Investigating memory reliability in intoxicated witnesses of crime. Eyewitness testimony is a crucial piece of evidence for solving a crime. Inaccurate testimony leads to miscarriages of justice such as failed prosecutions or false convictions. Many witnesses and victims are affected by alcohol or other drugs during the crime. This project brings together a multidisciplinary team aiming to improve understanding of how intoxication with different substances affects the reliability of victim and w ....Investigating memory reliability in intoxicated witnesses of crime. Eyewitness testimony is a crucial piece of evidence for solving a crime. Inaccurate testimony leads to miscarriages of justice such as failed prosecutions or false convictions. Many witnesses and victims are affected by alcohol or other drugs during the crime. This project brings together a multidisciplinary team aiming to improve understanding of how intoxication with different substances affects the reliability of victim and witness memory accuracy. Crucially, crimes are frequently distressing; therefore the interaction between intoxication and stress urgently requires exploration. This project will significantly advance our understanding of key mechanisms behind drug effects on memory, and support fairer judicial outcomes for all. Read moreRead less
Economic analysis of child maltreatment and child protection. This project aims to investigate the economic causes and consequences of child maltreatment. It expects to generate new knowledge by applying microeconometric methods to large Australian administrative databases that track children’s health, education and welfare receipt over time. The expected outcomes of this project include an expanded knowledge base on how economic shocks affect maltreatment, the economic consequences of placing c ....Economic analysis of child maltreatment and child protection. This project aims to investigate the economic causes and consequences of child maltreatment. It expects to generate new knowledge by applying microeconometric methods to large Australian administrative databases that track children’s health, education and welfare receipt over time. The expected outcomes of this project include an expanded knowledge base on how economic shocks affect maltreatment, the economic consequences of placing children in out-of-home care, and the value of economic policies for reducing the intergenerational transmission of maltreatment. This should provide significant benefits, such as providing practical evidence to policy makers and service providers that help prevent child maltreatment and reduce its harms.Read moreRead less
Developing a national rural volunteering roadmap. This project aims to investigate the challenges affecting rural volunteering in Australia. Conducting a national analysis of volunteering demand and supply, this project expects to generate new interdisciplinary knowledge of the structural, demographic, organisational and personal factors affecting the sustainability of rural volunteering. Expected outcomes of this project include a world-first index of volunteering vulnerabilities and a spatial ....Developing a national rural volunteering roadmap. This project aims to investigate the challenges affecting rural volunteering in Australia. Conducting a national analysis of volunteering demand and supply, this project expects to generate new interdisciplinary knowledge of the structural, demographic, organisational and personal factors affecting the sustainability of rural volunteering. Expected outcomes of this project include a world-first index of volunteering vulnerabilities and a spatial map of volunteering unevenness, leading to the development of an evidence-based National Rural Volunteering Roadmap (2025-2035), which will guide our volunteering peak body partners, governments and rural communities to plan for and support rural volunteering over the longer-term.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100381
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$444,000.00
Summary
Facilitating detection of new psychoactive substances in wastewater. This project aims to develop and apply novel analytical methods for detecting new psychoactive substances (NPS) in wastewater. NPS are a dynamic, complex addition to the illicit drug market, and a persistent analytical challenge for wastewater analysis. This project expects to fill the current knowledge gap in detection and identification of these substances in wastewater. This will provide substantial benefits both to Australi ....Facilitating detection of new psychoactive substances in wastewater. This project aims to develop and apply novel analytical methods for detecting new psychoactive substances (NPS) in wastewater. NPS are a dynamic, complex addition to the illicit drug market, and a persistent analytical challenge for wastewater analysis. This project expects to fill the current knowledge gap in detection and identification of these substances in wastewater. This will provide substantial benefits both to Australia and internationally by aiding development of early warning drug monitoring systems, providing the rapid deployment of interventions to reduce drug-related harm in the local community, while facilitating law and government agencies to better direct resources.Read moreRead less
Understanding third hand exposure of Australian people to methamphetamine. In Australia, there is high community concern around inadvertent exposure to methamphetamine residues in contaminated houses. In this proposal, an interdisciplinary research team aim to engage with public health authorities and public housing industry to conduct collaborative research on total exposure to methamphetamine in contaminated indoor environments. The project will assess exposure pathways (via air, dust, surface ....Understanding third hand exposure of Australian people to methamphetamine. In Australia, there is high community concern around inadvertent exposure to methamphetamine residues in contaminated houses. In this proposal, an interdisciplinary research team aim to engage with public health authorities and public housing industry to conduct collaborative research on total exposure to methamphetamine in contaminated indoor environments. The project will assess exposure pathways (via air, dust, surfaces) and link them with methamphetamine levels in samples from occupants (urine, hair). The project is expected to significantly enhance our understanding of how third hand exposure leads to internal exposure in humans. This knowledge provides evidence for policies on residential indoor exposures and remediation strategies.Read moreRead less
Families with multiple and complex needs: refocusing on early intervention. Families with multiple and complex needs have been determined to be a priority group in Australia (National Child Protection Framework 2021-31). This study will fill the evidence gap by determining the typologies of families with multiple and complex needs and child protection involvement who face intersecting risk factors (e.g. family violence, mental health, intergenerational trauma, alcohol/drug use, justice involveme ....Families with multiple and complex needs: refocusing on early intervention. Families with multiple and complex needs have been determined to be a priority group in Australia (National Child Protection Framework 2021-31). This study will fill the evidence gap by determining the typologies of families with multiple and complex needs and child protection involvement who face intersecting risk factors (e.g. family violence, mental health, intergenerational trauma, alcohol/drug use, justice involvement, disability, poverty and housing insecurity). Intergenerational (child and parent) linked data in three states will be utilised to investigate these families longitudinal trajectories of system involvement and to identify opportunities for enhanced prevention, points of early intervention and service planning. Read moreRead less
The Macroderma initiative: conserving ghost bats and informing development. This project aims to improve methods for capturing biological information required for environmental assessments of highly mobile species and enable strategic environmental planning in Northern Australia. Using Australia’s iconic ghost bat as a focus, the project will test and apply emerging technologies to obtain key information on a species’ population status and its critical resources to inform assessments of ecologic ....The Macroderma initiative: conserving ghost bats and informing development. This project aims to improve methods for capturing biological information required for environmental assessments of highly mobile species and enable strategic environmental planning in Northern Australia. Using Australia’s iconic ghost bat as a focus, the project will test and apply emerging technologies to obtain key information on a species’ population status and its critical resources to inform assessments of ecological impacts of industry development. Important benefits of the project include information and tools for streamlining development approvals and accurately assessing risks to threatened species to improve outcomes for both our economy and our natural environment.Read moreRead less
Estimating use of tobacco and nicotine products through wastewater analysis. This project aims to equip the Australian public health and security sector with a tool to accurately measure tobacco consumption in the general population. Specific human biomarkers in urine will be identified using non-target approaches and their pharmacokinetics quantified. The new data will address critical gaps in our knowledge on the population-level excretion of biomarkers for the consumption of tobacco and alter ....Estimating use of tobacco and nicotine products through wastewater analysis. This project aims to equip the Australian public health and security sector with a tool to accurately measure tobacco consumption in the general population. Specific human biomarkers in urine will be identified using non-target approaches and their pharmacokinetics quantified. The new data will address critical gaps in our knowledge on the population-level excretion of biomarkers for the consumption of tobacco and alternative nicotine products. The outcomes of this project will provide reliable, cost-effective estimates of tobacco consumption for use with wastewater-based epidemiology assessments. This will enable changes in tobacco use to be accurately evaluated for the first time and improve the efficacy of tobacco control measures.Read moreRead less
Light driven degradation of persistent organic pollutants. This project aims to address the accumulation of pollutants in our environment by developing and optimising materials that utilise light energy to breakdown these persistent chemicals. Combining novel techniques and approaches, this project expects to generate new knowledge in the field of materials science and photochemistry. The anticipated outcomes of this project include an advancement of environmental remediation methods and the cap ....Light driven degradation of persistent organic pollutants. This project aims to address the accumulation of pollutants in our environment by developing and optimising materials that utilise light energy to breakdown these persistent chemicals. Combining novel techniques and approaches, this project expects to generate new knowledge in the field of materials science and photochemistry. The anticipated outcomes of this project include an advancement of environmental remediation methods and the capture of pollutants at their source. This should provide significant benefits to both humans and the environment through preventing the adverse impacts of pollutant exposure.Read moreRead less
Multiscale physics for enhanced oil recovery. The project aims to develop a multiscale mathematical and laboratory modelling methodology for combined enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and CO2 storage, and synthesise the technology for Santos’s Mulberry oilfield as a test case. The multidisciplinary team will develop advanced reservoir- and laboratory-scale mathematical models and novel laboratory methods to enhance the reliability of modern EOR and CO2 storage and increase its uptake by companies in A ....Multiscale physics for enhanced oil recovery. The project aims to develop a multiscale mathematical and laboratory modelling methodology for combined enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and CO2 storage, and synthesise the technology for Santos’s Mulberry oilfield as a test case. The multidisciplinary team will develop advanced reservoir- and laboratory-scale mathematical models and novel laboratory methods to enhance the reliability of modern EOR and CO2 storage and increase its uptake by companies in Australia and globally. The expected outcomes are a pioneering methodology with environmental benefits without additional drilling and reduction of greenhouse effect, and economic benefit to the Australian oil industry through increases in productivity.Read moreRead less