ILWS - Institute of Land, Water and Society

PhD Graduates

This list of PhD graduates since 2006, includes a theses abstract, principal supervisor information and keywords.

The CSU Library Theses webpage is a source for further information.

2009

• Susan Hughes
  Remnants from the Past: Exploring the Impacts
  of Post Colonial Settlement on Landscape Patterns in the NSW Wheat Sheep Belt
  
  "Substantial modification to native vegetation has occurred in NSW since European settlement, primarily by clearing for cropping and grazing. As a result it has become increasingly important to locate and secure remnants with high conservation value. Scholars emphasise the importance of land-use history in understanding vegetation change. Governments have historically prescribed land-use through the land tenure system (e.g. grazing on leasehold land, forestry on Crown Land, and nature conservation in parks and reserves). However, many of these land tenures and land-uses, as well as the laws governing change, have been studied as disparate entities. This thesis makes a significant contribution to our knowledge of historic laws, land tenure types and their links to vegetation patterns. A greater understanding of these relationships assists to predict the likely location of high quality remnants in agricultural landscapes."
  
  Supervisor: A/Prof Ian Lunt ilunt@csu.edu.au
  
• Catherine Harding
  Media discourses of female medical practitioners : Mother Teresa not Einstein
  
  "Increased numbers of women in the medical workforce have been described as threatening what has been perceived in the past as a predominantly male profession, particularly in rural areas. Despite there being an increase in the numbers of women in medicine more generally, their lower numbers in rural Australia has been seen as a challenge for rural workforce planning. While existing research in the field has focused on structural barriers for females’ workforce participation, this thesis addresses the impact of the discursive representation of medical women in rural areas on this issue. The thesis provides evidence of women in the rural medical workforce but indicates problems with their representation. Focusing on one geographical area of rural New South Wales, this thesis shows how, despite recent research on the difficulties associated with attracting women to the rural medical workforce, women have had a history in rural medicine in this region that spans three quarters of a century. Their invisibility suggests problematic historical representation."
  
  Supervisor: Prof Margaret Alston Margaret.Alston@med.monash.edu.au
  
• Gail Gardner
  The employment of people with disabilities in the Australian Public Service in the 20th & 21st centuries : a Catch-22 situation
  
  "This thesis examines the question of how successful policy and program initiative have been, which aim to improve rates of employment of people with disabilities in Australia, in the Australian Public Service. As part of the analysis, a case study of disability employment policies within the Australian Public Service Agency Centrelink is undertaken, with a focus on the impact of the disAbility Coalition during its first year of operation.”
  
  Supervisor: Dr Wendy Bowles
  
• Patty Please
  Aspects of Self in Dryland Salinity Science
  
  "This thesis explores aspects of self of those involved in the science, management and remediation of dryland salinity in Australia. It aims to contribute to the discourse on the issue from a psychodynamic self psychological perspective. This perspective puts personal, subjective experience, the expressions of self, the affective/emotional dimension and the relationships of those involved in the science, management and remediation of dryland salinity at the centre of the investigation. The conceptual framework and methodology for the research were drawn from a variety of psychological and philosophical thinkers, including William James, Heinz Kohut, Russell Meares, Silvan Tompkins, Jessica Benjamin and Martin Buber.
  
  Supervisor: A/Prof Ian Gray and Tony Dunn
• Jenny Kent
  Power and trust as factors in the funding of disability services
  
  "The not-for-profit (NFP) sector in Australia is significant in terms of its size and impact on Australians. It is a major employer, is tax-exempt and is often funded by governments and private businesses. NFP entities exist in a variety of legal forms including incorporated associations and companies limited by guarantee. Financial reporting by NFPs in Australia has been the subject of a number of studies which have considered accounting standard setting arrangements and suggested that sector specific standards should be developed. The inconsistency in government reporting requirements imposed on NFP organisations to meet the accountability requriements of government funding has also been a concern. This study focuses on the NFP sub-sector in which community based organisations provide a range of services to people with disabilities and their families. Reliance on government funding can render disability service organisations financially vulnerable and threaten their viability; however power can be exercised by service providers in a number of ways in the funding realtionship. This study has found that factors which can contribute to such an exercise of power include: the age and size of the organisation; the adoption of a ’business’ as opposed to a ’charity’ model of operations; organisational expertise and leadership; a skills based rather than a representative management committee; and access to alternative funding sources."
• Amy Harris
  The implications of habitat alteration on nesting Little Penguin
  
  "Kikuyu Grass is a major conservation issue on many offshore islands.  This highly invasive grass invades native vegetation, transforming it into a dense monoculture that can no longer be used by many species of nesting seabirds.  Previously, land managers viewed this environmental degradation as an intractable problem.  Thanks to the research undertaken by Amy this is no longer the case.  Working alongside conservation practitioners, Amy developed techniques to effectively eradicate Kikuyu grass from islands of high conservation significance, while minimising the negative impacts on nesting seabirds, particularly Little Penguins.  This landmark research provided the scientific underpinning for one of the most impressive biodiversity conservation projects undertaken in New South Wales—the restoration of seabird breeding habitat on Montague Island."
  
  Supervisor: Professor Nick Klomp (CSU) and Dr David Priddel ( NSW Dept of Environment and Climate Change)
• Natasha Schedvin
  Distributional Ecology of the Barking Owl Ninox connivens connivens in Victoria, Australia
  
  "No other Australian owl species has experienced such a demonstrable population decline as barking owls Ninox connivens connivens in south-eastern Australia. The fragmentation of their preferred habitat (i.e., the woodlands inland of the Great Dividing Range) is considered responsible for their population decline; however their persistence in these highly fragmented habitats apparently contradicts this hypothesis. This raises the question whether extant barking owls are trapped in what remains of the most productive parts of these temperate woodlands, or whether they are able to capitalize on these altered landscapes. Much anecdotal data exists as to habitat preferences of barking owls but little quantitative analysis of their habitat preference exists. [The author] adapted a hierarchial approach to investigate habitat use as multiple spatial scales in north-east Victoria: regional, home range, nest and roost sites. Radio tracking data from 13 barking owls provided the basis for assessing territorial behaviour, home range estimates and spatial use of habitat in the study area. These estimates were then used subsequently in regional scale habitat models for Victoria. Drought and wildlife through the study area gave the opportunity to determine the short-term effects of these catastrophic events."
• Helen Byles-Drage
  Urban migration to inland rural areas: Issues in rural wellbeing and social cohesion
• Ian Coldwell
  Masculinities and farming practices in Australia

2008

• Laurence Barea
  Interactions between Frugivores and their resources : case studies with the Painted Honeyeater Grantiella picta
  
  "Food is a critical resource for heterotrophic organisms, influencing individual survival, reproductive success and driving the life-history characteristics of consumers. Animals spend most of their lives moving within and between habitats searching for food as they behave to optimise their individual fitness. Food resources vary in quality, however, and occur non-randomly in space and time. Studies of animals and their food resources frequently are confounded by difficulties associated with identifying and quantifying food resources in a biologically meaningful context. In this study conducted in an Australian semi-arid woodland between September 2004 and December 2006, [the author uses] a specialist frugivore and it’s principle fruit resource - the painted honeyeater Grantiella picta (Passeriformes: Meliphagidae) and its principle food resource grey mistletoe Amyyema quandang (Santalales: Loranthaceae)-as a model system to conduct a series of case studies regarding the influence of spatial and temporal variation in food abundance and food quality on the ecology of frugivores."
  
  Supervisor: Prof David Watson dwatson@csu.edu.au
  
• Alek Zander
  The initial pulse of dissolved organic carbon from floodplain litter
  
  “Most riverine ecosystems are net heterotrophic with much of the carbon being metabolised sourced outside of the aquatic environment. Carbon in these systems is present in an array of forms, one of the most important of which is dissolved organic carbon (DOC). DOC plays many roles in riverine ecosystems: as a source of nutrition, as a moderator of environmental conditions and as an information source. A number of models have been developed to describe the flow of carbon through riverine systems, the principal ones being the River Continuum Concept, the Flood Pulse Concept and the Riverine Productivity Model. However, there are ongoing differences between these models in respect of the emphasis that they place upon the relative importance of different sources of organic carbon. DOC has two fundamental and related properties: concentration and composition. The mass of DOC leaching from a range of source materials and the rate of leaching of DOC under various conditions has been determined using an optimised chromic acid digestion method. Patterns of concentration of DOC across the catchment of the Murrumbidgee River, N.S.W. have also been investigated across four seasons with particular emphasis upon the comparison of sub-catchments differing in vegetation coverage.”
  
  Supervisor: Dr Paul Prenzler pprenzler@csu.edu.au
  
• Leah Wiseman
  Rural men’s retirement as an occupational transition : a life history study
  
  "This thesis explores the experience of retirement for older rural men. The life stories of eight men from the Riverina region of Australia provided the narrative data for this research. Methodologically, a phenomenological orientation complemented the life history approach and allowed for a focus on the retirement experience in the context of the physical and socio-cultural landscape within which the men’s lives have unfolded. The study was inspired by the paucity of research specific to rural men, the rural environment as an occupational context and retirement as a life-stage transition with significant implications for well-being.”
  
  Supervisor: Prof Gail Whiteford gail.whiteford@vc.mq.edu.au
  
• Imogen Fullager
  Translating conjunctive water management from concept to practice in mature irrigation systems
  
  "Irrigation is Australia’s biggest water user. If groundwater and surface water are managed as independent resources there is a risk of double-allocation of water across flow systems. This risk increases with demand for water. Conjunctive water management (CWM) refers to the concept of managing across water resources in a manner which takes advantage of the hydrological complementaries of groundwater and surface water. The research question addressed by this thesis is: How can social and formal institutions be used to translate CWM from concept to practice in mature irrigation systems?"
  
  Funding partner: Cooperative Research Centre for Irrigation Futures
  Supervisor: Dr Catherine Allan callan@csu.edu.au
  
• Jonathon Sobels
  Investigating the impact of Landcare networks : the role of social capital
  
  Supervisor: Prof Allan curtis acurtis@csu.edu.au
  

2007

• Kim Alexander
  Agricultural change in Lao PDR : pragmatism in the face of adversity
  
  “Rural development in the uplands of Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has presented many challenges for farmers and their communities. Lao government policy is directed at reducing the production of upland rice and providing sustainable alternative livelihoods for upland farmers. This thesis has examined current agricultural systems in Xieng Ngeun District, in Luang Prabang Province, Lao PDR and the economic and agrarian transition occurring at individual, community and regional levels. The research investigated the effect of land and forest allocation policy and the implementation of swidden cultivation stabilisation measures by governmental and international organisations.”
  
  Supervisor: Dr Jo Millar  jmillar@csu.edu.au
  Key words: Shifting cultivation Laos; sustainable agriculture Laos
• Jane Dowling
  Women’s contribution to Australian fishing industry sustainability
  
  “This thesis applies a post structural feminist theoretical framework to explore the visibility and contributions of women in family based businesses in the Australian commercial fishing industry.”
  
  Supervisor: Prof Margaret Alston Margaret.Alston@med.monash.edu.au
  Key words: Women in fisheries Australia; women fishers; women fishers Australia
• Patricia Hamilton
  Building and nurturing a learning community in the Australian grains industry : a study of the national Partners in Grain project
  
  “During the last ten years, women’s absence from leadership positions in government, industry and private organisations has received significant attention from feminist researchers. This study explores the gendered pathway to decision-making and leadership in the Australian grains industry through an appraisal of the effects of up-skilling women in the national Partners in Grain (PinG) project. The thesis adopts a feminist perspective in order to understand why women’s participation in decision-making and leadership in the Australian grains industry remains limited. The narratives of women participants in the PinG project illustrate their struggle for equality against the background of the organisational culture of the Australian Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC.)”
  
  Supervisor: Prof Margaret Alston Margaret.Alston@med.monash.edu.au
  Funding partner: Australian Grains Research and Development Corporation
  Key words: Partners in grain project; women in agriculture
• Wendy March
  The impact of an Australian mistletoe, Amyema Miquelii (Loranthaceae), on nutrient cycling in eucalypt forests and woodlands
  
  "The importance of nutrient cycling in regulating ecosystem processes has long been recognised; however, the role of parasitic plants has been largely ignored. This thesis documents the significant effect a hemiparasitic mistletoe, Amyema miquelii (Lehm. ex Miq.) Tiegh., can have on nutrient cycling in red gum woodlands (Eucalyptus blakelyi, E. dwyeri and E. dealbata) and red gum dominated forests of south-eastern Australia. Litter is one of the main routes for the trasfer of nutrients from the plant to soil in the nutrient cycle (Adams & Attiwill, 1986) and as such is the topic of this study. The aim was to assess the effect of mistletoe presence in the tree canopy on litterfalll and nutrient transfers in the leaf litter, then on to the soil via decomposition, and the subsequent effects on the plant community."
  
  Supervisor: Prof David Watson dwatson@csu.edu.au
  Keywords: Nutrient cycles Australia, south-eastern; eucalyptus ecology Australia, south-eastern; mistletoes ecology Australia, south-eastern

2006

• Julie Collins
  Caring for country’ in NSW : connection, identity, belonging
  
  "This thesis deepens understanding of indigenous forms of ’caring for country’ in NSW, describing the cultural practices that manifest Aboriginal attachment to land. A deepened understanding has implications for social justice and the empowerment of Indigenous Australians, working against stereotypes of Aboriginal people in the south-east as being ’non-traditional’ and having lost their cultural connections to land. It facilitates a clearer and more comprehensive recognition of Indigenous rights, enhances opportunities for reconciliation between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, and acknowledges cultural survival against tremendous odds ... This thesis concluded that projects on country, involving partnerships between Indigenous and non-indigenous people, can become the embodiment of reconciliation, with the healing of the land symbolic of the less tangible reconciliation occurring between the human participants.”
  
  Supervisor: Dr Jim Birckhead jbirckhead@csu.edu.au
  Keywords: Land use Australia; aboriginal Australians social life and customs; materials and culture
• Jessica MacGregor
  Effects of inundation and grazing on floodplain soil carbon dynamics and microbial community structure
  
  "Floodplains are some of the most sought after land for agricultural and pastoral use, as their alluvial soil makes them highly productive. As a result, grazing of domestic livestock is one of the major land uses on many floodplains. Clearing of the dominant native vegetation community (in the current study river red gum forest, Eucalyptus camaldulensis) is a secondary impact of grazing and a common practice to make way for more productive pasture. This study examined the effect of land use (grazing and/or land clearing) on microbial community structure and carbon dynamics; with particular emphasis on the soil’s response to flooding. The study was carried out on the Ovens River floodplain, south-eastern Australia, one of the last remaining unregulated sub-catchments of the southern Murray Darling Basin."
  
  Supervisor: Prof Nick Klomp nklomp@csu.edu.au
  Keywords: Soil microbial ecology; floodplain agriculture Ovens River Valley Victoria; sustainable agriculture Ovens River Valley
• Lisa O’Neill
  The breeding and feeding ecology of the Sooty Tern Sterna fuscata on Lord Howe Island
  
  Supervisor: Prof Nick Klomp nklomp@csu.edu.au
  Keywords: Sooty Tern, Sooty tern Australia Lord Howe Island
• Danny Rogers
  Hidden costs : challenges faced by migratory shorebirds living on intertidal flats
  
  "Many of the world’s migratory shorebirds depend on intertidal environments during the non-breeding season and on migratory stopovers. This thesis examines the ploys they use to survive in these dynamic habitats, focussing mostly on one study site, Roebuck Bay in north-western Australia, and on two species, the Red Knot Calidris canutus and the Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris
  
  Supervisor: Iain Taylor itaylor@csu.edu.au
  Keywords: Shorebirds Australia; seashore ecology Australia