Designing Human Resource Practices that Promote the Retention of Volunteers. This project aims to examine the effects of human resources practices on the attraction and retention of high-quality volunteers. Volunteers provide essential health and educational services to the Australian population, which makes it important for non-profit organisations to develop effective human resource practices that attract and retain the best people. However, non-profit organisations often struggle to attract a ....Designing Human Resource Practices that Promote the Retention of Volunteers. This project aims to examine the effects of human resources practices on the attraction and retention of high-quality volunteers. Volunteers provide essential health and educational services to the Australian population, which makes it important for non-profit organisations to develop effective human resource practices that attract and retain the best people. However, non-profit organisations often struggle to attract and retain a sufficient number of volunteers. This project will examine the effects of three human resource practices on the thriving and organisational attachment of volunteers using theories of motivation and retention. This knowledge is intended to help governments and non-profit organisations improve on policies and procedures to manage Australia’s volunteer workforce sustainably.Read moreRead less
Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. This project aims to develop indices that link change in invertebrate communities to specific environmental stressors, and combine these indices with innovative, low cost molecular approaches to species identification to rapidly identify the causes of decline. River health assessment methods, usually based on aquatic invertebrates, identify if rivers are impaire ....Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. This project aims to develop indices that link change in invertebrate communities to specific environmental stressors, and combine these indices with innovative, low cost molecular approaches to species identification to rapidly identify the causes of decline. River health assessment methods, usually based on aquatic invertebrates, identify if rivers are impaired but must be developed to identify the causes of decline. The intended outcomes are improved sustainable water resource management within and among states, and improved natural resource policy development.Read moreRead less
Understanding the stock-recruitment relationship to reverse the decline in the southern rock lobster. Declines in southern rock lobster fisheries across three Australian states show that we need to understand the flow and survival of larvae. The project aims to identify the fundamental links between recruitment and spawning stock, to enable predictions of recruitment for the management of adult stocks, safeguarding the future of the fishery.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE170100219
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$170,000.00
Summary
A multi-institutional environmental radioactivity research centre. This project aims to establish an environmental radioactivity research centre, equipped with ultra-low background and high-resolution alpha and gamma spectrometry systems, radon detectors and radium delayed coincidence counters. The centre will address a critical demand in Australia for precise analysis of a large suite of natural and artificial radionuclides, which will be used as tracers and chronological tools to investigate k ....A multi-institutional environmental radioactivity research centre. This project aims to establish an environmental radioactivity research centre, equipped with ultra-low background and high-resolution alpha and gamma spectrometry systems, radon detectors and radium delayed coincidence counters. The centre will address a critical demand in Australia for precise analysis of a large suite of natural and artificial radionuclides, which will be used as tracers and chronological tools to investigate key questions in oceanography and the mining and energy, archaeological, agricultural, and forestry sectors. The facility is expected to substantially increase expertise and training in radionuclides in Australia, and promote high-level research collaborations and outputs of both national and international significance. Major outcomes of the proposed facility include better understanding of how oceans regulate climate and improved capacity to assess effects of radiation on natural ecosystems.Read moreRead less
From The Synchrotron To The Clinic: Translation Of A Novel Functional Lung Imaging Technology
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$891,834.00
Summary
Our team has recently developed a synchrotron technology with a startling capacity for dynamic functional imaging that can act as a sensitive regional indicator of lung disease. We will demonstrate that this technology can be translated from the synchrotron to the lab and eventually the clinic. We will provide proof of this concept by the application of this technology to emphysema, asthma, lung cancer, cystic fibrosis lung disease and neonatal resuscitation.
Predicting health, well-being, and educational success in emerging adults: An 8 year longitudinal study. This project will inform the community about factors that affect the psychological, physical, academic, and employment outcomes of emerging adults. It will improve our knowledge of why some young people do not reach their full potential. The project will provide a comprehensive assessment of factors associated with well-being across several domains. It will better equip and assist professiona ....Predicting health, well-being, and educational success in emerging adults: An 8 year longitudinal study. This project will inform the community about factors that affect the psychological, physical, academic, and employment outcomes of emerging adults. It will improve our knowledge of why some young people do not reach their full potential. The project will provide a comprehensive assessment of factors associated with well-being across several domains. It will better equip and assist professionals to identify early those youth at risk of having poor psychological, health, and employment prospects post-school. The project will inform the development of intervention programs for young people and maximise their overall adjustment and well-being several years later.Read moreRead less
Lost at sea? Understanding adaptation and dispersal in spiny lobsters. Continual recruitment of young is fundamental to the replenishment of populations, especially when a stock is fished. Existing theory suggests that species with very long planktonic larval stages disperse widely, ensuring their genes are well mixed. However, recently identified genetic differences between populations of rock lobster challenge this paradigm and demonstrate that despite larvae mixing in the ocean for years, loc ....Lost at sea? Understanding adaptation and dispersal in spiny lobsters. Continual recruitment of young is fundamental to the replenishment of populations, especially when a stock is fished. Existing theory suggests that species with very long planktonic larval stages disperse widely, ensuring their genes are well mixed. However, recently identified genetic differences between populations of rock lobster challenge this paradigm and demonstrate that despite larvae mixing in the ocean for years, local recruitment and/or adaptation are at play. Recent developments in genomics and bioinformatics should allow this project to understand the ecological processes underpinning these genetic signatures and determine their evolutionary implications. Such findings could direct targeted rebuilding of depleted fisheries stocks.Read moreRead less
Social acceptability of forest management options: Landscape level visualisation and evaluation. Sustainable forest policy requires social acceptance. Prior research has investigated relative acceptability of options at a forest stand level. However, we have insufficient understanding of public acceptance of forest management systems implemented across the wider landscape. Only detailed knowledge of public reaction to social, environmental and economic impacts and the trade-offs involved can red ....Social acceptability of forest management options: Landscape level visualisation and evaluation. Sustainable forest policy requires social acceptance. Prior research has investigated relative acceptability of options at a forest stand level. However, we have insufficient understanding of public acceptance of forest management systems implemented across the wider landscape. Only detailed knowledge of public reaction to social, environmental and economic impacts and the trade-offs involved can reduce the divisive nature of the forest management debate. This project will use interactive, still and animated computer representations of landscapes to examine social acceptability of alternatives to clearfell harvesting. This knowledge will be integrated with biophysical data to improve management of forested landscapes.Read moreRead less
Acceptability of Forest Harvesting Systems. Fierce public debate over forest management has prompted forest agencies to develop and test alternative harvesting systems. This project will examine community response to these harvesting and regeneration options. It will avoid the biases of existing research by developing an interactive simulation of the forest environment that will allow participants to view visual, ecological and economic outcomes of harvest options, as well as changes over time ....Acceptability of Forest Harvesting Systems. Fierce public debate over forest management has prompted forest agencies to develop and test alternative harvesting systems. This project will examine community response to these harvesting and regeneration options. It will avoid the biases of existing research by developing an interactive simulation of the forest environment that will allow participants to view visual, ecological and economic outcomes of harvest options, as well as changes over time as forest regenerates. Public judgements of the acceptability of harvesting options will be integrated with the outcomes of related biophysical studies to identify socially and ecologically sustainable management options for Australian native forests.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