East Australian climate extremes through the Holocene. The project aims to document climate variability in eastern Australia over the Holocene, the last 11,500 years. It seeks to develop Australia’s two highest-resolution Holocene climate records using novel techniques to infer past rainfall, temperature and evaporation. The project will combine the expertise of international drought and climate specialists with novel techniques developed by the Australian investigators to derive an unparalleled ....East Australian climate extremes through the Holocene. The project aims to document climate variability in eastern Australia over the Holocene, the last 11,500 years. It seeks to develop Australia’s two highest-resolution Holocene climate records using novel techniques to infer past rainfall, temperature and evaporation. The project will combine the expertise of international drought and climate specialists with novel techniques developed by the Australian investigators to derive an unparalleled record of drought duration, frequency and intensity. In particular, the project aims to determine the frequency, duration and causes of mega-droughts in eastern Australia, of which little is known. Expected project outcomes include improved decision making capacity for natural resource management, and planning.Read moreRead less
Capacitating student aspirations in classrooms and communities in a high poverty region. This project studies the aspirations of students in a disadvantaged area, as cultural resources for completing school, accessing higher education and realising desirable futures. It will produce new concepts and research methods for increasing social equity by working closely with students and families, and making links between schools and communities.
Transitioning to a water-secure future in the Basin. Increased water scarcity threatens the viability of the Murray-Darling Basin. There has been little analysis conducted of the consequences of water market impediments. The economic dimensions of trade impediments, water management, water market intervention and the net social benefits of water markets are at the core of this project. In particular, this project aims to explore: the impact of impediments and policy in water markets; how further ....Transitioning to a water-secure future in the Basin. Increased water scarcity threatens the viability of the Murray-Darling Basin. There has been little analysis conducted of the consequences of water market impediments. The economic dimensions of trade impediments, water management, water market intervention and the net social benefits of water markets are at the core of this project. In particular, this project aims to explore: the impact of impediments and policy in water markets; how further water market products may increase water market efficiency; and, the nature and sources of transactions costs in markets. Benefits from this project will enhance resilience and adaptation of irrigators to future climate change and water shortages, as well as providing future policy guidance.Read moreRead less
Human identification, ancient DNA and genomics. This project aims to develop and apply a novel targeted sequence capture and high throughput DNA sequencing approach to simultaneously type thousands of informative identity, ancestry and phenotype markers in a single assay to facilitate identification of unknown suspects and missing persons. DNA based human identification is both critical and central to criminal and coronial investigations, disaster-victim and missing persons identification, repat ....Human identification, ancient DNA and genomics. This project aims to develop and apply a novel targeted sequence capture and high throughput DNA sequencing approach to simultaneously type thousands of informative identity, ancestry and phenotype markers in a single assay to facilitate identification of unknown suspects and missing persons. DNA based human identification is both critical and central to criminal and coronial investigations, disaster-victim and missing persons identification, repatriation of war dead and counter-terrorism operations. Persistent technological and conceptual issues associated with the application of standard procedures to trace degraded DNA, or when profiles have no match in DNA databases, limit their application to real-world human identification problems.Read moreRead less
Parent involvement goes online: New ecologies of school-home relations. This project aims to: identify forms of digital exclusion and inclusion impacting on parents’ ability to support their children’s education; produce a new conceptual model of technologically mediated school-home relationships; and provide a comprehensive map of school-home connected digital tools and services. Combining a detailed survey of 500 school leaders with innovative networked case studies across three schools and 18 ....Parent involvement goes online: New ecologies of school-home relations. This project aims to: identify forms of digital exclusion and inclusion impacting on parents’ ability to support their children’s education; produce a new conceptual model of technologically mediated school-home relationships; and provide a comprehensive map of school-home connected digital tools and services. Combining a detailed survey of 500 school leaders with innovative networked case studies across three schools and 18 families, this will be the first national study to comprehensively describe and analyse home-school partnerships in the digital age. It will provide policy and educational leadership with a roadmap for addressing barriers to digital inclusion, as schools advance their integration of digital platforms. Read moreRead less
Delivering robust hydrological predictions for Australia’s water challenges. This project aims to build a virtual hydrological laboratory to identify the best hydrological models that maximise predictive performance in a range of catchments, accounting for their dominant hydrological processes and data availability. New process-informed hydrological model structures will be developed using this virtual laboratory to embody our best understanding of hydrological processes and data from real catch ....Delivering robust hydrological predictions for Australia’s water challenges. This project aims to build a virtual hydrological laboratory to identify the best hydrological models that maximise predictive performance in a range of catchments, accounting for their dominant hydrological processes and data availability. New process-informed hydrological model structures will be developed using this virtual laboratory to embody our best understanding of hydrological processes and data from real catchments. The expected outcomes include major improvements in hydrological predictions for Australian catchments. This project will provide major benefits to irrigators, water authorities and engineers, who rely on hydrological predictions for sustainable water management in the highly-variable, semi-arid Australian climate.Read moreRead less
Impacts of changing water ownership and reforms on Australian water markets. Water markets play a critical role in helping Australia’s food bowl survive periods of severe drought. This project aims to evaluate how the Murray-Darling Basin water markets performed, in terms of the impact of water ownership, and investigate how water reforms have affected rural communities over the past two decades. Expected outcomes include a clearer understanding on how different water ownership structures impact ....Impacts of changing water ownership and reforms on Australian water markets. Water markets play a critical role in helping Australia’s food bowl survive periods of severe drought. This project aims to evaluate how the Murray-Darling Basin water markets performed, in terms of the impact of water ownership, and investigate how water reforms have affected rural communities over the past two decades. Expected outcomes include a clearer understanding on how different water ownership structures impact price and price volatility of water, market power, economic welfare of water traders, and what social and economic impacts water reforms in the past decades have in the Basin. The findings will provide critical evidence for evaluating future water reforms, building resilient rural communities and safeguarding food security.Read moreRead less
Robust streamflow predictions by improving the identification of hydrological model structure. This project aims to provide Australian environmental agencies, design engineers and policy-makers with robust methods that better utilise observed environmental data and process understanding to produce hydrological models with stronger scientific basis and improved operational predictive ability in gauged and ungauged catchments.
Insights into macroevolution using a model adaptive radiation of lizards (Lerista). Australia has arguably the greatest diversity of lizards in the world. This research will investigate how this diversity arose, using Lerista, a radiation of skinks with over 80 species spanning fully limbed to totally legless forms. We will investigate how development, geographic distribution and morphological features have influenced the evolutionary diversification of Lerista. We will also map the biodivers ....Insights into macroevolution using a model adaptive radiation of lizards (Lerista). Australia has arguably the greatest diversity of lizards in the world. This research will investigate how this diversity arose, using Lerista, a radiation of skinks with over 80 species spanning fully limbed to totally legless forms. We will investigate how development, geographic distribution and morphological features have influenced the evolutionary diversification of Lerista. We will also map the biodiversity of Lerista across Australia using (and thus testing) several alternative methods of quantifying biodiversity. Such knowledge is important as many hotspots of Lerista diversity are coming under increasing human pressure (e.g. mid-coast of WA), and many species have very localised ranges.Read moreRead less
Redesigning Landcare policy to better coordinate across landholders. This project aims to study how landscape-sensitive economic incentives and social norms can be leveraged to enhance the short- and long-term effectiveness of conservation programs. It will yield new knowledge for innovative designs in conservation contracting that is urgently needed to address worsening environmental threats in Australia and worldwide. In collaboration with Nobel laureate Vernon Smith’s team, new methods and pr ....Redesigning Landcare policy to better coordinate across landholders. This project aims to study how landscape-sensitive economic incentives and social norms can be leveraged to enhance the short- and long-term effectiveness of conservation programs. It will yield new knowledge for innovative designs in conservation contracting that is urgently needed to address worsening environmental threats in Australia and worldwide. In collaboration with Nobel laureate Vernon Smith’s team, new methods and protocols will improve our ability to generate better data and better understand how social and incentive mechanisms can constructively interact to facilitate collaborative environmental action. Results will help make the achievement of environmental targets and the use of public funds more cost-effective. Read moreRead less