ANNUAL REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

2013

© The Cairns Institute, James Cook University 2014

Published by The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia.

This publication is copyright. The Copyright Act 1968 permits fair dealing for study, research, information or educational purposes subject to inclusion of a sufficient acknowledgement of the source.

Cover photograph: James Cook University

CONTENTS OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................................................................ 1

Mission & Vision ...................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Aims ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 1 Acting Director's Report .......................................................................................................................................................... 2

GOVERNANCE .......................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Management Committee ......................................................................................................................................................... 4 International Advisory Board ................................................................................................................................................... 5 Organisational Chart ............................................................................................................................................................... 6

MEMBERSHIP ........................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Tropical Leaders ..................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Research Leader..................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Post Doctoral Researchers ................................................................................................................................................... 10 Research Fellows in Residence ............................................................................................................................................ 12 Research Fellows.................................................................................................................................................................. 12 Honorary Fellows .................................................................................................................................................................. 14 Adjuncts ................................................................................................................................................................................ 14 Administration ....................................................................................................................................................................... 15

RESEARCH ............................................................................................................................................................................. 16 Projects ................................................................................................................................................................................. 16 Theme 1: Regional Economic Development .......................................................................................................................... 16 Theme 2: Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Futures ............................................................................................................ 18 Theme 3: Sustainability & Tropical Environments .................................................................................................................. 20 Theme 4: Social Justice & Community Wellbeing .................................................................................................................. 21 Theme 5: Education Futures ................................................................................................................................................. 22 Theme 6: Governance & Political Innovation ......................................................................................................................... 24 Theme 7: International Aid Development ............................................................................................................................... 26 Theme 8: Language, Culture, Agency & Change................................................................................................................... 27

OUTREACH ............................................................................................................................................................................. 29 Training & Professional Development ................................................................................................................................... 29 Conferences & Seminars ...................................................................................................................................................... 29

GRADUATE TRAINING ............................................................................................................................................................ 31 2013 Students ....................................................................................................................................................................... 31

LINKAGES & PARTNERSHIPS ................................................................................................................................................ 32 JCU partners ......................................................................................................................................................................... 32

Australian University Partners ............................................................................................................................................... 33 Visiting Scholars ................................................................................................................................................................... 33 International University Partners ........................................................................................................................................... 33 Community & Non-profit Organisation Partners ..................................................................................................................... 34 Australian Government Agencies and Department Partners .................................................................................................. 34

MEDIA AND PUBLIC OUTREACH ........................................................................................................................................... 35 Media Coverage - Examples ................................................................................................................................................. 35

PUBLICATIONS ....................................................................................................................................................................... 38 2013 Publication List ............................................................................................................................................................. 38 Newsletter ............................................................................................................................................................................. 38

AWARDS & PEER RECOGNITION .......................................................................................................................................... 39 Honours & Awards ................................................................................................................................................................ 39

SERVICES TO THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY ....................................................................................................................... 40 Editorial Boards ..................................................................................................................................................................... 40 Participation on Professional and Review Committees .......................................................................................................... 42

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OVERVIEW

James Cook University has established an institute for advanced studies in sustainable industries, economies, people and societies in the tropics. The Institute brings together the expertise and intellectual resources of more than 20 academic disciplines, creating a uniquely robust and relevant research, consulting, training and teaching hub for northern Australia, south and south-east Asia and the Pacific.

The Cairns Institute values and pursues research and development activities with an applied focus and global reach. The Institute dedicates its research and praxis to the vital human, social, economic and cultural dimensions of the tropics. It aims to have a beneficial impact on the livelihoods and communities of northern Australia and the global tropics and to engage and build upon existing James Cook University (JCU) research capabilities in these areas.

Mission & Vision

To enhance human life in the tropics and contribute to a brighter, more equitable and enriching future for its peoples, through globally informed scholarship, research excellence and a commitment to social justice.

To be an outstanding research, consulting and training institution distinguished by academic excellence, professionalism, internationalism and scholarship in the human, social and cultural dimensions of research carried out across James Cook University.

The Cairns Institute prides itself on engaged research and development activities with an applied focus. We aim for outcomes that are relevant to all our partners in government, communities, industry and other sectors.

Aims

This Institute gives concrete expression to the University’s aim to become one of the world’s leading research universities in the tropics. As a repository of regional knowledge and research capacity, it is perfectly positioned to make a significant contribution to the development of a sustainable quality of life for tropical communities.

Around half of the world’s population – some three billion people – and 80 per cent of the planet’s animal and plant species live in the tropics. From economic and educational deprivation to disease, loss of culture and the impacts of climate change, the social, economic and environmental challenges facing the tropical zones of northern Australia and the world are immense.

The Institute is dedicated to providing innovative, solution-orientated research with local, national and global tropical application. Its location in north Queensland provides a real-world context and tropical research opportunities unparalleled in Australia.

Photo of Cairns Institute building under construction

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Acting Director's Report

A defining feature of JCU is its tropical location and its research excellence in disciplines of particular relevance to the tropics. The value of the world’s tropical economies is projected to reach US$40 trillion by 2025. If Australia were to capture one percent of the knowledge economy of the tropical world, this would translated to US$80 billion per annum by 2025. The North and Far North Queensland region has all the assets required to become the engine room for Australia’s engagement with the tropical world.

The Cairns Institute is well placed to be a site and catalyst for innovation on issues associated with industries, economies, peoples and societies in the tropics by better understanding and disseminating information about the extent of the opportunity, to build capacity for local business to engage in the opportunity to meet the needs of the growing middle class and governments, to work with tropical peoples and places to both identify key products and services required and, critically, to build capacity in-country for the sustainable economic and social development in the tropical world. To this end The

Cairns Institute held the Future of our Region Forum in conjunction with Advance Cairns on 30 September 2013. Over 130 people attended from industry, community and JCU and the event attracted considerable media attention.

In 2013 we acquitted the Diversity and Structural Adjustment Fund (DSAF) investment of $5.184m which was provided to help establish The Cairns Institute (TCI) at JCU. The report to DSAF highlighted how The Cairns Institute squarely addressed the stated priorities of the Diversity Fund. It also noted that the commitment of the University has been substantial and that JCU provided considerable cash and in-kind contribution through infrastructure support and leveraging of academic expertise. The report accompanying the DSAF acquittal detailed how The Cairns Institute:

• Provided the critical mass and intellectual momentum necessary to attract significant numbers of higher degree research students to Cairns (55) and enhance the quality of their research supervision by significantly boosting the senior research staff complement [Priority B]

• Refocused small discipline and departmental research units around a single, robust core with strong academic and research leadership and professional enterprise development skills [Priorities B and C]

• Attracted significant numbers of overseas visiting scholars (36), most notably from European institutions, for whom the Institute will provide a regional base and access to resources. This has facilitated international research and teaching collaborations; enriched the intellectual environment; and provided international role models and mentors for postgraduate students [Priorities B and C]

• Hosted a wide range of workshops, conferences, seminars and professional short courses providing a significant intellectual and practical resource to the community and the wider region [Priorities B and D]

• Significantly enhanced the expertise base available to serve and assist on-shore and off-shore communities and make it possible to service large-scale aid and community and economic development projects in the region, from the region [Priority D]

• Consolidated and coordinated intellectual resources and provided a single point of reference and integrated solutions for government and non-government clients requiring research and/or consultancy services [Priority D]

• Provided opportunities for current academic staff to boost research involvement and productivity via sponsored 6-12 month secondments, revivifying and enhancing their teaching and research supervision [Priority B]

• Developed an integrated resource data-base on demographic, historical, socio-economic, political and cultural aspects of populations and communities in the tropics [Priorities B, C and D].

Moving on from the initial grant, in 2013 the Institute’s Management Committee approved a business model that will provide a framework for the future of the Institute. This model emphasises the role of the two faculties with major investment in The Cairns Institute: Arts, Education & Social Sciences; and Law, Business & Creative Arts. It was also acknowledged that a growth strategy is needed. The budget was accepted with the awareness that it will need to be revisited, in particular in light of the findings of the Future Taskforce when they are handed down in 2014.

A major focus for 2013 was the long anticipated opening of the new building in July 2013. We moved into our new building in June and had two openings. On 8 July 2013 over 250 people attended a celebration of the new building. Because of changes of Ministers in Canberra and a Cabinet meeting on the 8 July, the Minister was unable to attend but a gala event was kicked off when we were welcomed to the new building by Ms Jeanette Singleton, Traditional Owner of the Cairns region. A warming was given by members of the Yirrganydji as people entered through smoke pots at the entrance to the building. The Gondwana National Indigenous Children’s Choir sang in different Indigenous languages in front of dignitaries including the Member for Barron River, Michael Trout, the Mayor of Cairns, Mr Bob Manning, the Vice Chancellor, the Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor and Mark Damant, the architect. Three pieces of artwork by renowned artists Mr Joe Nalo from Port Moresby, Ms Gail Mabo, Townsville, and Mr Bernard Singleton, Cairns were commissioned for the building. Human Services Minister, Jan McLucas also attended the opening and said the Institute consolidated JCU’s expertise in all matters tropical. Professor Colin Ryan and Professor Hurriyet Babacan were both acknowledged for the important roles they played in the establishment of the Institute and its wonderful new building.

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As part of the opening week celebrations for the new building an important partnership agreement was made between The Cairns Institute and the Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples’ Alliance (RAPA). The partnership is designed to encourage increased engagement between RAP Tribal Owner Groups and the broader JCU research, training and development capabilities.

On 17 July 2013 the new Cairns Institute building was officially opened by the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science, Research and Higher Education, Kim Carr. He said the building had given scientists, researchers, academics and students ‘‘world-class facilities to carry out world-class science’’.

The Indigenous Art Centre Alliance (IACA) which was established in 2011 with a manager, Pamela Bigelow, appointed to begin working with art centre members in 2012. The Alliance has given the 12 community-based art and craft centres of North Queensland the opportunity to develop professionally and commercially with IACA supporting them through advocacy and lobbying, as well as providing skills development and training opportunities. In January 2013 the Indigenous Art Centre Alliance (IACA) celebrated its first year of operation under the auspices of The Cairns Institute at JCU. The organisation has gained momentum and in 2013 became an independent legal entity but remained housed in the Cairns Institute building. Kinship—A celebration of fine art from Far North Queensland Indigenous Art Centres was an exhibition of IACA members’ works that was hung on the “bridge of knowledge” in to coincide with the official opening of the building in July 2013. Kinship showcased the very best from the 13 IACA member Indigenous Art Centres.

Despite the upheaval associated with moving to the new building 2013 was a good year for Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery funding with the following successes affiliated with the Institute:

• Prof Alexandra Y Aikhenvald (TCI Tropical Leader); Prof R. M. W. Dixon; Prof Lourens de Vries; Prof Dr Willem F. Adelaar. How languages differ and why. $350,000

• Prof Christopher Cunneen (TCI Tropical Leader); Prof Eileen Baldry; Ms Melanie Schwartz; Prof Barry Goldson; Em/Prof David Brown. A comparative analysis of youth punishment in Australia and the United Kingdom. $429,000

• Prof Sue McGinty; Dr Riccardo Welters; Assoc Prof Brian Lewthwaite; Katarina Te Riele; Valda Wallace; Prof Hurriyet Babacan; Dale Murray; David Murray; Eva Lawler; Mary Retel; George Myconos; Dr Anthony McMahon. Gauging the value of flexible learning options for disenfranchised youth and the Australian community. $309,000.

• Dr Roxanne Bainbridge (TCI Sen Research Fellow ); Prof Komla Tsey (TCI Tropical Leader); Prof Adrian Miller; Prof Christopher Doran; A/Prof Anthony Shakeshaft; Asst Prof Roz Walker. Inspiring Indigenous youth to build resilience and sustain participation with education and employment. $515,000

• Prof Julie Stubbs; Melanie Schwartz; Prof Christopher Cunneen (TCI Tropical Leader); Em/Prof David Brown. Justice reinvestment in Australia: Conceptual foundations for criminal justice innovation. $235,000 (administered by UNSW)

• Prof Doug Baker, QUT; Assoc Prof Neil Sipe, Griffith University; Dr Severine Mayere, QUT; Dr Karen Vella, Griffith University; with industry partners: Dr Bruce Taylor, CSIRO; Assoc Prof Richard Margerum, University of Oregon; Assoc Prof Allan Dale, JCU; Andrew Drysdale Qld Regional NRM Groups Collective; Lucy Richardson, Condamine Alliance; Kathryn Fletcher, Queensland Murray-Darling Committee; Elyse Riethmuller, Elyse Riethmuller Consulting; Fitzroy Basin Association Incorporated; David Hinchley, Terrain Natural Resource Management; Patricia Gowdie, NQ Dry Tropics. The impact of governance on regional natural resource planning. $180,000 (administered by QUT).

In 2013 the Institute continued to deliver regionally unique and much-needed research through its partnerships with local and regional community groups and stakeholders. Examples of partners include the Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples’ Alliance (RAPA), Centacare Townsville, Echo Creek Cultural Centre, Terrain NRM, Advance Cairns, Girringun Aboriginal Corporation, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation, Wet Tropics Management Authority and various local councils including Cairns Regional Council, Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council, Tablelands Regional Council and Cassowary Coast Regional Council.

Cairns is only a 1.5 hour flight from Port Moresby and JCU has many research projects in Papua New Guinea (PNG). In 2013 the Institute developed a seminar series focusing on PNG Collaborations. We ran four seminars in 2013 attracting over 170 attendees and this series will continue into 2014.

Professor Komla Tsey gave his Inaugural Lecture on 17 April 2013 titled: Universities engaging communities in research and Professor Chris Cunneen gave the 2013 Courtney Lecture during Open Day in August 2013 on the Cairns Campus.

Through eight key research themes The Cairns Institute continued to attract and engage multidisciplinary researchers on a range of research and outreach activities in 2013. A few highlights are listed under each of the theme headings in later sections of this report.

Professor Sue McGinty Acting Director 2013

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GOVERNANCE

The Cairns Institute was led by the Foundation Director, Professor Hurriyet Babacan, from 2009 – November 2012 and Acting Director, Professor Sue McGinty from November 2012 with a new Director, Professor Stewart Lockie, scheduled for arrival in January 2014. During this time the Institute appointed leading national and

international scholars including six Tropical Leaders, Visiting Scholars, and Senior Fellows and Fellows. Along with Higher Degree research students and Post-doctoral researchers, the Institute has expansive capacity for working across the tropics.

Management Committee

The Management Committee of The Cairns Institute provides oversight and direction of the Institute’s operations and is responsible to the Vice-Chancellor for the proper conduct of its affairs. The Director of the Institute reports to the Management Committee. Committee membership for 2013 included:

Professor Chris Cocklin (Chair) Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor

Professor Nola Alloway Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Arts, Education and Social Sciences

Associate Professor Glenn Dawes Associate Dean Research, Faculty of Arts, Education and Social Sciences

Professor Lynne Eagle Associate Dean Research, Faculty of Law, Business and Creative Arts

Professor Robyn McGuiggan Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Law, Business and Creative Arts

Professor Sue McGinty (ex-officio) Acting Director, The Cairns Institute

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International Advisory Board

The International Advisory Board’s role is to advise the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, The Cairns Institute Management Committee and the Director of The Cairns Institute on strategic and academic matters relating to the development of The Cairns Institute, realisation of its vision, and implementation of its strategic intent.

Appointed by the Vice-Chancellor, its members are distinguished people of international reputation, recognised by their peers as having made an outstanding contribution to one or more of the academic disciplines represented within the Institute. Members of the International Advisory Board are appointed for a period of five years and will normally meet at least annually in Cairns with the Vice-Chancellor, Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Director, Management Committee and academic leaders of The Cairns Institute, as part of its review and planning cycle.

Membership of the International Advisory Board in 2013 was:

Professor Chris Cocklin (ex-officio) Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, James Cook University

Mrs Margo Chapman Director, GE Chapman Pty Ltd

Professor Barbara Glowczewski Director of Research, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Sociale, Collège de France

Professor Jon Tikivanotau M Jonassen Department of Political Science, College of Business, Computing & Government, Brigham Young University, Hawai’i

Associate Professor Tarcisius Tara Kabutaulaka Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai’i

Professor Bruce Kapferer Professor of Anthropology, University of Bergen, Norway

Dame Carol Kidu Member of Parliament, Papua New Guinea

Professor Tom Kompas Director of Crawford School of Economics and Government Foundation Director of the Australian Centre for Biosecurity and Environmental Economics, Australian National University

Ms Joann Schmider Wet Tropics FNQ Rainforest Aboriginal People Traditional Owner (Director, ComUnity ACETs Pty Ltd)

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Organisational Chart

1 Faculty of Arts, Education & Social Sciences and the Faculty of Law, Business & Creative Arts

2 Appointed for 5 years, renewable by the Board on recommendation of the Director, The Cairns Institute

3 Appointed for 6 months to 1 year on the recommendation of the Head of School, PVC and the Director, The Cairns Institute

4 Appointed for 5 years by the VC on the recommendation of the Management Committee

5 Appointed by the Board on the recommendation of the Director, The Cairns Institute

6 Appointed under James Cook University’s Adjunct Appointments Policies and Procedures on the recommendation of the Director, The Cairns Institute

7 Appointed by the Director to stakeholder agencies and individuals affiliated with The Cairns Institute

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MEMBERSHIP

Tropical Leaders

Distinguished Professor Alexandra (Sasha) Aikhenvald

Distinguished Professor Alexandra Aikhenvald is an Australian Laureate Fellow and Tropical

Leader, People & Societies of the Tropics. She is also Director of the Language and Culture Research Centre (LCRC) which brings together linguists, anthropologists, other social scientists and those working in the humanities. Sasha’s current major focus is investigating languages of the world, especially tropical areas of Amazonia and New Guinea. The aim is to deepen our understanding of the interrelationship between language and culture, investigating the issue of practical outcomes (such as educational activities for the regional communities). Her major project now is the Australian Research Council (ARC) Australian Laureate Fellowship How gender shapes the world: a linguistic perspective (2012-2017) focusing on the expression and conceptualisation of gender across languages and cultures. Sasha supervises eight PhD students who are all working on a grammar of a previously undescribed language, from Papua New Guinea, Mexico, Peru, Colombia and the Torres Straits, and four Postdoctoral Fellows.

Professor Chris Cunneen

Professor Chris Cunneen is Tropical Leader, Justice & Social Inclusion. Chris has an international

reputation as a leading criminologist specialising in Indigenous people and the law, juvenile justice, restorative justice, policing, prison issues and human rights. Chris has participated with a number of Australian Royal Commissions and Inquiries (including the Stolen Generations Inquiry, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the National Inquiry into Racist Violence), and with the federal Australian Human Rights Commission. He taught criminology at Sydney Law School (1990-2005) where he was appointed as Professor in 2004. He was also the Director of the Institute of Criminology (1999-2005) at the University of Sydney. Chris has held research positions with the Indigenous Law Centre, University of New South Wales (UNSW), and the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. Between 2006 and 2010 he was the NewSouth Global Chair in Criminology at UNSW and continues as a Conjoint Professor at UNSW Law Faculty. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Criminology, University of Victoria, Wellington, New Zealand.

Professor Ton Otto

Professor Ton Otto is part-time Tropical Leader, People and Societies of the Tropics (proportionally

employed at 10% in 2013). Simultaneously he is professor at Aarhus University and Head of the Ethnographic Collections at Moesgård Museum, Aarhus, Denmark. His major interest is in understanding processes of social change and in developing new ways for the social sciences to contribute to change in participatory ways. He is involved in the development of anthropological theory and methodology in the fields of material and visual culture, agency, and design. As part of this he engages in making exhibitions and films and investigates the participatory research potential of these media. Regionally his research focuses on Melanesia, and Papua New Guinea in particular, and thematically he studies the impact of time orientations, tradition, history, heritage, and collective memory on processes of change.

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Professor Bob Stevenson

Professor Bob Stevenson is Tropical Leader, Education for Environmental Sustainability and Director of the Centre for

Research & Innovation in Sustainability Education. Bob’s research focuses on theory-policy-practice relationships in environmental/sustainability education and its history and marginalised status as an educational reform in K-12 schooling. He has critically examined international and national policies and discourses and has developed seminal explanations of the discrepancies between policies and practice in environmental education. His current research interests centre on the current and potential sites of learning about issues of environmental sustainability by young people; conceptualising climate change education; and the role of leadership and centralised policies in creating effective ecologically sustainable schools.

Professor Natalie Stoeckl

Professor Natalie Stoeckl is Tropical Leader, Regional Economic Development. Natalie is an economist with a

keen interest in the environmental and social/distributional issues associated with economic growth with extensive experience in a variety of non-market valuation techniques. What distinguishes her from many other economists is her track record of collaborative cross-disciplinary research using models that combine economic, environmental and social variables to explore interactions between socio-economic and ecological systems. She has published widely in both national and international forums and supervises many (mostly multidisciplinary) research students.

Professor Komla Tsey

Professor Komla Tsey is Tropical Leader, Education for Social Sustainability. Komla is also

Co-Program Leader for the Lowitja Institute’s Research Program 2: Healthy Communities and Settings. Komla was born in Ghana and studied at the University of Ghana and the University of Glasgow in Scotland. Komla now lives in Australia, researching and learning about Aboriginal development, education, health and wellbeing. He continues to undertake long-term development research in his native rural Ghana. Komla has more than 25 years’ of research experience and provides leadership as part of transdisciplinary teams across JCU and beyond to undertake research and mentor and support emerging researchers to become independent competitive researchers. Komla is passionately committed to the ethical conduct of research, and to ensuring that research that he leads demonstrates tangible benefits for the research participants. Over the past decade, Komla has led research teams to operationalise and build a research evidence-base for Aboriginal-developed community empowerment programs. He utilises original and collaborative empowerment and participatory approaches to improving understanding of social circumstances and the relationship between these and government policies, thereby improving and sustaining health and wellbeing in population subsets. Komla has a passion and commitment for learning as key to building healthy sustainable communities.

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Research Leader

Associate Professor Allan Dale

Associate Professor Allan is Leader – Tropical Regional Development. He has a strong

interest in integrated natural resource policy and management in northern Australia. He has both extensive research and policy expertise in governance systems

and in integrated natural resource management. His work is particularly focused on the future of northern Australia and the Great Barrier Reef. He is also Chair of Regional Development Australian Far North Queensland and Torres Strait. His past research helped inform the policy and investment foundations for the nation’s regional natural resource management system, and he was also responsible for natural resource policy in the Queensland

Government. Allan has also been the CEO of the Wet Tropics Regional NRM Body before returning to this international research role. As Leader – Tropical Regional Development he also accesses an international network of research expertise in the governance field, with particularly strong linkages throughout Charles Darwin University, Griffith University and CSIRO.

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Post Doctoral Researchers

Dr Angeliki Alvanoudi

Dr Angeliki Alvanoudi is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Language and Culture

Research Centre at The Cairns Institute. Angeliki completed her doctoral thesis in April 2013, entitled The social and cognitive dimensions of grammatical gender (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece). In her thesis she examined the relationship between grammatical gender, culture and cognition, by drawing on various approaches within linguistics, such as sociolinguistics, cognitive linguistics, research on linguistic relativity and studies on how we refer to people in everyday conversation. Her current research focuses on the Greek language spoken by immigrant communities in Queensland, and is funded by the Australian Research Council Discovery Projects The world through the prism of language: A cross-linguistic view of genders, noun classes and classifiers, and The grammar of knowledge: a cross-linguistic view of evidentials and epistemics.

Dr Roxanne Bainbridge

Roxanne Bainbridge is a Gungarri Aboriginal woman from South Western Queensland.

She is a Senior Research Fellow in The Cairns Institute and her work is embedded in Aboriginal empowerment and social inclusion research and has a particular focus on the social determinants of Aboriginal Australian health and wellbeing. Roxanne demonstrates multidisciplinary expertise clustered around Aboriginal empowerment and wellbeing: her methodological expertise lies particularly in participatory research approaches; auto/ethnographic approaches, systematic literature reviews and grounded theory. She has worked across a number of projects in

Aboriginal health and wellbeing (e.g., mental health, palliative care for end-stage renal patients, social and emotional wellbeing and health promotion) and education (e.g., engagement, pedagogy, school transitions, inclusive practice and mentoring); and currently supervises research students from these key fields.

Dr Diana Forker

Dr Diana Forker, from the University of Bamberg (Germany), was awarded a prestigious Feodor Lynen

Fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (in conjunction with Alexandra Aikhenvald's Alexander von Humboldt Research Award). Her project focuses on the expression of evidentiality in the languages of the Caucasus. She started her 12 month Fellowship in September 2013.

Dr Valérie Guérin

Valérie Guérin obtained a PhD from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa in 2008

for her work on Mav̏ea, an endangered language of Vanuatu. She has published the monograph A grammar of Mav̏ea: An Oceanic language of Vanuatu. In addition to a dictionary of this language and a number of papers dealing with Oceanic languages and problems of fieldwork and language documentation. She started a five-year Post-doctoral Research Associate Fellowship within the framework of the ARC Australian Laureate Fellowship project in July 2013, working on a comprehensive grammar of Som, a Papuan language from Morobe Province in PNG, with a focus on the conceptualisation of gender.

Dr Susan Jacups

Prior to joining The Cairns Institute in late 2012, Susan’s studies incorporated equal

components of ‘human health’, ‘landscape ecology’ and ‘statistical analysis’. The overarching themes centred on mosquitoes: as vectors of disease, their breeding habitats, and evaluations of the anthropogenic ecological changes conducted to reduce their breeding. Her work at The Cairns Institute during 2013 focused more on ‘human health and wellbeing’, including ‘substance misuse’. In this capacity she delivered cannabis education and harm reduction workshops to youth workers, clinical staff and community members in Cairns and remote Cape York Indigenous communities; evaluated an alcohol ‘binge drinking’ project conducted in an Indigenous community; and has similarly evaluated the delivery of a Family Wellbeing program. In addition to these social science focused projects, Susan is now working with the School of Public Health on VECnet, a Bill and Melinda Gates foundation funded program aimed at eliminating Malaria globally. The project incorporates human epidemiology (and human behaviour), landscape and vector ecology, with statistical modelling to provide interactive simulation tools that guide control (vector or intervention) strategies. For the last 18 months Susan has been the Cairns Campus Statistics advisor for the JCU Graduate Research School. She sees post graduate students in one-on-one sessions and advises on their research design, proposed statistics methodology, interpretation of results, and presentation of findings.

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Dr Janya McCalman

Dr Janya McCalman is Senior Research Officer (Empowerment Research Program). As a

public health researcher and health promotion practitioner, Janya has worked in Aboriginal Australian settings over the past 15 years. Her doctoral thesis explored the underlying processes of implementing an Aboriginal wellbeing initiative across 56 places and to 3,300 participants over 20 years. Her research interests are Aboriginal empowerment, social determinants of Aboriginal health and wellbeing, and health implementation and evaluation research. She has various projects funded by the Lowitja Institute, the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Closing the Gap Strategy, and others. Janya has expertise in qualitative research including action research, systematic reviews and grounded theory and won several academic awards including for research performance, external research income and research excellence.

Dr Elena Mihas

In 2013 Dr Elena Mihas continued her focused study of the Kampan Arawak language of Asheninka Perene of Peru.

She conducted extensive fieldwork in Chanchamayo Province of Peru to produce a comprehensive grammatical description of Asheninka Perene, which is a drastically revised version of her PhD dissertation Essentials of Asheninka Perene grammar (2010). Elena's fieldwork was supported by the Faculty of Arts, Education & Social Sciences grant. The grammar proposal is currently

under review in Mouton de Gruyter. During her fieldwork she compiled a corpus of video and audio recordings of demonstrations of herbal treatments, commentaries on fishing and hunting techniques, explanations of landscape terms and place names, and speeches of community members delivered at the meetings of herbal specialists and language consultants. The corpus of video recordings is deposited with the Language and Culture Research Centre. Elena presented her research findings at the Linguistics Society of America Annual Meeting in Boston in January 2013, and at the Language Documentation and Language Theory 4 conference in London in December 2013.

Dr Simon Overall

Dr Simon Overall received his PhD in 2008 from the Research Centre for Linguistic

Typology, then at Latrobe University, with a thesis on the grammar of Aguaruna which has been accepted for publication in the Mouton Grammar Library series (de Gruyter, Berlin). His research focuses on the diachrony of nominalisations and their involvement in discourse and switch-reference, as well as the linguistic situation in the eastern foothills of the Andes. He started his three-year Research fellowship with in the ARC Discover project How languages differ and why in July 2013. His major project involves working on a grammar of Candoshi, an isolate of Peru. In late 2013 Simon spent a month as a visiting fellow at Leiden University, then spent three months visiting Candoshi and Aguaruna indigenous communities in north Peru.

Dr Anne Stephens

Dr Anne Stephens is a Post-doctoral Senior Research with the Northern Futures Collaborative

Research Network, based at The Cairns Institute. Her field of interest is community development. Using systems thinking she is interested in holistic and integrated approaches to improve the social outcomes of policy and interventions. Anne’s work is highly interdisciplinary, working with people with backgrounds in medicine and health sciences, geosciences, ecology, urban planning, law, management, social work, anthropology, education and psychology throughout Australia’s ‘Top End’. Most of her projects focus solely on the wellbeing of people in rural and remote areas of northern Australia, particularly Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Anne, with Cairns Institute Fellow researcher, Dr India Bohanna, Synapse and Brain Injury Australia, won a NDIS Practical Design Fund innovation grant in November 2012 and produced innovative tools to measure Acquired Brain Injury in Aboriginal Australian populations. This work is ongoing. Other projects include working with the Wontulp Bi-Buya College, Indigenous Adult Training, and health professionals to implement an infant child abuse prevention programme aimed at the prevention of Shaken Baby Syndrome. With the Northern Futures CRN, Anne continues to collaborate closely to colleagues on projects themed around ‘Society, communities and policy’ and ‘Place, liveability & design’.

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Research Fellows in Residence

In 2013 the Institute hosted four Research Fellows in Residence to engage in full-time research and participate in the intellectual life of the Institute.

Dr Anna Blackman, School of Business. Anna's focus was on making substantial advancements in the development of four ongoing collaborative research projects including: Quality of life index; Coaching for farmers; Coaching for SMEs; and FIFO.

Dr John Hamilton, School of Business. John used his time to engage with the mining industry to build capacity for future research, to build regional and international research skills capacity, and publish a number of papers in top tier journals.

Dr Kyungmi (Joanne) Lee, School of Business. Joanne's goal was to build collaborative research linkages with the Institute and beyond and to extend her research skills.

Mr Russell Milledge, School of Creative Arts. Russell spent his time researching ideas around languages, environment and cultures, working towards understanding the mechanisms of human communication and in creative cultural expression and imagination in the tropics.

Research Fellows

Research Fellows are members of the University committed to, and actively involved in, realising the vision and strategic intent of The Cairns Institute through affiliated research, teaching and/or professional consulting. Research Fellows are not eligible for teaching release. The appointment of Fellows is at the discretion of the Management Committee, on the recommendation of the Director of The Cairns Institute. Appointment is for a period of 5 years, renewable.

Professor Michael Ackland Roderick Chair of English, School of Arts & Social Sciences

Associate Professor Peter Aitken School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine & Rehabilitation Sciences (Anton Breinl Centre)

Professor Neil Anderson Pearl Logan Chair of Rural Education, School of Education

Dr Hurriyet Babacan Adjunct Professor, School of Arts & Social Sciences

Dr India Bohanna School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine & Rehabilitation Sciences

Dr Helen Boon School of Education

Dr Lawrence Brown School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine & Rehabilitation Sciences

Professor Yvonne Cadet-James School of Indigenous Australian Studies

Professor Peter Case School of Business

Dr Garry Coventry School of Arts & Social Sciences

Professor Ryan Daniel School of Creative Arts

Professor Caroline de Costa School of Medicine & Dentistry

Professor RMW Dixon Adjunct Professor, School of Arts & Social Sciences

Professor Lynne Eagle School of Business

Associate Professor Wendy Earles School of Arts & Social Sciences

Jennifer Gabriel School of Arts & Social Sciences

Professor David Gillieson School of Earth & Environmental Sciences

Professor Jonathan Golledge School of Medicine & Dentistry

Dr Narayan Gopalkrishnan School of Arts & Social Sciences

Associate Professor Susan Gordon School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine & Rehabilitation Sciences

Associate Professor Deborah Graham School of Arts & Social Sciences

Professor Russell Hawkins School of Arts & Social Sciences

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Associate Professor Clare Heal School of Medicine & Dentistry

Professor Edward Helmes School of Arts & Social Sciences

Associate Professor Lyn Henderson School of Education

Associate Professor Rosita Henry School of Arts & Social Sciences

Dr Peter Horton School of Education

Dr Ernest Hunter Adjunct Professor, School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine and Rehabilitation Sciences, and Remote Area Mental Health Service, Queensland Health

Associate Professor Mohan Jacob School of Engineering & Physical Sciences

Dr Johannes John-Langba Department of Social Development, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Dr Adrian T H Kuah School of Business

Professor Robert Lawn School of Marine & Tropical Biology

Associate Professor Ickjai Lee School of Business

Associate Professor Darren Lee-Ross School of Business

Associate Professor Hayden Lesbirel School of Arts & Social Sciences

Dr Siqiwen Li School of Business

Dr Wendy Li School of Arts & Social Sciences

Associate Professor David Lindsay School of Nursing, Midwifery & Nutrition

Associate Professor Bruce Litow School of Business

Dr Anita Lundberg School of Arts & Social Sciences

Professor Sue McGinty School of Indigenous Australian Studies

Associate Professor Russell McGregor School of Arts & Social Sciences

Professor Gianna Moscardo School of Business

Dr Stephen Naylor Campus Dean, JCU Singapore

Dr Paul Nelson School of Earth & Environmental Sciences

Professor Philip Pearce School of Business

Professor Bob Pressey ARC CoE Coral Reef Studies

Professor Bruce Prideaux School of Business

Dr Murray Prideaux School of Business

Associate Professor Frances Quirk School of Medicine & Dentistry

Professor Jeffrey Sayer School of Earth & Environmental Sciences

Associate Professor Venkatesh Shashidhar School of Medicine & Dentistry

Emeritus Professor Rosamund Thorpe School of Arts & Social Sciences

Associate Professor Stephen Torre School of Arts & Social Sciences

Professor Steve Turton School of Earth & Environmental Sciences

Dr Sean Ulm School of Arts & Social Sciences

Professor Kim Usher School of Nursing, Midwifery & Nutrition

Dr Hilary Whitehouse School of Education

Dr Eric Wolanski School of Marine & Tropical Biology

Dr Mike Wood School of Arts & Social Sciences

Associate Professor Ahmad Zahedi School of Engineering & Physical Sciences

Professor Zhang-Yue Zhou School of Business

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Honorary Fellows

Honorary Fellows are distinguished individuals of international standing, who have made an outstanding contribution to our knowledge of peoples and societies in the tropics worldwide and/or their quality of life and wellbeing.

Professor Maria Serena I. Diokno Professor of History, University of the Philippines Diliman and Executive Director, Southeast Asian Studies Regional Exchange Program (SEASREP) Foundation

Professor Vilsoni Hereniko Director and Professor, Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai’i

Professor Charles Higham Professor, Department Anthropology, Gender and Sociology, University of Otago, New Zealand

Professor Edvard Hviding Head of Department, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen, Norway

Professor Bruce Kapferer Professor of Anthropology, University of Bergen, Norway

Hon. Nursyahbani Katjasungkana MP Member of Indonesian Parliament and Director, Institute for Indonesian Women's Association for Justice

Professor John Quiggan Australian Research Council Federation Fellow in Economics and Political Science, The University of Queensland

Adjuncts

Adjunct appointments are a mechanism for recognising in a formal way suitably qualified and experienced individuals who have a close association with, and make a significant contribution to, the academic activities of the University in a largely honorary capacity on an ongoing basis.

Dr Cheryl Albers Professor Emeritus, State University of New York

Prof Matthew Allen Adjunct Professor

Dr Christopher Ballard Adjunct Associate Professor, Division of Pacific and Asian History, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University

Dr Jennifer Bowers Adjunct Professorial Research Fellow, Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health Queensland

Mr Lawrence Bragge Adjunct Research Fellow, Community Relations Consultant to PNP Petroleum Industry

Professor Paul Carter Adjunct Professor, Chair in Creative Place Research, School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University

Dr Lesley Clark Adjunct Professor, Director, PacificPlus Consulting

Ms Janette Clonan Adjunct Associate Professor, Owner & Principal, Clonan Connections

Dr Gabriel Crowley Environmental Consultant

Dr Stephan Dahl Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Hull University Business School

Dr Allan Dale Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Dr Margaret Gooch Manager, Knowledge & Resource Management, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

Dr Ernest Grant Adjunct Research Fellow, Cultural Advisor and Cultural Officer, Department of Education, Queensland

Professor Romy Greiner Adjunct Professor, Professor of Tropical Knowledge, Charles Darwin University

Dr Rod Griffith Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Principal, Rod Griffith & Associates

Dr Lawrence Kalinoe Adjunct Professor, Secretary, Department of Justice and Attorney General, Papua New Guinea Government

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Professor David Kavanamur Adjunct Professor, Director General, Office of Higher Education, Papua New Guinea

Dr Elin Kelsey Adjunct Principal Research Fellow, Consultant, Elin Kelsey & Company

Dr Tracie Mafile'o Adjunct Professor, Director of Research & Postgraduate Studies, Pacific Adventist University

Professor James Mangan Adjunct Professor, Founding and Executive Academic Editor, IJHS; Founding Editor , SGS; Fellow of the Royal Historical Society; and Emeritus Professor, University of Strathclyde

Dr Henrietta Marrie Adjunct Professor (Professional), Program Manager, Northern Australia, The Christensen Fund

Professor Wadan Narsey Adjunct Professor

Tim Nevard Adjunct Research Fellow (Professional), Director, Pensthorpe Conservation Trust

Dr Colleen Oates Linguist-Translator, Summer Institute of Linguistics, Papua New Guinea

Professor Biman Prasad Adjunct Professor, Adjunct Professor, Griffith University, Professor of Economics, The University of the South Pacific

Professor Elspeth Probyn Adjunct Professor, Professor of Gender and Cultural Studies, The University of Sydney

Ms Sandra Robinson Adjunct Research Fellow, Principal Consultant, Sandy Robinson & Associates

Dr Diann Rodgers-Healey Adjunct Professor, Executive Director, Australian Centre for Leadership for Women (ACLW)

Dr Albert Schram Adjunct Professor, Vice-Chancellor, Papua New Guinea University of Technology

Professor Daniela Stehlik Adjunct Professor, Pro Vice-Chancellor, The Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University

Professor Kenneth Sumbuk Adjunct Professor, Executive Dean, School of Humanities & Social Sciences, University of Papua New Guinea

Marlene Thompson Research Coordinator, Waminda Women's Health and Welfare Service Aboriginal Corporation

Professor Craig Volker Professor of Linguistics, Gifu Shotoku Gakuen University, Gifu, Japan

Administration

There was a significant reduction in Administration team in 2013 as the funding from the Diversity and Structural Adjustment Fund (DSAF) grant ended. The team included for all or part of the year the following people:

Mandy Brock Administrative Officer

Brigitta Flick Publication Officer, LCRC

Mark Franks Training Manager

Natasha Garvey Project Officer

Danielle Hickey Project Officer

Katrina Keith Manager, Research Services

Dianna Madden Project Officer

Jennifer McHugh Project Officer

Amanda Parsonage Personal Assistant to Professor Aikhenvald, LCRC

Elena Rhind Administrative Officer

Jim Turnour Senior Manager Operations

Sarah-Jane Warne Senior Manager, Strategy & Enterprise Development

Anna Wasterval Personal Assistant to the Director

Seraeah Wyles Trainee Administration Assistant

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RESEARCH

Projects

A list of current and completed projects can be viewed on the Institute's website at http://www.jcu.edu.au/cairnsinstitute/research/JCUPRD1_060688.html

They are organised under the eight research themes, but it should be noted that a number of projects are truly multi-disciplinary and would easily fit under multiple themes. It should also be noted that not all projects are administered by The Cairns Institute or James Cook University.

Theme 1: Regional Economic Development

Natalie Stoeckl Tropical Leader, Regional Economic Development, The Cairns Institute, School of Business, and TropWATER

Vanessa Adams ARC CoE Coral Reef Studies

Zulgerel Altai PhD student, School of Business

Jorge Álvarez-Romero ARC CoE Coral Reef Studies

Margaret Atkinson Research & Innovation

Hurriyet Babacan School of Arts & Social Sciences

Rabi Bed School of Business

Anna Blackman School of Business

Jon Brodie TropWATER

Taha Chaiechi School of Business

Gabriel Crowley The Cairns Institute

Allan Dale The Cairns Institute

Amy Diedrich Centre for Tropical Environmental & Sustainability Sciences

Michelle Esparon School of Business and Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries & Aquaculture

Marina Farr PhD Candidate, School of Business and Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries & Aquaculture

Simon Foale School of Arts & Social Sciences

Margaret Gooch The Cairns Institute and GBRMPA

Emma Gyuris School of Earth & Environmental Sciences

Christina Hicks ARC CoE Coral Reef Studies

Diane Jarvis School of Business

David King School of Earth & Environmental Sciences

Silva Larson School of Business

Ickjai Lee School of Business

Steven Lewis TropWATER

Paul Lynch School of Business

Sue McGinty The Cairns Institute

Connor McShane School of Arts & Social Sciences

Katie Moon School of Earth & Environmental Sciences

Laurie Murphy School of Business

Josephine Pryce School of Business

Bruce Prideaux School of Business

Sizhong Sun School of Business

Steve Sutton Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries & Aquaculture

Michelle Thompson PhD scholarship holder, School of Business

Renae Tobin Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries & Aquaculture

Jim Turnour The Cairns Institute

Riccardo Welters School of Business

Far North Queensland is a gateway to the Asia-Pacific offering enormous economic potential. The region’s potential, however, is constrained by economic and social pressures as well as environmental and natural resource limitations. Diversification, innovation and improved capacity for sustaining livelihoods are essential to achieve beneficial economic development outcomes for the tropics. Under the theme Regional Economic Development we are focusing on promoting stronger economic development and diversification of industry to sustain livelihoods in the tropics; understanding the functioning of the regional economy and fostering improved business capacity; developing an economic index for Northern Queensland; enhancing quality, sustainability and innovation in Asian Pacific tourism development; improving economic livelihoods in the Asia Pacific; fostering entrepreneurship in the creative arts; and increasing food security in the region.

Professor Natalie Stoeckl spent 2013 working on several large projects funded by the National Environmental Research Program (NERP) and by the Australian Marine Mammal Centre, supervising PhD students and engaging in community activities. Most of her time (and that of her students) was spent exploring complex linkages, dependencies and interactions between human/economic and environmental systems. Another example of her work is the project with Jon Brodie, Steven

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Lewis, Taha Chaiechi and Diane Jarvis developing models that allow one to look at the way in which changes in beef prices over the last 100 years has affected cattle stocking rates, and thus sediment loads in rivers.

Another group that Natalie worked with in 2013 is trying to learn more about on-farm production systems and biodiversity conservation. In this project, they have been collecting data from land managers across Northern Australia—asking about their priorities, motivations, productivity and costs. They have combined this information with biophysical information (about soil quality, vegetation and rainfall), and are looking for evidence of symbiotic relationships between the natural environment and market based production systems. A more recent addition to this research portfolio involves work with Rocky DeNys and Nicholas Paul—Natalie and her team are trying to learn more about the economics of growing algae in wastewater streams (e.g., from mines, aquaculture farms) to produce marketable products such as cattle feed, or biocrude.

In 2013 Associate Professor Allan Dale contributed several major intellectual advances with respect to regional development, but most particularly through his involvement in the Northern Futures Collaborative Research Network. This program combines the efforts of Charles Darwin University (CDU), JCU and several other research institutions with an interest in northern Australia. This work also involves the Institute’s Dr Anne Stephens and Jim Turnour. Major outcomes from the year include the publication of Allan’s landmark monograph Governance challenges in northern Australia and will soon be followed up with a major new book on the north. Allan was also asked by CSIRO to lead a team of researchers reporting to the North Australian Ministerial Forum on tenure reform across the north. All of these works have substantively informed the unfolding White Paper process concerning the future development of the north. It should also be noted that Allan continues to Chair Regional Development Australia FNQ&TS.

On the agricultural development front, Allan has led the University’s involvement in the development of the Ag North Collaborative Research Centre. This is complemented by his significant contributions to helping JCU secure over a $1,000,000 to lead the Climate Change Cluster for regional NRM bodies in Queensland’s Wet Tropics and CDU’s similar investment in the Monsoon Cluster. Within this work, he reviewed the governance arrangements for community-based natural resource management across the nation and presented the work at the National NRM Conference in Launceston in March 2014. This work was also complemented by his overall NERP funded research exploring the system of governance of the Great Barrier Reef in support of both State and Commonwealth Strategic Assessment processes. NERP also funded Allan and Gay Crowley to lead two additional projects concerning the engagement of NERP funded research through NRM Bodies and the results of this work will help shape any future NERP investment in the region.

In 2013 the Cairns Institute, James Cook University, and the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) established a project focused on the contribution of agriculture to regional development. Agriculture is important to many regions of Australia contributing directly to regional economies as well as indirectly making social and environmental contributions to regional sustainability. To continue to make this significant contribution agricultural industries have had to adjust to changes in markets, cost structures, government policies and technology as well as environmental risks including drought and natural disasters. The project found that how agriculture responds to these changes varies from region to region with some industries remaining static or declining while others evolve and adapted more readily to change. This project was led by Jim Turnour with participation from Allan Dale.

Also in 2013 a research team representing a broad cross section of JCU’s School of Business has initiated a research agenda in the area of Fly in Fly out (FIFO) employment and its consequences for employees, their families, host and home communities. As part of this ongoing research agenda, SkillsDMC, with its project partner Advance Cairns, commissioned The Cairns Institute to write two research reports, as it considers FIFO employment a promising way to strengthen and diversify the regional economy. The research was conducted by Dr Riccardo Welters, Dr Josephine Pryce, Dr Paul Lynch, Dr Laurie Murphy, and Dr Anna Blackman from the School of Business. The first report describes the existing FIFO workforce that resides in the Cairns region; the second report focuses on identifying potential FIFO employees in the Cairns region (see below).

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Theme 2: Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Futures

Komla Tsey Tropical Leader, Education for Social Sustainability, The Cairns Institute and School of Education

Chris Cunneen Tropical Leader, Justice & Social Inclusion, The Cairns Institute and School of Law

Roxanne Bainbridge The Cairns Institute

Pam Bigelow Indigenous Arts Centre Alliance

India Bohanna School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine & Rehabilitation Sciences

Cath Brown The Cairns Institute

Yvonne Cadet-James School of Indigenous Australian Studies

Philemon Chigeza School of Education

Alan Clough School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine & Rehabilitation Sciences

Jacinta Elston Indigenous Health

Michelle Esparon Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries & Aquaculture

Adrian Esterman School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine & Rehabilitation Science

Deborah Graham School of Arts & Social Sciences

Susan Jacups The Cairns Institute

Crystal Jongen The Cairns Institute

Sarah Larkins School of Medicine & Dentistry

Max Lenoy School of Education

Janya McCalman The Cairns Institute

Robyn McDermott School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine & Rehabilitation Science

Adrian Miller School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine & Rehabilitation Science

Richard Murray School of Medicine & Dentistry

Bernadette Rogerson School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine & Rehabilitation Science

Joann Schmider The Cairns Institute

Rick Speare School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine & Rehabilitation Science

Anne Stephens The Cairns Institute

Pauline Taylor School of Education

Yvonne Thomas School of School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine & Rehabilitation Sciences

Jim Turnour The Cairns Institute

Melissa Vick School of Education

Valda Wallace School of Indigenous Australian Studies

Rachael Wargent The Cairns Institute

Sarah Warne The Cairns Institute

Mike Wood School of Arts & Social Sciences

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders living in Far North Queensland contribute to the uniqueness of life in the tropics. They represent 14.3% of the region’s total population; four times the national average. The research outcomes we are working towards under the theme Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Futures are: supporting Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander leadership and support groups to promote community level health and wellbeing; building effective Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander alcohol treatment, rehabilitation and prevention programs; improving child protection and decreasing family violence in Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities; building research capacity in Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander researchers across Australia; developing sustainable Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities; preserving Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage and language; and improving access to justice in Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities.

In 2013, the Lowitja Institute, Australia’s National Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research, obtained a $25 million Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) funding to support its research and translation activities over the next five years (2014-2019). JCU is now a formal partner in the new Lowtija CRC. As Co-Program leader for Healthy Communities and Settings program area, Professor Komla Tsey continued to work as part of a team implementing user-driven research and mentoring emerging researchers.

In June 2013 the Beat Da Binge project won an Excellence in Services for Young People Award at the 2013 National Drug and Alcohol Awards (NDAA) at Parliament House in Canberra. Congratulations go to Gindaja Treatment and Healing Centre at Yarrabah in Far North Queensland. “Beat Da Binge”, is an initiative coordinated by the Gindaja Treatment and Healing Centre. It was a whole-of-Yarrabah-community effort to respond to binge drinking among the community’s young people. The project involved a suite of programs over two years, with prevention and awareness strategies targeting youth in all events, so that young people could feel supported in making other choices to alcohol. Young people were involved at all phases of the project at Yarrabah.

Dr Janya McCalman's work in 2013 included commissioned systematic reviews of cultural competence and implementation; an National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) application on the wellbeing of students transitioning from remote boarding schools, and start of a pilot study; an evaluation of the Cape York Baby Basket program; participation in the Lowitja Family Well Being (FWB) Roundtable and the Lowitja Health Promotion Tools, Resources and Training (HPTRT); and BackTrack, a youth mentoring program based in Armidale, NSW and delivered at Yarrabah and Mt Isa.

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Dr Roxanne Bainbridge continued her work on the ARC project, The value of mentoring in building the resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and enhancing their prospects in education and employment (ARC IN130100023, 2013 - 2015). Roxanne is herself mentored by Professor Komla Tsey and is part of a growing body of national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander scholars (National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network (NIRAKN) – Australian Research Council SR120100005) who are endeavouring to significantly improve the quality of research conducted with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. NIRAKN provides "a platform for new multi-disciplinary research and the establishment of a critical mass of multi-disciplinary, qualified Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers to meet the compelling research needs of our communities". She is also part of the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Building Indigenous Research Capacity network who are representative of number of universities and research institutes across Australia.

Dr Susan Jacups continued her work with the Empowerment team in 2013. Her work included an economic costing for Act4Kids with Irina Kinchin and she also completed statistical and economic evaluations for the Yarrabah binge drinking project. Susan also collaborated with Bernadette Rogerson on an analysis of cannabis use in a sample of Indigenous incarcerated males.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians suffer higher rates of all risk factors for acquired brain injury compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. Yet there is a paucity of culturally acceptable, scientifically validated instruments for assessing cognitive and psychosocial function in this population. In 2013 Cairns Institute Research Fellow, Dr India Bohanna, with colleagues, Dr Anne Stephens and Associate Professors Alan Clough and Deborah Graham, led the development of a culturally acceptable toolkit for the assessment of acquired brain injury. Developing a culturally acceptable toolkit for acquired brain injury in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians is critical to ensure equitable access to reliable and accurate assessment.

Is the term ‘tropics’ synonymous with climatic conditions, or are there other, unique ways of understanding the tropics? These are some of the questions Komla Tsey examined in his new book, From head-loading to the iron horse: Railway building in colonial Ghana and the origins of tropical development. Written in response to the growing academic interests in the tropics including our own JCU tropical agenda, the book identified climatic conditions and histories of colonisation as the two defining features of the tropics. Researchers interested in the tropics are encouraged to take history more seriously because the links between the past and the present are often stronger than most would like to believe.

The Indigenous Art Centre Alliance (IACA) became an independent incorporated body in March 2013 will transition toward managing its own resources and staff. The auspice arrangement that supported IACA toward becoming a viable peak industry body was a win-win collaboration between The Cairns Institute and IACA. As testament to the success of this partnership, IACA will continue to be housed at JCU within the new Cairns Institute building, as it functions as a Non-Government Organisation to meet its members’ needs. IACA will continue to strengthen its capacity to support, grow and advocate for North Queensland Indigenous Art Centres whilst engaging in mutually beneficial research opportunities with The Cairns Institute.

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Theme 3: Sustainability & Tropical Environments

Natalie Stoeckl Tropical Leader, Regional Economic Development, The Cairns Institute, School of Business and TropWATER

Bob Stevenson Tropical Leader, Education for Environmental Sustainability, The Cairns Institute and School of Education

Allan Dale The Cairns Institute

Vanessa Adams ARC CoE Coral Reef Studies

Zulgerel Altai PhD student, School of Business

Jorge Álvarez-Romero ARC CoE Coral Reef Studies

Rabi Bed School of Business

Jon Brodie TropWATER

Damien Burrows TropWATER

Aurélie Delisle PhD student, School of Business

Amy Diedrich Centre for Tropical Environmental & Sustainability Sciences

Michelle Esparon School of Business and Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries & Aquaculture

Marina Farr PhD student, School of Business and Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries & Aquaculture

Simon Foale School of Arts & Social Sciences

Margaret Gooch The Cairns Institute and GBRMPA

Emma Gyuris School of Earth & Environmental Sciences

Christina Hicks ARC CoE Coral Reef Studies

Susan Jacups The Cairns Institute

David King School of Earth & Environmental Sciences

Silva Larson School of Business

Steven Lewis TropWATER

Stewart Lockie The Cairns Institute

Susan McIntyre-Tamwoy School of Arts & Social Sciences

Helene Marsh Centre for Tropical Water & Aquatic Ecosystem Research

Katie Moon School of Earth & Environmental Sciences

Bob Pressey ARC CoE Coral Reef Studies

Bruce Prideaux School of Business

Steve Sutton Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries & Aquaculture

Renae Tobin Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries & Aquaculture

Felecia Watkin-Lui School of Indigenous Australian Studies

The tropics have half the world’s population and 80% of our planet’s biodiversity. There are significant threats to this biodiversity such as climate change, deforestation, environmental degradation and loss of plant and wildlife species. There are major difficulties for people attempting to sustain livelihoods in the face of such environmental and industrial demands on land, water and other natural resources. Ecological preservation requires a strong focus on the impact of human behaviour accompanied by cohesive planning and governance arrangements for a sustainable future for the tropics. The research outcomes we are working towards and around identifying and responding to the challenges of sustainability through education and community engagement in social and environmental planning and management in the tropics. Our research focus is on: population growth, infrastructure development and management of natural resources; tropical design and planning for built environments; climate change adaptation and individual and community resilience; community responses to emergencies and disasters; movement of peoples from the Pacific; cultural heritage and biodiversity conservation; human impacts on landscapes, including sustainable agriculture, water, energy and waste management.

Professor Natalie Stoeckl's work fits almost equally under this theme and also Theme 1, Regional Economic Development. In 2013 Natalie worked with a large research team from JCU, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) and the Australian National University (ANU) to collect and analyse data from more than 1,900 residents of, and 2,800 visitors to north eastern Queensland. The team is trying to learn more about the way in which people benefit from and interact with the environment focusing on the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics World Heritage Areas (WTWHA). Preliminary results indicated that many residents and tourists felt that having a healthy environment (and safe family and friends) was more important to their overall quality of life than the jobs and incomes associated with industry. They also ‘valued’ clear water—in both the ocean and in rivers which the research team says gives a strong indication that issues which, on the surface, appear unrelated (e.g., beef prices and tourist satisfaction) but may indeed be linked through the environment (e.g., sediment in the water).

The WTWHA is famous for its wildlife, biodiversity and natural beauty, however, very little is known about the ‘value’ of these attributes, partly because it is quite challenging to quantify them. Recognising that the absence of price does not mean absence of value, NERP funded a research project led by Natalie Stoeckl that seeks to improve our understanding of the importance of these non-market values to residents and tourists. Given the many attributes and the fact that it is impossible to measure all of them, in 2013 a workshop was organised with key stakeholders of the region to identify and prioritise key values for assessment and development ‘changes’ that may erode those values. Led by Professor Natalie Stoeckl and Michelle Esparon, the workshop included participants from a broad range of organisations, including community groups and across different domains (tourism, local council, wildlife, and environment). Several core values were identified for and insights into resident and tourism values and how these are affected by increasing population and tourism numbers will provide those in the tourism industry, in WTWHA and other key policy makers with advance warning of changes in priorities and/or attitudes that may occur.

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Theme 4: Social Justice & Community Wellbeing

Chris Cunneen Tropical Leader, Justice & Social Inclusion, The Cairns Institute and School of Law

Alexandra Aikhenvald Tropical Leader, People & Societies of the Tropics, Distinguished Fellow & Australian Laureate Fellow, and The Cairns Institute

Fiona Allison The Cairns Institute

Hurriyet Babacan School of Arts & Social Sciences

Nerina Caltabiano School of Arts & Social Sciences

Alan Clough School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine & Rehabilitation Sciences

Glen Dawes School of Arts & Social Sciences

Jenny Gabriel The Cairns Institute

Kate Galloway School of Law

Peter Garitty School of Arts & Social Sciences

Narayanan Gopalkrishnan School of Arts & Social Sciences

Russell Hawkins School of Arts & Social Sciences

Charmaine Hayes-Jonkers School of Arts & Social Sciences

Rosita Henry School of Arts & Social Sciences

Sue McGinty The Cairns Institute

Susan McIntyre-Tamwoy School of Arts & Social Sciences

Ton Otto Tropical Leader, People & Societies of the Tropics, The Cairns Institute and School of Arts & Social Sciences

Boris Pointing The Cairns Institute

Stephen Torre School of Arts & Social Sciences

Valda Wallace School of Indigenous Australian Studies

Mike Wood School of Arts & Social Sciences

Felecia Watkin-Lui School of Indigenous Australian Studies

The Law and Social Justice Research Group, led by Professor Chris Cunneen, had a number of significant achievements during the year. In November 2013, a major report of the Australian Research Council (ARC) funded Indigenous Legal Needs Project was launched in Melbourne by the Managing Director of Victoria Legal Aid and the CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Services. The civil and family law needs of Indigenous people in Victoria found that housing, discrimination, consumer, credit and debt, problems with Centrelink and child protection are the most pressing civil law issues facing Aboriginal people in Victoria. A community information video about the report was launched at the same time.

An outcome of the ARC funded Australian Prison Project was the publication in 2013 of Penal culture and hyperincarceration. The revival of the prison (Ashgate, UK). The book examines the historical and contemporary influences on the use of the prison, with analyses of colonialism, post colonialism, race and the ‘penal/colonial complex’ in the construction of imprisonment rates and on the development of the phenomenon of hyperincarceration. The book has been described in the British Journal of Criminology, “as a model of academic writing, exegesis, explanation and argument”.

Two new projects were funded by the ARC in 2013. A comparative analysis of youth punishment in Australia and the UK is joint project with University of Liverpool (UK) and the University of NSW. The research analyses the changing approaches to juvenile incarceration, particularly in the context of perceived effects on crime and the substantial public and social costs of incarceration. The second project, Justice reinvestment in Australia: Conceptual foundations for criminal justice innovation, will be conducted jointly with the University of NSW. The research will undertake a thorough examination of the theoretical foundations of justice reinvestment and its suitability to the Australian penal context.

Senior Research Officer at The Cairns Institute, Boris Pointing’s research project worked with the Cairns Regional Council and other stakeholders to reduce the impact of assaults in Cairns. The Cairns Institute’s research grew out of a partnered study to decrease alcohol-related assaults in Cairns’ late-night entertainment precinct. Boris and his co-authors, Associate Professor Alan Clough and Charmaine Hayes-Jonkers, have provided the Cairns Regional Council with three audit and evaluation reports, and they are continually publishing the methods and results in academic journals such as Crime Prevention and Community Safety, Injury Prevention and the Annals of Tourism Research. Boris says that further research into closed-circuit television (CCTV) room operations could further help reduce the number of assaults in other central business districts across Queensland and throughout Australia—for example, in key nightspots such as Fortitude Valley in Brisbane, and Geelong in Victoria.

Also under this theme Allan Dale completed Phase 1 of a research project funded by the Queensland Centre for Social Science Innovation (QCSSI) that enabled the establishment of social resilience indicators with respect to climate adaptation across Far North Queensland. This work was extended through another $20,000 investment. With Katrina Keith and Jennifer McHugh, he also leads a Cairns Institute partnership with the Rainforest Aboriginal People’s Alliance (RAPA) and work focused on the relisting of the Wet Tropics for its cultural values.

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Theme 5: Education Futures

Bob Stevenson Tropical Leader, Education for Environmental Sustainability, The Cairns Institute and School of Education

Komla Tsey Tropical Leader, Education for Social Sustainability, The Cairns Institute and School of Education

Raoul Adam School of Education

Neil Anderson School of Education

Hurriyet Babacan School of Arts & Social Sciences

Helen Boon School of Education

Lawrence Brown Mt Isa Centre for Rural & Remote Health

Philemon Chigeza School of Education

Snowy Evans School of Education

Kelsey Halbert School of Education

Clifford Jackson School of Education

Susan Jacups The Cairns Institute

Michelle Lasen School of Education

Max Lenoy School of Education

Brian Lewthwaite School of Education

Sue McGinty Acting Director, The Cairns Institute

Kathryn Meldrum School of Education

Samantha Morgan Scholarship holder, Graduate Research School

Jennifer Nicholls PhD scholarship holder, School of Education

Ton Otto Tropical Leader, People & Societies of the Tropics, The Cairns Institute and School of Arts & Social Sciences

Paul Pagliano School of Education

Reesa Sorin School of Education

Rick Speare School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine

Louisa Tomas School of Education

Kim Usher School of Nursing, Midwifery & Nutrition

Valda Wallace School of Indigenous Australian Studies

Felecia Watkin-Lui School of Indigenous Australian Studies

Riccardo Welters School of Business

Hilary Whitehouse School of Education

In recent years federal and state educational policies have promulgated, under the banner of education for sustainability (EfS), an important role for education in contributing to the current and future social and environmental well-being of Australia’s population and landscape. Education for sustainability has been conceptualised as developing individual and community capacities for becoming informed and active participants in creating ecologically, economically, socially and culturally sustainable and just communities and societies. Such a highly complex and ambitious, as well as ambiguous and contested, conceptualisation raises many questions for education and educational research. Related questions concerning appropriate school curriculum, teacher preparation and professional development, community education, and research frameworks, methodologies and collaborations, all have important implications for improving life for people in the tropics. The research focus under this theme is about: improving participation and education outcomes for Indigenous people across their lifespan; school leadership and capacity building for sustainability education in the Asia-Pacific; systemic factors affecting education participation and success in the tropics; and professional development for teachers affected by geographical isolation.

Professor Bob Stevenson returned to work on a half-time basis in August 2013 after a 15 month medical leave following a cycling accident that left him as an (incomplete) quadriplegic. He is very grateful for the support he received from former Acting Director, Sue McGinty and his colleagues in The Cairns Institute and School of Education in assisting his return to work. On Friday 8 March 2013 Professor Sandra Harding, Vice Chancellor of JCU officially launched the International handbook of research on environmental education edited by Bob Stevenson, with co-editors Michael Brody (Montana State University), Justin Dillon (King's College London) and Arjen E. J. Wals (Wageningen University, The Netherlands). In launching the 51 chapter book Professor Harding said: “The American Educational Research Association, the world’s largest and most prestigious educational research association with a membership of 25,000 scholars, has just published this huge volume titled the International Handbook of Research on Environmental Education… This handbook is only the third published in AERA’s new research handbook series and gives significant international visibility and credibility to environmental sustainability education within the field of education."

Other work associated with Bob Stevenson's role as Director of the Centre for Research & Innovation in Sustainability Education in 2013 included: engaging with School of Education staff in discussing and developing current and proposed collaborative research projects; and organising and facilitating a half day seminar for staff and higher degree research students on climate change education research. Other activities included working with Professor Greg Smith, a Cairns Institute Visiting Scholar, on researching ecologically sustainable schools and planning a major grant application for a proposed citizen science research study, tentatively titled “Engaging schools and partners in investigating the impact of climate changes and fossil-fuel use on the health and stability of marine and coastal environments and their associated human settlements along the Pacific Rim.” Potential partners include universities, aquariums and environmental organisations in Australia, Asia, Central America and the United States.

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Also in 2013 Professor Sue McGinty, Acting Director of The Cairns Institute was successful with a new Australian Research Council Linkage grant: Gauging the value of flexible learning options for disenfranchised youth and the Australian community. Her research team includes: Riccardo Welters, Brian Lewthwaite, Valda Wallace & Hurriyet Babacan, JCU, Katarina Te Riele, Victoria University, with industry partners Dale Murray, Edmund Rice Education Australia, David Murray, Vic Dept of Education & Early Childhood Devt, Eva Lawler, NT Dept of Education & Children's Services, Mary Retel, Catholic Education Office, WA, George Myconos, Brotherhood of St Laurence, and Anthony McMahon, Centacare Townsville.

Dr Susan Jacups and Sue McGinty also completed a report to Catholic Education Cairns on small rural Catholic Education schools within the Cairns Diocese. It combined current management information with improvement suggestions from the literature and provided an overview of numeric information on school finances, student teacher ratios and student performance (NAPLAN) and a comparison of these figures with those from the local government schools in the same township. From the literature review (national and international) they listed ideas for improvements to service delivery for small rural primary schools.

Professor Greg Smith from the Graduate School of Education and Counseling at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon in the United States was a visiting scholar at The Cairns Institute from September to December 2013. Working with Bob Stevenson, Greg was especially interested in discovering ways that educators in Australia are addressing both environmental and social sustainability.

Professor Sandra Harding launching Professor Bob Stevenson's new book at the Tropical Sustainability Symposium and Fair, Cairns, 8 March 2013

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Theme 6: Governance & Political Innovation

Allan Dale The Cairns Institute

Hurriyet Babacan School of Arts & Social Sciences

Bob Stevenson Tropical Leader, Education for Environmental Sustainability, The Cairns Institute and School of Education

Governance is increasingly recognised as a key factor in societal development. Many societies in the tropics face significant challenges of governance including capacity, systems, corruption and resources. Good governance is epitomised by predictable, open consultative policy-making and a public sector with a professional ethos in furthering the public good. Also essential is the rule of law, transparent processes, a strong civil society participating in public political affairs and effective monitoring systems to ensure checks and balances in decision making. A growing global effort aims to develop and strengthen governance, planning and appropriate forms of democracy and political innovation in tropical societies. Our research goal under this theme is to improve the effectiveness and inclusiveness of governance and connectivity across corporate, government and non-government sectors. Our focus is on: policy formation and strategy development in local government, agencies and businesses; developing evaluation capacity in non-profit organisations; public sector capacity building in the Asia-Pacific region; improving the capacity of health systems and health professionals (workforce); and governance and diplomacy in natural resource management, science, sustainability and international relations.

The governance challenges for northern Australia were featured in national debates about the country’s future in 2013 and in September 2013 Associate Professor Allan Dale released a discussion paper titled Governance challenges for northern Australia. In this paper, Allan considered the debates about the future of northern Australia that have raged over the last ten years over a range of key themes including the success or otherwise of government interventions in Indigenous communities, and the quick-draw policy responses on complex issues like the live cattle trade that have devastated many communities. His discussion paper highlighted the consequences of not getting the governance of the north right, including entrenching a boom/bust economy and whole regions of multi-generational disadvantage and degradation of the nation’s cultural and environmental jewels. The paper outlines first why good governance for northern Australia is important to the nation and details how things actually function in a pan-tropical sense, in northern Western Australia, the Northern Territory and northern Queensland, and at regional and local scales.

Allan was also successful with a new ARC Linkage grant: The impact of governance on regional natural resource planning. The project will be administered by QUT and the team includes Doug Baker, QUT, Neil Sipe, Griffith University, Severine Mayere, QUT, Karen Vella, Griffith University. Industry partners in the project include: Bruce Taylor, CSIRO, Richard Margerum, University of Oregon, Allan Dale, JCU, Andrew Drysdale Qld Regional NRM Groups Collective, Lucy Richardson, Condamine Alliance, Kathryn Fletcher, Queensland Murray-Darling Committee, Elyse Riethmuller, Elyse Riethmuller Consulting, Fitzroy Basin Association Incorporated, David Hinchley, Terrain Natural Resource Management, Patricia Gowdie, NQ Dry Tropics.

Community and business leaders, researchers and commentators presented their visions for our region’s future at a forum convened by Advance Cairns and The Cairns Institute on 30 September 2013. The forum was titled The future of our region – fostering innovation and collaboration. Topics discussed included: governance in northern Australia, the State of the Tropics report, the future of regional communities, and thinking big for northern Australia. This Forum attracted considerable media attention for the Institute and it is likely that it will be repeated in 2014. Speakers included Professor Sandra Harding, Vice-Chancellor of James Cook University, the Hon Warren Entsch MP, Chair of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Northern Australia; Robert Prestipino, Founder and Director of Vital Places; Associate Professor Allan Dale, The Cairns Institute; Rowan Callick, Asia-Pacific Editor for The Australian; Sheriden Morris, Reef & Rainforest Research Centre; Professor Natalie Stoeckl, Tropical Leader, Regional Economic Development, The Cairns Institute and School of Business; Sandra Levers, Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples Alliance; David Inches, Inspired by Marketing; and Professor Gianna Moscardo, Faculty of Law, Business & Creative Arts, James Cook University.

The Institute ran the 8 day masterclass in Native Title for Anthropologists again in April 2013 with 28 participants. The masterclass provided graduate and early career anthropologists with targeted skills based training for Native Title work, with a particular focus on northern Australia. Topics covered in the course included: the roles of anthropologists in Native Title work and the Native Title process, cultural awareness and working with indigenous knowledge, contemporary kinship and concepts of Aboriginal ‘society’, defining the claimant group, legal frameworks and registration requirements, linguistics, genealogical research and mapping descent groups. The presenters include a range of academics, consulting anthropologists, Traditional Owners, lawyers and anthropologists from representative bodies and the Native Title Tribunal including: Professor Chris Cunneen; Jenny Gabriel; Associate Professor Rosita Henry; Dr Susan McIntyre-Tamwoy; Katie O’Rourke; Noel Pearson (Cape York Partnerships); George Skeene (Yirrganydji Elder); Dr Michael Wood; Dr Peter Blackwood, consultant anthropologist; John von Sturmer, anthropologist; Kathy Seton, Senior Research Officer and Native Title Co-ordinator at Community and Personal Histories (CPH) (ATSIS, Department of Communities); Dr Maureen Fuary, Senior Research Fellow, JCU; Bård Aaberge, PhD student JCU, working with the Mossman Gorge Aboriginal community; Susan Walsh, National Native Title Tribunal, Cairns; and representatives from the Mona Mona Bulmba Aboriginal Corporation. The Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department continued to support The Cairns Institute in 2013 by awarding further funding to deliver this masterclass for three more years.

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The electronic version of the paper is available from The Cairns Institute website at http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/29868/

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Theme 7: International Aid Development

Ton Otto Tropical Leader, People & Societies of the Tropics, The Cairns Institute and School of Arts & Social Sciences

Hurriyet Babacan School of Arts & Social Sciences

David MacLaren School of Medicine & Dentistry

Sue McGinty The Cairns Institute

Michelle Redman-MacLaren School of Nursing, Midwifery & Nutrition

Michael Wood School of Arts & Social Sciences

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), established in 2000, set humanitarian benchmarks for countries to achieve by 2015. The MDGs are: the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, universal primary education, gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality and improving maternal health, fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and forming global partnerships for development. The countries in the tropical world, particularly our neighbours in the Pacific Islands, need assistance and support to achieve these outcomes. The Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has identified that improvements in the lives of the poor have been unacceptably slow, and hard-won gains are being eroded by the climate, food and economic crises. Expertise and knowledge must be shared if life in the tropics is to be enhanced for all. The research outcome we are hoping for is to strengthen Australia’s engagement with our neighbours in the Asia-Pacific to meet international sustainable development goals. Our focus is on empowerment programs as tools for community development in Papua New Guinea; women’s development and leadership in Asia Pacific; development of public health capability in Papua New Guinea, especially in the management of chronic and communicable diseases; and supporting sustainable environmental and infrastructure development in the Asia-Pacific.

In 2013 the Institute forged links with the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Department of Justice and Attorney General (DJAG). We developed a program of skills focused training for PNG DJAG Operational Officers to help improve efficiencies in their daily operations and cross departmental communication. The course was developed by a delegation of 13 senior staff from the PNG DJAG who attended a three-day meeting at The Cairns Institute in January 2013 to design the framework for the week-long course. Twenty-seven members of staff from across a broad range of departments including Correctional Services, Probation and Parole, Juvenile Justice and the Village Courts system within the Government of Papua New Guinea’s Law and Justice Sector attended the course in May 2013. The course covered subjects as diverse as conflict resolution and interview skills to report writing and case management, so the delegates were faced with a challenging schedule that really stretched their own abilities and left them wanting more.

The Institute also initiated a monthly seminar series on partnerships with PNG which was designed to demonstrate the benefits and challenges of working in PNG. The first seminar in the series was presented by Associate Professor Colin Filer, Visiting Scholar from the Australian National University (ANU) in August 2013 and was titled How do big foreign companies adapt to life and politics in Papua New Guinea? The second seminar in September 2013 was titled PNG - Australian partnerships: A PNG perspective and this one was presented by an Honours student, Nalisa Neuendorf. Sheriden Morris, Managing Director of the Reef & Rainforest Research Centre (RRRC Ltd) presented the third seminar in October 2013 with her presentation titled What’s happening on our border – Challenges and opportunities. The final seminar in the series was in November 2013 and was presented by Professor Andrew Krockenberger and PhD student, Gabriel Porolak and it provided a fascinating look into their Community-based tree kangaroo conservation research.

Research under this theme also included the work of David MacLaren, Matupit Darius, Tracie Mafile'o, Graeme Humble, Lalen Simeon, Rachael Tommbe, Michael Wood, Ton Otto, and Michelle Redman-MacLaren on the project Seventh Day Adventist responses to HIV in Papua New Guinea. The project is funded by the PNG National Aids Council and it aims to document and analyse SDA policy and theology on HIV in PNG and describe how these policies and theology are interpreted and influence responses to HIV by church leaders, church employees and church members.

Dr Chanthy Lay, a lecturer and chief of research of the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, was an Endeavour Visiting Scholar to JCU in March 2013. The purpose of his visit was to learn about research at JCU with the goal of improving the research culture and research system at his home university. He was hosted by Professor Sue McGinty, and he spent one month at the Institute to observe how JCU organises and operates its research activities.

PNG DJAG Operational Officers visiting Lotus Glen Correctional Facility

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Theme 8: Language, Culture, Agency & Change

Alexandra Aikhenvald Tropical Leader, People & Societies of the Tropics, Distinguished Fellow and Australian Laureate Fellow, The Cairns Institute and School of Arts & Social Sciences

Ton Otto Tropical Leader, People & Societies of the Tropics, The Cairns Institute and School of Arts & Social Sciences

Bård Aaberge PhD student, School of Arts & Social Sciences

Grant Aiton PhD scholarship holder, School of Arts & Social Sciences

Angeliki Alvanoudi School of Arts & Social Sciences

Juliane Boettger PhD scholarship holder, School of Arts & Social Sciences

Alice Buhrich The Cairns Institute

RMW Dixon School of Arts & Social Sciences

Diana Forker The Cairns Institute

Shelley Greer School of Arts & Social Sciences

Valérie Géurin School of Arts & Social Sciences

Rosita Henry School of Arts & Social Sciences

Tahnee Innes School of Arts & Social Sciences

Andrew Krockenberger School of Marine & Tropical Biology

Tianqiao Mike Lu The Cairns Institute

Russell McGregor School of Arts & Social Sciences

Susan McIntyre-Tamwoy School of Arts & Social Sciences

Elena Mihas The Cairns Institute

Simon Overall School of Arts & Social Sciences

Chia-jung Pan PhD scholarship holder, School of Arts & Social Sciences

Gabriel Porolak PhD student, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences

Mark Post School of Arts & Social Sciences

Meg Rintoul Honours student, School of Arts & Social Sciences

Robin Rodd School of Arts & Social Sciences

Mikko Salminen PhD scholarship holder, School of Arts & Social Sciences

Hannah Sarvasy PhD scholarship holder, School of Arts & Social Sciences

Dineke Schokkin PhD scholarship holder, School of Arts & Social Sciences

William Steed School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine & Rehabilitation Sciences

Kenneth Sumbuk Adjunct Professor

Sean Ulm ARC Future Fellow, School of Arts & Social Sciences

Daniela Vávrová PhD student, School of Arts & Social Sciences

Mike Wood School of Arts & Social Sciences

Katarzyna Wojtylak PhD student, School of Arts & Social Sciences

Sihong Zhang PhD scholarship holder, School of Arts & Social Sciences

Mark Ziembicki School of Marine & Tropical Biology

Language is the unique resource of humankind. It enables people to live together, communicates laws, knowledge and legacies across generations and is the unique vehicle for the aesthetic expression of non-material culture such as legends, ceremonies and songs. The remarkable linguistic diversity of tropical societies is in danger and under protection from the UNESCO Intangible Heritage Program. The documentation and maintenance of linguistic and cultural diversity is a necessary component of people’s identity, sustainability and well-being. Our research is around supporting cultural expression, creativity, identity and the preservation and documentation of tropical cultural and linguistic heritage. Our focus is on: the investigation of languages and the correlation between languages, environment and cultures working towards understanding the mechanisms of human communication and cognition; documentation and maintenance of endangered languages and cultures focusing on language preservation and language change; the investigation of the diverse histories and cultural traditions, imaginations of the future, and the processes of agency and change for people and societies in the tropics; cultural heritage, community involvement, and archaeology, anthropology and museum studies; development of a cultural atlas for Northern Queensland; creativity, cultural expression and imagination in the tropics, including the potential of modern technologies for Indigenous agency; and the theoretical and applied perspectives on immigration, cultural diversity, multiculturalism and national identity.

Many of the activities within this theme were undertaken through the Language and Culture Research Centre (LCRC) nested within the Institute and the Faculty of Arts, Education and Social Sciences, with Professor Aikhenvald as Director and Adjunct Professor R. M. W. Dixon as Deputy Director. The LCRC continued their Roundtable meetings throughout 2013 with 14 meetings and a number of international workshops.

In 2013 Alexandra (Sasha) Aikhenvald completed her monograph The art of grammar: A practical guide (to be published as paperback and hardback by Oxford University Press, October 2013). This is a cumulation of her experience in grammar writing and grammatical analysis, previously circulated in the form of handouts. During the year, she also published and prepared for publication papers on language contact, migrations of Amazonian peoples, the present state of Tariana, and Kumandene Tariana as a blended language. She has co-edited volumes on The grammar of knowledge: a cross-linguistic typology (with R. M. W. Dixon), and Perception and cognition in grammar and culture (with Anne Storch).

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Sasha also undertook a fieldtrip to the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea in September 2013, as a continuation of her on-going work on Manambu, a Ndu language. She prepared a collection of stories and a preliminary dictionary of Manambu. These, together with a comprehensive grammar of Manambu (The Manambu language of East Sepik, Papua New Guinea, OUP 2008, pb 2010; with Yuamali Jacklyn Ala and Pauline Luma Laki), were officially presented to the Avatip Primary School, under the guidance of Mr Laurence Yabwi (Headmaster). This was accompanied by a dance ceremony. She started her work on the Yalaku language (formerly known as Yelogu), from the same family.

For Professor Ton Otto, the first half of 2013 was primarily dedicated to fieldwork in PNG and to completing a number of publication projects. During his fieldwork special attention was given to mapping concepts of personhood, including notions of the agency of the dead. Publication focused on issues of value (Value as Theory, Special Issue, Pt I and II, HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory), time and tradition, design (Design anthropology: Theory and practice; anthology on design anthropology published with Bloomsbury) and participatory methods (special issue of The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology).

In April 2013 Ton took up the leadership of the Ethnographic Collections at Moesgård Museum with key responsibility for the preparation of new ethnographic exhibitions to be launched in October 2014 at the opening of the brand new exhibition building. From April to August he built up the team and wrote the general policy statement that should guide our making of the ethnographic exhibitions. His team visited several museums and took part in the conference on the Future of Ethnographic Museums in Oxford. In August the theme of the exhibition was determined as ‘The life of the dead’ and concrete preparations began in earnest on six (later seven) subprojects, with participation of curators, researchers and designers. From September Ton also started building up the externally funded research group Camera as Cultural Critique (three postdocs and one PhD).

Ton was invited to present his latest film, Unity through culture (with Christian Suhr as co-director), at the Freiburger Film Forum in May 2013 and at the Munich Ethnofilm Festival, where they received the honour of being the opening film, with plenary introduction and discussion. He continued to work on publications on time, heritage and personhood, with a presentation at the Australian Anthropological Society in Canberra on 6-8 November 2013.

In July 2013 the Institute coordinated the third biannual Tropics of the imagination conference. The conference convenor was Deputy Head of JCU’s School of Arts and Social Sciences, Associate Professor Stephen Torre. The conference featured 24 presentations including a session from Singapore delegates via a video-conference linkup with James Cook University Singapore. The range of subjects was broad and included an historical paper on blackbirding, a marine biologist who has created music with the sounds of the Great Barrier Reef, and a paper discussing how migration has influenced creativity in the tropics.

A new initiative in 2013 was the setting up of, ALTAR, an audiovisual laboratory for PhD research students in anthropology working with audio-visual material. It is a new laboratory under The Cairns Institute and the School of Arts and Social Sciences with PhD candidates, Daniela Vávrová and Bård Aaberge as chairperson and vice-chairperson. ALTAR members specialise in places and people of the tropics and will offer assistance in collaborative projects, particularly where the material can be returned to the people being studied. ALTAR held weekly meetings and also established occasional seminars to discuss the present writings in visual anthropology. In the future they plan to offer screenings of different ethnographic and documentary films and host exhibitions of their work.

See https://espaces.edu.au/altar

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OUTREACH

Training & Professional Development

The Cairns Institute has a strong focus in developing human and organisational capabilities in the tropics to make its work relevant to industry, government and communities. In recognition that individuals need to maintain, upgrade and update skills throughout their working life, the Institute has a commitment to this through the development and delivery of specialist skills and professional development training programs.

In 2013 the Institute ran a range of programs including a week long Masterclass in Nature Photography in partnership with the award winning nature photographer Jürgen Fruend, a series of two-day courses on the subject of Upstream Workplace Bullying which was attended by over 60 members of various north Queensland government and non-government organisations.

The Institute also ran our highly successful 8 day Masterclass in Native Title for Anthropologists. This Native Title Masterclass provided graduate and early career anthropologists with targeted skills based training for

Native Title work, with a particular focus on northern Australia. Topics covered in the course included: the roles of anthropologists in Native Title work and the Native Title process, cultural awareness and working with indigenous knowledge, contemporary kinship and concepts of Aboriginal ‘society’, defining the claimant group, legal frameworks and registration requirements, linguistics, genealogical research and mapping descent groups. Participants also covered: documenting the claim and the nature of ‘evidence’, writing connection reports and supplementary reports, addressing Terms of Reference, dealing with ethical issues and maintaining objectivity. Participants gained valuable insight from industry experts and had the opportunity to consider scenarios based on real cases.

The Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department continued to support The Cairns Institute in 2013 by awarding further funding to deliver this masterclass for three more years.

Conferences & Seminars

In 2013 the Institute co-hosted four conferences with a total of 342 national and international delegates.

The first conference for 2013 was the Society of Australasian Social Psychologists (SASP) conference held in Cairns and convened by Dr Nerina Caltabiano and managed by Jennifer McHugh.

The major event for 2013 was the opening of the new Cairns Institute Building in July. Celebrations were held over a week and kicked off with a public lecture by Mary Kalantzis and Bill Cope. A celebration of the building took place on the 8 July and was attended by approximately 300 people and featured the Gondwana National Indigenous Children’s Choir. The official opening of the building was delayed until 17 July when Minister Kim Carr, Minister for Higher Education, unveiled the plaque. The Institute's International Advisory Board met for two days during the opening week and the Sustainable International Leadership in Indigenous Research (SILIR) conference was held 9-10 July 2013. The final event for the week of celebrations was a book launch for Dr Anne Stephens' new book, Ecofeminism and systems thinking officiated by Senator Larissa Waters.

Other events included the Global Education Hubs Workshop, the Tropics of the Imagination Conference, the launch of the Indigenous Arts Centre Alliance (IACA) and associated Indigenous Art Exhibition called Kinship—A Celebration of Fine Art from Far North Queensland Indigenous Art Centres.

Also in 2013 the Institute also hosted 18 seminars (including the successful Partnerships with PNG Seminar series), eight workshops, three book/project launches, two public lectures, and five training courses.

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Opening even

Images from the new building opening celebrations

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GRADUATE TRAINING

2013 Students

A total of 56 students were supervised by Cairns Institute Tropical Leaders and other researchers in 2013.

• 19 PhD students were enrolled through the School of Arts and Social Sciences • 8 PhD students were enrolled through the School of Business • 6 PhD students were enrolled through the School of Law plus another 1 PhD through UNSW Law School and one

SJD also through UNSW • 12 PhD students were enrolled through the School of Education • 2 PhD students were enrolled through the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences • 3 PhD students were enrolled though the ARC Centre of Excellence • 1 PhD student was enrolled through Griffith University • 1 PhD student was enrolled through Aarhus University, Denmark • • Professor Natalie Stoeckl was Principal Supervisor for eight School of Business students: Zulgerel Altai, Melissa Bos,

Diana Castorina, Adriana Chacon, Michelle Esparon, Marina Farr, Diane Jarvis, Qian Li, and Secondary Supervisor for Cheryl Fernandez, Christina Hicks, Judi Lowe and Aleferiti Tawake

• Professor Chris Cunneen was Principal Supervisor for Fiona Allison, Fiona Campbell, Signe Dalsgaard, Maggie Hall(UNSW), Judith Herrmann, Heron Loban, Belinda Russon (SJD, UNSW) and Rebecca Smith

• Professor Alexandra Aikhenvald was Principle Supervisor for Grant Aiton, Juliane Boettger, John Kerby, Mikko Salminen, Hannah Sarvasy, Dineke Schokkin, Alexandra van den Elsen and Katarzyna Wojtylak and Sihong Zhang and Secondary Supervisor for Joshua Milne, Emma Scott, and Keith Stebbins

• Professor Ton Otto was Principle Supervisor for Chiara Bresciani, Christiane Falck, Sasha Rubel, Rachel Smith (Aauhus), David Tibbetts, Daniela Vávrová and Secondary Supervisor for Bard Aaberge, Juliane Boettger, and Dineke Schokkin

• Professor Bob Stevenson was Principle Supervisor for Ellen Field, Fiona Mwaniki, Catherine Naum, Jennifer Nicholls, Peta Salter and Peter Smith

• Professor Komla Tsey was Principle Supervisor for Janya McCalman and Secondary Supervisor for Renae Action, Kerryn Bravck, Toni Foley, Daniel Lindsay and Vinnitta Mosby, Melody Muscat, Vicki-Lea Saunders and Wuying Zou

• Dr Allan Dale was Secondary Supervisor for Ruth Potts (Griffith University) • Dr Roxanne Bainbridge was Secondary Supervisor for Melody Muscat and Vicki-Lea Saunders • Dr Anne Stephens was Principle Supervisor for Jim Turnour • Dr Elena Mihas was Secondary Supervisor for Alexandra van den Elsen and Katarzyna Wojtylak • The students' countries of origin were varied as illustrated below

24

1 3

1 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 3

1 1 1 1 1 1 2 5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Student country of origin

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LINKAGES & PARTNERSHIPS

JCU partners

In 2013 our work was truly multi-disciplinary with our projects involving partners in many of JCU's schools and divisions.

2 1 1 1

30

12

2

25

13

6

1 1

7

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Projects with JCU partners

No. of projects

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Australian University Partners

We also teamed up with colleagues in many Australian universities.

Australian National University

Charles Darwin University

Charles Sturt University

CSIRO (4)

Griffith University (5)

Hunter Medical Research Institute (2)

La Trobe University

National Centre for Drug and Alcohol Research, UNSW

Queensland University of Technology (2)

Southern Cross University

The University of Newcastle (2)

The University of Queensland (2)

The University of Western Australia (2)

University of New South Wales (7)

University of South Australia

University of Technology Sydney

Victoria University

Visiting Scholars

The Institute hosted five Visiting Scholars in 2013 and their visits were valued at a total of $60,000.

Visitor Organisation Country Dr Greg Acciaioli Assistant Professor, School of Social Studies, University of

Western Australia Australia

Associate Professor Colin Filer College of Asia & the Pacific, Australian National University Australia

Dr Gwendolyn Hyslop Assistant Professor, School of Culture, History & Language, Australian National University

Australia

Associate Professor Andrew Searles Hunter Medical Research Institute Australia

Dr Gregory Smith Lewis&Clark College, Portland, Oregon United States

International University Partners

Association of the Tariana of the Upper Rio Negro

CNRS-LACITO (Laboratoire des Langues et Civilisations à Tradition Orale), France

Free University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Lakehead University, Canada

Leiden University, The Netherlands (3)

Moesgård Museum, Denmark

Pacific Adventist University, Papua New Guinea

Portland State University, USA

University of Aarhus, Denmark

University of Cologne, Germany (4)

University of Colorado in Boulder, USA

University of Liverpool, UK

University of Regina, Canada

York University, Canada

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Community & Non-profit Organisation Partners

Much of the research that the Institute conducts is reliant on the partnerships with community and non-profit organisations. In 2013 we worked with colleagues from 25 different groups as listed below.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) Limited

Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia Inc.

Brotherhood of St Laurence

Catholic Education Office, WA

Centacare Townsville

Condamine Alliance

Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (CRCATSIH) (hosted by the Lowitja Institute)

Central Wet Tropics Institute for Country and Culture Aboriginal Corporation (CWITICC)

Echo Creek Cultural Centre

Edmund Rice Education Australia

EIDOS Institute Ltd

Fitzroy Basin Association Incorporated

Girringun Aboriginal Corporation (GAC)

Indigenous Arts Centre Alliance (IACA)

Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation (JYAC)

North Australian Aboriginal Family Violence Legal Service

North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency Limited

Northern Gulf Resource Management Group

NQ Dry Tropics (2)

Queensland Murray-Darling Committee Inc

Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples’ Alliance (RAPA)

Telethon Institute for Child Health Research (2)

Terrain Natural Resource Management (3)

Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service Co-operative Limited

Waminda Women's Health and Welfare Service Aboriginal Corporation

Australian Government Agencies and Department Partners

We also value our partnerships with Australian government agencies and departments, including the following:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services (ATSIS) (2)

Cape York NRM

Central Australian Aboriginal Family Law Unit

Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

Legal Aid Commission of Western Australia

Legal Aid Queensland

Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission

NT Department of Education & Children's Services

Queensland Health Mental Health Branch

Queensland Regional Natural Resource Management Groups Collective

Reef Catchments

Regional Development Australia Far North Queensland & Torres Strait Inc. (RDA FNQ&TS) (2)

Torres Strait Region Authority

Tropical Population Health Unit, Queensland Health

Victoria Legal Aid

Victorian Department of Education & Early Childhood Development

Wet Tropics Management Authority (WTMA)

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MEDIA AND PUBLIC OUTREACH

Media Coverage - Examples

Cairns Sun, Cairns QLD, 09 Oct 2013, General News, p. 7

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MEDIA RELEASE – November 10, 2013

A series of four discussion papers examining possible futures for Australia’s north will be launched at the Eidos National Public Policy Congress on the Gold Coast tomorrow (Monday 11 November).

The Future of Northern Australia, by researchers from The Cairns Institute at James Cook University, focuses on the critical areas of governance, tourism, education and defence.

“Northern Australia regularly features front and centre in discussion of our nation’s future, however the north’s own future is far from clear,” Acting Director of The Cairns Institute, Professor Sue McGinty said.

“This is a region prized for its spectacular natural environment along with its great mineral wealth and potential for agriculture, but it’s also home to some of our country’s most isolated and disadvantaged communities.

“As Australia’s northern border, it embodies many unresolved concerns about our security and relations with our nearest neighbours, and it’s managed by two States, one Territory, and a raft of Commonwealth authorities.

“The north is a complex region, which has endured many rounds of the boom and bust cycle. As a research organisation based in and dedicated to the tropics, The Cairns Institute aims to provide the evidence base needed to underpin the sustainable development of northern Australia.”

Professor McGinty said the launch of the discussion papers followed a successful Cairns Institute summit, The Future of our Region.

“The summit and the papers are designed to contribute to the discussion around the Federal Government’s White Paper on northern Australia, which is now in development,” she said.

The Eidos 9th National Public Policy Congress on the Gold Coast will see the launch of four papers:

Governance Challenges for Northern Australia, in which Associate Professor Allan Dale outlines why good governance for northern Australia is important to the whole nation.

“If we don’t get the governance of the north right in the coming years, we run some big risks: we could entrench a boom and bust economy, locking in whole regions of multi-generational disadvantage and facilitating the degradation of some of the Australia’s cultural and environmental jewels,” he said.

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SENATOR THE HON KIM CARR

Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research

Minister for Higher Education

SENATOR JAN MCLUCAS

Minister for Human Services

Senator for Queensland

MEDIA RELEASE

17 July, 2013

New Cairns Institute heralds a bright future

The new $25 million Cairns Institute at James Cook University (JCU) will foster collaboration between world-class researchers and academics, growing Australia’s expertise in the tropics.

Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science, Research and Minister for Higher Education Senator Kim Carr delivered on a promise made in 2009 by opening the iconic building today.

“Today I’m proud to say that the Cairns Institute is delivering great results, both for the local region and for Australia,” Senator Kim Carr said.

“This building demonstrates the strength of the Labor Government’s resolve to give our scientists, researchers, academics and students world class facilities to carry out world-class science. It is attracting leading academics and significant financial investment.”

Minister for Human Services and Senator for Queensland Jan McLucas said the new building consolidated JCU’s expertise in all matters tropical.

“It is more than a physical structure - it is a wellspring of great ideas about how we, as a nation, should go about tackling issues specific to the tropics – in the areas of marine and climate science, public health, social and community welfare, tourism and Indigenous development,” Senator McLucas said.

JCU Vice-Chancellor Professor Sandra Harding said the $25 million building, with its innovative ‘basket of knowledge’ design, was central to the vision of JCU.

“Some of the world’s leading researchers in social sciences and humanities will work from this building. From here they can collaborate with diverse teams from more than 20 academic disciplines across JCU’s three campuses in Cairns, Townsville and Singapore,” Professor Harding said.

“The Cairns Institute gives concrete expression to the University’s position as Australia’s University for the Tropics.

“As a repository of regional knowledge and research capacity, it is perfectly positioned to contribute to developing a sustainable quality of life for tropical communities, which account for more than 40 per cent of the world’s population.”

To date, the value of these projects is $25 million, including $6.5 million from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and $9 million from the National Health and Medical Research Council.

The Cairns Institute building was funded by a $19.5 million grant from the Australian Government and a $5.1 million contribution from the University.

Media contacts: Fiona Scott (Carr) 0407 294 620

Belinda Featherstone (McLucas) 0408 743 457

Linden Woodward (James Cook University) 0419 791564

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PUBLICATIONS

2013 Publication List

In 2013 Institute staff, Tropical Leaders and their teams, Research Fellows, Visiting Scholars and Adjuncts produced 14 books, 34 book chapters, 77 journal articles, 17 conference papers, 19 reports, six discussion papers, and two theses. The complete list can be viewed at http://www.jcu.edu.au/cairnsinstitute/info/JCU_125738.html

Newsletter

The Cairns Institute also produced a quarterly newsletter, @TCI, with each issue going to all JCU staff plus a mailing list of over 700 recipients.

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AWARDS & PEER RECOGNITION

Honours & Awards

In July 2013 Cath Brown received a 2013 Indigenous Staff Scholarship Award. Cath will be undertaking a Research Masters at Queensland University of Technology entitled Aboriginal health advocacy between 1950 and 1960 on North Stradbroke Island – an investigation of her Father’s writings.

Dr Janya McCalman won a 2013 Dean’s Award for Research Higher Degree Excellence for her Doctor of Philosophy (Indigenous Studies), A grounded theory of program transfer: How an Aboriginal empowerment initiative became ‘Bigger than a program’ (nominated by Professor of Indigenous Australian Studies).

The paper by James Cook University researchers, Neus (Snowy) Evans, Michelle Lasen and Komla Tsey, entitled “A systematic search of trends in rural development research: Type of research, originating regions and engagement with sustainability” was the winner in the 2013 annual International Award for Excellence for new research or thinking. It was selected from more than 250 peer-reviewed papers published in the Sustainability Collection.

In June 2013 the “Beat Da Binge” project won an Excellence in Services for Young People Award at the 2013 National Drug and Alcohol Awards (NDAA) at Parliament House in Canberra.

Allan Dale was reappointed Chair of Regional Development Authority (RDA) FNQ&TS.

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SERVICES TO THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY

Editorial Boards

Publication Publisher Role Name Rank ISI1

Academia Sinica Institute of Linguistics

International Advisory Board Alexandra Aikhenvald

African Review of Economics and Finance (AREF)

University of Stirling

Editorial Board, Member Komla Tsey

Anthropological Forum

Routledge International Advisory Board Ton Otto 1

Anthropological Linguistics

Indiana University

Editorial Board RMW Dixon

Anthropological Notebooks

Slovenian Anthropological Society

International Editorial Board Ton Otto 1

The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology

Routledge Advisory Board Ton Otto 1

Australian Indigenous Law Review

Indigenous Law Centre, UNSW

Editorial Board Chris Cunneen

Australian Journal of Environmental Education

Cambridge University Press

International Advisory Board Bob Stevenson

BMC Public Health BioMed Central Ltd

Editorial Board Member Komla Tsey 1

Brill studies in language, cognition and culture

Brill Editor Alexandra Aikhenvald

Canadian Journal of Environmental Education

Lakehead University

Editorial Board Bob Stevenson

Crime Media Culture

Sage International Advisory Editorial Board Chris Cunneen

1

Current Issues in Criminal Justice

Institute of Criminology Press

Editorial Board Chris Cunneen

Environmental Education Research

Routledge International Advisory Board Bob Stevenson

1

Explorations in Linguistic Typology

Oxford University Press

Series Co-editor Alexandra Aikhenvald

Glossa Universidad del Turabo

Review Board Alexandra Aikhenvald

Institute of Criminology Monograph Series

Institute of Criminology

Series Editor Chris Cunneen

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Publication Publisher Role Name Rank ISI1

International Journal of Crime, Justice and Social Democracy

Queensland University of Technology - Crime and Justice Research Centre

International Editorial Board Chris Cunneen

Ítalian Journal of Linguistics (Rivista Italiana di linguistica e di Dialettologia)

Fabrizio Serra Editore

Editorial Board Alexandra Aikhenvald

Journal of Environmental Education

Routledge Co-Executive Editor Bob Stevenson

1

Journal of Language Contact

Brill Associate Editor Alexandra Aikhenvald

Language and Linguistics Compass

Wiley-Blackwell Editorial Board Alexandra Aikhenvald

Lincom Studies in American Linguistics

Lincom Europa Member of Advisory Board Alexandra Aikhenvald

The Oxford Guides to the World’s Languages [Book series]

Oxford University Press

Advisory Board Alexandra Aikhenvald

Restorative Justice. An International Journal

Hart Publishing Ltd.

International Advisory Board Chris Cunneen

Sociolinguistic Studies

Equinox Publishing Ltd.

Editorial Board Alexandra Aikhenvald

Studia Linguistica Wiley-Blackwell Editorial Board Alexandra Aikhenvald

Studies in Structural and Functional Linguistics

John Benjamins Book Series Editor and Editorial Board Alexandra Aikhenvald

Studies in Language

John Benjamins Consulting Editor Alexandra Aikhenvald

1

Tourism Economics

IP Publishing Ltd Editorial Board Natalie Stoeckl

1

Youth Justice: An International Journal

Sage Editorial Board Chris Cunneen

1Journal citation reports (JCR) via ISI Web of Knowledge journal ranking

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Participation on Professional and Review Committees

Committee Role Name

Academia Sinica, Institute of Linguistics Review committee Alexandra Aikhenvald

Ag North CRC Bid Development Group Program Leader Allan Dale

Australian Research Council Assessor Alexandra Aikhenvald Chris Cunneen Ton Otto

Economic and Social Research Council (ESCR), UK Assessor Ton Otto

Lowitja/CRC for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Grants

Assessor Komla Tsey

Marsden Fund Assessor Ton Otto

National Advisory Group to the University of Western Australia [UWA] National Empowerment Project

Member Komla Tsey

New Zealand Ministry of Science + Innovation “Freshwater Multi-Contract Review and Future Focus” Panel

Member Natalie Stoeckl

NHMRC project grants Assessor Komla Tsey

NHMRC training scholarships Panel member and assessor

Komla Tsey

Northern Australian Min Forum Tenure Review Project Leader Allan Dale

Pro-Amazonia (International educational association, Brazil) International Consultant Alexandra Aikhenvald

Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Director Allan Dale

Summer Institute of Linguistics International Consultant Alexandra Aikhenvald

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The Cairns Institute James Cook University PO Box 6811 Cairns Queensland 4870 AUSTRALIA

Phone: +61 7 4042 1887 Fax: +61 7 4042 1880 Email: cairnsinstitute@jcu.edu.au

www.jcu.edu.au/cairnsinstitute