Research Projects
Wuthathi River to reef baselines and monitoring framework
Nathan Waltham
02 May 2025 - 30 Apr 2026
Wuthathi Aboriginal Corporation would like to engage TropWATER JCU to assist with the implementation of the Wuthathi IPA Plan of management. This work will include 4 components to investigate connections from the Harmer River to the inshore Islands including Coastal mangroves. helicopter survey of Wuthathi coastline from Olive River to Captain Billys Landing and offshore islands showing impacts to mangroves. Seagrass. Vessel-based inshore sub-tidal camera drop surveys east and west of Harmer Creek and one day at Bird Island reef flat potentially using walking/quadrat survey methods. Dugong. Desktop analysis of existing data. Vessel-based trip to collect dugong skin samples and survey population and Land-based drone surveys of inshore areas near Ma’au. Aquatic ecosystems and oyster bed surveys. Harmer River assessment and assessment of Ma’au oyster bed and habitat and nearby coastal wetland/saltmarsh and riverine assessment and off-bank assessments of Harmer Creek.
Rare earths unearthed: Resolving the mystery of how rare earth elements are mobilised and concentrated in continental crust (Old ID 19918)
Carl Spandler
31 Dec 2012 - 31 Dec 2017
Shifts towards green energy and technology in modern society are dependant on continuing supplies of rare earth elements. Nevertheless, we know little about how these elements concentrate to form economically viable ore bodies, and there remain fundamental holes in our knowledge of how these elements interact with fluids in the Earth's crust. This project combines experiments and novel geochemical studies of natural ores to address these knowledge deficiencies. The results will aid exploration for new rare earth element resources and will contribute to an improved understanding of how continents grow and evolve through time.
Becoming a soldier: A Qualitative Study into Construction of the Army Identity and its Impact on Mental Health
Carolyn Heward
20 Nov 2024 - 31 Jan 2029
Student-led project (PhD) - agreement sought between JCU and DoD to allow access to current serving members (Army personnel) for the purpose of qualitative interviews and focus groups. Access to DoD policy documents including personnel manuals, Defence health policy/manuals, standard operating procedures
Consumer and Community Research Partnerships: Enabling capacity and strength in rural, regional, and remote northern Queensland health and medical research
Karen Johnston
01 Jan 2025 - 31 Dec 2026
Consumer and community involvement in health and medical research can meaningfully improve research and associated health outcomes by incorporating lived experience into a research project. Anecdotally, there is limited consumer and community involvement occurring in investigator-led research within hospitals and health services in northern Queensland. This research will explore the unique capabilities, opportunities, and motivations for consumer and community involvement in research among three northern Queensland rural, regional, and remote hospital and health services. Strategies will be identified to enable consumer and community involvement in research within these health services, prioritised by consumers, community members and health researchers. It is anticipated that strategies and learnings from this project can be adapted more broadly to northern Australia, particularly other rural, regional, and remote contexts.
KKH-CCF Psychosocial and Supportive Care Programme for Paediatric Oncology
Nigel Marsh
01 May 2025 - 31 Jan 2027
In collaboration with the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, the Children's Cancer Foundation funded the Psychosocial and Supportive Care Programme for Paediatric Oncology. The aim of this programme is to develop a holistic paediatric oncology and supportive care programme. This project is a collaboration between the KKH Psychology Service and JCUS clinical psychology staff to develop and evaluate relevant psychological interventions.
LabNorth: Stories of Culture, Arts and Wellbeing in Northern Australia
Lisa Law
01 Jan 2025 - 31 Dec 2025
Northern Australia is stereotyped as devoid of arts and culture in the national imaginary: a place of mine sites, military bases, cattle stations, bogans. Yet the small cities of Darwin, Cairns, Townsville and Broome are vibrant cultural landscapes with important forms of storytelling that struggle for visibility in the policy sphere. A recent focus on developing the North— e.g. the Developing Northern Australia Conference, the White Paper on Developing Northern Australia—recognises the importance of the region to Australia’s future, but narrowly in terms of extensions of water, power and transport infrastructure and accompanied workforce expansion. To date this agenda is silent on the role of arts and culture infrastructure in underpinning the region’s cultural wellbeing, and its economic benefits. This silence underscores the need to uncover, promote, and foster the untold stories and hidden value of the arts in Australia's Northern cities, to ensure that arts and culture take a prominent place in the policies that shape the region’s future.
Using a combination of policy analysis and townhall focus groups, LabNorth’s research will build networks to collaborate across cities, sectors and artforms. We will explore the value of arts and culture, with a focus on articulating this to the public and policy makers. LabNorth’s focus on small cities shines a light on the vital but under-recognised role of the arts in supporting Northern Australian communities and advocate for their inclusion in broader policy discussions. LabNorth will listen, learn, collaborate and co-create stories with the potential to shift narratives about Northern Australia.
Empowering urban heat literacy through field-based learning and community research
Lisa Law
01 Jun 2025 - 31 Dec 2025
In Northern Australia, in tropical cities like Cairns and Townsville, local studies of urban heat islands are under-represented, and opportunities to raise awareness through hands-on learning and community engagement are limited by access to (easy to use) equipment. This grant will enable the purchase of hand held air temperature/humidity sensors and thermal imaging cameras to promote urban heat literacy in tropical Queensland. The research will generate awareness of urban heat island effects, using sensors and cameras to engage the community in real-world data collection and analysis exercises.
Climate-resilient landscapes: an adaptation case study in NSW’s Northern Rivers region and the Wet Tropics of Queensland
Diane Jarvis
01 Jan 2025 - 30 Jun 2027
This project aims to develop a climate change adaptation plan for focal threatened species and ecosystems of the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales (component 1) (already approved and underway) and the Wet Tropics of Queensland (component 2) (seeking approval for commencement 2025).
This project addresses the escalating climate risks in the region for species, habitats and ecosystems. These are interacting with existing threatening processes such as feral animals, weeds and development pressures. Species distributions are shifting in response to warming temperatures and changing patterns of rainfall. Sea level rise is impacting coastal processes and ecosystems. In addition to these climate trends, the region has experienced unprecedented drought, bushfires and floods in rapid succession over a 3-year period. These have impacted and stressed both natural and human systems. Future climate projections point to ongoing increases in the intensity, frequency and duration of these extreme weather events with cascading, compounding and aggregating impacts.
The Northern Rivers region contains significant natural and cultural assets and has vulnerable species at increasing risk of local or global extinction. Many vulnerable ecosystems are at risk of degradation and ecological collapse. Climate change adaptation planning is urgently needed to identify actions that can reduce the climate-related risks to focal species and ecosystems in the region. Furthermore, because adaptation is needed now and in the long term, adaptation strategies and options must be feasible and effective, have social licence, be culturally appropriate, and be informed by local knowledge including traditional knowledge to be sustainable. This is a problem facing all landscapes and communities throughout Australia. The Northern Rivers region is a suitable case study to develop and test the necessary approaches because of its rich natural and cultural assets, the experienced impacts from a rapidly changing climate, and well-organised and mature community networks, with supportive local and state government initiatives.
This project will develop a climate change adaptation plan which identifies the key climate risks for selected species and ecosystems, and documents feasible strategies and options to manage these risks. We will also develop a web-based decision-support platform that provides data, information, guidance and planning tools for stakeholders and decision-makers. A community-centred approach will better enable sustainable outcomes with adaptation solutions that are locally supported, aligned and culturally appropriate.
We will work with local Landcare and wildlife conservation groups, federal, state and local government agencies, and natural resource management (NRM) groups to develop a climate adaptation plan and associated data information and decision support.
We will draw on community-centred adaptation planning processes developed and tested over the last 4 years in a project funded by the Australian Research Council and undertaken by Griffith University in collaboration with the Shoalhaven City Council. This research has identified effective approaches for engaging with local communities, eliciting values, principles and feasible adaptation responses, and integrating these into formal local-government planning processes. Our use of risk and decision-support models builds on Griffith University’s application of them in prior climate adaptation research. We will also draw on spatial modelling approaches recently developed by Griffith University that enable fine-resolution mapping of habitat for arboreal wildlife, including old-growth structures critical for hollow-dependent fauna and species-specific connectivity corridor analysis. We will also use existing species and habitat data, including from federal and state government sources, current and future climate data from the Climate Systems Hub, and other relevant data such as flooding risks from CSIRO.
Our approach is based on the climate adaptation process and will involve 4 components: (i) Focal species and ecosystems; (ii) Climate risk assessment; (iii) Adaptation Plan; and (iv) Decision Support. Socio-economic and cultural considerations will be incorporated into all components of the project including the identification of focal species and ecosystems.
Expanding Traditional Owner led seagrass monitoring and restoration – Woppaburra TUMRA
Len McKenzie
21 May 2025 - 31 Mar 2026
This project aims to build seagrass assessment and restoration capacity and identify seagrass cultural values within Woppaburra TUMRA Sea Country and communities. JCU will work with Woppaburra TUMRA Aboriginal Corporation and rangers to:
• synthesize and collate all existing seagrass mapping data. These data will identify seagrass mapping gaps and will inform further seagrass monitoring and restoration activities.
• build capacity of Rangers to conduct seagrass assessments.
• map Sea Country using drones and dropcameras, for areas identified as needing mapping.