Strategies to reduce risk of heat induced illness during intermittent, high intensity activity in a tropical environment. Regular intermittent, high intensity physical activity (IHIA) affords protection against modern life-style diseases (type II diabetes, coronary heart disease and some cancers) but when conducted in the tropics, exposes persons to the risk of dehydration, heat cramps, hypotension, heat syncope, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Australia has rapid population growth in the tropi ....Strategies to reduce risk of heat induced illness during intermittent, high intensity activity in a tropical environment. Regular intermittent, high intensity physical activity (IHIA) affords protection against modern life-style diseases (type II diabetes, coronary heart disease and some cancers) but when conducted in the tropics, exposes persons to the risk of dehydration, heat cramps, hypotension, heat syncope, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Australia has rapid population growth in the tropics and key sporting fixtures have moved to the region. We have set up the research capability and must now move on a range of IHIA in sport, workplaces, armed and emergency services to provide strategies to reduce the risk of heat induced illness in a tropical environment.Read moreRead less
Empowering Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Girls, Changing Communities. This project applies Indigenous knowledges to develop new understandings and insights in the area of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls’ education. Expected outcomes of the project include: the development of a national framework that supports the education of girls and acknowledges the importance of self-determination, culture, gender and place in creating life changing educational opportunities; addressing Clo ....Empowering Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Girls, Changing Communities. This project applies Indigenous knowledges to develop new understandings and insights in the area of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls’ education. Expected outcomes of the project include: the development of a national framework that supports the education of girls and acknowledges the importance of self-determination, culture, gender and place in creating life changing educational opportunities; addressing Close the Gap targets; and creating broader long lasting positive changes regarding access, participation and success for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. The outcomes of this project can provide significant benefits to the broad Australian schooling system.Read moreRead less
Darwin Harbour corals as environmental data archives and bio-monitors. The forecast rapid population growth and industrial development of the Darwin Harbour catchment necessitates research into novel environmental monitoring techniques to aid the sustainable management of the Harbours resources. This project will develop a powerful and cost-effective bio-monitoring system by using chemical data stored in yearly growth bands of coral skeletons stretching back at least two centuries. Such data wil ....Darwin Harbour corals as environmental data archives and bio-monitors. The forecast rapid population growth and industrial development of the Darwin Harbour catchment necessitates research into novel environmental monitoring techniques to aid the sustainable management of the Harbours resources. This project will develop a powerful and cost-effective bio-monitoring system by using chemical data stored in yearly growth bands of coral skeletons stretching back at least two centuries. Such data will form a comparative baseline against which present and future coral data on pollutants released by urban, industrial and other developments can be assessed.Read moreRead less
Using community engagement and enhanced visual information to promote FireWatch satellite communication as a support for collaborative decision-making. Using continuously updated satellite data, FireWatch will repurpose its professional service for use by the wider public, informing community-based decision-making and action. Communication flows and community decision-making will promote informed action at times of fire stress. Complex visual data will be communicated in clear and compelling way ....Using community engagement and enhanced visual information to promote FireWatch satellite communication as a support for collaborative decision-making. Using continuously updated satellite data, FireWatch will repurpose its professional service for use by the wider public, informing community-based decision-making and action. Communication flows and community decision-making will promote informed action at times of fire stress. Complex visual data will be communicated in clear and compelling ways.Read moreRead less
ABRA: improving foundational literacy through technology in regional and remote schools through a randomized controlled trial. Education outcomes in regional and remote Australia, particularly for Indigenous students, are worsening, to the point of constituting a national crisis. Skilled educators are not consistently available in sufficient numbers to arrest this trend in the early years by giving the intensive, continuous expert instruction required. Under limited pilot conditions, a web-base ....ABRA: improving foundational literacy through technology in regional and remote schools through a randomized controlled trial. Education outcomes in regional and remote Australia, particularly for Indigenous students, are worsening, to the point of constituting a national crisis. Skilled educators are not consistently available in sufficient numbers to arrest this trend in the early years by giving the intensive, continuous expert instruction required. Under limited pilot conditions, a web-based instructional tool known as ABRACADABRA has shown considerable promise as a means of conferring the foundational skills in literacy for emerging learners, despite high workforce turnover. Testing the effectiveness of ABRACADABRA under more stringent experimental conditions is an essential precursor to offering tested solutions based on evidence, not advocacy.Read moreRead less
Microbiology of a tropical creek impacted by sewage effluent: novel assessment using N-cycle functional markers and changes in community composition. Although most of Darwin Harbour has good water quality, there is much concern about local 'hot spots' where sewage has degraded ecosystem processes and values. As no bio-indicators of tropical marine water and sediment quality are known, the project will identify functional markers and microbial indicators of stress for integrated environmental mo ....Microbiology of a tropical creek impacted by sewage effluent: novel assessment using N-cycle functional markers and changes in community composition. Although most of Darwin Harbour has good water quality, there is much concern about local 'hot spots' where sewage has degraded ecosystem processes and values. As no bio-indicators of tropical marine water and sediment quality are known, the project will identify functional markers and microbial indicators of stress for integrated environmental monitoring.Read moreRead less
Automated groundwater level mapping: a tool for catchment scale estimation of aquifer storage changes, fluxes and hydrogeological properties. Cutting-edge groundwater mapping tools will be developed by this project and made freely available. Water table maps will be derived for Victoria and used to quantify aquifer properties, recharge and the groundwater balance. Fundamental limitations to quantitative groundwater management will be overcome and the Bureau of Meteorology intend to adopt the fin ....Automated groundwater level mapping: a tool for catchment scale estimation of aquifer storage changes, fluxes and hydrogeological properties. Cutting-edge groundwater mapping tools will be developed by this project and made freely available. Water table maps will be derived for Victoria and used to quantify aquifer properties, recharge and the groundwater balance. Fundamental limitations to quantitative groundwater management will be overcome and the Bureau of Meteorology intend to adopt the findings.Read moreRead less
Sustaining intensive agriculture through droughts and floods. This project aims to develop state-of-the-art conceptual and numerical models of river-soil-groundwater interactions to address complex and persistent questions on water sustainability in the Lower Burdekin Delta, Queensland, where groundwater pumping to irrigate sugarcane has been supplemented by artificial recharge for over 50 years. This project expects to deliver new knowledge of critical aquifer processes to inform the scheme ope ....Sustaining intensive agriculture through droughts and floods. This project aims to develop state-of-the-art conceptual and numerical models of river-soil-groundwater interactions to address complex and persistent questions on water sustainability in the Lower Burdekin Delta, Queensland, where groundwater pumping to irrigate sugarcane has been supplemented by artificial recharge for over 50 years. This project expects to deliver new knowledge of critical aquifer processes to inform the scheme operation, the largest in the country. Expected outcomes include ground-breaking management plans for the aquifer-replenishment scheme. Anticipated benefits involve balancing the needs of agriculture and the protection of pristine environments, including groundwater discharge to the Great Barrier Reef.
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Threats to the water quality and ecosystem of Coffin Bay, South Australia. Coffin Bay (South Australia) is experiencing worsening environmental conditions despite its major economic and ecological importance. Research is needed to understand the cause of this decline, particularly in light of a recent bacterial outbreak that impacted the aquaculture industry. This multidisciplinary project aims to deliver world-leading scientific advice based on novel field techniques and innovative models of th ....Threats to the water quality and ecosystem of Coffin Bay, South Australia. Coffin Bay (South Australia) is experiencing worsening environmental conditions despite its major economic and ecological importance. Research is needed to understand the cause of this decline, particularly in light of a recent bacterial outbreak that impacted the aquaculture industry. This multidisciplinary project aims to deliver world-leading scientific advice based on novel field techniques and innovative models of this complex inverse estuary system and its surrounding catchment. The new understanding of the sources, fluxes and fate of nutrients within the bay and the surrounding catchment, arising from this project, is expected to benefit management decision-making and establish a new standard in estuarine water quality investigation.Read moreRead less
Hydrogeological drivers and fate of spring flow in a semi-arid setting. In arid and semi-arid climates, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems often rely on groundwater springs. Spring hydrology depends on complex relationships between underlying aquifers and surface conditions, leading to high uncertainties in understanding aquifer-spring-wetland hydrology, which is critical for spring ecosystem protection and to inform management of relevant groundwater-affecting activities. This project will appl ....Hydrogeological drivers and fate of spring flow in a semi-arid setting. In arid and semi-arid climates, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems often rely on groundwater springs. Spring hydrology depends on complex relationships between underlying aquifers and surface conditions, leading to high uncertainties in understanding aquifer-spring-wetland hydrology, which is critical for spring ecosystem protection and to inform management of relevant groundwater-affecting activities. This project will apply novel hydrogeophysical and hydrochemical methods, and computer modelling, to investigate the source aquifer of, and fate of discharge from the Doongmabulla Springs Complex (DSC), located in an area of future development. Project results will inform spring vulnerability to development pressures and climate effects.Read moreRead less