Think Global, Reconfigure the Local: How Intermediaries Articulate Pro-Environmental Values and Practices

Contemporary debates about the conservation of natural ecosystems and resources owe most of their influence to the rise of sustainable development, or, sustainability. Since its inception, ‘sustainability’ has become the dominant paradigm for addressing global ecological problems, as well as a strong motivator for changing patterns of behaviour at the level of individual people. The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) introduced this framework into global proenvironmental discourse in 1987, and it has since been the source of many debates and discussions within and between academic disciplines. One of the central issues has been the opposition between agency and structure. This is the problem of whether to appeal to agency (theories of individual behaviour change) or structure (theories of social practice) when addressing global environmental problems, as these fields are generally characterised as necessarily opposed to one another. However, each of them at least conceives of a particular kind of agency, meaning that both make an appeal to ‘the individual’ in one way or another. The ultimate aim of this thesis, then, is to reconfigure the way in which individual people are framed by and thus implicated in contemporary discussions about sustainability. In order to do this, I will be drawing heavily on Pierre Bourdieu’s (1984) concept of the ‘cultural intermediary,’ as well as Stuart Hall’s (cf. Grossberg, 1986) theory of ‘articulation.’ I propose a framework that characterises proenvironmental groups as ‘intermediaries,’ as each of these groups acts as a ‘mediator’ or ‘point of articulation’ between the structural dimensions of sustainability and the individual people that they address. I will analyse this framework by appealing to two close studies of two different intermediaries: Greenpeace, and its ‘Save the Reef’ campaign, and Sydney’s Inner West Council, and its ‘Home Eco Challenge.

Advance care planning documentation strategies; goals-of-care as an alternative to not-for-resuscitation in medical and oncology patients. A pre-post controlled study on quantifiable outcomes

Background: Health services in Tasmania, Victoria and now Western Australia are changing to goals-of-care (GOC) advance care planning (ACP) documentation strategies. Aim: To compare the clinical impact of two different health department-sanctioned ACP documentation strategies. Methods: A non-blinded, pre–post, controlled study over two corresponding 6-month periods in 2016 and 2017 comparing the current discretional not-for-resuscitation (NFR) with a new, inclusive GOC strategy in two medical/oncology wards at a large private hospital. Main outcomes were the uptake of ACP forms per hospitalisation and the timing between hospital admission, ACP form completion and in-patient death. Secondary outcomes included utilisation of the rapid response team (RRT), palliative and critical care services. Results: In total, 650 NFR and 653 GOC patients underwent 1885 admissions (mean Charlson Comorbidity Index = 3.7). GOC patients had a higher uptake of ACP documentation (346 vs 150 ACP forms per 1000 admissions, P \u3c 0.0001) and a higher proportion of ACP forms completed within the first 48 h of admission (58 vs 39%, P = 0.0002) but a higher incidence of altering the initial ACP level of care (P = 0.003). All other measures, including ACP documentation within 48 h of death (P = 0.50), activation of RRT (P = 0.73) and admission to critical (P = 0.62) or palliative (P = 0.81) care services, remained similar. GOC documentation was often incomplete, with most sub-sections left blank between 74 and 87% of occasions. Conclusion: Despite an increased uptake of the GOC form, overall use remained low, written completion was poor, and most quantitative outcomes remained statistically unchanged. Further research is required before a wider GOC implementation can be supported in Australia’s healthcare systems

Fiber optic communication in borehole applications

The Telemetry Technology Development Department have, in support of the Advanced Geophysical Technology Department and the Oil Recovery Technology Partnership, developed a fiber optic communication capability for use in borehole applications. This environment requires the use of packaging and component technologies to operate at high temperature (up to 175{degrees}C) and survive rugged handling. Fiber optic wireline technology has been developed by The Rochester Corporation under contract to Sandia National Labs and produced a very rugged, versatile wireline cable. This development has utilized commercial fiber optic component technologies and demonstrated their utility in extreme operating environments

Faster juvenile growth promotes earlier sex change in a protandrous hermaphrodite (barramundi Lates calcarifer)

The relationship between growth and sexual maturation is central to understanding the dynamics of animal populations which exhibit indeterminate growth. In sequential hermaphrodites, which undergo post-maturation sex change, the size and age at which sex change occurs directly affects reproductive output and hence population productivity. However, these traits are often labile, and may be strongly influenced by heterogenous growth and mortality rates. We analysed otolith microstructure of a protandrous (i.e., male-to-female) fish (barramundi Lates calcarifer) to examine growth in relation to individual variation in the timing of sex change. Growth trajectories of individuals with contrasting life histories were examined to elucidate the direction and extent to which growth rate influences the size and age individuals change sex. Then, the relationships between growth rate, maturation schedules and asymptotic maximum size were explored to identify potential trade-offs between age at female maturity and growth potential. Rapid growth was strongly associated with decreased age at sex change, but this was not accompanied by a decrease in size at sex change. Individuals that were caught as large females grew faster than those caught as males, suggesting that fast-growing individuals ultimately obtain higher fitness and therefore make a disproportionate contribution to population fecundity. These results indicate that individual-level variation in maturation schedules is not reflective of trade-offs between growth and reproduction. Rather, we suggest that conditions experienced during the juvenile phase are likely to be a key determinant of post-maturation fitness. These findings highlight the vulnerability of sex-changing species to future environmental change and harvest

How do Black Bream move through the fish gate on the Vasse Surge Barrier?

This study determined how Black Bream used the fish gate on the Vasse Surge Barrier by tagging them state of the art internal electronic tags. The tags, known as PIT tags, detected fish that passaged upstream and downstream through the fish gate over an 18 month period in 2017 and 2018. The local community helped us tag and release 322 Black Bream. The study revealed that movements through the fish gate were unrelated to spawning activity of this species and supported early work that the Vasse Estuary is not a key breeding site; instead they use the Deadwater to reproduce. Up until May 2018, Bream passaged through the fish gate 440 times (265 downstream and 175 upstream). Black Bream preferred to passage when the water velocity in the fish gate chute were lowest, which occurred when the water levels upstream and downstream of the surge barrier were relatively similar. When the dissolved oxygen upstream of the surge barrier was good, fewer fish passaged downstream to the Wonnerup Inlet although this was a relatively weak effect. However, the dissolved oxygen around the Vasse Suge Barrier during the current analysis period was relatively high compared to other years and therefore we anticipate that the effect of low dissolved oxygen on fish passage would be even stronger in those years. They also preferred to pass downstream through the fish gate during the evening, whereas upstream passages mostly occurred during the dawn and dusk periods. The findings greatly increase our understanding of the conditions that Black Bream require or prefer to use the fish gate on the Vasse Surge Barrier. However, as the PIT tags last for 20 years, additional data analysis is recommended to compare the factors influencing the passage of the species over multiple years of fish gate operation; including those years that experience poor oxygen levels. It is also recommended that additional fish PIT tagging occur, including other species, so that long-term fish passage through the structure may be further quantified