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Identifying and eliminating future risk from regional Queensland wastewater treatment operations through biosolids technology innovation (Old ID 26919)
This fellowship will investigate emergent contaminant content in biosolids, technological solutions to mitigate its impact and how these new technologies can prevent future emergent contaminant related disasters. Six North Queensland city councils are investing in this research project to implement sustainable biosolids management technologies in wastewater plants to mitigate environmental pathogenesis and impact of new emergent pollutants in the region. This research project is aligned with two of the research priorities of JCU: Tropical Ecosystems and Environment and Industries, and Economies in the Tropics. This project will leverage new funding applications in the field of pollutants mitigation and agricultural industry.
Piloting a continuous quality improvement framework to strengthen quality of care in Aboriginal residential aged care (Old ID 27413)
This study responds to concerns raised in The Royal Commission report, 2021 that the Australian aged care system struggles to effectively manage people with complex care needs. Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) is a method designed to improve the capacity and readiness of health services/staff to meet pre-determined goals/standards, and the quality of treatment and care, and implement health interventions. This project aims to assess the suitability of the CQI model for improving the quality of care in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACF) by developing and implementing a CQI framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander RACF.
Ozflux FNQ tropical rainforest site (Old ID 18293)
As part of the Australian National Flux Network (Ozflux) the FNQ tropical rainforest site will be required to provide half-hourly average time series of a range of data streams including fluxes of carbon, water and energy. The data will be sent to a central console in Canberra where it will be quality assessed and archived. The processed data will be used by the ACEAS Ecological Monitoring and Synthesis centre in Brisbane after the appropriate data access conditions have been met and post-publication by the original authors.
Determination of Wind Resistance for Australian Roofing Tile Systems (Old ID 22101)
Removal of roofing tiles has been observed frequently during post-storm damage investigations in Australia. In order to improve the wind resistance of roofing tiles, the wind loading mechanism must be understood.
Solar Insect Repellents - Prevention of Insect-borne Diseases with Sunlight (Old ID 22156)
Following the 'prevention is better than cure' approach, this project will develop procedures for the sustainable production of a powerful insect repellent. It uses Northern Queensland's two major natural resources: sunshine and biomass. The funding will support a PhD project starting in mid-2015.
Provision of Specialist Environmental Support to Townsville City Council. (Old ID 27681)
Submission for inclusion on a panel of pre-qualified Environmental Specialists to support TCC's Environmental Services team in planning and delivery of sustainable outcomes for the Townsville Community.
Aerial dugong surveys in Moreton Bay and Hervey Bay. (Old ID 27706)
Dugong aerial surveys estimating population size have been conducted in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) since the 1980’s, providing a long-term trend and dataset. Aerial surveys are intended to be conducted every 5 years. The southern GBR was last surveyed in 2016, meaning the southern GBR surveys are 1 year overdue. Recent flooding in southeast Queensland has led to seagrass die off in Hervey Bay and the Great Sandy Straits and likely in other seagrass habitat that supports dugong. The southern GBR dugong population includes Hervey Bay and Moreton Bay, both of which are significant locations for dugongs. Both of these bays suffered significant floods in early 2022. Seagrass surveys of Hervey Bay in May 2022 revealed ‘almost no seagrass was left’. It is anticipated that, as occurred after the 2011 floods, dugong will strand and die, stop breeding and move out of previously important foraging areas. Further, surveys will contribute to the transition from human observer flights to aerial image capture and automated analysis, which will form the basis of future cheaper and safer technologies for assessing dugong populations.
Seismic Interpretation of NE QLD (Old ID 28938)
This project will update the interpretation of deep seismic lines across NE QLD, from Georgetown to Thomson and Hodkinson provinces. Work carried out at JCU with regard to tectonic models of the development of the eastern margin of the north Australian craton and new processing techniques should allow a better understanding of the fundamental geological and tectonic structure of NE Queensland. Understanding of the large scale distribution of geological provinces in 3 dimensions will underpin other works in the region such as geological mapping and lead to better understanding of mineral systems which include significant potential for critical minerals.
Building Teacher Capability Using STEM Partnership Models (Old ID 22736)
We propose to establish and pilot two QSTEM Hubs - one metropolitan and one regional. Each hub will consist of three to four schools. Industry partners will be identified via our links with the Australian Industry Group (AIG) and in consultation with the school principals and Regional STEM Officers, and invited to participate. The AIG has a strong commitment to building STEM capital through industry partnerships with education, demonstrated through its STEM Skills project and STEM Program Index 2016, and has agreed to facilitate industry participation in our project. Other suitable partners such as museums, science centres, research institutes, community groups etc. will be identified through QUT connections as well as those of the schools and the department, and invited to participate.
Defining metrics of success for feral animal management in northern Australia (Old ID 23026)
Feral animals cause significant damage to aquatic ecosystems across northern Australia, affecting biodiversity, ecosystem function and Indigenous cultural values. Funding for feral animal control often focuses on a particular species, ignoring the iterative and cumulative impact of the feral animals. This project will determine the impact of feral animals (pigs, horses, cattle) across aquatic ecosystems in the context of regional and local feral animal control, local aspirations and government priorities. The project will work closely with the Aak Puul Gnangtam and Kalan Aboriginal Development Groups as they continue implementing feral animal abatement strategies across the Archer River catchment.