Research Projects
Chemical sterilisation as an alternative to spaying of heifers (Old ID 20448)
Beef cattle that are excess to breeding requirements are routinely sterilised surgically without the use of pain relief or anaesthesia. Mortalities are not uncommon. The aim of this project is to determine if intraovarian administration of a zinc based compound or calcium chloride can sterilise heifers. If treatment is successful it could provide an alternative method of sterilisation that could provide better welfare outcomes and improve productivity.
The Nakanai Caves Cultural Heritage Project (Old ID 21247)
This project will document and integrate the natural and cultural values of the Nakanai Caves in East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, in preparation for a cultural landscape World Heritage nomination. Our novel methodology incorporates community knowledge with archaeological and anthropological evidence to link natural and cultural values and define the landscape from local perspectives. Local input into the research will be prioritised. By emphasizing local participation and management of World Heritage listing processes we address an identified gap in World Heritage methodologies. Our approach allows for a subtle, nuanced definition of cultural landscapes under the World Heritage Convention.
Playgrounds with a purpose: Facilitating free physical activity opportunities at local community parks/playgrounds
This research seeks to determine how instructional videos demonstrating creative use of existing infrastructure available in public parks with playgrounds can increase community user accessibility to physical activity experiences.
Leveraging AI simulations for allied health education: Pilot study for Psychology
This project will test IDA with psychology students to determine its effectiveness before expanding to other healthcare disciplines, ultimately providing students college-wide (and university-wide) dynamic and scalable simulations
Exploration of park playground features and opportunities to advance fundamental movement skills and/or components of fitness for community users
This project aims to audit local community park playgrounds (i.e. playgrounds not on school/day care/kindy/private properties) to ascertain what physical activity opportunities they present community users to work on advancing fundamental movement skills (FMS) and/or components of fitness.
Embedding best practice physical and health assessment and monitoring technology in Exercise Science and Exercise Physiology subjects to enhance learning, teaching and assessment.
Study Aims:
• to increase student exposure to industry-specific software and hardware
• To explore student’s confidence with using API integrated technology to capture, interpret and report data within SP2016, SP3016, SP3020 and SP5206
• To explore student perceptions of the use of such technology in the assessment, prescription and monitoring of exercise interventions
Using industry-based technology to enhance student learning experience
Digital devices for assessment and digital skill development.
Development and Validation of a Parent–Child Career Value Congruence Scale: A Two-Stage Study on Scale Construction and Structural Model Analysis in Young Adults
This postdoctoral research project aims to develop and validate a Parent–Child Career Value Congruence Scale tailored to collectivist cultural contexts, with a focus on young adults in Indonesia. The study consists of two stages: (1) scale construction and validation, and (2) structural model analysis to examine how value congruence influences career-related outcomes such as wellbeing, autonomy, and satisfaction.
Drawing on Self-Determination Theory, Value Congruence Theory, Social Cognitive Career Theory, and the Systems Theory Framework, this research addresses a gap in cross-cultural career development literature by creating an evidence-based tool grounded in both psychological theory and local context.
The project is a collaboration between James Cook University and Diponegoro University, and it will contribute to international scholarship, practical counselling tools, and future cross-cultural applications across education and career services.
Improving food security in the northern uplands of Lao PDR: Identifying drivers and overcoming barriers (Old ID 21945)
Despite strong economic growth in the last decade, food insecurity in Lao PDR remains high (around 22%) and more or less unchanged. The drivers of food insecurity are largely unknown. This project asks: 1) What are the past drivers, and current constraints and enhancers, of food security status, and 2) What are the impacts of interventions to address food insecurity, in the Northern Uplands of Lao PDR? The project will use a variety of mixed methods to produce an analysis of household strategies towards income generation and stabilisation under a range of market conditions.
Enhancing Frog Resilience to Natural Disasters: Determining Captive Husbandry Techniques for the Conservation of Threatened Frogs of the Wet Tropics.
This two- and half-year project aims to increase the resilience and drastically lower the risk of extinction of eight threatened frog species of north Queensland. The project will achieve this through: (1) Continued monitoring of long-term transects for these species. (2) Increasing our understanding around breeding ecology, environmental needs for survival and breeding, and better understanding the full extent of the impact by continuing to build on the long-term monitoring data. (3) Trialing captive husbandry and breeding with Least Concern, ecologically similar congeners, to greatly improving our ability to rapidly establish captive assurance colonies should the need arise under future environmental stochastic events.