Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0560895
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$854,354.00
Summary
A new-generation gas-source radiocarbon system for integrated environmental and archaeological research. An ultra-sensitive radiocarbon analysis system, proposed here, is central to new, multi-institution research into past fluctuations of Australia's climate, natural resources and ecosystems. Focussed on the 40,000 years of human presence, the research is an integrated approach to changes of earth systems in the Australian region.The equipment is a single-stage accelerator mass spectrometer (SS ....A new-generation gas-source radiocarbon system for integrated environmental and archaeological research. An ultra-sensitive radiocarbon analysis system, proposed here, is central to new, multi-institution research into past fluctuations of Australia's climate, natural resources and ecosystems. Focussed on the 40,000 years of human presence, the research is an integrated approach to changes of earth systems in the Australian region.The equipment is a single-stage accelerator mass spectrometer (SSAMS) with an innovative gas-fed ion source and automated gas-handling system, with simpler processing and smaller samples than present AMS facilities. Future developments include automated multi-sample handling and coupling to microprobe and chromatographic analysers for microscale radiocarbon analysis of complex substances.Read moreRead less
Australian savannah landscapes: past, present and future. Australian savannahs are productive and culturally and biologically significant landscapes but are vulnerable to climate change. The project will determine savannah function (carbon and water balance) for the present and assess how sensitive they have been to past climate variability. The project will then address how they may respond to future climate change.
Either side of the Big Wet: the future resilience of south-eastern Australia's biota. Australia must develop strategies for managing its biodiversity under climate changes expected to occur under projected Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emission scenarios. The project will furnish comprehensive data on the response of plants and animals to the break in the Big Dry (1997-2009) in 2010-11 and evaluate how predict biotic components will cope with future climates.
The invisible farmer: Securing Australian farm women's history. The invisible farmer: Securing Australian farm women's history. This project, believed to be the first national study of farm women in Australia, aims to address their historical and contemporary invisibility by creating an online, publicly accessible, multimedia documentary database that maps the role women play/played in Australian agriculture. Chief investigators in the fields of social work, women's history, cultural informatics ....The invisible farmer: Securing Australian farm women's history. The invisible farmer: Securing Australian farm women's history. This project, believed to be the first national study of farm women in Australia, aims to address their historical and contemporary invisibility by creating an online, publicly accessible, multimedia documentary database that maps the role women play/played in Australian agriculture. Chief investigators in the fields of social work, women's history, cultural informatics and archival practice will collaborate with community, government and cultural organisations to create digital tools for research, public access and community engagement. Reframing the narrative of rural Australia is expected to create greater understanding and awareness of the value of inclusion, reveal structures of gender inequality in rural communities, and enable significant outcomes in research, industry and public policy.Read moreRead less
Predicting the diagnostic performance of individuals and organisations. Predicting the diagnostic performance of individuals and organisations. This project aims to address diagnostic error in advanced technology systems, by providing a mechanism to assess and improve individual diagnosticians’ performance. Organisations that rely on their employees’ diagnostic skills rarely assess them once the operators become qualified, so there is no basis for interventions that might prevent diagnostic erro ....Predicting the diagnostic performance of individuals and organisations. Predicting the diagnostic performance of individuals and organisations. This project aims to address diagnostic error in advanced technology systems, by providing a mechanism to assess and improve individual diagnosticians’ performance. Organisations that rely on their employees’ diagnostic skills rarely assess them once the operators become qualified, so there is no basis for interventions that might prevent diagnostic errors affecting thousands. This research tests a new method of assessing diagnostic skills based on how skilled operators respond to cues. This project will test how employees’ diagnostic skills change and whether this change corresponds to measures of organisational performance. This research is expected to provide organisations with a tool to pre-empt diagnostic errors that could minimise costs to the economy.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE180100053
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$358,031.00
Summary
A national facility for the analysis of pyrogenic carbon. This project aims to develop a national facility for pyrogenic carbon analysis. Pyrogenic carbon is a poorly constrained, slow-cycling terrestrial carbon pool with significant carbon sequestration potential. The project expects to expand the newly developed hydrogen pyrolysis analytical capability to provide high throughput, robust measurement of the abundance and isotope composition of pyrogenic carbon in soils and sediments. This will p ....A national facility for the analysis of pyrogenic carbon. This project aims to develop a national facility for pyrogenic carbon analysis. Pyrogenic carbon is a poorly constrained, slow-cycling terrestrial carbon pool with significant carbon sequestration potential. The project expects to expand the newly developed hydrogen pyrolysis analytical capability to provide high throughput, robust measurement of the abundance and isotope composition of pyrogenic carbon in soils and sediments. This will provide significant benefit, such as the ability to make significant advances in areas as diverse as geochronology, archaeology, palaeoecology, soil science geomorphology and carbon cycle/sequestration science.Read moreRead less
Are evolutionary refugia traps for endemic species? This project aims to determine whether species that have small geographic ranges and which live in historically stable refugia have evolved narrow climatic tolerances. The project will compare such species with more widespread, related species living in the same areas and combine field- and lab-based estimates of physiological tolerances with genomic estimates of population history and diversity. The expected outcome is to test the prediction f ....Are evolutionary refugia traps for endemic species? This project aims to determine whether species that have small geographic ranges and which live in historically stable refugia have evolved narrow climatic tolerances. The project will compare such species with more widespread, related species living in the same areas and combine field- and lab-based estimates of physiological tolerances with genomic estimates of population history and diversity. The expected outcome is to test the prediction from evolutionary theory that small-range, refugial species are intrinsically more sensitive to climatic change. The project expects to provide improved guidance for ecological management of biodiversity hotspots.Read moreRead less
Demographic consequences of Asian disasters: family dynamics, social capital and migration patterns. This study of the long term demographic consequences of Asian disasters will contribute to development of more effective governmental policies on disaster mitigation, preparedness and reconstruction/recovery, thus assisting to reduce the human and material losses from natural disasters.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE130100159
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$160,000.00
Summary
Mobile Australian field isotope alliance. This project will enable a quantum leap in capacity to undertake, real-time, field-based studies of environmental processes using the natural isotope tracers of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. This will enable the project to address a range of fundamental research questions in climate change, water resources, ecology and human impact in tropical Australia.
Reducing Prolonged Workplace Sitting Time In Office Workers: A Cluster-randomised Controlled Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$524,613.00
Summary
Groundbreaking Australian research shows that sitting for too long, which is routine for most office workers, contributes to overweight and to a greater risk of developing diabetes and heart disease. In over 300 desk-bound office workers, this world-first study will assess the effectiveness of an innovative workplace program aimed at reducing and breaking up sitting time. It will identify practical ways for Australian office workers to minimise unhealthy effects of sitting too much at work.