Breaking free: How organisations become front runners in gender diversity. This project aims to understand why a few exceptional organisations make substantive progress toward gender equality when so many of their competitors fail. Gender equality has social and economic value but despite decades of equal opportunity legislation and investment in gender initiatives, gender inequality persists in organisations all around the world. The project’s case study methodology examines how gender diversi ....Breaking free: How organisations become front runners in gender diversity. This project aims to understand why a few exceptional organisations make substantive progress toward gender equality when so many of their competitors fail. Gender equality has social and economic value but despite decades of equal opportunity legislation and investment in gender initiatives, gender inequality persists in organisations all around the world. The project’s case study methodology examines how gender diversity front runners align their diversity policies and practices with their internal identity and external reputation to produce substantive change. Understanding these dynamic processes will identify strategies that laggard organisations can adopt to make greater progress toward gender equality.Read moreRead less
About time: Climate change adaptation in Australian industries. This project aims to assist the most vulnerable industries in Australia as they adapt to climate change. By investigating the interplay between industry practices and climate impacts, the project proposes to develop a theoretical conceptualization of time. This is significant in addressing the temporal tension between financial short-termism and future climate commitments. The expected outcomes include advancing the scholarly discus ....About time: Climate change adaptation in Australian industries. This project aims to assist the most vulnerable industries in Australia as they adapt to climate change. By investigating the interplay between industry practices and climate impacts, the project proposes to develop a theoretical conceptualization of time. This is significant in addressing the temporal tension between financial short-termism and future climate commitments. The expected outcomes include advancing the scholarly discussion of time and the creation of a practical tool in the form of digital stories that will make sustainable futures actionable. This benefits Australian industries by strengthening their capacity to meet the future challenges of climate change.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL200100133
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,358,494.00
Summary
Activating blue carbon for coastal restoration. Coastal blue carbon describes the carbon stored in soils and biomass of coastal wetlands which has an important function in regulating greenhouse gases. They also provide coastal protection, habitat for biodiversity, fisheries and amelioration of land-based pollution. Coastal wetlands have been degraded globally, reducing their capacity to store carbon and to support coastal communities and their economies. This Fellowship aims to assess how restor ....Activating blue carbon for coastal restoration. Coastal blue carbon describes the carbon stored in soils and biomass of coastal wetlands which has an important function in regulating greenhouse gases. They also provide coastal protection, habitat for biodiversity, fisheries and amelioration of land-based pollution. Coastal wetlands have been degraded globally, reducing their capacity to store carbon and to support coastal communities and their economies. This Fellowship aims to assess how restoration of coastal wetlands influences carbon storage and greenhouse gas fluxes, develop new methodologies and to generate new research capacity to inform coastal wetland management globally. The proposed research is expected to enhance coastal sustainability to the benefit of coastal communities.Read moreRead less
Smashing Glass Walls: Building gender equality in male-dominated jobs. This project investigates gender segregation, which is a remarkably resilient problem in the Australian labour market, despite women's increasing labour force participation and strong educational attainment. It examines this problem with a focus on women’s careers in very male-dominated occupations. In these contexts, women enter in low numbers, find it difficult to progress, and face extremely hostile working environments. ....Smashing Glass Walls: Building gender equality in male-dominated jobs. This project investigates gender segregation, which is a remarkably resilient problem in the Australian labour market, despite women's increasing labour force participation and strong educational attainment. It examines this problem with a focus on women’s careers in very male-dominated occupations. In these contexts, women enter in low numbers, find it difficult to progress, and face extremely hostile working environments. Adopting a career stage, a worker- and industry-engaged, and a comparative design, the project will generate new insight into where and how sustainable careers for women are challenged in these contexts. This knowledge will inform strategies to build gender equality in jobs at the heart of the economy.
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Biological Parameters For Stock Assessments In South Eastern Australia – An Information And Capacity Uplift
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$766,806.00
Summary
South-east Australian waters are recognised as ocean warming hotspots and overall, Australian waters have warmed faster than the global average (Hobday and Pecl 2013, IPCC 2019). Key components of the productivity of marine fish (growth, maturity, and recruitment) are expected to be changing in response to shifts in climate and it is entirely possible that there have been changes in fundamental productivity parameters for Australian stocks. The regularity with which the biological parameters ....South-east Australian waters are recognised as ocean warming hotspots and overall, Australian waters have warmed faster than the global average (Hobday and Pecl 2013, IPCC 2019). Key components of the productivity of marine fish (growth, maturity, and recruitment) are expected to be changing in response to shifts in climate and it is entirely possible that there have been changes in fundamental productivity parameters for Australian stocks. The regularity with which the biological parameters that are used in stock assessments are evaluated and updated varies considerably among the species that are targeted in Commonwealth Fisheries. Assessment of changes in these parameters is limited largely to sensitivity analyses consisting of exploring alternate time-invariant values of natural mortality, maturity and stock recruitment steepness at values close to those used in the base-case assessment and generally agreed upon as within acceptable ranges of values. Recently an evaluation of the provenance of the biological parameters used in stock assessments found that species from the SESSF contained the largest number of parameters where provenance could not be ascertained from the literature and that SESSF species comprised over 50% of those species where biological parameters were determined to be more than 20 years old (FRDC project 2019-010, Evans et al. 2022). When plausible changes to biological parameters (such as those that might occur under environmental change) were explored quite substantial changes in biomass estimates for key target species occurs. This means that parameter mis-specification, such as due to relying on older parameter estimates that encode predator-prey and other ecosystem processes from a system state that has since changed, could be a real issue for assessments in the SESSF. The reliance of current assessments on what is likely to be out-of-date information leads to considerable uncertainty, which cannot be easily quantified that then propagates into management decisions. Without an understanding of changes in biological parameters and how these changes might impact assessments, it is difficult (if not impossible) to evaluate whether current management measures are ensuring sustainability. Overall, the project recommended that updating parameters in stock assessments, modifying base cases, or more heavily drawing on results from sensitivity analysis in discussion of stock assessment results would be strongly advisable, especially in regions where large environmental shifts are known to be occurring, such as the SESSF. The RV Investigator voyages to be conducted in 2023 and 2024 under the CSIRO led SEA-MES project provide a unique opportunity to access relevant biological samples that could be used to update the biological parameters identified in FRDC Project 2019-010 as a high priority (age, growth, reproduction, stock structure and although not directly used in stock assessments themselves but having significant influence on parameters that are used in assessments (such as growth and mortality), diet and food webs). These voyages have a focus on the marine ecosystem that supports the SESSF and a number of the hypotheses being posed by the study are focused on target species within the SESSF and their food webs. This will result in significant sampling of those species , with the co-benefit that there will be new samples available for the contemporary estimation of key biological parameters and evaluation of the representativeness of parameters being used in stock assessments (and with sufficient sample numbers to ensure robust updated estimates). These voyages also provide a unique opportunity to build capacity in at sea sampling, exposure to ecosystem level sampling design and post-voyage biological analyses. By linking post voyage analyses with the direct needs of both stock assessments and ecosystem models used in the SESSF, the project provides opportunities for building deeper understanding of the use of biological parameters in stock assessments, and direct application of fisheries biology.
Objectives: 1. Develop, in collaboration and consultation with key research and fishery stakeholders a series of projects involving postgraduate students and early-mid career researchers that directly address priority areas for updating biological parameters for target species in the SESSF and understanding the implications of changing parameters on the fishery 2. Reduce uncertainties in stock assessments for the SESSF through the updating of biological parameters and understanding of key interactions between and drivers of change in biological parameters 3. Progress methods development associated with ascertaining biological parameters and progressing stock assessments to increase efficiencies, reduce time and financial costs, expand applicability and reduce uncertainties in stock assessments 4. Build fisheries capability across multiple pathways to support the ongoing sustainability of high quality fisheries research Read moreRead less
Planning, Developing And Coordinating National/regional Research, Development And Extension (RD&E) For Australia's Recreational Fishing Community
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$243,805.72
Summary
There is a persisting need to provide for the continued planning and implementation of targeted and effective Research, Development and Extension (RDE) activities that address regional and national priorities for the recreational fishing community. In consultation with the newly established Recreational Fishing Council, the project team plan to implement a robust and inclusive annual process for the identification of regional and national R&D priorities for Australia's recreational fishers. The ....There is a persisting need to provide for the continued planning and implementation of targeted and effective Research, Development and Extension (RDE) activities that address regional and national priorities for the recreational fishing community. In consultation with the newly established Recreational Fishing Council, the project team plan to implement a robust and inclusive annual process for the identification of regional and national R&D priorities for Australia's recreational fishers. The proposed approach will deliver increased complementarity between state/territory and national R&D planning processes. This project will also enable Australia's recreational fishing community to become more engaged in the active management of projects addressing regional and national priorities, and will increase the visibility of R&D activities to a national audience.
This project will address several national RD&E priorities within FRDC's RD&E plan 2010-2015, including assisting the fishing community to understand the vulnerability of fish stocks and ecosystems to climate change (Theme 3), improving knowledge of the biology of target species (Theme 4), assisting development of techniques for incorporating social and economic information from recreational fishers into harvest strategy evaluation systems and enhancing adoption of best practice by rec fishers and understanding of their demographics, motivations, catch and effort (Theme 4), enhancing participation in co-management (Theme 5), and clarifying the rights of recreational fishers, and other stakeholder expectations about resource access and allocation (Theme 6). Objectives: 1. Proactively work with the recreational fishing community to facilitate identification of national and regional RD&E priorities annually, and development of projects to address those priorities. 2. Assist FRDC with management of a portfolio of projects which provide significant flow of benefit to the recreational fishing sector. 3. Continue to be a driver for the extension of R&D results to facilitate desired outcomes. 4. Facilitate co-investment in RD&E which benefits the recreational fishing community nationally. Read moreRead less
Mechanistic responses of phosphorus-limited forests to CO2 enrichment. Carbon dioxide continues to accumulate in the atmosphere, driven by human emissions. The future fate of the global forest carbon sink, which significantly slows CO2 increase in the atmosphere, helping to dampen climate change, remains poorly constrained, hindering mitigation and adaptation planning. A key gap concerns the role of phosphorus, crucial in limiting the productivity of Australian woodlands and tropical forests. Mo ....Mechanistic responses of phosphorus-limited forests to CO2 enrichment. Carbon dioxide continues to accumulate in the atmosphere, driven by human emissions. The future fate of the global forest carbon sink, which significantly slows CO2 increase in the atmosphere, helping to dampen climate change, remains poorly constrained, hindering mitigation and adaptation planning. A key gap concerns the role of phosphorus, crucial in limiting the productivity of Australian woodlands and tropical forests. Model-data fusion based on the results of a crossed CO2 x P experiment in Eucalyptus forest - EucFACE - will help close this vital knowledge gap, and leverage new mechanistic knowledge in a leading global model used for climate and emissions assessment.Read moreRead less
Is climate change altering the carrying capacity of the world’s forests? Planting trees at a global scale has been proposed as a key strategy to reduce global atmospheric CO2 levels. However, changing climatic conditions threaten the ability of forests to be net CO2 absorbers. In a warmer and drier future, forests may not be able to support as many trees. This project aims to identify how climate will alter
forest carrying capacity across millions of hectares of the world’s forests. By combining ....Is climate change altering the carrying capacity of the world’s forests? Planting trees at a global scale has been proposed as a key strategy to reduce global atmospheric CO2 levels. However, changing climatic conditions threaten the ability of forests to be net CO2 absorbers. In a warmer and drier future, forests may not be able to support as many trees. This project aims to identify how climate will alter
forest carrying capacity across millions of hectares of the world’s forests. By combining recent advances in forest modelling with large-scale and long-term forest inventory data, the project will develop a novel framework to forecast forest dynamics under climate change. It will provide specific guidelines to inform global reforestation strategies and foster climate-smart forest management.Read moreRead less