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Communication and coordination of collective behaviour across spatial scales in animal societies (Old ID 26191)
We will test commonalities and differences in group coordination tasks using spatial movement and active communication in three species of social mammals.
Internet of Things and Big Data Analytics for Cairns Marine (Old ID 26460)
This project will assist to analyse the large repository of data held by Cairns marine in relation to its full operations, i.e., from harvest to husbandry, inventory tracking and sales fulfilment. The physical systems currently in use at Cairns Marine are extensive and complex, involving a range of activities in Northern Australia, all activities on site (including R&D) in Cairns and full product (marine animals) stewardship to destination. A deep and informed understanding of data is required by the business to meet its growing global product commitments.
Who’s steering the ship? A case comparison of the governance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers across Northern Australia (Old ID 26650)
Using a qualitative cross-case design, this project will expand on current Queensland-based work to address this gap in knowledge by exploring the governance arrangements that shape the work practices of A&TSIHW across both Queensland and the Northern Territory. Continuing the first systematic work relating to A&TSIHW governance carried out in Queensland as part of a 2019 with Hot North support, this project will: a) extend the project scope and characterize both the formal and informal rules and norms that influence A&TSIHW roles in the Top End Health Service of the NT, and b) through cross-case analysis of QLD and NT data, develop new insights into the influence of different geographic, social and administrative structures on A&TSIHW performance. The outcomes are expected to support efforts to strengthen Indigenous health workforce planning across Northern Australia.
Genomics for Australian Plants – Phylogenomics Project (Old ID 26702)
The Genomics for Australian Plants initiative aims to develop genomics resources to enhance our understanding of the evolution and conservation of the unique Australian flora. We will (1) sequence and assemble representative Australian plant genomes across the plant tree of life to enable better conservation, utilisation and understanding of Australia’s unique plant diversity; (2) build genomic capacity across Australian Botanic Gardens and Herbaria to create networks collaborating in the collection, management, dissemination and application of genomic data for Australian plants; and (3) provide tools to enable genetic data to be used to identify and classify biodiversity at a range of scales and to use these tools to inform conservation management and enable better decision making.
Monitoring the Wet Tropic's endangered upland frogs (Old ID 27742)
This grant will fund equipment and fieldwork costs for two PhD students, working on upland frog population monitoring in north Qld. The project involves setting up monitoring techniques to assess population trends in threatened species on the Wet Tropics mountain-tops, and conduct that monitoring at regular intervals.
Improving the flood resilience of a tropical urban catchment using hydraulic modelling approaches, tribal science and historical sources of information (Old ID 27749)
This project uses hydrological modelling to assess flood mitigation strategies under different climate change conditions for a tropical urban catchment in Cairns (Saltwater Creek). Model predictions are validated against field measurements and non-traditional sources of information including Traditional Owner knowledge and experiences of past floods and archival documents. The project involves ranger training in flow measurement and water quality assessment. The use of multiple lines of evidence to validate the flood model predictions decreases the risk associated with decision making around flood protection measures and urban development. The project outcomes will guide Cairns Regional Council and local communities in adaptive land use and investment planning under climate change for Saltwater Creek and similar coastal urban catchments.This is a collaborative project between Cairns Regional Council, Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Elders Aboriginal Corporation and Abriculture.
NESP 3.4 Better management of catchment runoff to marine receiving environments in northern Australia. (Old ID 28969)
Runoff from catchments in northern Australia has the potential to carry large amounts of sediment and nutrients. These available nutrients are important in driving coastal and estuary productivity, including many commercially and recreationally targeted species. Water resource development in northern Australia could reduce the supply of freshwater flow to the coast, thereby limiting supply of nutrients. This research project will examine the potential risks water resource development presents to Gilbert (QLD), Daly (NT) and Ord (WA) marine and coastal areas. We will complete a literature review, undertake flood plume modelling and examine vegetation damage along these coastal areas.
Genomic tools for monitoring yellow crazy ants. (Old ID 29026)
This project will establish protocols and baseline data for ddRAD-seq based sequencing of yellow crazy ants. In this phase of the project, we will sequence 200 individuals from historical infestations and develop tools to assess genetic relatedness among infestations. Baseline data established in this project will be used to help trace the origin of future infestations as well as improve our understanding of genetic diversity and gene flow in yellow crazy ants in Queensland.
JCU and Greening Australia alliance: leaders in tropical wetland restoration (Old ID 22951)
Greening Australia (GA) is a national not-for-profit organisation that strives towards the vision of healthy and productive landscapes where people and nature thrive. This vision is underpinned by science to guide what’s best for landscapes and people in Australia. Because of this business model, GA has a strong, long term, collaborative, approach to projects and therefore has achieved many sound, high profile outcomes. Projects delivered by GA attract significant financial investment from government, but maybe more so from philanthropic investors. By way of example, GA this year joined forces with Virgin Australia to launch a powerful new initiative (Reef Aid) to restore water quality in the GBR catchment area. As a start, GA has launched a public appeal to raise $10M as a first step towards an estimated $100M restoration campaign over the next 10 years. The Australian Government Reef Trust has already matched contributions up to $2M, and today, GA has $4M ready to start the Reef Aid journey via the instigation of on-ground wetland repair projects. Being focused on on-ground works, these projects lack significant research components. To this end, we propose through this partnership grant to demonstrate the value of research to improving on-ground outcomes and in doing so further our relationship with GA to include our services, via an R&D alliance, as part of further projects they develop through their Reef Aid program in coming years.
Weipa quarterly seagrass monitoring and PAR deployment (Old ID 23485)
The aim of this research is to intensely monitor seagrass habitats in the immediate areas around the port infrastructure in the Port of Weipa pre- and post- maintenance dredging. The objectives include comparing results of previous monitoring and baseline surveys and assessing any changes in seagrass distribution and abundance in relation to natural events or human induced activities. In addition, light and temperature shall be recorded and monitored within the seagrass canopy.