ILWS - Institute of Land, Water and Society
ILWS News and Events
Connections Newsletter
The Institute for Land, Water and Society publishes an electronic newsletter "Connections" four times a year. It features informative stories about ILWS members and their research projects .
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News and Achievements 2013 / 2012 / 2011 / 2010 / 2009
Events 2012 / 2011/ 2010/ 2009 / 2008 / 2007/ 2006/ 2005
Commercial fishing under the spotlight
A national study investigating what people think of Australia’s wild-catch commercial fishing industry has commenced. The two year study, Let’s Talk Fish, has been funded by the Australian Government’s Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and is being conducted by ILWS social researchers Dr Nicki Mazur and Professor Allan Curtis. Read more
Modern agriculture is stressing honeybees: let’s go native
Honeybees are in trouble – a stressful lifestyle and an unhealthy diet are being compounded by mite attacks – but we needn’t panic about pollination. Australia has many native bee (and other pollinator) species that could be taking care of business, if we only took better care of them says ILWS PhD candidate Manu Saunders in The Conversation
Australia's spending on agricultural R&D has dropped internationally from 9th to 16th place
AUSTRALIA'S ability to become a food bowl feeding a fast-expanding Asia is being undermined by continued funding cuts to agricultural research. ILWS Adjunct Dr John Mullen and Mick Keogh from the Australian Farm Institute revealed to the Australian Agricultural Economics Society in Sydney this week, that as agricultural research spending has dropped since 2000, the ability of Australia's farmers to produce more food has stagnated. Read more
A fragile assignment
During her PhD research on Crested Terns, Dr Maggie Watson pioneered a method for collecting blood from chicks still in an egg. The technique involves enlarging the pipping hole, removing the chick's head to take blood from a jugular vein, and returning the chick into its original position in the egg to complete hatching back in the nest. Keep reading
The heat is on for health departments
An ILWS climate expert believes health authorities will need to do more to minimise the impacts of heatwaves on our health services, especially if the recent trend of rising average temperatures and more hot days continues as projected. Professor Kevin Parton was part of a team that investigated the effects of heat waves in Adelaide and Perth, both state capital cities in Australia that are particularly prone to hot, dry conditions. Keep reading