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European Space Agency (ESA) World Ecosystem Extent Dynamics Project
The European Space Agency (ESA) aims to pioneer a new novel application to support international policies on the environment and sustainable development in its World Series of the Application Element (e.g. WorldSoils, WorldCover, WorldCereals, WorldWater). The objective of “World Ecosystem Extent Dynamics” project is to develop and demonstrate, the global applicability of integrated solutions driven by Earth Observation (EO) integrated solutions for mapping the extent and distribution of terrestrial, freshwater and coastal (up to the intertidal zones) ecosystems and monitoring the changes in their extent. We will achieve this with the support of exemplary countries with advanced data, technical capabilities, and reference ecosystem monitoring expertise (i.e. Champion Users). The project will develop and demonstrate a globally applicable open-source toolbox, also called EO-integrated solution, for a comprehensive mapping of the extent and distribution of ecosystem types, according to different ecosystem typologies, and for monitoring the temporal variations in the extent and distribution of ecosystem types.
CI Murray's role is as an expert consultant to join an international consultancy team tendering for the above project.
Wildlife Conservation Society Community Fisheries Program
The objective of this project is to advance the Wildlife Conservation Societies Community Fisheries program. The project will be lead by Dr. Patrick Smallhorn-West.
Based on decades of work in coastal communities, we have developed a strategy that crystalizes the goal shared by fishers and other coastal stakeholders worldwide: a vision of just and regenerative fisheries that equitably benefit nature and people. We are not only looking to slow declines in communities, coastal ecosystems and fisheries, but to reverse them to restore fisheries to their full social, economic, and environmental potential.
Our current research workstreams are:
1. Mainstreaming equity and inclusion within all aspects of WCS work with community fisheries. This includes high level assessments of NGO policies and practice.
2. Monitoring and evaluation of all aspects of community fisheries – ecological, fisheries, and socioeconomic, in ways that deliver clear and locally actionable knowledge of the impacts of interventions.
3. Elevating community fishers and strengthening their organizational capacity to participate fully in coastal governance.
4. Practicing effective co-management – evaluating and integrating the latest research on fisheries co-management into best practice.
5. Incentivizing responsible fishing that addresses unsustainable practices such as destructive fishing, illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and bycatch.
Dolphin-watching tourism as an alternative or supplemental livelihood to marginalised artisanal fishers in Indonesia
Jointly funded by Conservation Strategy Fund (Indonesia) & James Cook University (JCUA-JCUS). This project reflects on testimonials of marginalized artisanal fishers, who have adopted dolphin-watching tourism as a supplementary livelihood in Kiluan, Lampung in Indonesia. Predominantly, marginalized, owing to extreme poverty, unsafe working conditions, for a diminishing resource against powerful industrial large-scale fishers; these fishers’ merit to be included in discourses of empowerment and livelihoods. Dolphin-watching tourism is occupationally close and has the potential of being an ideal supplementary livelihood, this study explored to ascertain its potential to contribute to social empowerment and eliminate injustices.
Regenerative cross- border tourism post COVID 19
This project was funded as a JCUS-JCUA cross campus collaboration grant. This exploratory study aims to investigate opportunities for regenerative tourism in SIJORI (Singapore, Johor, and Riau Islands) context. Given calls for a paradigm shift towards ‘regenerative’ tourism, a system that goes beyond sustainability and its shortfalls. Regenerative tourism is a system that places importance on societal wellbeing and the environment and provide social, environmental and economic benefits without increasing concerns for climate change.
Why does your study matter? Developing doctoral writing with Legitimation Code Theory
Why does your study matter? Developing doctoral writing with Legitimation Code Theory - This research focuses on raising student awareness of how to articulate and construct the rationale for a doctoral thesis. Rationale statements do not necessarily appear as a stable section or chapter in a thesis in the way that, for instance, the literature review does. This can make it an obscured and overlooked aspect of the thinking and writing process early in the research process. The workshop that forms the basis of this project seeks to address this blind spot. The workshop aims to improve doctoral writing by developing a teaching approach using Legitimation Code Theory (LCT), a framework for educational research and practice (Maton 2014). The session draws insights and examples from doctoral work conducted originally at the University of Sydney (Wilmot 2019) and will be taught in three different international contexts: the UK (Durham University), Singapore (James Cook University) and South Africa (Rhodes University). The workshop tutors are experts in the use of LCT in educational contexts and include the author of the PhD study on which the project is based.
Using a two-way knowledge exchange to illuminate the population dynamics of the dugong in the Gulf of Carpentaria
Dugongs are marine mammals with immense ecological and cultural significance, occurring in 40 countries in the Indo-Pacific. They are gardeners of seagrass beds and a major component of Indigenous culture. Their reliance on shallow seagrass beds exposes them to anthropogenic threats, e.g. pollution and boat disturbance. Dugongs are in decline in most of their range and are classified as vulnerable to extinction, with the populations in Australia representing a stronghold with an estimated 165,000 animals. My PhD project will use next-generation sequencing methods to assess genetic diversity, connectivity and health of dugongs in Australia, with a special focus on the remote and little-studied dugong populations in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Indigenous Traditional Owners in remote northern Australia, such as the Kimberley region, have recently listed the genetic health and connectivity of dugongs as a top priority in their wildlife management plans. Within the next year, I am planning to actively travel to remote locations to give in-person workshops on tissue sampling of dugongs, starting a collaboration with Indigenous communities and rangers. I will then return to the same communities with my results, fostering a two-way knowledge exchange that encourages effective dugong conservation management and collaboration between different sea countries in Australia. As my PhD projects rely heavily on the retrieval of high-quality DNA, this hands-on approach is necessary to ensure proper handling of samples. During the first year, I will focus on collecting as many dugong samples as possible to ensure that all populations are well-represented and we can determine fine-scale population structure in Australian dugongs. At the end of my PhD, I will be able to assess important conservation parameters such as level of inbreeding, population fragmentation and migration along the entire Australian coast.
Social Psychology in Mental Health Studies: Showcase of Postgraduate Research in the Asia-Pacific Region
AASP Small Group Meeting Grant