The Institute’s first-ever on-line conference has been hailed as a “resounding success.” The free conference, which was held November 26 and 27, 2020, was an opportunity for members to share the results and conclusions from recent projects
and activities and to showcase the work of our strong research teams.
The presentations represented all categories of Institute membership – Full Member, Associate Member, Adjunct and Student. There were also two presentations by undergraduate students associated with the Institute.
The Conference is free and open to everyone.Program Summary
The program reflects the multi and trans-disciplinary research ethos of ILWS.
Please check back soon for the videos of each presentation which will be uploaded to our YouTube channel.
In the meantime the Zoom links for each session will be made available on these pages.
Day/Time | Session |
Thursday 26th November | Zoom recording link |
9.00am – 9.20am | Welcome and opening |
9.20am – 12.00pm | Session 1 |
12.30pm - 5.20pm | Session 2 |
Friday 27th November | |
9.00am – 12.00pm | Session 3 |
12.40pm – 4.20pm | Session 4 |
4.20pm- 4:45pm | Closing remarks |
Session 1 – Thursday 26 November – 9.00am – 12.00pm
Chair | Andrew Hall |
9:00am – 9:20am | Welcome Andrew Hall and Opening Cathy McGowan AO |
9:20am – 9.40am | Robyn J. Watts, Catherine Allan, Xiaoying Liu, John Trethewie, Nicole McCasker, Julia A. Howitt, Nick Bond, Damian McRae, Katherine Reid, Bruce Campbell, Paul Childs, Sascha Healy, Mike R. Grace, Jason D. Thiem Environmental flow trials in a regulated river in Southern Australia: integrating biophysical and social research |
9:40am – 10.00am | Catherine Allan and Robyn Watts Adaptive management of environmental flows; how reflection on ‘trials’ mediated dialogue and influenced practice |
10:00am – 10.20am | Larissa Bamberry, Donna Bridges, Stacey Jenkins, Branka Krivokapic-Skoko, Elizabeth Wulff It’s a male’s industry. Don’t expect us to change anything for you’; formal and informal regulation of gender equity in the construction industry |
10:20am – 10.40am | Maree Bernoth, Keryl de Haan, Joanna Carlisle Facilitators and barriers to the use of e-health therapy for isolated mothers experiencing postnatal depression. |
10:40am – 11:00am | Richard J. Culas Water, Nutrition and Policy Nexus (Developing Optimal Farming Systems) |
11:00am - 11:20am | Raf Freire, Leia Rogers, Ellie Sales, Shokoofeh Shamsi, Paul Humphries, Keller Kopf Can animal personality research inform fish conservation? |
11:20am – 11:40am | Xiaodi Huang, Lee Baumgartner, Zhenquan Li, Wayne Robinson, and Karl Pomorin Visual Analysis and Prediction of PIT data from Murray Darling Basin |
11:40am – 12:00pm | Simone-Maree Hyde The enablers and barriers of the four day work-week |
Session 2 – Thursday 26 November – 12:30pm – 5:20pm
Chair | Dale Nimmo |
12:30pm- - 1:00pm 5-minute presentations | Wayne Robinson, K H Homsombath, Lee Baumgartner. Diverse fish communities in lower Mekong floodplain wetlands benefit from improved fish passage: Implementation of operational and structural fish passage options in the Xe Beng Fai, Central Laos. Nicolette Duncan, John Conallin, Sanjiv de Silva. Fish for whom? The role of institutions in translating eco-technical investments into inclusive development outcomes Yapa Bandara. International Migration: Is it the answer for Regional Skills Shortage Rui Bi. Understanding digital business value creation in Australian SMES Mitchell A. Cowan, Harry A. Moore, Dale G. Nimmo, Judy A. Dunlop, Lorna Hernandez-Santin, Michael L. Wysong, Bronwyn A. Hradsky, Melinda Henderson, Robert A. Davis, Diana O. Fisher, Chris G. Knuckey. The spatial ecology and habitat selection of a marsupial predator in a semiarid landscape |
1.00pm – 1:20pm | Richard A. Crabbe, David W. Lamb, Clare Edwards Investigating the potential of sentinel-1 to detect varying spatial heterogeneity in pasture cover in grasslands |
1:20pm – 1:40pm | Andrew Hall, Rachel F. Thomas, Skye Wassens Mapping the maximum inundation extent of lowland intermittent riverine wetland depressions using LiDAR |
1:40pm – 2:00pm | Paul Humphries The origins and implications of the historic Murray cod commercial fishery |
2:00pm – 2:20pm | Guy Sion, Maggie J. Watson, Amos Bouskila Measuring body condition of lizards: a comparison between non-invasive dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, chemical fat extraction and calculated indices |
2:20pm – 2:40pm | Break |
Chair | Melanie Massaro |
2:40pm – 3:00pm | Helenna Mihailou, Dale G Nimmo and Melanie Massaro Temporal differences in visitation to ephemeral savanna waterholes limits interference competition between feral ungulates and native macropods |
3:00pm – 3:20pm | Mobushir R. Khan, Michael Mitchell, Catherine A. Allan, Jehangir F. Punthakey Location based web and mobile applications for water resource management |
3:20pm – 3:40pm | Xiaoying Liu, Robyn J. Watts, Julia A. Howitt, Nicole McCasker Carbon and nutrient release from experimental inundation of agricultural and forested floodplain soil and vegetation: influence of floodplain land use on the development of hypoxic blackwater during floods |
3:40pm – 4:00pm | Jodie Kleinschafer, Felicity Small, Mona Nikidehaghani Exploring the transition to the NDIS in the Western NSW region: Choice under the NDIS: Service provider and Carer Perspectives |
4:00pm – 4:20pm | Branka Krivokapic-Skoko Being Global and Being Regional: African female refugees setting up and running an enterprise in non-metropolitan Australia |
4:20pm – 4:40pm | Lucia Wuersch Using transactional analysis in internal communication |
4:40pm - 5:00pm | Liam Grimmett, Rachel Whitsed, Ana Horta Landscape structure influences modelled response to environmental variables: Relevance to forecasting species distributions |
5:00pm – 5:20pm | Franz D. Scherping, Maggie J. Watson Adaptation of phenoloxidase assay for use in wild and captive Murray crayfish Euastacus armatus |
Session 3 – Friday 27 November – 9.00am – 12.00pm
Chair | Branka Krivokapic-Skoko |
9:00am – 9:20am | Zhenquan Li Reliable and accurate computations for fluid flows |
9:20am – 9.40am | Jehangir F Punthakey, M Mitchell, C Allan, R Culas, UK Awan, L Anjum, AN Rana, S. Akhtar, G Zakir, W Ahmad, S Ejaz, A. Memon, A.L Qureshi Improving sustainable management of groundwater resources in Pakistan |
9:40am – 10.00am | Jodi N. Price, Judith Sitters Herbivore exclusion effects on plant diversity depend on rainfall and evolutionary history |
10:00am – 10.20am | Melanie Massaro, Alison Chick , Euan S. Kennedy and Rachel Whitsed Post-reintroduction distribution and habitat preferences of a spatially-limited island bird species |
10:20am – 10.40am | Clifford Lewis The impact of LGBTQI+ Pride events on rural communities: The case of Wagga Wagga |
10:40am – 11:00am | Ian Gray Adventures in the presentation of research by medium of video: ‘the unusual work of Griffith train CM3’ |
11:00am - 11:20am | Michael Mitchell, Jehangir F. Punthakey, Catherine Allan, Richard J. Culas, Mobushir R. Khan, Faizan ul Hasan, Muhammad Ashfaq, Irfan A. Baig, Syed M. Khair, Abdul Rashid, Farooq Ahmed, Saira Akhtar, Asghar Ali, Ghulam Z. Hassan, Tehmina Mangan, A. Latif Qureshi, Aurangzeb Memon, Mustafa Nangraj Improving groundwater management to enhance agriculture and farming livelihoods in Pakistan |
11:20am – 11:40am | Harry A. Moore, Judy A. Dunlop, Damien R. Michael, Leonie E. Valentine, Euan G. Ritchie, Dale G. Nimmo In the heart of the spinifex sea: habitat selection of an endangered marsupial mesopredator in naturally fragmented landscapes depends on within patch, patch, and landscape variables |
11:40am – 12:00pm | Tahmid Nayeem & Nicholas Pawsey NSW irrigators’ attitudes towards irrigation pump fish-screening |
Session 4 – Friday 27 November – 12:40pm – 5:00pm
Chair | Dominic O’Sullivan |
12:40pm- 1:00pm | Nicholas Pawsey, Catherine Allan, Benjamin Wills, Francisco Ascui, Geoff Cockfield, Simon Cook, Mark Frost, Alfred Wong, Julia Lynch and Ross Colliver Financing soil stewardship: outcomes from a systemic co-inquiry |
1.00pm – 1:20pm | Richard H. Loyn, Guy Dutson and Peter W. Menkhorst Despotic birds and environmental flows profoundly affecting ecosystem structure in black box woodlands |
1:20pm – 1:40pm | Reza Mahinroosta, Lalantha Senevirathna Prediction of migration of PFOS in soil and groundwater in regional NSW |
1:40pm – 2:00pm | Richard D. Segal, Melanie Massaro, Nicholas Carlile, Rachel Whitsed Small-scale species distribution model identifies restricted breeding habitat for an endemic island bird |
2:00pm – 2:20pm | Dale G Nimmo Estimating the impacts of mega-fire on animals: how many reptiles were in the path of the 2019-20 Australian megafires? |
2:20pm – 2:40pm | Break |
Chair | Lee Baumgartner |
2:40pm – 3:00pm | Wesley S. Ward, Michael Vanderzee, Michael Mitchell, C. Max Finlayson Can birds of different feathers fly together? Research collaboration in regional Australia |
3:00pm – 3:20pm | Manohar Pawar Empowering Social Workers: Virtuous practitioners |
3:20pm – 3:40pm | Sarah Redshaw Social capital in social theory |
3:40pm – 4:00pm | Ghulam Zakir-Hassan, Catherine Allan, Jehangir F. Punthakey, Lee Baumgartner Groundwater monitoring: a pre-requisite for its management |
4:00pm – 4:20pm | David M Watson Did mammals bring the first mistletoes into the tree-tops? |
4:20pm – 4:45pm | Closing remarks Andrew Hall |