ORCID Profile
0000-0002-8118-845X
Current Organisations
Australian National University
,
UNSW Sydney
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Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 21-05-2020
Publisher: Springer Singapore
Date: 10-12-2022
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Date: 02-2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-07-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S00127-023-02519-8
Abstract: As environmental disasters become more common and severe due to climate change, there is a growing need for strategies to bolster recovery that are proactive, cost-effective, and which mobilise community resources. We propose that building social group connections is a particularly promising strategy for supporting mental health in communities affected by environmental disasters. We tested the social identity model of identity change in a disaster context among 627 people substantially affected by the 2019–2020 Australian fires. We found high levels of post-traumatic stress, strongly related to severity of disaster exposure, but also evidence of psychological resilience. Distress and resilience were weakly positively correlated. Having stronger social group connections pre-disaster was associated with less distress and more resilience 12–18 months after the disaster, via three pathways: greater social identification with the disaster-affected community, greater continuity of social group ties, and greater formation of new social group ties. New group ties were a mixed blessing, positively predicting both resilience and distress. We conclude that investment in social resources is key to supporting mental health outcomes, not just reactively in the aftermath of disasters, but also proactively in communities most at risk.
Publisher: International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE)
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.2749/VANCOUVER.2017.1863
Abstract: Pultruded glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) is a strong, light, and durable material that is very well suited to modular structural forms. The replacement of aged and deteriorated small footbridges is an ideal use for such structures. However, GFRP has low stiffness this and the typical low mass of GFRP structures, mean that they can be susceptible to human-induced vibration. Further, the vibration design rules for footbridges have evolved over the years from experience with steel and concrete structural forms. Consequently there is a need to investigate the suitability of GFRP footbridges and the applicability of current design rules. A team at Monash University has recently constructed a 9 m long orthotropic deck pultruded bonded GFRP footbridge to investigate these issues. Extensive material testing and full-scale structure testing has been carried out to establish the overall structural behaviour accurately. This paper explains the design and construction of the footbridge, and reports the results of the static performance assessments. Bond performance, shear lag, and deck-beam composite action are all examined under uniform load and four-point bending tests. This paper also reports the results of extensive experimental modal testing and numerical modelling of the structure. Further, a novel sequence of human walking trials has been performed to assess the vibration performance under real loading conditions. The modelling of human-induced vibration and the response of the structure is also considered in this work. The results will assist in developing improved guidelines for the design and construction of such structures.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 06-2023
DOI: 10.1177/00048674231175618
Abstract: We assessed the mental health effects of Australia’s 2019–2020 bushfires 12–18 months later, predicting psychological distress and positive psychological outcomes from bushfire exposure and a range of demographic variables, and seeking insights to enhance disaster preparedness and resilience planning for different profiles of people. We surveyed 3083 bushfire-affected and non-affected Australian residents about their experiences of bushfire, COVID-19, psychological distress (depression, anxiety, stress, post-traumatic stress disorder) and positive psychological outcomes (resilient coping, wellbeing). We found high rates of distress across all participants, exacerbated by severity of bushfire exposure. For people who were bushfire-affected, being older, having less financial stress, and having no or fewer pre-existing mental disorders predicted both lower distress and higher positive outcomes. Being male or having less income loss also predicted positive outcomes. Severity of exposure, higher education and higher COVID-19-related stressors predicted both higher distress and higher positive outcomes. Pre-existing physical health diagnosis and previous bushfire experience did not significantly predict distress or positive outcomes. To promote disaster resilience, we recommend investment in mental health, particularly for younger adults and for those in rural and remote areas. We also recommend investment in mechanisms to protect against financial distress and the development of a broader definition of bushfire-related impacts than is currently used to capture brushfires’ far-reaching effects.
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Date: 06-2020
Abstract: Following mass demonstrations in response to the country’s 2008 economic collapse, a dynamic civil society has emerged in Iceland focused on democratic reform through rewriting the constitution. This article demonstrates how, in the absence of the new constitution that was promised by the government, protesters are pursuing an unfinished project of reform by holding small, routinized protests founded on an ethic of empathic solidarity (samkennd). By exploring the aesthetic elements of these meetings, I argue that the protest site is being used to highlight and condemn ongoing government transgression while also providing a space to prefigure a future free of political corruption. To this end, explicit signage is shown to be reshaping political discourse while also extending (and denying) kin bonds between protesters.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 2020
DOI: 10.3390/REL11010022
Abstract: This article explores the politics of belonging in Iceland in the context of an ethico-political project focused around increased transparency following the country’s 2008 banking collapse. By employing literature on autochthony (i.e., a return to, and interpretation of, “the local”), it examines the tensions that are reignited within and between nation-states during economic crisis. Through ethnography with ordinary Icelanders and the members of two protest movements, this research shows how Icelanders are cultivating a public voice to navigate the political constraints of crisis and reshaping Icelanders’ international identity from below in the wake of the collapse. To this end, the article accounts for the role of populist politics in re-embedding Iceland into the European social imaginary as an economically responsible and egalitarian nation. It then turns to highlight the push for meaningful democratic reform through collaborative, legislative exchange between the government and the people that resulted in a new—if not actually implemented—constitution. By exploring protest culture in Iceland, the article highlights the importance of public witnessing and empathic solidarity in building intercultural relations in an era of globalized finance and politics.
Location: Australia
No related grants have been discovered for Timothy Heffernan.