Research Opportunities
In 2012 the following research opportunities are being provided by the Schools of the Faculty of Science.
School of Animal & Veterinary Sciences
| Research Topic | Contact |
|---|---|
| Improving animal welfare, Ethnology, and Animal learning and congnition |
Rebecca Doyle |
| Systematics and biology of helminth parasites; Molecular identification and characterisation of parasites Risk assessment of emerging food borne disease in seafoods; Novel molecular approaches to analyze environmental changes, using fish parasites as bio-indicator | Shokoofeh Shamsi |
| Physiology and endocrinology of both ruminant and monogastric species; fibre growth and animal welfare. | Professor Peter Wynn |
School of Agricultural & Wine Sciences
| Research Topic | Contact |
|---|---|
| Bioeconomic modelling of agricultural and ecological systems; Agricultural and resource economics, agribusiness and farm systems management | Dr Karl Beherendt |
| Water planning, water for the environment, river operations, water governance |
Professor Kathleen Bowmer |
| Wine chemistry research particularly on investigations into the oxidative spoilage of white wine. | Dr Andrew C Clark |
| Environmental stresses such as high and low temperatures, water stress and carbon dioxide and their impacts on plant processes such as photosynthesis, carbon acquisition, growth and flowering. | Dr Dennis Greer |
| The development of functional structural plant models (FSPM) of orchards and vineyards, and their applications to ecosystems modelling and blended learning. The use of thermal imaging in biology and the plant water continuum for integration in FSPMs | Dr Yann Guisard |
| Pest management, insect-plant interactions, biological control and natural enemy ecology. | Geoff Gurr |
| Environmental and analytical chemistry, carbon cycling in rivers and wetlands, nutrient cycles in aquatic systems, impacts of human activities on peat wetlands and accumulation and transformation of pollutants in aquatic environments. | Dr Julia Howitt |
| Horticulture | Peter Mills |
|
Molecular spectroscopy and electronic structure of environmental pollutants e.g. pesticides. Molecular modeling and computational chemistry of biologically active molecules e.g. drugs and correlation between their molecular and electronic structures and modes of biological activity (binding to biological receptors). |
Igor Novak |
| Analytical chemistry espcially LC-MS, GC-MS; analysis of phenolic antioxidants; food and beverage quality, metabolomics esp. of urinary profiles and applications to health and disease. | Dr Paul Prenzler |
| Ecology of insect-plant interactions; restoration ecology of contaminated sites, soil ecology. | Anantanaraynan Raman |
| Application of analytical chemistry and separation science to complex natural metabolomes (e.g. olive, wine, urine) for the understanding of natural product quality and potential health benefits of bioactive (e.g. antioxidant) compounds. | Dr Danielle Ryan |
| Plant pathology, fungal diseases of grapevines and horticultural crops, diagnostics of plant diseases, molecular plant pathology, epidemiology and management of plant diseases. | Sandra Savocchia |
| Multivariate statistical analysis and regression; pattern recognition; chemometrics; wine production; wine microbiology & chemistry; analytical chemistry and GC/MS of wine aroma compounds. | Leigh Schmidtke |
| Native pastures and grazing management, farming systems research both domestic and international | Alison Southwell |
| Endophytes in grazing systems; pastures and grazing management; cropping systems; farming systems |
Dr Warwick Wheatley |
School of Biomedical Sciences
| Research Topic | Contact |
|---|---|
| Functional properties of pulses; Functional properties of cereals; GxE effects on rice quality New diagnostic tools for genetic disease |
Dr Chris Blanchard |
| Investigations into the cancer-relevant cell biology of the multi-functional protein Progesterone Receptor Membrane Component 1 (PGRMC1) |
Mike Cahill & Jalal Jazayeri |
| Science education; Drinking water quality; Public health communication; Molecular parasitology; Molecular microbiology; Science Education | Dr Andrea Crampton |
| Research elucidating the neural circuitry and neurochemistry that underpins behaviour. Uses animal models of disease, pharmacology, histochemistry, and behavioural techniques to explore a range of conditions including neurodegeneration, toxicity, drug addiction and fear conditioning. |
Dr Adam Hamlin |
| Tertiary science education; medical imaging diagnostic studies, particularly Nuclear Medicine but not exclusively; transitioning from professional practice to academia. |
Dr Patricia Logan |
| Reproductive biology of native Australian mammals; Mammalian gamete form and function; Applications of reproductive technology to conservation (including AI, IVF, Embryo transfer and Sperm freezing and thawing). | Dr Rhett McClean |
| Antioxidants in health and disease; Polyphenols; Chemistry, Analysis, Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacology of Natural Products; pharmaceutical research on natural products | Dr Hassan Obied |
|
Research in neuroendocrinology (brain control of hormones/hormonal control of brain function), especially related to reproduction/sex hormones. A range of animal models/species used. |
Dr Chris Scott |
| Research in complementary medicines, includes social, education and laboratory based projects. | Associate Professor Jenny Wilkinson |
| Antimicrobial activity of Fijian medicinal plants, anti-oxidant properties of some Australian plants used in flavouring foods, anti-diabetic plants in Traditional Aboriginal medicines, ethnoveterinary medicines derived from Australian native plants, studies in the phytochemistry of the Goodeniaceae, the use of Australian plants in the treatment of skin cancers Allelopathy and ecological prospects using Australian plants, investigations into the chemistry and pharmacology of Codonocarpus cotinifolius, transdermal permeation of natural products of potential medicinal importance, screening of Australian native plants for antimicrobial activity using TLC-bioautography | Dr Philip Kerr |
School of Community Health
| Research Topic | Contact |
|---|---|
| Rural community health and community development; rural adolescent mental health; rural adolescent drug and alcohol use; community based rehabilitation; spirituality and health; school based health promotion and interventions. | Judith Crockett |
| Disability; children and adults; participation; regional and rural issues; occupation and occupational therapy practice |
Michael Curtin |
| Diabetes and metabolic syndrome and related complications especially heart, eye and foot; Blood biochemistry associated with oxidative stress; developing automated computer-based programmes for identification of eye disease and heart attack risk from ECG | Jillian Dunphy |
| Diabetes and metabolic syndrome and related complications especially heart, eye and foot; Blood biochemistry associated with oxidative stress; developing automated computer-based programmes for identification of eye disease and heart attack risk from ECG | Herbert Jelinek |
| Allied health service delivery in rural areas Practicing in community health contexts Allied Health practice and professionalism Consumer experiences of allied health care Aged care / palliative care Interprofessional education in health disciplines |
Annette McLeod-Boyle |
| Therapeutic exercise in physiotherapy Adherence to therapeutic interventions Chronic disease self-management: the influence of health practitioner interactions Pulmonary rehabilitation Women’s health during the childbearing year |
Simone O'Connor |
| Haematology, Haemostasis, Blood transfusion; Microbiology; Physiology; Free Radical Biology and Medicine in Erythrocytes. | Dr Ross Richards |
| Honours; undergraduate students' experience of research; developing practitioner-researchers; the practice-research nexus in Allied Health; interprofessional education in Allied Health; post-operative outcomes in Podiatric Surgery. |
Caroline Robinson |
| Workplace learning, clinical education, assessment of student performance, clinical reasoning and physiotherapy education. |
Megan Smith |
| Biochemical and cell biological mechanisms underlying disease progression in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. |
Gayle Smythe |
| Understanding human occupation and the relationship between occupation and health; understanding transition experiences and how transitions affect health and quality of life; use of philosophy, theory, and evidence in professional practice; the relationship between spirituality and health; mentoring and supervision; continuing professional development; occupational justice; and, working with people who have mental illness. |
Dr Clare Wilding |
| Rural speech pathology services; telehealth; and stuttering |
Linda Wilson |
School of Dentistry & Health Sciences
| Research Topic | Contact |
|---|---|
| Radiation dose an image quality in medical imaging; Clinical issues in CR/DR. CT and MRI; Image processing in digital radiography | Professor Rob Davidson |
| Diagnostic imaging, oncology, cardiology, and complementary medicine. Clinical nuclear medicine, molecular imaging, PET/CT, SPECT/CT, radiopharmacy, radiotherapy, pharmacokinetics, ultrasound, MRI, traditional Chinese medicine, western herbal medicine and non human imaging (veterinary scintigraphy and plant physiology). | Dr Geoff Currie |
| The current research focus is the continuing development of a model involving the discovery of theoretically dark quantum gravitational eigenstates which allow astrophysical dark matter to arise as a natural consequence of cosmic evolution and thus may provide a solution to the dark matter problem in terms of ordinary well-known particles, yet avoid the conflicts that such an ‘all-baryonic’ universe usually has with primordial nucleosynthesis ratios and the cosmic background radiation anisotropy observations. Other general research interests include theoretical astrophysics, cosmology and quantum physics, and theoretical and experimental atomic and molecular physics. |
Dr Allan Ernest |
| Rural health, rural health workforce, historical methodology and oral history methodology, nutrition and dietetics. |
Associate Professor Susan McAlpin |
| Medical Radiation Science and Medical Radiation Physics. More specifically, supervision capability in: Ultrasound Physics and Technology, areas of Sonography and MRI. | Dr Hans Swan |
| Nuclear medicine, radiotherapy and herbal medicine. More specifically, supervision capability and experience in; nuclear cardiology, cardiovascular health, palliative care, cancer detection, cancer therapy, cancer survivorship, traditional Chinese medicine and western herbal medicine. |
Dr Janelle Wheat |
School of Environmental Sciences
| Research Topic | Contact |
|---|---|
| Adaptive environmental management, including aspects of social learning, particpatory natural resource management, evaluation and instituional processes and governance. Water management is a current focus, but also native vegetation and soils. | Catherine Allan |
| Dr Rosemary Black has research interests in human dimensions of natural resource management, sustainable tourism, environmental communication, tour guiding, sustainability, outdoor and environmental education and gender issues in natural resource management. | Rosemary Black |
| Spatial Science, particularly remote sensing and GIS for understanding and improving environmental and agricultural systems. | Remy Dehaan |
| The socio-psychological aspects of water management and conservation behaviour. Including behavioural change, attitudes, how people value water and the effectiveness of different policy instruments. | Jonathon Howard |
| Ecology of fish and rivers: contemporary and historical | Paul Humphries |
| Ecosystem services (particularly contribution of native ecosystems/organisms to service provision), fauna conservation in human-dominated landscapes (particularly urban and agricultural landscapes and studies conducted from interdisciplinary perspectives) | Gary Luck |
| Vegetation and disturbance ecology; ecosystem restoration; native grassland and woodland ecology; long-term changes in Australian ecosystems. | Ian Lunt |
| Wildlife ecology, including landscape and climate change influences on species distributions and studies of alpine fauna. | Alison Matthews |
| Cultural Heritage Management / Historic Preservation in Australia and the Pacific Heritage Futures: Documenting and Preserving emergent Technologies |
Dirk HR Spennemann |
| Vegetation, landscape & road ecology; specifically anthropogenic disturbance regimes, plant composition, structure, and dispersal processes. | Peter Spooner |
| Social science: Community/environment interactions in Australia and less developed countries; sustainable development; ecotourism, community based tourism and community development; communities and landscape change; climate change perceptions and responses. | Rik Thwaites |
| River and floodplain ecology, specifically ecosystem and species responses to flow and flooding regimes | Robyn Watts |
School of Nursing, Midwifery & Indigenous Health
| Research Topic | Contact |
|---|---|
| Grounded Theory; Action Research; Qualitative methods; Rural Nursing; University access for rural and remote students; Workplace education; Clinical decision making | Dr Judith Anderson |
| Maree Bernoth |
|
| Chronic disease management, palliative care, aged care, drug and alcohol, acute care, child health, rural health | Angela Bradley |
| Midwifery and women's health from a qualitative research paradigm | Dr Elaine Dietsch |
| Intellectual disability, mental health, chronic and complex care, families, primary health care, building capacity. |
Dr Linda Goddard |
|
Rural nursing, health, nursing and midwifery workforce, community development, community practice. |
Professor Karen Francis |
| Aerospace medicine: passenger medical incident mitigation; cabin crew medical training; international aviation cabin safety; pre hospital care in aviation; clinical practice skills and knowledge retention; curriculum analysis in pre hospital care and aviation; categorisation of passenger medical incidents in international aviation |
Paul Mahony |