Chinese university teachers talk about how they found teaching jobs in Australia : the great 'opening up' career opportunities in Post-Mao China

This chapter is about how a group of Chinese academics ended up teaching and researching in Australia. To explain their educational journeys since 1949, the chapter surveys (1) the chaotic end of China’s Cultural Revolution; (2) Deng Xiaoping’s “Open Up” policies; (3) the high school exit examination (GaoKao) and university entry availability; (4) the development of English language capability; (5) opportunities for Chinese scholars to go abroad; and (6) academic careers in China. The material is largely drawn from interviews conducted by one of the authors (Lu) with Chinese participants and English and Chinese literature sources.This chapter shows how socio-historical circumstances opened educational opportunities for Chinese people in the post-Mao period that enabled them to become transnational knowledge workers. The chapter concludes that despite facing significant personal and professional adjustments in order to gain permanent positions in a ‘foreign’ regional university, these academics represent the potential impact on Australian institutions of the Chinese intellectual diaspora

Gauging primary school teachers' environmental literacy

Abstrac

Teaching in Australia: Chinese university teachers talk about how they found teaching jobs in Australia

This article is about how a group of Chinese academics ended up teaching and researching in Australia. To explain their educational journeys since 1949, the chapter surveys (1) the chaotic end of China’s Cultural Revolution; (2) Deng Xiaoping’s “Open Up” policies; (3) the high school exit examination (GaoKao) and university entry availability; (4) the development of English language capability; (5) opportunities for Chinese scholars to go abroad; and (6) academic careers in China. The material is largely drawn from interviews conducted by one of the authors (Lu) with Chinese participants and English and Chinese literature sources. This chapter shows how socio-historical circumstances opened educational opportunities for Chinese people in the post-Mao period that enabled them to become transnational knowledge workers. The chapter concludes that despite facing significant personal and professional adjustments in order to gain permanent positions in a ‘foreign’ regional university, these academics represent the potential impact on Australian institutions of the Chinese intellectual diaspora

Trends in the use of surface irrigation in Australian irrigated agriculture: An investigation into the role surface irrigation will play in future Australian agriculture

Surface irrigation methods are simple, mostly gravity driven and, therefore, have low energy requirements. However, these systems are often seen as being inefficient both in labour and water usage. As competition for scarce water resources and greater emphasis on environmental conservation gain ground, more focus has been directed towards surface systems. On the one hand, some irrigators have converted to pressurised systems, which are seen to be more water efficient. This is reflected in the decline of 15% of the proportion of irrigated land in Australia under surface irrigation in the last two decades; however, the proportion of agricultural establishments using the system has remained relatively unchanged since 2002, except during the drought period when there was a reduction. In the US there has been a reduction in both the acreage under surface systems and the number of farmers using the system. On the other hand, surface irrigation has experienced improvements ranging from upgrades of physical irrigation infrastructure and hardware to advanced management practices, including computer simulation and real-time optimisation and control. Conversion of irrigated land from surface to pressurised systems might continue into the future but probably at a decreasing rate. However, surface systems will nonetheless remain important. There is also the strong possibility that rising energy costs will curtail the adoption of pressurised systems

Hydraulics of large diameter gated flexible fluming

Gated flexible or “layflat” fluming is used in furrow irrigation to supply water to individual furrows. Laboratory experiments were conducted to establish the flow characteristics of these pipes under the low heads and high flow rates typical of furrow irrigation of cotton in Australia. Two different diameters of layflat were used in the study, 222.8 and 425 mm. Proprietary 50 mm diameter outlets (gates) were installed in the layflat at 1 m spacings. Tests were conducted at various pressures and flow rates to determine; the geometric characteristics of the fluming and their relationship to pressure, the friction loss coefficient for the fluming with and without the outlets installed, and the head-discharge characteristic for the outlets. It was shown that the fluming is capable of supplying the desired flow rates (about 6 l s−1 per furrow) at pressure heads <1 m. The head-discharge characteristic for the proprietary outlets followed a similar form to the standard orifice equation. No evidence was found to suggest that the velocity head played any significant role in determining the outlet discharge. The Hazen–Williams coefficient (CHW) of the fluming with the outlets installed was a low 80 compared to a value of about 140 for the fluming without gates. This clearly illustrates the increase in energy losses caused by the protrusion of the gates into the flow and that these losses far exceed the losses due simply to pipe friction. These experimentally derived coefficients and characteristic equations were used to validate the simulation program GPIPE

CFD study of the hydraulic performance of large-diameter gated fluming

The hydraulic performance of large-diameter gated fluming, commonly used in furrow irrigation, was investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The continuity and the momentum equations governing the fluid in the system were solved numerically for a steady incompressible and turbulent flow using a realizable software model. The CFD results were compared with the laboratory measured results and those obtained using a hydraulic simulation model. The CFD results showed a good correlation with the measured data and those generated using the software. The velocity head in the pipeline had no influence on the magnitude of the outflows possibly due to the unique shape of the outlet. The pressure head recovery across the outlets was greater than the energy loss along the pipe; hence, the pressure and discharge increased towards the downstream end. The CFD approach was found to be an appropriate tool for detailed analysis of the hydraulic characteristics of gated irrigation pipelines

Developing research skills and capability in higher education : combining collaborative research with mentoring

Mentoring provides an effective way of assisting emerging researchers to understand more fully how academics engage in research activities, enhance their research skills and gain confidence in pursuing their own research interests. Although mentoring can be constructed in diverse ways, the most valuable mentoring is that tailored appropriately to meet the developmental needs of the mentee (Brown & Daly, 2009). In this paper we examine mentoring as a form of researcher development and our own approach which emphasises mentoring with, and alongside, other researchers. Two academics assembled a research team for a collaborative project and, while they oversaw the project, roles were assigned to individuals through discussion and consensus. This paper identifies the parameters for the collaborative venture, identifies the focus for mentoring and provides the reflections of the two mentees who look back on their experiences of being part of a research team. We affirm our contention that mentoring can be an evolving process as well as an active relationship in which assistance and reflection go hand in hand. The narratives provided by the mentees indicate that mentoring as part of acollaborative research project is not an occurrence, but an ongoing developmental process and an opportunity to learn and contribute simultaneously

Onion leaf desiccation processes and implications for skin quality

Although onion skins play an important role in the life of an onion their development is poorly understood. The skins not only protect the onion bulb from disease and moisture loss but are fundamental to a customer’s perception of bulb quality. This study has increased the understanding of leaf desiccation and the formation of skins. A detailed phenological study across 32 commercial crops (‘Creamgold’) revealed that the scale of the 6th true leaf was the most common tissue to form the outermost entire skin on the onion bulb. A positive correlation was recorded between bulb diameter and the leaf number (where leaf 1 is the first true leaf) that formed the most-outer skin on the bulb. Skins that are forming but that are not yet completely dry are highly extensible which appears to enable them to withstand the rapid radial expansion of the bulb. Skin tensile strength was positively correlated with skin thickness and skin specific dry weight. Skin specific dry weight was higher in skins that developed from younger leaves, largely due to a higher number of cells in the cross sectional plane. It was posited that conditions that impair early leaf development, and limit the number of cells in the leaf, and therefore the amount of structural tissue in the scale, are responsible for skins that are easily torn and dislodged during handling operations. The importance on the timing of the events may explain the lack of consistency in findings associated with agronomic treatments and the variability in skin disorders between crops

Targeting for pollutant reductions in the Great Barrier Reef river catchments

The declining health of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) from poor water quality has increased the urgency for pollutant reductions at the same time that available financial resources and knowledge regarding the most appropriate interventions are limited. Prioritisation of water quality interventions in the Great Barrier Reefcatchments is the process of identifying which land based actions can achieve the largest environmental benefitsat the lowest cost. For prioritisation to be effective a focus is required on the outcomes of pollution reductiona ctivities as compared to the inputs. In this paper we set out a framework for prioritising actions to improve water quality into the Great Barrier Reef, as well as providing a case study analysis using 47 individual riverbasins across the six large scale catchments, three pollutants and two industries. The results identify the most cost-effective options for water quality improvements aligning to locations of medium risk to reef health. The outcomes of the analysis highlight the importance of seeking pollutant reductions where the most effectiveoutcome can be achieved rather than simply targeting an industry or a catchment

Identification, impacts, and prioritisation of emerging contaminants present in the GBR and Torres Strait marine environments

Heavy/trace metals and metalloids are major anthropogenic contaminants in estuarine and coastal waters. Their concentrations in the GBR and TS marine environments are typically low, except in areas within ports and harbours and those adjacent to intense urban, industrial or agricultural activity. It is likely that heavy metal contamination in the GBR and TS will increase with increasing coastal and industrial development in these regions. This presents an ecological concern given the persistent nature of heavy metals and metalloids, known toxicity to marine organisms, and their estimated residence in the GBR lagoon ranging from years to decades. Metals and metalloids at some sites in the GBR and TS have concentrations that exceed water and sediment quality guidelines, indicating potential health risks to marine species. While point sources are often highly regulated to ensure that discharges and emissions of contaminants do not exceed levels of environmental concern, less is known about inputs from diffuse sources. For example, runoff from Papua New Guinean (PNG) catchments affects sediment quality in the northern and north-central TS. Similarly, our preliminary estimate of the dissolved aluminium load from the Calliope catchment near Gladstone suggests that diffuse source contribution could be considerable. This suggests that current management arrangements, which do not consider the risks of metals and metalloids from diffuse sources may need to be re-assessed and associated research recommendations are provided