evaluating the Quality of Scientific Research in Psychology. Buttressing public trust in science has never been more important, yet many sciences are experiencing a crisis of confidence. The current system of relying on journal prestige to calibrate our confidence in individual research findings has created corrupt incentives for scientists, and risks undermining public trust in science. Thousands of scientists and institutions around the world have indicated that research evaluation needs an overhaul by signing the Declaration on Research Assessment. One solution is to create a public, transparent, and valid process for producing and sharing expert evaluations of individual papers. This project aims to launch this reform in psychology, and partner with PREreview to help it spread to other fields.Read moreRead less
A novel and theoretically consistent method for correcting systematic errors in earth observation data and earth system model results. For a correct interpretation of satellite-based earth observation data and/or Earth system model results, it is very important that these data are free of systematic errors, commonly referred to as bias. It is well known that both these data sources are prone to a significant bias, which is currently neglected in many environmental impact and prediction studies. ....A novel and theoretically consistent method for correcting systematic errors in earth observation data and earth system model results. For a correct interpretation of satellite-based earth observation data and/or Earth system model results, it is very important that these data are free of systematic errors, commonly referred to as bias. It is well known that both these data sources are prone to a significant bias, which is currently neglected in many environmental impact and prediction studies. This project will present a method to develop models for these biases. A state update technique, the Ensemble Kalman Filter, will be adapted to correctly take into account bias in the merging of the two data sources. The project outcomes will be of high importance for long-term environmental studies, since these strongly rely on physically-based models and remote sensing data.Read moreRead less
Linking risks to ecosystems with risks to human well-being. This project aims to provide theory and practical guidelines to integrate ecosystem science into policy and action to address human well-being. Ecosystem risk assessment provides critical information for conservation, and has compelling but unexplored relationships with human health and nature’s benefits to people. The research will identify ecosystem measures that highlight areas of risk to human well-being as well as biodiversity. Exp ....Linking risks to ecosystems with risks to human well-being. This project aims to provide theory and practical guidelines to integrate ecosystem science into policy and action to address human well-being. Ecosystem risk assessment provides critical information for conservation, and has compelling but unexplored relationships with human health and nature’s benefits to people. The research will identify ecosystem measures that highlight areas of risk to human well-being as well as biodiversity. Expected outcomes include new standards for including ecosystem change in policy frameworks globally and in Australia, such as natural capital accounting and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Benefits include improved ways of meeting and tracking progress on Australia’s international commitments.Read moreRead less
Transforming charity to reduce persistent poverty. This project aims to produce empirical knowledge to assist charities to reduce persistent poverty in Australia. In Australia people in poverty use charity to subsidise limited incomes and survive on a day-to-day basis. Recently charities are expected to assist in disrupting poverty in addition to poverty relief. However there is limited knowledge about how charities work with people who are poor and how they can change to work better. This proje ....Transforming charity to reduce persistent poverty. This project aims to produce empirical knowledge to assist charities to reduce persistent poverty in Australia. In Australia people in poverty use charity to subsidise limited incomes and survive on a day-to-day basis. Recently charities are expected to assist in disrupting poverty in addition to poverty relief. However there is limited knowledge about how charities work with people who are poor and how they can change to work better. This project expects to provide knowledge that governments, social service providers, and charities can use to transform their work with people in poverty. Read moreRead less
Climate-proofing southeastern Australia's native forests: where, when, and how? Changing environmental conditions and forest fragmentation threaten the ability of native forest species to regenerate or migrate. Using unique long–term datasets and novel statistical analyses, this project will assess future risks to forest regeneration after logging, bushfires, and land abandonment.
Architecture on the edge: designing sustainable housing systems for vulnerable communities. The aim of the research is to analyse the disciplinary experiences of architects working on the design of housing across four vulnerable communities and to identify best practices within the profession that might enable architects to address a wider range of global problems including civil conflict, climate change and natural disasters.
From prediction to adaptation: responding to rapid ecosystem shifts under climate change. Nobody knows exactly how climate change will affect the ecosystems on which we depend for our own existence, though negative impacts are widely predicted. This project integrates mathematical, economic and ecological approaches to learn about the most effective way to spend limited funds for sustaining ecosystems threatened by climate change.
Detecting and tracking alertness using speech biometrics. Traditional tests for detecting and tracking alertness are limited by their accuracy and inability to be administered without stopping work. This project aims to investigate how speech can be used to monitor changes in performance resulting from sleep deprivation and successive night shifts. The expected outcomes are 1) new knowledge on how sensitive speech and language features are for detecting change in alertness, and 2) development an ....Detecting and tracking alertness using speech biometrics. Traditional tests for detecting and tracking alertness are limited by their accuracy and inability to be administered without stopping work. This project aims to investigate how speech can be used to monitor changes in performance resulting from sleep deprivation and successive night shifts. The expected outcomes are 1) new knowledge on how sensitive speech and language features are for detecting change in alertness, and 2) development and verification of a highly accurate, cost-effective, speech focussed assay capable of detecting impaired alertness from otherwise healthy individuals. The project should benefit the way fitness for duty is tested and provide new methods for safeguarding Australians working in at-risk environments.Read moreRead less
Catchment-scale and riparian zone stormwater retention: can it restore stream hydrology? This project will test whether or not stormwater retention systems dispersed throughout a catchment can restore pre-development streamflows in peri-urban streams. It will provide a new model for the design of stormwater drainage systems which both protect aquatic ecosystems and reduce the demand for imported water in cities.