nessaustralia

Date: Friday 29th April
Time: 12 – 1pm
Venue: Online via Zoom

The continuing and rapid global decline of coral reefs calls for new approaches to sustain reefs and the millions of people who depend on them. In this talk, I present ongoing work by my research group aimed at rethinking reef conservation along two lines. First is directly confronting the drivers of change. In addition to environmental factors, there are socioeconomic drivers that influence the condition of coral reef ecosystems, though reef governance rarely focus on explicitly managing these. My colleagues and I analysed data from >2500 reef sites worldwide to quantify how key socioeconomic drivers are related to 4 key ecological metrics on coral reefs. I then explore a key mechanism for this finding; how markets can ‘crowd out’ several types of pro-environmental behaviour, and highlight a case study using experimental economic games conducted in a fishing village in Papua New Guinea. Second, drawing on theory and practice in human health and rural development, I use a positive deviance (bright spots) analysis to systematically identify coral reefs that have substantially more fish than expected, given their socioeconomic and environmental conditions. Importantly, bright spots were not simply comprised of remote areas with low fishing pressure- they include localities where human populations and use of ecosystems resources is high, potentially providing novel insights into how communities have successfully confronted strong drivers of change. Using a second case study based on 16 years of social and ecological fieldwork in another fishing village in Papua New Guinea, I explore some of local conditions that can make a bright spot

Distinguished Professor Joshua Cinner began his work as an environmental social scientist while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Jamaica in the mid 1990s.  He has since completed a Master’s degree from the University of Rhode Island in 2000 and a PhD from James Cook University in 2006.  Josh’s research explores how social, economic, and institutional conditions influence the ways in which people use, perceive, and govern natural resources. His background is in human geography and he often works closely with ecologists to uncover complex linkages between social and ecological systems. He has worked on human dimensions of resource management in Australia, Jamaica, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania, Mauritius, Seychelles, Indonesia, Mozambique, and the USA. He has published >150 scientific articles, is an ISI “Highly Cited” researcher, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation, and is recipient of the 2017 Elinor Ostrom Award for collective governance of the commons; the 2018 Mid-Career Award from the International Coral Reef Society; the 2020 Eureka Prize for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Research; and three prestigious fellowships from the Australian Research Council.

Click on the image below to watch the recording of Professor Joshua Cinner’s presentation.

Date: Friday 18th March
Time: 12 – 1pm
Online via zoom

Misinformation is a complex problem, influencing society at political, social, technological, and psychological levels. Solutions in response to misinformation need to be holistic and interdisciplinary. The 4D Project adopts this approach in response to climate misinformation, organised around four themes: Detect, Deconstruct, Debunk, and Deploy. Detection involves using machine learning algorithms to automatically detect and categorize misinformation. Once misinforming claims are detected, critical thinking methods are employed to deconstruct and analyse claims, identifying reasoning fallacies. The rhetorical techniques and fallacies in misinformation can be incorporated into debunking interventions, explaining how they mislead. Debunking interventions are then deployed at scale through public engagement and educational programs, with the goal of building public resilience against misinformation.

In this seminar, John Cook presented his research across the four 4D themes. He introduced his research into using machine learning to detect misinformation, critical thinking methods for deconstructing misinformation, various experimental studies on debunking approaches, and several public engagement projects that put these research findings into practice.

Dr John Cook is a postdoctoral research fellow with the Climate Change Communication Research Hub at Monash University. His research focus is on using critical thinking to build resilience against misinformation. In 2007, he founded Skeptical Science, a website that won the 2011 Australia Museum Eureka Prize for the Advancement of Climate Change Knowledge. In 2020, he published the book Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change applying critical thinking, inoculation research, and cartoons to engage and educate readers about climate misinformation. He recently released the Cranky Uncle game, combining critical thinking, cartoons, and gamification to build players’ resilience against misinformation. He currently works with organizations like Facebook and NASA to develop evidence-based responses to climate misinformation.

Date: Thursday 25th November
Time: 1 – 2pm
Location: Online via zoom

Civil resistance against climate change burst into the Australian public arena in 2019 with the rise of Extinction Rebellion and School Strike for Climate. However, this resistance has a much longer pedigree with long running campaigns against coalmines, blockades against coal ports and corporations, and multiple divestment campaigns against banks, universities and businesses.  Despite this activity, until recently we have had comparatively little empirical data capturing the full range and features of collective action used in the climate movement, nor evidence of the effectiveness of such tactics to achieve urgent and meaningful action on climate change.

In this seminar Robyn presents learnings from extensive empirical research on the Australian environmental movement, including an overview of the characteristics and outcomes of climate change collective action (and civil resistance more specifically) and what mechanisms are deployed by authorities to suppress this activism. She will conclude by sharing findings from a systematic review on the outcomes of environmental collective action more broadly.

You can watch the seminar via zoom by clicking on the link here.

Dr Robyn Gulliver is a Research Fellow at the University of Hong Kong, and a multi-award winning environmentalist, writer and scholar who has served as an organiser and leader of numerous local and national environmental organisations. Her research investigates the predictors and consequences of pro-democracy and environmental collective action. She commences a postdoctoral fellowship position in the School of Communication and Arts in January 2022.

Date: Wednesday 27th October
Time: 12 – 1pm
Location: Online via zoom

There is increasing recognition of the mental health toll of climate change, especially on young people. The concept of ecoanxiety has emerged to capture the sense of anxiety and helplessness that many people are experiencing as a result of the intensifying effects of climate change and the lack of serious action to combat it. In this seminar three speakers explore aspects of the relationship between climate change, ecoanxiety and wellbeing. Carla Magi-Prowse will discuss her analysis of the media coverage of the emerging concept of ecoanxiety, outlining the populations who the media think are most at risk and the coping strategies that are suggested. Ans Vercammen will present results from the ‘Changing worlds’ survey that explores how young people are responding to climate change during the pandemic. Fiona Charlson will highlight the important and urgent research needs that are yet to be addressed in relation to social and emotional well-being and climate change.

Carla Magi-Prowse is a PhD student in the School of Communication and Arts at the University of Queensland. Her PhD is focused on the adaptive and maladaptive ways that people cope with climate change.

Dr Ans Vercammen is an interdisciplinary researcher with a background in psychology and behavioural sciences and a passion for applying sound social science to address the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. Her research seeks to understand how our attitudes and beliefs shape the behaviours that damage or protect our vulnerable environment. She is also interested in how the rapid and often dramatic changes in our environment affect our wellbeing and mental health. Ans will commence as a research fellow at The University of Queensland in January 2022.

Associate Professor Fiona Charlson is a National Health and Medical Research Council Research Fellow at the Queensland Centre of Mental Health Research and School of Public Health, University of Queensland. She is a psychiatric epidemiologist and health services researcher with strong experience in addressing some of the most challenging global mental health research questions. She is at the leading edge of research into the mental health impacts of climate change and leads the Social and Emotional wellbeing group of UQ’s Climate Change and Health Transdisciplinary Impact Research Network.

Date: Friday 17th September
Time: 3 – 4pm
Location: Online via zoom

When consumers are in hedonic (pleasure-focused) contexts (such as on holidays or when they grab a take-away coffee), they give themselves a licence to sin. They do not display the same environmentally sustainable behaviours as they do at home. What can we do so successfully trigger pro-environmental behaviours in this most challenging of circumstances?

Watch the zoom recording by clicking on the link here.

Professor Sara Dolnicar is an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow in the UQ Business School and the AIBE (Australian Institute for business and economics). She has authored more than 300 refereed articles and won more than 30 awards for her research including being awarded the Slovenian Ambassador of Science 2016, the highest honour the Republic of Slovenia bestows on expatriate Slovenian researchers in recognition of global excellence, impact, and knowledge transfer. Sara is best known for her work in improving market segmentation methodology and testing and refining survey measures used in social science research. She has also worked in the areas of environmental volunteering, foster care and public acceptance of water alternatives. Currently she is focused on developing and testing interventions that trigger pro-environmental behaviour in tourists.

Date: Wednesday 25th April
Time: 12 – 1pm
Location: Online via zoom

Post-growth is a global futures solution to the limits-to-growth dilemma, recognising that on a planet of finite resources our economies cannot continue to grow infinitely. It is a worldview that envisions a better world without the obligations of constant economic growth – where people, communities and organisations thrive and experience more widespread justice and social well-being within the ecological limits of the planet. Dr Cle-Anne Gabriel will explain the post-growth agenda and why the basic tenets of the concept and the movement could lead to a better life for all.

Watch the zoom recording by clicking on the link here.

Dr Cle-Anne Gabriel is UQ Business School’s Director for the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) Initiative and a researcher and educator within the Strategy and Entrepreneurship Discipline of UQ Business School. Dr Gabriel conducts research in the areas of post-growth futures, renewable energy enterprise and business models for sustainability. She has worked on projects funded by organisations such as Australian Aid, the European Union and New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Date: Wednesday 11th September 2019
Time: 12 – 1pm
Room: Room 275
Location: Global Change Institute (Building 20)

How are Australian environmental organisations mobilising supporters to trigger urgent action on our environmental problems, and have they been successful? In this presentation Robyn will walk us through her multi-layered research into the Australian environmental movement which seeks to answer these questions. Informed by empirical data gathered through webscraping, content analysis, surveys and interviews, this seminar will demonstrate the diversity of campaign activities, targets and goals found across almost 500 environmental organisations around the country. Following this, a close examination of climate change activism will identify both meanings and measures of success, and how these relate to changing activism tactics with the rise of global grassroots organisations such as Extinction Rebellion and Fridays for Future.

Robyn Gulliver is a PhD student in the School of Communication and Arts. She is also a long-term environmental activist who has served in a range of roles including ACF Councillor, 350.org Brisbane City Coordinator, Coordinator of the Queensland Conservation Council and currently as Front desk Coordinator for the Stop Adani Alliance.