Exploring Botanic Gardens Herbarium's value, via Environmental Aesthetics. . The project aims to aesthetically redefine engagement with the plant collection at Royal Botanic Gardens Herbarium (RBG) Sydney and to communicate its artistic, cultural and heritage value to the public through a Public Program of creative arts case studies. It's expected that new insights will arise from an environmental art methodology utilising the digitisation of the Herbarium specimens, so that audiences can intera ....Exploring Botanic Gardens Herbarium's value, via Environmental Aesthetics. . The project aims to aesthetically redefine engagement with the plant collection at Royal Botanic Gardens Herbarium (RBG) Sydney and to communicate its artistic, cultural and heritage value to the public through a Public Program of creative arts case studies. It's expected that new insights will arise from an environmental art methodology utilising the digitisation of the Herbarium specimens, so that audiences can interactively experience the plant archive through narratives that activate plants as underpinning ecosystems. Benefits to partners RBG, Bundanon Trust and Open Humanities Press will include the digital expansion of audience engagement with the Herbarium at RBG and Mt Annan and communication of collection’s significance.Read moreRead less
Extinction Imaginaries: Mapping Affective Visual Cultures in Australasia. This project aims to provide NGOs with new strategies for raising awareness of environmental change by investigating what animal extinction means to Australians. Australasia has the highest global extinction rates, yet despite the wide circulation of visual images of extinction little is known about how they affect people. The project expects to address this critical gap by bringing innovative methodologies to the analysis ....Extinction Imaginaries: Mapping Affective Visual Cultures in Australasia. This project aims to provide NGOs with new strategies for raising awareness of environmental change by investigating what animal extinction means to Australians. Australasia has the highest global extinction rates, yet despite the wide circulation of visual images of extinction little is known about how they affect people. The project expects to address this critical gap by bringing innovative methodologies to the analysis of public responses to images of extinction and how they affect social imaginaries. Expected outcomes include research translations with environmental NGOs which should provide significant benefits by addressing public concern for the deteriorating ecosystems that future generations will inherit.
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Women marginalised by mental health, disability or refugee status. Women impacted by mental illness, disability or refugee status are among society’s most vulnerable and disenfranchised groups. Such women can experience significant social exclusion, marginalisation and stigma, associated with reduced help seeking, deprivation of dignity and human rights, and threats to health, well-being and quality of life. However, many women demonstrate resilience and agency, associated with positive health o ....Women marginalised by mental health, disability or refugee status. Women impacted by mental illness, disability or refugee status are among society’s most vulnerable and disenfranchised groups. Such women can experience significant social exclusion, marginalisation and stigma, associated with reduced help seeking, deprivation of dignity and human rights, and threats to health, well-being and quality of life. However, many women demonstrate resilience and agency, associated with positive health outcomes. This research will identify how women negotiate stigma and potential marginalisation, to inform health policy, and target interventions for vulnerable women, generating much-needed insight on women’s embodiment of stigma, and strategies used to cope with, negotiate and resist their stigmatised identities. Read moreRead less
Ambitious and Fair: Strategies for a sustainable visual arts sector. This project aims to strengthen the visual art industry’s economic ecosystem. In a context where artists’ incomes are low and falling, commercial galleries are financially vulnerable and public galleries face funding challenges, the project addresses barriers to the sector’s economic health and the challenge of improving artists’ incomes. To address this critical gap, the project will combine an analysis of current value chains ....Ambitious and Fair: Strategies for a sustainable visual arts sector. This project aims to strengthen the visual art industry’s economic ecosystem. In a context where artists’ incomes are low and falling, commercial galleries are financially vulnerable and public galleries face funding challenges, the project addresses barriers to the sector’s economic health and the challenge of improving artists’ incomes. To address this critical gap, the project will combine an analysis of current value chains and emergent forms of economic organisation with qualitative insights into the experiences of artists and arts professionals. It will propose interventions for arts industry and government policy to improve and develop this ecosystem. Benefits include improved incomes for arts workers and a sustainable arts industry.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
Contemporary Australian Comics 1980 – 2020: A New History. This project aims to document, preserve and investigate a new history of Australian comics and graphic novels created 1980 to 2020. This period represents a significant shift in the thematic content and material production of comics. In tracing the development of technologies and communities, this project expects to generate new knowledge about narrative innovations comics use to reflect diverse national identities and cultures in Austra ....Contemporary Australian Comics 1980 – 2020: A New History. This project aims to document, preserve and investigate a new history of Australian comics and graphic novels created 1980 to 2020. This period represents a significant shift in the thematic content and material production of comics. In tracing the development of technologies and communities, this project expects to generate new knowledge about narrative innovations comics use to reflect diverse national identities and cultures in Australian society. By consolidating and providing public access to a wealth of contemporary Australian comics through a website and public programs, this project should feed the future of Australian comics industry and scholarship, providing significant benefit to Australian artists, readers, and the public.Read moreRead less
Empowering Australia’s Visual Arts via Creative Blockchain Opportunities. This project investigates the provision of a blockchain-based solution for protecting the intellectual property and provenance of visual art, and ways to empower its economic, cultural, and social value and benefits. By exploring innovative non-fungible token (NFT) opportunities in a global cyber security context, we will co-design a user-friendly and compliant tool for expanding the creation and movement of art on existin ....Empowering Australia’s Visual Arts via Creative Blockchain Opportunities. This project investigates the provision of a blockchain-based solution for protecting the intellectual property and provenance of visual art, and ways to empower its economic, cultural, and social value and benefits. By exploring innovative non-fungible token (NFT) opportunities in a global cyber security context, we will co-design a user-friendly and compliant tool for expanding the creation and movement of art on existing virtual galleries and smart contract-enabled platforms. Building on interdisciplinary synergies between creative and IT practices, we will interrogate the efficacy, risks and governance surrounding this global technology, and produce vital new knowledge for engaging with risks and opportunities in the digital economy.Read moreRead less
Multi-service assessment of intertidal treatment wetlands. This project aims to investigate the use of constructed intertidal wetlands to reduce nitrogen pollution while providing co-benefits including carbon sequestration and biodiversity. This research will generate a holistic assessment of the services, disservices, and cost-effectiveness of intertidal treatment wetlands compared to traditional wastewater treatment approaches. Expected outcomes include a full-scale multi-disciplinary environm ....Multi-service assessment of intertidal treatment wetlands. This project aims to investigate the use of constructed intertidal wetlands to reduce nitrogen pollution while providing co-benefits including carbon sequestration and biodiversity. This research will generate a holistic assessment of the services, disservices, and cost-effectiveness of intertidal treatment wetlands compared to traditional wastewater treatment approaches. Expected outcomes include a full-scale multi-disciplinary environmental and economic assessment of a constructed treatment wetland in a new urban development, providing industry and government partners the knowledge required to broaden uptake of intertidal wetlands as a cost-effective solution to growing levels of coastal anthropogenic pollution.Read moreRead less
A balancing act: Resolving coastal wetland water, carbon and solute fluxes. Coastal wetlands offer an impressive capacity to regulate the Earth’s climate by altering the way carbon dioxide is extracted from the atmosphere and stored while simultaneously influencing the water cycle, thus providing ecosystem services such as carbon storage, abating flood waters, improving water quality and protecting the coastline from sea level rise. This project aims to address the current gaps in understanding .... A balancing act: Resolving coastal wetland water, carbon and solute fluxes. Coastal wetlands offer an impressive capacity to regulate the Earth’s climate by altering the way carbon dioxide is extracted from the atmosphere and stored while simultaneously influencing the water cycle, thus providing ecosystem services such as carbon storage, abating flood waters, improving water quality and protecting the coastline from sea level rise. This project aims to address the current gaps in understanding the critical exchanges of water and greenhouse gases (GHGs) combining field methodologies and hydrological models, under different climatic conditions. The intended outcomes will benefit management of GHG emissions, coastal flooding and vulnerable groundwater dependent habitats.Read moreRead less
Understanding snow gum dieback for effective and integrated management. The project leverages recent research and infrastructure investments and our determined and collaborative team as it aims to: 1) assess the future geography of snow gum dieback in the high country and identify priority locations for pro-active management, 2) quantify the impact of snow gums on high country water and carbon budgets and thus the socio- economic and biodiversity values, and 3) determine options for mitigation. ....Understanding snow gum dieback for effective and integrated management. The project leverages recent research and infrastructure investments and our determined and collaborative team as it aims to: 1) assess the future geography of snow gum dieback in the high country and identify priority locations for pro-active management, 2) quantify the impact of snow gums on high country water and carbon budgets and thus the socio- economic and biodiversity values, and 3) determine options for mitigation. Dieback of our iconic snow gum forests is diminishing the ecological, hydrological and cultural values of the Australian Alps and will impact state and national water-supply and power-generation systems. Our research will inform Alps-wide management efforts designed for long-term success.Read moreRead less