Me, myself and I: identity and meaning in the lives of vulnerable young people

Questions relating to identity and meaning are fundamental questions of life. As such, they have been the subject of study by scholars across a diverse range of disciplines, including psychology, theology, sociology and philosophy, throughout history. Despite this diversity, scholars agree that identity and meaning are inter-related issues which are central to the lives of human beings.It is widely accepted within the literature that adolescence is a critical period for the development of identity and meaning, and that these concepts may become even more pertinent to young people when they are confronted with persistent challenges or periods of uncertainty. However, our knowledge of how vulnerable young people perceive and experience ‘identity and meaning’ in their lives remains less clear.This research study, funded by the Institute for Catholic Identity and Mission, Australian Catholic University (ACU ), and conducted by the Institute of Child Protection Studies (ICPS) aimed to further our understanding of this area by exploring the following questions: What is the role and potency of identity and meaning in the lives of vulnerable young people? What are the implications of this for the way that we support vulnerable young people? The study adopted a participatory and qualitative approach and was conducted throughout 2012. Twenty four young people participated in in-depth one-on-one interviews about their lives

Effective interventions for working with young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness

This literature review was commissioned by the Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA). The aim of the review is to assess the current state of evidence about what interventions are most effective in working with young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. This literature review was produced in order to inform a broader project that identifies the range of interventions and strategies that are applied by Reconnect services and situates these practices within the existing evidence base (see separate report, Reconnect: working with young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness). Reconnect is a community-based early intervention program for young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. It was established in 1998 as an early intervention response to youth homelessness. Reconnect uses early intervention strategies to help young people to stabilise and improve their housing, achieve family reconciliation, and improve their level of engagement with work, education, training and community. FaHCSIA funds Reconnect services to deliver services to young people aged 12–18 years (newly arrived young people 12–21 years) who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and their families. Some Reconnect services focus on working with specific population groups, for example: Indigenous young people (Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people); young people experiencing mental health issues; and newly arrived young people. This review is guided by the key research question: ‘what are effective intervention strategies for working with young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness?’ The literature review begins with a brief overview of youth homelessness as an issue of concern, its identified relevant risk and protective factors, and the relevance of early intervention. It then outlines the strategy for undertaking this literature review and presents the findings of the review

Ecological Historicity, Functional Goals, and Novelty in the Anthropocene

While many recognize that rigid historical and compositional goals are inadequate in a world where climate and other global systems are undergoing unprecedented changes, others contend that promoting ecosystem services and functions encourages practices that can ultimately lower the bar of ecological management. These worries are foregrounded in discussions about Novel Ecosystems (NEs); where some researchers and conservationists claim that NEs provide a license to trash nature as long as some ecosystem services are provided. This criticism arises from what we call the “anything goes” problem created by the release of historical conditions. After explaining the notion of NE, we identify numerous substantive motivations for worrying about the anything-goes-problem and then go on to show the problem can be solved by correcting two mistaken assumptions. In short, we argue that the problem is a product of adopting an overly sparse functional perspective and one that assumes an unrealistically high degree of convergence in the trajectories of natural processes. Our analysis illuminates why such assumptions are unwarranted. Finally, we further argue that adopting an appropriate ethical framework is essential to overcoming the anything-goes-problem and suggest that a certain virtue ethics conception of ecological management provides useful resources for framing and resolving the problem

Ecological Historicity, Functional Goals, and Novelty in the Anthropocene

While many recognize that rigid historical and compositional goals are inadequate in a world where climate and other global systems are undergoing unprecedented changes, others contend that promoting ecosystem services and functions encourages practices that can ultimately lower the bar of ecological management. These worries are foregrounded in discussions about Novel Ecosystems (NEs); where some researchers and conservationists claim that NEs provide a license to trash nature as long as some ecosystem services are provided. This criticism arises from what we call the “anything goes” problem created by the release of historical conditions. After explaining the notion of NE, we identify numerous substantive motivations for worrying about the anything-goes-problem and then go on to show the problem can be solved by correcting two mistaken assumptions. In short, we argue that the problem is a product of adopting an overly sparse functional perspective and one that assumes an unrealistically high degree of convergence in the trajectories of natural processes. Our analysis illuminates why such assumptions are unwarranted. Finally, we further argue that adopting an appropriate ethical framework is essential to overcoming the anything-goes-problem and suggest that a certain virtue ethics conception of ecological management provides useful resources for framing and resolving the problem

Mosquito species distribution models: limitations and best practices

Understanding species distribution is fundamental to ecology and biogeography, with important implications for species management. This is especially true for species of public health concern—such as mosquitoes—which can impart both economic and health impacts. Species distribution models (SDMs) are powerful tools to accomplish this goal. However, obtaining reliable conclusions, those which are accurate and applicable for policy development, from SDMs is not straightforward owing to the many required considerations such as objective with respect to limitations of the available data. The goal of this thesis was to determine recommended methods to address known and unknown mosquito SDM limitations. First, I identified limitations of SDMs across the literature with respect to best-practice standards. I found that mosquito SDMs exhibited a very high proportion of unacceptable practices. Specifically, SDMs require greater attention to temperature and precipitation thresholds within ecologically relevant scales. Secondly, I quantified the ability of SDMs to determine reliable conclusions from imprecise occurrences, occurrences represented as an administrative/geopolitical boundary centroid, of a virtual species designed to reflect mosquitos of public health importance. I found that imprecise occurrences had a strong negative effect on the reliability of conclusions. Through careful consideration of SDM model building allowed for appropriate conclusions. General boosted regression models, mean or weighted mean ensembles with balanced training and removal of low contributing predictors, consistently provided reliable conclusions from imprecise occurrences. This thesis provides methodologically recommendations to aid in SDM model development, which should translate into better quality predictions of mosquito and possibly other species distributions and management

UC-82 Trip Logger

We developed an Android mobile app using the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) approach to enable users to track their travel distance and time via GPS, fostering greater emissions awareness through their driving habits of distance and time taken. Built with the Flutter framework and Dart language, the app features a user-friendly interface created with Flutter widgets that manage both appearance and user interactions. Our streamlined architecture comprises three layers: the presentation layer for UI elements, the application layer containing the core logic, and the data layer, which locally stores trip data in CSV format to ensure quick access and reliability. We integrated the Geolocator package within Flutter for GPS functionality to obtain user coordinates and calculate distances between locations. This streamlined architecture and choice of technologies optimized the app’s efficiency and user-friendliness, allowing us to promote environmentally conscious driving