Leading Charles Sturt University (CSU) research ranging from addressing the scourge of cereal cropping in southern Australia – annual ryegrass – to developing a computer game to simulate a major national crisis has won major funding in the latest round of Federal Government grants.
Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop MP said the funded projects were chosen because they affected the lives of all Australians.
CSU Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Ross Chambers said that the seven CSU projects selected by the Australian Research Council (ARC) “highlight the diversity and strengths of the University’s research profile, as well as the formation of cross-disciplinary groups devoted to solving significant regional and national problems”.
“The research shows the University’s important role in working for the future of inland and regional Australia. It also shows CSU’s national leadership in ethics, through its Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics based in Canberra, and in fields such as education and communication,” said Professor Chambers.
The ARC Discovery and Linkage projects, which are worth over $1.5 million and run for two to three years from 2007, are spread across CSU’s campuses:
- Crisis management simulation: The ability of a large corporation or public organisation to handle a crisis can have major economic, environment, social and cultural consequences. This project merges the latest digital games programing with applied drama to produce a crisis management game to simulate conflict and crisis. CSU communication and IT development specialists will work with the Australian Defence Forces (ADF) to help the ADF better understand organisational communication under extreme pressure.
CSU researchers: Associate Professor John Carroll, Zoe Hibbert, Professor Terry Bossomaier, David Cameron.
Campus: Bathurst
- Northern connections: Researchers will seek critical information about native bird populations that migrate between Australia and its close northern neighbours. This timely project could help in the tracking of exotic diseases carried by birds in and out of the country, as well as aiding in the conservation and management of native birds in northern Australia.
CSU researcher: Dr David Roshier.
Campus: Albury-Wodonga
- Sustainable development in urban environments: Human settlement can be managed in an ecologically sensitive way which can ensure the conservation of many native plants and animals, and provide considerable opportunity for interaction between people and nature. This is particularly important in Australia as we tend to live in areas that also have the greatest diversity of native plants and animals.
CSU researcher: Dr Garry Luck.
Campus: Albury-Wodonga
- Children with speech pathology: Adults who had speech impairments as children typically have more literacy, social and employment problems. This study will identify strengths and limitations of appropriate services for children with speech impairments in health and education sectors.
Chief CSU researchers: Dr Sharynne McLeod, Dr Linda Harrison, Associate Professor Lindy Mcallister.
Campuses: Albury-Wodonga and Bathurst
- Characterising annual ryegrass: Annual ryegrass, southern Australia’s worst crop weed, has developed significant resistance to herbicides. This study will investigate fundamental characteristics that make this weed so competitive, with the aim of developing better management options for controlling annual ryegrass.
CSU researchers: Professor Jim Pratley, Dr Min An, Dr Hanwen Wu
Campus: Wagga Wagga
- An Australian alternative to a Bill of Rights: The project explores an alternative to an Australian Bill of Rights involving an Australian Charter of Rights that retains and develops existing democratic rights and processes while providing incentives for Federal Parliament to enact comprehensive human rights legislation regarding political, econnomic and social power.
CSU researcher: Professor Tom Campbell
Campus: Canberra, Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics
- Sustainability in education: The study investigates ten Education for Sustainablity projects to showcase examples in schools and the community. It aims to contribute to environmental, economic, cultural and social sustainability through better education, with implications for education theory, policy development and teacher and other professional education.
CSU researcher: Professor Stephen Kemmis
Campus: Wagga Wagga
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