Research UNE (University of New England)
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The Human-Food-Environmental Nexus: Anthropological Perspectives on the Impact of Human Food Choices Through Time
No full textThis chapter will look at the impact of human food choice on the environment through time. It will draw on archaeological evidence to examine how domestication of plants and animals played a key role in changing biomes, often leading to social and environmental degradation. Case studies will include the introduction of sheep to Australia, cattle grazing in the Americas, and large-scale wheat farming in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean. The chapter will highlight the ways in which each of these practices dramatically altered native biomes and played a key role in human malnutrition. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the lessons learned from history to improve the future of our planet through a balanced consideration of the impact of human food choices on the sustainability of our future food systems
Natural resource extraction and environmental sustainability in Africa: The role of voice and accountability
No full textWe examine the effect of natural resource extraction on environmental sustainability in Africa. Using comprehensive panel data from 30 countries for the 2004–2021 period, we find that natural resource extraction reduces environmental sustainability, particularly in resource-poor countries. However, the nature of this nexus is time-varying, with natural resource extraction exerting a positive and negative impact on environmental sustainability in the short and long run, respectively. We also note that strong economic institutions like voice and accountability can enhance environmental sustainability. In short, our results shed light on the complex dynamics of the extraction–sustainability nexus in an extremely young and rapidly developing part of the world. Moreover, our results demonstrate that robust economic institutions can be an effective environmental protection mechanism independent of initial natural resource endowment
Developing students’ reasoning with data and data‑ing
No full textCitizens are increasingly required to engage with ever-present and ever-changing forms of data, both as consumers of data and as (knowingly or unknowingly) data producers. This special issue draws together new research in statistics education through a lens of data and ‘data-ing’. In much the same way as other statistical noun–verb pairings (such as sample–sampling and model–modelling), the terms data and data-ing exemplify both the forms and practices of engaging with contemporary data. Data have taken on unprecedented forms; the majority of which are unstructured, messy, massive, and rapidly or continuously collected. Data are in forms not previously even conceptualised, such as social media posts, satellite imagery, and tele-marketing recordings. To engage with these data requires making sense of, summarising, representing, and drawing conclusions from data, often without clear analytical approaches already developed. Hence, expanded skills for data literacy are needed for those who are not statistically trained to modify, combine, and invent techniques and ways of thinking to work with and make sense of data. There are important implications for education systems to rise to meet the challenges of educating learners to be competent, data literate citizens. This special issue contributes new knowledge from research of how students, teachers and citizens are learning to engage in new forms and practices with contemporary data. In this survey paper, we discuss research that uses these contemporary data and/or the subsequent tasks and pedagogies that have emerged to address these challenges, while questioning what this means for statistics education
Understanding and counteracting the denial of insect biodiversity loss
No full textBiodiversity loss is occurring globally with negative impacts on ecosystem function and human well-being. There is a scientific consensus that diverse environmental and anthropogenic factors are altering different components of insect biodiversity, with changes occurring at all levels of biological organisation. Here, we describe how uncertainty around specific trends and the semantics of ‘decline’ in relation to insect biodiversity have been leveraged by denialist campaigns to manufacture doubt around the insect biodiversity crisis. Disinformation is one of the biggest threats to social cohesion and environmental integrity globally. We argue that scientists, academic institutions, policymakers, and journalists must combat denialism by relying on robust research, supporting efforts to communicate scientific uncertainty more effectively, and build consensus on the global impacts of insect biodiversity loss
1 Million Turtles: empowering communities to save Australian freshwater turtles
No full textAustralian freshwater turtle populations have declined substantially, with consequent losses to aquatic ecosystem functions. A leading hypothesis is that turtles have declined through lost recruitment caused by high nest predation by invasive foxes. The ‘fox hypothesis’ is supported by experiments showing that nest predation rates exceed 95% in many regions. Furthermore, population surveys have repeatedly found absences of juvenile turtles, and headstarting experiments have successfully replaced those juveniles in some species. We are currently leading a nationwide citizen science program, ‘1 Million Turtles’ (1millionturtles.com), to engage local communities to protect turtles from threats like nest predation using a suite of novel approaches. Our key innovation is to leverage community passion and interest for turtles to create positive conservation impacts via a nationwide support network. We provide a data collection tool and framework (TurtleSAT) and self-guided training in conservation methods. We assist with guidance for gaining licencing and permission, and applying for grants. We are evaluating our approach through both the impacts on turtle populations as well as through surveys of our engaged citizen scientists. Ultimately, we aim to create a science-supported, national grassroots conservation model where community champions can lead their own evidence-based approaches to help wildlife
Local Tourism Businesses in the Digital Era: Implications for Bridging the Critical Skills Gap in Indonesia
No full textThe travel and tourism industry (TTI) is considered one of the main drivers for achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) as a part of the United Nations (UN) 2030 agenda. This study focuses on the Indonesian TTI, including the accommodation and food services and the transport, postal, and warehousing sectors—considered one of the main drivers of economic growth in the digital era. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and the associated innovation and digitisation technologies have emerged as crucial industry priorities in the post-pandemic digital era. However, although an inability to bridge the critical skills gaps can adversely impact local tourism businesses (LTBs), the unfolding implications of the 4IR related on the TTI remain underexplored. This chapter responds to this gap. It draws on the strategic human resource management (SHRM) perspective and utilises findings from an online survey (n = 147) and interviews (n = 11). The contributions of this chapter are twofold. First, it highlights workforce-related challenges associated with the uptake of digital technologies. Second, it demonstrates the need for TTI-specific policy initiatives to bridge the critical skills gap in the digital era
Decolonising the Linguistic Encirclement in Africa
No full textIn this chapter, we take up, broaden, and repurpose the concept of ‘linguistic encirclement’ that Ngugi wa Thiong’o pioneered in the 1980s. Wa Thiong’o introduced this concept to describe how Africans were colonised and territorialised through the deployment of European languages in ways that invented balkanised African identities based on colonial heritages. We extend the critique of linguistic encirclement to cover four invented categories of languages that have an encircling effect on identity imaginings, educational policies, and other social policy agendas. We argue that invented language and identity categories continue to advance the Euro-modernist cognitive empire by consigning Africans into enclaves and hierarchies of humanity that would enhance colonially inherited forms of exploitation, domination, and control
Functionalization of graphane with alkali and alkaline-earth metals: An insulator-to-metallic transition
No full textIn view of interest in functionalized carbon nanostructures due to their potential applications in nanotechnology and nanoelectronics, we have performed a systematic and thorough density functional theory (DFT) study on the interaction of the elements in the first two groups of the periodic table with graphane (hydrogenated graphene) sheet. GGA approximation as employed in DFT has been used to study in detail the binding configuration, bond length, charge transfer and band gap of each of these adatoms doped graphane (CH) systems. To have a better understanding of the adatoms-CH interaction, different doping concentrations varying from 3.125% to 50% have been considered. A certain trend in binding strength, bond length and charge transfer has been found in the case of both alkali metal and alkaline-earth metal adatoms. In the case of alkali-metal adatoms at the low doping concentration of 3.125%, semiconductor behavior was found, whereas at doping higher than this the compound showed metallic behavior. In contrast, alkaline-earth metal-doped CH exhibited metallic behavior at all the doping concentrations
Configurational landscape heterogeneity shapes functional community composition of grassland butterflies
No full text1. Landscape heterogeneity represents two aspects of landscape simplification: (i) compositional heterogeneity (diversity of habitat types); and (ii) configurational heterogeneity (number, size and arrangement of habitat patches), both with different ecological implications for community composition. 2. We examined how independent gradients of compositional and configurational landscape heterogeneity, at eight spatial scales, shape taxonomic and functional composition of butterfly communities in 91 managed grasslands across Germany. We used landscape metrics that were calculated from functional maps based on habitat preferences of individual species during different life stages. The relative effects of compositional and configurational landscape heterogeneity were compared with those of local land-use intensity on butterfly taxonomic diversity, community composition and functional diversity of traits related to body size, feeding breadth and migratory tendency. 3. As expected, compositional heterogeneity had strong positive effects on taxonomic diversity, while configurational heterogeneity had strong positive effects on trait dominance within the community. When landscapes had smaller mean patch size and greater boundary area, communities were dominated by species with more specialized larval feeding, decreased fore-wing length and limited migratory tendency. 4. The positive effects of increased configurational landscape heterogeneity outweighed the negative effects of local land-use intensity on larval-feeding specialization, at all spatial scales, highlighting its importance for specialists of all dispersal capabilities. 5. Synthesis and applications. We show that landscapes with high compositional heterogeneity support communities with greater taxonomic diversity, while landscapes with high configurational heterogeneity support communities that include vulnerable species (feeding specialists with larger body size, sedentary nature and more negatively affected by local management intensity). A decline in functional community composition can lead to functional homogenization, affecting the viability of the ecosystems by decreasing the variability in their responses to disturbance and altering their functioning. A landscape management for grasslands that promotes the maintenance of small patch sizes and a diversity of land uses in the surrounding landscape (within 250–1000 m) is recommended for the conservation of diverse butterfly communities. These strategies could also benefit government programmes such as the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy in their efforts to reduce the loss of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes
