ILWS - Institute of Land, Water and Society
PhD Graduates 2011
This list of PhD graduates includes a theses abstract and principal supervisor information.
The National Library of Australia webpage is a source for further information.
For previous years : 2010 / 2009 / 2008 / 2007 / 2006
2011
- Nicole Bruce
A bird’s eyeview: development of a remote sensing approach to monitoring semi-arid grasslands for biodiversity conservation.
Principal supervisor A/Prof Ian Lunt - Andrew Carter
Improving Red Fox (Vulpes Vulpes) management for Bush Stone-Curlew (Burhinus Grallarius) conservation in South Eastern Australia.
In Australia, the Red Fox (fox; Vulpes vulpes) is a serious threat to livestock and a major predator of wildlife. Native ground-dwelling fauna are especially vulnerable to fox predation and one species of particular concern is the Bush Stone-curlew (curlew; Burhinus grallarius) which, in south-eastern Australia, is largely confined to privately-owned farmland. Fox control is a key management strategy in endeavours to halt curlew population declines, however it is unclear whether current efforts are employed at an appropriate scale or in areas for the most effective control. This thesis addresses these questions by examining fox predation pressure relative to landscape context and ground-layer habitat complexity, factors affecting den-site selection, home-range size and movements, and a community-based fox-baiting program specifically implemented to protect curlews. Bait-uptake experiments demonstrated that fox predation pressure was highest along roadsides and creek-lines; locations that provide important habitat for curlews in agricultural landscapes. This confirms the great risk that curlews face from foxes in farming areas and identifies landscape elements where fox control could be targeted for increased effectiveness.
Principal supervisor A/Prof Gary Luck - Janet Cohn
How are the dynamics of woodland dominants influenced by climate and disturbances in South Eastern Australia.
Woodlands in south eastern Australia are dominated by trees of contrasting functional types. Callitris glaucophylla is a slow growing, obligate-seeding conifer and Eucalyptus species are fast growing, resprouting angiosperms. The success of these functional types is likely to vary with climate and different levels and rates of disturbances along climatic gradients. I examined how climate and disturbances influenced the dynamics of these woodland dominants, by using surveys of varying scales. Regeneration failure of Callitris has led to ageing populations (mid - late 1800s) below 405 mm annual rainfall in the winter rainfall zone. Failure was associated with farms, which graze livestock and where rabbits are common. In contrast, Callitris populations are younger (since 1950s) and expanding on tenures other than farms (roadside, travelling stock routes, State Forests), where livestock grazing levels are low-moderate, and rabbits and fires are less frequent above 405 mm mean annual rainfall.
Principal supervisor A/Prof Ian Lunt - Chris Harrington
Community as an organising concept in multi-scale natural resource governance: cohesive actor or chaotic subject - a study at The Living Murray.
The concept of community has become a fundamental organising idea for the improved governance of natural resources in contemporary society. Institutional arrangements such as state-community partnerships and multi-stakeholder collaborations often structure governance in third way democracies like Australia.In multi-scale and multi-level NRM cases, various socio-ecological scales, political jurisdictions, and stratum of society need to be represented and integrated. As a result, governments often assemble different actors to speak for others andshow a preference for governing community as a site of common association over a complex and diffuse society.Informed by governmentality and actor network theory, and drawing on an in-depth multi-scale case study, this thesis critically examines the concept of community as a useful signifier for different forms of societal organisation and good governance at The Living Murray (TLM) during the policy implementation phase.
Principal supervisor Prof Allan Curtis - Alison Matthews
Climate change influences on the distribution and resource use of Common Wombats in the Snowy Mountains, Australia.
Shifts in the geographic range of species towards higher altitudes are anticipated for many species in south-eastern Australia in response to future climate warming. This is particularly the case in the Snowy Mountains, where a substantial reduction in the snow cover is expected to have a major impact on the distribution of species in this area. The aim of this thesis was to examine the population ecology of common wombats Vombatus ursinus in the subalpine zone in order to gain a greater understanding of the environmental factors which limit their present range, and to predict potential range shifts under future climate change.
Principal supervisor Dr Peter Spooner - Nicole McGasker
Of life and death in lowland rivers: Investigating mortality during the early life stages of Murray-Darling fishes.
The early life history is a crucial period for fish. Mortality rates are highest during this time, and because of the high fecundity of many fishes, slight variation in mortality rates can result in major fluctuations in recruitment strength. Knowledge of the magnitude and variation of mortality rates of fish species at different ages and developmental stages, and the biotic and abiotic conditions responsible for these, is the key to understanding the nature of recruitment variability in fish populations. The aim of this thesis was to investigate sources and severity of mortality in native Murray-Darling fishes during the larval period.
Principal supervisor Dr Paul Humphries - Emily Mendham
Changes in rural property ownership: Challenges and opportunities for Natural resource Management.
Rural areas throughout the developed world are undergoing significant restructuring owing to a number of socio-economic factors. One aspect of recent rural change has to do with demographic shifts and in-migration to rural areas formerly dominated by agricultural enterprises. The effect has been a challenge to the traditional dominance of production values in some rural areas. In other areas, farmers continue striving to maintain competitiveness by implementing changes to the size of their businesses, enterprise mix or business structure. Since land ownership is a major determinant of land use these ownership trends and changes to the types of people managing the land have important implications for natural resource management. There has been limited research into the effects of these changes on rural areas, with scholars focusing on the broad structure and composition of migration flows using census data. The various processes driving these changes and the resulting impacts from these phenomena on rural areas warrant investigation. It is important to explore these trends at the scales at which they are most evident. In this thesis I present and discuss results of research on trends in rural property ownership change in the Wimmera and Corangamite regions of Australia.
Principal supervisor Prof Allan Curtis - Eloise Seymour
Community values for wetlands, forests and a river reach: A study of assigned values to inform regional Natural resource Management decision making.
Natural resource decision-makers in Australia, as in other parts of the world, face the problem of allocating limited public funding to deal with extensive environmental problems. Increased attention is being given to the targeting of resources to ‘high-value’ natural assets, known as the asset-based approach. Deciding which assets have sufficient ‘high value’ requires the use of biophysical, economic and social approaches. This PhD research has taken a social science perspective in examining community values for three different natural assets in the North Central region of Victoria, Australia: the Moolort wetlands, box-ironbark forests and the upper Loddon River. Much of the research focus on environmental ‘values’ over the past few decades has been on understanding general environmental concern, or specific conservation behaviours. An understanding of community assigned values (values expressed for specific natural places) is an underdeveloped area and is likely to be more useful for Natural Resource Management (NRM) decisionmakingthan information based on held values (values towards the environment in general). There have been very few studies exploring the factors influencing assigned values and the usefulness of assigned values for predicting environmental behaviour.
Principal supervisor Prof Allan Curtis - Emily Sharp
Exploring community-agency trust before, during and after a wildfire.
Wildfire management is a complex and often contentious issue in fire-prone communities in Victoria, Australia. The challenge of managing increasingly frequent and severe fires has prompted fire management agencies to recognise the importance of community-agency trust in working with communities to prepare for, respond to and recover from wildfire. Previous research has identified components of trust important to wildfire management in general or for a specific management stage (e.g. fire preparation). However, our understanding of how factors affecting community-agency trust may be similar or different at each stage of fire management is limited. This research attempted to address this gap by using semi-structured interviews and a mail survey to identify and explore factors affecting community-agency trusting relationships in each management stage (i.e. before, during and after) and among the stages of a wildfire event.
Principal supervisor Dr Rik Thwaites - Alison Skinner
An investigation into the effects of understorey modification on woodland eucalypt recruitment.
Widespread tree clearing, grazing, cultivation and fertiliser use have had lasting effects on the understorey of grassy woodlands of south eastern Australia, creating novel systems where resource availability has been altered and ecosystem processes such as tree recruitment may now be impaired. While there is increasing emphasis within management agencies on using natural regeneration to achieve catchment revegetation targets in agricultural landscapes, the effects of understorey modification on woodland eucalypt recruitment are not well known. I compared the potential for tree recruitment in a range of variously modified grassland states based on a state and transition model of woodland vegetation change in agricultural landscapes. Specifically I investigated the effects on seedling germination, growth and survival of changes in species composition of the grass layer, biomass buildup following grazing exclusion, soil nutrient enrichment, and soil compaction in a series of field and laboratory experiments.
Principal supervisor A/Prof Ian Lunt - Karen Bell
The experiences and support needs of non-metropolitan women who have used assisted reproduction clinics.
This thesis explores the experiences and support needs of non-metropolitan Australian women in relation to assisted reproduction. It is argued that women's experiential knowledge has not been adequately validated and that a more inclusive knowledge base is required to improve the quality of care in this context ... it is argued that the dominant paradigm in assisted reproduction remains quite traditional, conservative, biomedical and individualistic in its ontological orientation. Sustained feminist critique has established that women's experiential knowledge of reproductive technology remains largely outside of the dominant paradigm and women in particular are not afforded adequate epistemic agency ... This qualitative project focuses on the experiences and support needs of women living in non-metropolitan areas. In addition to general locational disadvantages these women often experience additional, specific service delivery issues and their voices have been particularly quiet in the discourse of assisted reproduction.
Principal supervisor Prof Margaret Alston (Monash) - Jennifer McKinnon
Towards a new consciousness of 'environment' for the social work profession: Perceptions of a sample of environmentally-conscious social workers in Australia
This thesis explores the relevance of the natural environment to social work. Although social work has a body of theory for practice known as ecological social work, ‘ecological’ has in effect referred to the socio-cultural environment and has largely ignored the natural world context in which social work practice takes place. A review of the social work literature indicates very little evidence of engagement with the topics of sustainability or environmental issues for social workers, and there is scant attention paid to these issues in accredited social work courses in Australia. Thus the research problem which this thesis addresses is: ‘In what ways, if any, are nature and the broad environmental context of humanity relevant to the profession of social work?’ Through addressing this question, the thesis sheds light on the reasons why the social work profession and social workers in the Western world have by and large ignored natural environment issues and imperatives in social work education and practice.
Principal supervisor A/Prof Manohar Pawar - Charles Tant
Social isolation in older Australians and the Home and Community Care program.
Social isolation is a widely discussed social ill and older people are at particular risk of suffering its consequences. HACC is the major funding mechanism for service provision for older Australians living in the community, including services to counter social isolation, but there is a lack of evidence that it does so. There are numerous definitions of social isolation and power. This thesis develops new multidimensional definitions based on a pluralistic theoretical framework incorporating elements of Putnam’s and Bourdieu’s notions of social capital and critical social work theories. Four discourses of relevance to socially isolated older people are considered: neo-liberalism, ageism, social democracy and positive ageing. The research was a mixed-method qualitative and quantitative process involving two studies.
Principal supervisor Dr Wendy Bowles - Dianne McGrath
Social accounting: A reporting model incorporating stakeholder dialogue in the credit union sector.
Social disclosures are one aspect of an organisation's sustainable performance, where sustainability reflects the ability of an organisation to be able to maintain the status quo. As such, sustainability requires an organisation or community to be: "financially secure (as evidenced through such measures as profitability); it must minimise (or ideally eliminate) its negative environmental impacts; and it must act in conformity with society's expectations" (Deegan 1999, p.38). Measures of financial security are generally accepted as being represented by the annual financial statements of the organisation, however, the environmental and social impacts are still to find a meaningful and consistent reporting medium. While many national and international firms have shown early signs of social reporting there is no recognised conceptual framework for reporting. The research reported in this thesis seeks to establish a framework for social reporting in the credit union sector based on a study of regional financial institutions. In proposing a reporting model for the credit union sector this thesis presents research which documents the social accounting information needs of members and management within this industry group.
Principal supervisor Prof Reg (Martin) Mathews - Lionel Bopage (DBA)
Trade liberalisation and structural change in the Australian motor vehicle industry.
The Australian automotive industry has moved from a high protection environment to an increasingly open and competitive environment. This process of liberalisation has posed many challenges and opportunities to the industry. The industry outcomes have been heavily influenced by the protective policy calculus implemented by successive governments. Between 1983 and 1996, the industry went through major structural changes, fuelled by substantial tariff reductions, with an aim of improving industry competitiveness and making its orientation more outward.The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of trade liberalisation on the competitiveness and trade performance of the Australian automotive industry.
Principal supervisor Prof Kishor Sharma