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School of Geography and

Environmental Sciences

Potential research projects offered for Level 4 (Honours) and Level 5 (Masters) students commencing in Semester 2 2016.

Geography (Human and Physical)

Urban and Regional Planning

International Development

The projects outlined in this handbook are NOT necessarily all of those available. Please feel free to talk to supervisors about designing projects around your interests.

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Table of Contents Spatial Economic Analysis and Regional Development ......................................................................... 4

The Geography and Regulation of Contentious Land-Uses................................................................... 4

From Dreamscape to Blandscape? Social, Economic, Environmental and Cultural Meaning, Symbolism and Life in Suburbia ............................................................................................................ 4

The appropriateness of a hierarchy of activity nodes as a city structuring device under current economic growth trends/dynamics/patterns and in the Perth city development context .................. 5

From a dot on a map in a plan to a viable urban activity node in practice– what are the critical success factors? ..................................................................................................................................... 5

Exploring the trade-off between housing and transport costs of households ..................................... 6

Understanding train patronage trends in Perth .................................................................................... 6

Validating crowd sourced GPS data for congestion management ........................................................ 6

Bimodal distribution of travel speed ..................................................................................................... 7

Optimal locations of charging stations for electric vehicles ................................................................. 7

How Accessible are Perth’s Activity Centres? ....................................................................................... 8

Access to Jobs and Services ................................................................................................................... 8

Making Public Transport a Mode of Choice .......................................................................................... 9

The value of travel time: Productive travel time .................................................................................. 9

Regional Geographies of Innovation, Productivity and Worker Connectivity .................................... 10

Global Industrial Network Geometries ............................................................................................... 10

International Socio-Economic Spatial Analysis.................................................................................... 10

Natural hazards, risk and vulnerability ................................................................................................ 11

Planning and emergency Management/Disaster Management ......................................................... 11

Development of high resolution land-use land-cover classification of Perth neighbourhoods in relation to physical activity ................................................................................................................. 11

Does Ownership Matter? Examining Hazard Preparedness of Renters and Absentee Homeowners in conjunction with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services.................................................... 12

Is Recovery Really Community Centric? The Role of Community in Disaster Recovery ..................... 12

Various collaborations with the Business School ................................................................................ 12

Urban Heat Island: Examining the role of the Built Environment on Increased Morbidity and Mortality in Perth ................................................................................................................................ 13

Flooding: good for the environment but when does it become a disaster? ....................................... 13

WA Flood Risk: A comprehensive assessment of current flood studies to compare and contrast risk. ............................................................................................................................................................. 13

The role of geospatial technology in participatory mapping for flood-prone regions in Cambodia .. 14

The role of geospatial technology in participatory mapping for flood-prone regions in Fiji .............. 14

Sustainability of natural resources in the Kimberley region ............................................................... 15

Water security in the Kimberley region .............................................................................................. 15

Environmental livelihood security and climate-smart landscapes ...................................................... 15

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Geography and Health I ....................................................................................................................... 16

Geography and Health II ...................................................................................................................... 16

Urban Ecosystem Services ................................................................................................................... 16

Urban and Rural Aboriginal Geographies ............................................................................................ 16

The Geographies of Migrants and Refugees in Western Australia ..................................................... 17

The Kenyan Diaspora in Perth: Living Between Two Worlds .............................................................. 18

Food Desserts and Fast Food Alleys? Spatial Justice in Perth’s Food Landscape................................ 18

Representations of Mining, Migration, and Development in the Global South ................................. 18

Promoting just and inclusive community development in larger and smaller cities .......................... 19

The role of ecological research information in the urban planning process: mapping ecological knowledge and needs against the West Australian planning system ................................................. 19

Biodiversity & conservation patterns in the novel ecological systems of West Australian cities: studying socio-cultural contexts in Perth’s front gardens & public parks .......................................... 20

Promoting healthy urban nightscapes in an climate of global change: the ecological and planning challenges of artificial lighting at night in Perth. ................................................................................. 22

Representations of identity and belonging in the West Australian city: exploring and advancing the just and inclusive Perth ....................................................................................................................... 23

Physical drivers of reef carbonate sediment budgets ......................................................................... 24

Seasonal variability in the morphology of reef-protected beaches .................................................... 24

Quantifying storm impacts at moderate-energy beaches .................................................................. 24

Biogeomorphlogy of south coast rivers: Patterns of river change and vegetation degradation ........ 25

Climate Change and Transforming River Hydrology in SW WA .......................................................... 25

Water balance of “mega” Lake Woods ............................................................................................... 25

Coastal Planning and Development in Western Australia .................................................................. 26

Microbialte Ecohydrology and Sedimentology ................................................................................... 26

South West Western Australia Hydrogeology and Ecohydrology ....................................................... 27

Measuring the influence of the childcare indoor and outdoor environment on early health behaviour ............................................................................................................................................ 27

The Built Environment and Child Health and Development ............................................................... 27

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Project: Spatial Economic Analysis and Regional Development

For majors including:

Geography; Urban and Regional Planning

Supervisor: Paul Plummer, [email protected]

Description: Please email to make an appointment to discuss ideas related to topics in economic geography and regional economic analysis. This can include a range of topics, but especially geographies of local labour markets, regional competitiveness and socio-economic wellbeing in resource communities.

Project: The Geography and Regulation of Contentious Land-Uses


Urban & Regional Planning

Supervisor: Paul Maginn, [email protected], 6488 2711

Description: This is less a specific topic and more a general theme for students to consider projects in relation to the geographical trends and patterns and regulations surrounding various forms of ‘contentious land-uses’ (e.g. fast food outlets, bottle shops, bars/hotels, gambling spaces, places of worship, and sexual services/entertainment).

Project: From Dreamscape to Blandscape? Social, Economic, Environmental and Cultural Meaning, Symbolism and Life in Suburbia


Urban & Regional Planning

Supervisor: Paul Maginn, [email protected], 6488 2711

Description: The ‘great Australian dream’ is premised on the notion that Australians have the ‘right’ to purchase and live on their own ¼ acre block of land. Increasingly, for people to realise this dream they have had to move to the outer suburbs where land and housing have been historically cheaper. In an era of dominated by sustainable development the suburbs and suburbanites have been increasingly cast as the proponents of unsustainability, living in soulless places and suffering from all manner of health problems – social, mental and physical. By way of contrast, the inner-suburbs have often been portrayed as more sustainable, accessible and neighbourly. This project seeks to explore life in suburbia by focusing on what’s good and what’s bad about living in the outer- and inner- suburbs from the perspective of suburbanites. This is an integrated longitudinal case-study project whereby up to 3-4 students will individually focus on at least 2 case study suburbs – 1 inner and 1 outer metropolitan - to explore various aspects of suburban environments and life via (i) conducting a household survey to gauge people’s attitudes and experiences and (ii) analysing other, largely primary data, on some other major aspect of the suburbs.

mailto:[email protected]




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Project: The appropriateness of a hierarchy of activity nodes as a city structuring device under current economic growth trends/dynamics/patterns and in the Perth city development context


Geography, Urban and Regional Planning

Supervisor: Sharon Biermann, [email protected], 6488 3385

Description: A hierarchy of activity centres has been identified in recent planning policy (Directions 2031 (August 2010)) as a city structuring element so that new growth occurs in a “more balanced way” (Directions 2031, p 33). Starting from the basis of classical urban location theory, this project seeks to investigate the applicability and relevance of a hierarchy of activity nodes in the context of current economic growth dynamics and trends and in the Perth development context. The project would entail a spatial analysis of economic growth trends and travel patterns to examine the underlying assumption of urban hierarchy theory that people will neatly travel first locally and then increasingly further for higher order activities. A possible approach would be to select a specific existing centre from each level of the proposed hierarchy in Direction 2031 and analyse the “catchment area” for each.

Project: From a dot on a map in a plan to a viable urban activity node in practice– what are the critical success factors?




Description: Strategic city plans usually contain ambitious and noble proposals of locations where future economic growth will be accommodated, often presented as a series of dots on a map, possibly of different sizes to indicate different intensities or levels in a hierarchy. In reality, very few of these nodes materialise significantly in practice with a strong body of evidence to suggest that the areas with the greatest economic growth potential are those where economic growth trends are already strong and that new primary nodes are most likely to emerge in relation to high income residential areas. The intention of this project would be to explore the factors which are important in predicting the location of new economic growth in the urban context from the literature and to occur through a spatial analysis of economic growth trends in relation to the range of factors identified in the literature, recommending which are the best predictors of new growth. The proposed activity centres in Directions 2013 could then be broadly assessed against the outcomes of the analysis to provide a prognosis for success.



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Project: Exploring the trade-off between housing and transport costs of households




Description: City planning and policy documents are unanimous in their calls for more affordable housing yet housing costs continue to be a major and often inhibitive household expenditure item. Households respond by moving to the urban periphery where housing is cheaper yet transport costs may be higher. These same plans and policies promote higher densities along public transport corridors and closer to the city centre to counteract urban sprawl and increase public transport ridership. These locations may have lower transport costs but housing costs are generally higher due to higher land cost and building costs (for multi-storey housing). From the perspective of the household, analyse average annual household expenditure on housing and transport in relation to household location and attempt to understand the trade-offs households make between housing and transport costs.

Project: Understanding train patronage trends in Perth




Description: Using SmartRider train patronage data, investigate recent claims of declining patronage across the Perth rail system. Consider spatial differences for different train lines. Analyse patronage trends in relation to demographic, economic, housing, train capacity and quality (such as overcrowding) metrics (amongst others) in an attempt to explain the patronage trends you find. Perth trends could be considered in relation to trends in other Australian cities and the dynamics compared.

Project: Validating crowd sourced GPS data for congestion management



Supervisor: Chao Sun, Chao Sun, 6488 8720

Description: There has been a lack of reliable ways of measuring road network performance. Coverage is one of the largest challenges facing traditional data collection methods. Road counters and loop detectors located at traffic signals and freeways are the most commonly used sources in Australia. However, these are sparse point counts that do not necessarily reflect conditions over the distance of the roads. Floating car surveys (actually driving along routes) can provide route based information but their application is severely limited by their high costs.



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In recent years, the prevalence of GPS devices has made crowd sourcing for road performance monitoring possible. However, much of the data is synthesised from taxis and trucks, which introduce sample bias into the data sets. This research will validate the GPS data from one particular provider by using Main Roads WA’s existing floating car survey results. It will help Main Roads WA make an informed decision on whether crowd sourced GPS data is a viable alternative to floating car surveys.

Project: Bimodal distribution of travel speed




Description: Individual travel speeds on a section of road sometimes follows a normal distribution, which is expected. However, on other occasions they might follow a bimodal distribution (the combination of two normal distributions) - at the same time, on the same section of road, it appears that there is one group of individuals moving more slowly than another group. This has been observed by researchers and has been recently confirmed by crowd-sourced GPS data that we have access to. Some authors suspect the bimodal distribution is caused by traffic lights. However, our data has shown that this has been observed on freeways where no traffic lights are present. This project will use crowd sourced GPS data in combination with other sources such as Main Roads WA’s loop detectors to determine the causes of bimodal distribution.

Project: Optimal locations of charging stations for electric vehicles




Description: Electric vehicles (EVs) have become increasingly mature. However, range anxiety is still being labelled as its major obstacle, although some high performance EVs can already match their fossil fuel counterparts. Many manufactures have promised easy access to charging stations as a way to overcome this anxiety so the location and number of these stations become an important decision. It involves trade-offs between conflicting goals. This project will look at how to set the criteria to achieve the best balance. A GIS and/or traffic modelling package will need to be used for modelling.

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Project: How Accessible are Perth’s Activity Centres?



Supervisor: Sharon Biermann and Gary McCarney, 6488 3385

Description: The WAPC’s State Planning Policy 4.2 Activity Centres for Perth and Peel (August 2010) identifies a number of existing and proposed new centres where future growth is to be concentrated. This planning approach is reinforced in the Draft Perth and Peel @ 3.5 million Frameworks released for public comment in May 2015. But just how accessible are these centres by public transport – and by car? How easy is it to get to UWA, for example? Are these centres in the most accessible locations and if not which locations are? For those centres with poor access, how could access be improved?

This research project is to investigate these questions, and any other issues that may arise, using raw accessibility data that would be provided to the student in a spreadsheet from the Departments of Transport and Planning transport model, STEM.

Project: Access to Jobs and Services




Description: As Perth’s population grows and Perth’s footprint expands, more and more people will be living in the outer areas of Perth, further and further away from the concentration of jobs and services in the central core. But is this an issue? How accessible does an area need to be to be “accessible enough”. How does this affect social inclusion, vulnerability etc? How does access to jobs and services for someone living in, say, Subiaco compare with someone living in, say, Byford? How is access to jobs and services likely to change over time as Perth expands and congestion increases?

This research project is to investigate these questions, and any other issues that may arise, using raw data of how many jobs can be accessed within 30 minutes and 45 minutes by car or public transport from different areas covering the Perth and Peel region, which would be provided to the student in a spreadsheet.

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Project: Making Public Transport a Mode of Choice




Description: There is considerable debate in Perth over how congestion can be addressed as Perth expands to 3.5 million and beyond. Increased public transport, such as light rail, is being considered. But just how competitive is public transport compared to the car and how can it be made more competitive? What impacts would rising fuel costs have, or free public transport?

This research project is to investigate these questions, and any other issues that may arise, using a simple spreadsheet calculator that would be provided. The calculator compares the relative costs of travel, including time, for car, public transport and cycle trips. It has a number of parameters affecting travel time and cost, eg. value of time, car operating costs, bus fares and parking charges. The values can be adjusted, eg. PT fares set to zero, to determine the potential impact on mode choice.

Project: The value of travel time: Productive travel time




Description: In most instances research in transport planning refers to travel time as a ‘cost’ in costs of transport calculations.

Time is converted to a monetary value and included in the generalised cost of travel. More recently evidence is emerging that people are choosing to travel by public transport, so that they can spend travel time productively, e.g. working on the train or socialising through social media. These benefits of travel time have even been referred to as the ‘gift’ of travel time (J. Jain and G. Lyons, Journal of Transport Geography 16, 2008).

The purpose of this project would be to investigate how people in Perth, on public transport, use their travel time and how this differs throughout the day and from different geographical areas. Is there a specific pattern to be detected (mornings work related, afternoons more social)? This study would highlight the value of travel time when using public transport, rather than portraying it as a burden (of costs).


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Project: Regional Geographies of Innovation, Productivity and Worker Connectivity



Supervisor: Kirsten Martinus, [email protected], 6488 7674

Description: Linked to economic competitiveness, productivity has become increasingly important in government policy and research worldwide. In Australia, for example, the Productivity Commission explores the environmental, economic and social factors affecting the welfare of Australians as means to understand regional productivity differences. Two areas of productivity advantage lie in a regions’ capacity to support innovation as well as the virtual and physical connectedness of its workforce. This project may include research into innovation, worker connectivity and productivity aspects of regional or metropolitan Australia (or other nations) to better understand the spatial relationships between these factors as well as identify geographies associated with regional innovation systems.

Project: Global Industrial Network Geometries




Description: Corporate headquarters are increasingly viewed as expressions of economic power, particularly as the regulatory role of the state undergoes marginalisation. This research seeks to understand the geometries of corporate power and connectivity using the locations of corporate headquarters as a proxy for estimating the dynamic nature of intra- and inter-city relations. The project can examine the dynamics from the point of view of a particular industry and/or country of choice.

Project: International Socio-Economic Spatial Analysis




Description: Increasing globalisation and advancing technologies have inextricably linked nations into one large international community. This makes research exploring the social and economic environment of other nations more important than ever to Australia. This is not a specific project, but gives students an opportunity to engage in a range of social and/or economic analysis topics in a country or global region of their choice.




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Project: Natural hazards, risk and vulnerability


Geography, GIS, Remote Sensing, Urban and Regional Planning, Environmental Management

Supervisor: Bryan Boruff, [email protected], 6488 2700

Description: If you are interested in any project relating to disaster management, natural hazards, risk and vulnerability, you are more than welcome to discuss your ideas with me. Depending on the project there are possibilities for links with the Department of Emergency Service, Department of Parks and Wildlife, the State Emergency Management Committee and many local governments around the states.

Project: Planning and emergency Management/Disaster Management




Description: A recent call from the Australian Emergency Management Institute (AEMI) asks for a closer examination of the links between planning and emergency service delivery topics include:

Emergency service delivery in new and gentrifying communities

Better integration of emergency service needs in the planning process of new developments

Geospatial tools for assessing the integration of emergency management needs on new and gentrifying developments

Response capacity in new and gentrifying communities.

Project: Development of high resolution land-use land-cover classification of Perth neighbourhoods in relation to physical activity


Geography, GIS, Remote Sensing, Urban and Regional Planning


Description: Research in the Centre for Built Environment and Health focuses on the factors that promote physical activity in people’s neighbourhoods. Land-use mix is considered one influencing factor, however to date these measures are coarse in resolution. This project would use high resolution multi-band imagery and state of the art technology to develop a classification to better understand the mix of land-use and land-cover people expose themselves to when conducting physical activity.




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Project: Does Ownership Matter? Examining Hazard Preparedness of Renters and Absentee Homeowners in conjunction with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services




Description: Recently the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) has conducted a survey of several hundred absentee landowners focusing on what motivates owners to prepare properties that are not their primary residence. The organisation has conducted a cursory analysis of the data but this project provides the opportunity to work more closely with the results conducting in depth analysis. The project may also require follow up interviews with survey respondents.

Project: Is Recovery Really Community Centric? The Role of Community in Disaster Recovery




Description: The Western Australian Local Recovery Plan (2009) states, among others, that disaster recovery should adopt a community centred approach. Over the past several years, many WA communities have experienced significant hazard impacts and are engaged in (or have engaged in) the recovery process. This project would examine one or more case studies of community recovery to examine the level to which recovery was truly a community centred process. Surveys and interviews would form the basis of data collected for this project.

Project: Various collaborations with the Business School



Supervisor: Bryan Boruff, [email protected], 6488 2700, Doina Olaru and Bret Smith

Description Over the past several years a working relationships with the Business School has been developed. If you are interested in the spatial dimensions of any of the following topics please see me to discuss specific projects.

- Social exclusion (limited access to urban facilities and activities);

- Sustainable transport solutions for Perth – Light rail (or integration of

PnR into the landscape of travel options) or cycling and walking;

- Hedonic pricing (residential areas);

- Value capture for transport services derived from commercial

activities (HP but for commercial properties instead of residential); - Smartrider data - intra–individual vs inter-individual travel variability (spatio-temporal) and comparison with travel surveys for PT users;

- Travel patterns of elderly population;

- Urban sprawl vs containment and intensification measures for 2014

in Perth;




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- Social housing – spatial analysis of how integrated the new

developments are in the city;

- Activity spaces and data needs;

- Impact of tourist mobility in Perth CBD.

Project: Urban Heat Island: Examining the role of the Built Environment on Increased Morbidity and Mortality in Perth


Geography, Health, GIS, Remote Sensing, Urban and Regional Planning, Environmental Management

Supervisor: Bryan Boruff, [email protected], 6488 2700; Paula Hooper

Description: Temperature and humidity influence thermal comfort with the direct impacts of heat exposure include heat fatigue, exhaustion, heat rash, cramps and oedema. Groups vulnerable to increased temperatures include the elderly, the young, people with disabilities, and the homeless among others. A recent, study funded by the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility developed a Heat Vulnerability Index for Australia’s Major metropolitan cities. The assessment however, used a number of course special metrics to measure heat related vulnerability. This project will use GIS and Remote Sensing technologies in an attempt to further refine this methodology to develop new and innovative ways to measure heat vulnerability in the urban environment.

Project: Flooding: good for the environment but when does it become a disaster?


Geography, Physical Geography, Urban and Regional Planning

Supervisor: Bryan Boruff, [email protected], 6488 2700; Heather Taylor

Description: Flooding is a natural element of the geomorphic processes and is essential for the movement of materials through the landscape. But at what point does it become a problem for society? This project seeks to understand the impacts of flooding and what the threshold of an event is for it to become a disaster. An investigation of the hydrological, physical and social dimensions of previous flood events in WA will assist in answering this question. The research will contribute to Western Australia’s State Risk Project led by the State Emergency Management Committee.

Project: WA Flood Risk: A comprehensive assessment of current flood studies to compare and contrast risk.


Geography, Physical Geography, Urban and Regional Planning

Supervisor: Bryan Boruff, [email protected], 6488 2700; Heather Taylor

Description: Geoscience Australia lists 85 flood studies undertaken in Western Australia since 1980. To determine the top flooding risks within the State, studies must be compared. This project involves collating and analysing flood study data, ensuring data is comparable. Relevant study areas will be compared and contrasted to

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provide an overview of the highest risk areas, allowing the prioritisation of flood risk across the state.

The project will involve:

Sourcing flood study data

Developing a method to compare and contrast flood risk

Determining the areas within the state with the highest flood risk.

Project: The role of geospatial technology in participatory mapping for flood-prone regions in Cambodia


Geography, GIS, Physical Geography, Urban and Regional Planning, Environmental Management

Supervisor: Bryan Boruff, [email protected], 6488 2700; Natasha Pauli, [email protected], 6488 3546

Description: This project will investigate the role of GIS technology in participatory mapping of flood risks and vulnerabilities at a field research site in the Mekong River Basin (Prek Prasob District, Cambodia). The project is part of a broader collaborative research project that will develop and implement an innovative, spatially-explicit approach to integrating local and scientific knowledge of flood risks and vulnerabilities in selected regions of Cambodia and Fiji. Local knowledge is important for identifying fine-scale changes in land use and flood hazards, demographic patterns, the aftermath of floods, and desired future development paths. However, incorporating local knowledge into GIS platforms presents conceptual and technical challenges. This research project will focus on developing locally-appropriate methods to use GIS technology as part of a participatory spatial planning process, where community members contribute to the mapping process and final product. Fieldwork at the research site may be required and supported as part of this project; only a highly motivated student with strong interests and/or demonstrated capabilities in the topic will be considered for this interesting and challenging research project.

Project: The role of geospatial technology in participatory mapping for flood-prone regions in Fiji


Geography, GIS, Physical Geography, Urban and Regional Planning, Environmental Management


Description: This project will investigate the role of GIS technology in participatory mapping of flood risks and vulnerabilities at a field research site in the Ba Watershed (northwestern Viti Levu, Fiji). The project is part of a broader collaborative research project that will develop and implement an innovative, spatially-explicit approach to integrating local and scientific knowledge of flood risks and vulnerabilities in selected regions of Cambodia and Fiji. Local knowledge is important for identifying fine-scale changes in land use and flood hazards, demographic patterns, the aftermath of floods, and desired future development paths. However, incorporating local knowledge into GIS platforms presents conceptual and technical challenges. This research project will focus on

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developing locally-appropriate methods to use GIS technology as part of a participatory spatial planning process, where community members contribute to the mapping process and final product. Fieldwork at the research site may be required and supported as part of this project; only a highly motivated student with strong interests and/or demonstrated capabilities in the topic will be considered for this interesting and challenging research project.

Project: Sustainability of natural resources in the Kimberley region


Geography, GIS, International Development

Supervisor: Ellie Biggs and Samantha Setterfield, [email protected], 6488 2707

Description: This is a general theme call for students to consider projects in relation the topic of sustainability of natural resources in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Project ideas should think about human-environment interactions and use of geospatial information for supporting decision-making around resource utilisation. Research could use mixed quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Novel geospatial methods such as VGI could provide an interesting research angle.

Project: Water security in the Kimberley region



Supervisor: Ellie Biggs and Samantha Setterfield, [email protected], 6488 2707

Description: This is a general theme call for students to consider projects in relation the topic of water security in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Project ideas could consider synergies and trade-offs between changing water security and energy/food production. Alternatively, environmental pressures on water resources such as climate change could investigate impacts on water supply-demand, water quality or water management for natural hazard risk. Research could use mixed quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

Project: Environmental livelihood security and climate-smart landscapes



Supervisor: Ellie Biggs and Bryan Boruff, [email protected], 6488 2707

Description: This is less a specific topic and more a general theme for students to consider projects in relation to environmental livelihood security, a concept which is underpinned by achieving sustainable balance between water, energy and food security through climate-smart landscape management. Research could use mixed quantitative and qualitative methodologies but will need a focus on the utilisation of geospatial data. Integration of novel concepts such as VGI would provide an interesting research angle.

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Project: Geography and Health I




Description: The Centre for the Built Environment and Health operates jointly between the School of Earth and Environment and the School of Sport and Exercise Science. There are a number of opportunities for research in this area avenues for research in this area. Please discuss your interests with me.

Project: Geography and Health II


Geography, GIS, Urban and Regional Planning, Environmental Management

Supervisor: Bryan Boruff, [email protected], 6488 2700; Dr Grace Yun, Department of Health

Description: A number of projects have been suggested by the WA Department of Health. These projects provide opportunities to work with and within a state government organisation. Please contact me if you are interested in any of the following topics:

- geographic variations in female breast cancer mortality in Perth Metropolitan Area - current diabetes service location and utilisation - the impact of dog ownership on community health especially child’s health

Project: Urban Ecosystem Services


Geography, GIS, Urban and Regional Planning, Environmental Management


Description: In an urban setting, ecosystems support the health of residents and improve quality of life whilst contributing to the liveability of our neighbourhoods. Within the urban environment key natural components include: street trees, lawns and parks, urban forests, cultivated land, wetlands, lakes and sea, and rivers. Students interested in the quantification and provision of urban ecosystem services are encouraged to discuss potential projects with us. These could include the use of geospatial technologies, environmental auditing tools such as iTree, or other types of geographic analysis.

Project: Urban and Rural Aboriginal Geographies


International Development; Human Geography; Urban and Regional Planning

Supervisor: Sarah Prout Quicke, [email protected], 64883433

Description: Students with pre-existing associations with urban, regional, or remote Aboriginal communities or organisations, are invited to come and discuss ideas relating to


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topics of interest related to these associations. This can include a range of topics across urban, regional and remote environments. Some potential projects in which I have particular expertise are listed below. Please note: if you wish to undertake a project that utilises qualitative methods (e.g. interviews, focus groups, participatory methods), you must come and discuss the project with me as early as possible (prior to the commencement of your research year) so that ethical approvals can be secured in a timely fashion.

1. Urban Aboriginal Geobiographies - Aboriginal presence in cities is often unrecognized or considered inauthentic by the majority population. At the same time, many Aboriginal people live and move within cities in ways that are 'unseen', but are critical to their sense of belonging and wellbeing. This project will draw on innovative mapping techniques, and/or methods such as photovoice, geo-biographies, yarning, travelling journeys, participant observation and/or interviews to map how Aboriginal participants ‘use’ the city: the places that are important to them, the places the avoid, and how they navigate the city to create and reinforce a sense of belonging.

2. Native Title and Indigenous Development in Australia – Native Title now plays a significant role in regional development policy and practice in Western Australia. Students are invited to develop projects related to aspects of native title and regional development in Western Australia. In particular, projects are invited that examine the roll out, media coverage, and/or implications of the recent, historical South West (Noongar) Native Title Settlement.

3. Gendered Migration amongst Aboriginal Australians - This project will

examine the gendered nature of Aboriginal migration through interviews, life histories, or focus groups with Aboriginal participants. Generally speaking, Aboriginal people engage in more frequent, short-term migration practices than non-Aboriginal people. There are a number of factors that shape Aboriginal population movements, ranging from customary ceremonial journey’s, to the need or desire to access seasonal job markets, or retail, recreational and medical services. There is some evidence within the literature that gender plays a significant role in shaping Aboriginal migration practices, but these potential differences are not well understood. Further research is required to determine how and why mobility may vary with gender.

Project: The Geographies of Migrants and Refugees in Western Australia




Description: Students are invited to discuss projects that could partner with the African Association of Western Australia or the Red Cross Migrant Support Program to undertake projects related to the geographies of migrant and refugee communities in Western Australia.


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Project: The Kenyan Diaspora in Perth: Living Between Two Worlds




Description: Research on international migration is increasingly interested in the experiences of migrant, diaspora communities and the nature of their connectedness to their countries of birth. This project will draw on interviews with members of the Kenyan diaspora in Perth to unpack the nature of their connections and obligations to Kenya, and the challenges and opportunities emerging from these for the diaspora community. It will also examine their migration experience and factors that have eased or inflamed the transition for them. There is considerable scope for students to shape the project around aspects of international migration and diaspora experience that are of most interest to them.

Project: Food Desserts and Fast Food Alleys? Spatial Justice in Perth’s Food Landscape


Master of International Development; Human Geography; Urban and Regional Planning


Description: Access to healthy and affordable food is critical to human wellbeing. While food security is a major challenge, particularly amongst the worlds poorest (often in rural and remote localities), there is growing evidence of ‘food deserts’ emerging in cities of the Global North. Students are invited to develop projects that employ qualitative, quantitative and spatial techniques to analyse spatial patterns associated with food availability in Perth and the extent to which these patterns correspond with particular neighbourhood socio-economic characteristics (derived from census profiles).

Project: Representations of Mining, Migration, and Development in the Global South


Master of International Development; Geography; Urban and Regional Planning

Supervisor: Sarah Prout Quicke [email protected] 6488 3433

Description: Over the past decade or so there has been an increasing amount of interest in the linkages between sustainable development and mining in the Global South. This includes understanding the ways in which mining impacts on local communities, and typically involves a consideration of a range of social, economic, ecological, and demographic effects. In highly populated areas, forced resettlement of local populations can be a contentious issue, as can the downstream impacts of the operation. Given the growing focus on Corporate Social Responsibility and ‘risk management’ within the mining industry, there is considerable concern for how these mining projects are ‘socialised’ within



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operational contexts, and the kinds of narratives that develop about their impacts.

This project will use content analysis of online news and social media sources to explore different stakeholder (e.g. government, company, community) perceptions of, and responses to, mining within one or more case study countries in the Global South. The study will also draw on existing literature and available datasets from the UN and World Bank to contextualise these findings within the broader historical narrative of mining and its relationship to development in the selected country(ies).

Project: Promoting just and inclusive community development in larger and smaller cities


Geography, Urban and Regional Planning, Environmental Science

Supervisor: Clare Mouat, [email protected], 6488 2652

Description Urban planning must register social and political geographies of community and community-led development. Within or around Perth and WA, each project explores and advances the use of socio-spatial data and patterns to inform better decision-making and collaborative projects in urban planning as we address land-use and resource conflict, human-nature relations, and improving city life amidst urbanisation, rapid growth, and climate injustice.

Please come and talk about topics that you are passionate about exploring. Below are some suggested projects, and variations or alternatives are welcome:

1. Cross-boundary planning for climate justice 2. Local government amalgamation challenges for community-level

democracy and strategic planning 3. Social innovation and competitive advantage in WA 4. Play deserts for children and young people in Perth CBD and suburbs 5. Creative community responses to community development and wellbeing

(especially related to performance, craft, yarnbombing, art and culture) 6. Gentle geographies of everyday life that are acts of resistance or

revitalisation (including local/global enterprises and environmentalism) NOTE: This project is best suited to students interested in working in a complementary team environment.

Project: The role of ecological research information in the urban planning process: mapping ecological knowledge and needs against the West Australian planning system




Description Urban planning must register that Perth and West Australian cities are ecologically distinctive urban developments within Australia. Within or around Perth, each project complements the programme by exploring and advancing the use of ecological information in urban planning addressing landuse, human-nature



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relations, and improving city life amidst urbanisation, rapid growth, and climate injustice. Thus a number of complementary projects are envisioned to examine the challenges and opportunities for advancing the use of ecological information.

PROJECT

This project addresses how local governments engaged considering local biodiversity in planning decisions and impact assessments. In preparing for this project, comparative analysis and methodological guidance, students should read:

Yli-Pelkonen and Niemelä (2006) Use of ecological information in urban planning: Experiences from the Helsinki metropolitan area, Finland. Urban Ecosystems 9(3): 211-226.

NOTE: This project is best suited to students interested in working in a complementary team environment.

Project: Biodiversity & conservation patterns in the novel ecological systems of West Australian cities: studying socio-cultural contexts in Perth’s front gardens & public parks




Description Urban planning must register that Perth and West Australian cities are ecologically distinctive urban developments within Australia. Within or around Perth, each project complements the programme by exploring and advancing the use of ecological information in urban planning addressing landuse, human-nature relations, and improving city life amidst urbanisation, rapid growth, and climate injustice. Thus a number of complementary projects are envisioned to examine the challenges and opportunities for advancing the use of ecological information.

PROJECT

This project addresses the planners need to understand whether and how communities are connected or disconnected from local biodiversity in an era of global change. In developing conservation strategies for cities, planners need to know how this can be or is this reflected in demographic and amenity characteristics of (sub)urban local government areas and particularly open public spaces and private gardens (for example, the native-ness / non-native-ness of public open spaces and garden species). In preparing for this project, development, comparative analysis and methodological guidance, students should read:

Head L & Muir P. (2006) Suburban life and the boundaries of nature: resilience and rupture in Australian backyard gardens. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 31(4): 505-524.

Kowarik, I. (2011). Novel urban ecosystems, biodiversity, and conservation. Environmental Pollution, (8), 1974-1983.



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Project: Promoting healthy urban nightscapes in an climate of global change: the ecological and planning challenges of artificial lighting at night in Perth.




Description Urban planning must register that Perth and West Australian cities are ecologically distinctive urban developments within Australia. Within or around Perth, each project complements the programme by exploring and advancing the use of ecological information in urban planning addressing landuse, human-nature relations, and improving city life amidst urbanisation, rapid growth, and climate injustice. Thus a number of complementary projects are envisioned to examine the challenges and opportunities for advancing the use of ecological information.

PROJECT

This project addresses how, in an era of climate change and globalisation, artificial lighting at night poses unsustainable financial and ecological costs for cities. Hence local government plans and policy must consider mitigating carbon and ecological costs in planning decisions and impact assessments.

Your project might address any combination of the following: urban design, healthy nightscapes, technological opportunities and challenges of streetlighting, best practice examples from overseas, lighting and building standards, landscape design, public health, crime prevention through environmental design, energy practices of households and institutions, public and planning policy, for example.

In preparing for this project, comparative analysis and methodological guidance, students should read:

Longcore T & Rich C. (2006) Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting, Washington, DC: Island Press.

Grose M & Mouat CM. (2011) Unsustainable streetlights: harbingers of future directions for policy and practice. World Schools of Planning Congress. Perth, Australia.



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Project: Representations of identity and belonging in the West Australian city: exploring and advancing the just and inclusive Perth



Supervisor: Clare Mouat, [email protected], 6488 2652; Sarah Prout Quicke [email protected], 6488 3433

Description Planners have, for some time, grappled with questions of how to balance multiple and/or competing agendas in relation to the built environment and how it reflects what cultural groups have and do belong. We invite projects that explore the use of public art, open space, heritage projection, land use and/or the built form to authorise and authenticate particular versions of identity and belonging, and how these may work to include or exclude particular cultural groups within the city. Below are two possible projects within this remit.

Project 1: “The art of belonging in the post-colonial city: mapping the evolving representation of cultural history and civic identity in Perth”

This project addresses how identity and belonging is exhibited in art, monuments, memorials and statuary over the stages of Perth’s colonial and post-colonial history. In preparing for this project, comparative analysis and methodological guidance, students should read Malone (2007).

Malone G. (2007) Ways of Belonging: Reconciliation and Adelaide's Public Space Indigenous Cultural Markers. Geographical Research 45(2): 158-166.

Project 2: “The park as post-colonial landscape of identity: exploring the evolving aesthetics of Shenton Park”

This project examines competing agendas with regard to the redevelopment of a neighbourhood park in one of Perth’s emergent exclusive western suburbs. It explores how the aesthetics of public parks evolve in the stages over time, and how the priorities of urban development of a city reflect local and global as well as post-colonial elements of public open spaces. In particular, it will analyse the differential needs and desires of differently empowered stakeholders, including the local planning authorities, and the outcomes produced by these power differentials and competing agendas. In preparing for this project, comparative analysis and methodological guidance, students should read McBride (1999).

McBride BEN. (1999) The (Post)colonial Landscape of Cathedral Square: Urban Redevelopment and Representation in the “Cathedral City”1. New Zealand Geographer 55(1): 3-11.



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Project: Physical drivers of reef carbonate sediment budgets


Physical Geography, Environmental Science, Marine Science, Geology

Supervisors: Ryan Lowe ([email protected]), 6488 2706 and Mike Cuttler

Description:

Predicting future changes to coastlines fringed by coral reefs requires quantifying sediment budgets in these environments. To do this we must understand the physical parameters and biological composition of sediment deposits; the ecology of the calcifying (production) community; and the dominant sediment transport mechanisms. This study will examine previously collected datasets (sedimentological, biological, hydrodynamic, and aerial photographs) from obtained along the Ningaloo Reef coast. The student will utilize GIS tools to examine both spatial and temporal trends in these data. These analyses will provide critical data for understanding the link between the calcifying community of a reef and its sediment reservoir, and in turn, the mechanisms by which material is transported between regions of the reef. Understanding transport mechanisms within reef environments will act as the foundation for an improved understanding of carbonate sediment budgets in fringing coral reefs, which remains a critical gap in our ability to forecast future resiliency of reef-protected coastlines.

Project: Seasonal variability in the morphology of reef-protected beaches


Physical Geography, Environmental Science, Marine Science

Supervisors: Jeff Hansen [email protected], 6488 3724 and Ryan Lowe

Description:

The seasonal cycle of beach erosion and accretion on open-ocean sandy beaches has been studied for decades. However many beaches globally (and most along the west coast of Australia) experience some degree of wave sheltering by coastal limestone reefs; evidence indicates that these reefs play a major role in moderating the seasonal changes to morphology observed on local beaches. For this project, a field program will be implemented to regularly survey the spatial changes that occur along a local reef-fringed beach (or possibly series of beaches); the morphology would be monitored at intervals over a summer-to-winter cycle and could also incorporate available historical field data sets. Observed changes in beach morphology will be related to associate changes in observed near shore processes (waves and currents) observed during the study period, in order to understand how the presence of these offshore reefs ultimately shapes our local beaches.

Project: Quantifying storm impacts at moderate-energy beaches


Physical Geography, Environmental Science, Marine Science

Supervisors: Jeff Hansen [email protected], 6488 3724 and Ryan Lowe

Description: Short-term changes in beach morphology resulting from storm events have primarily been studied at sites that typically experience little wave energy (wave heights <1 m) and thus when storms occur the impact is often considerable. This



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project aims to evaluate the impact of storm events, and particularly the pace of post-storm recovery, at beaches that have more energetic baseline conditions (wave heights ~1-2 m), such as those adjacent to Perth. A field program will be developed in which daily beach surveys will be conducted prior to, during, and follow winter storm events. The recorded beach morphology changes will then be related to the observed wave conditions to determine what factors control the amount and timing of the morphology changes as well as regulate how fast the beach recovers following the storm. This information will be valuable to those tasked with protecting coastal resources as well as provide basic insights into the processes that control beach evolution over short time scales.

Project: Biogeomorphlogy of south coast rivers: Patterns of river change and vegetation degradation


Geography, Environmental Science

Supervisor: Nik Callow [email protected], 6488 1924

Description: Changes in river geomorphology are often related to changes in the riparian vegetation communities, but factors such as slope are stream power are also important. This project looks to better understand the links and patterns between areas that have (and have not) experienced shifts in river morphology in relation to vegetation degradation and boundary condition factors such as slope. The aim of this project is to build a better understanding of where rivers have become most unstable and where vegetation-based river management may offer the greatest potential for success.

Project: Climate Change and Transforming River Hydrology in SW WA




Description: Southwestern Western Australia has experienced a significant reduction in rainfall since the 1970s. This has resulted in significant changes to river flow processes, including changes to flow duration (perenniality) groundwater baseflows and salinity. Some of our recent work shows that some river have or will soon transform or undergo threshold shifts in their underlying hydrology, with significant implications for the ecology of rivers in SW WA. This project will focus on analysing streamflow sites with a long (>30 years) records across the SW to map the extent and magnitude of rivers undergoing transformation in river hydrology.

Project: Water balance of “mega” Lake Woods




Description Lake Woods is an iconic wetland in northern Australia that has been fed by pulses of water from the Australian Summer Monsoon. The current Lake Woods sits




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within a much larger basin and includes relict wave-cut shorelines that have been associated with the “mega” Lake Woods extent under a past climate regime. This project will use novel satellite data to build a water balance model of the current Lake Woods and explore scenarios that can be used to infer the palaeoclimate during the “mega” Lake Woods extent.

This project will require students to have good geospatial (GIS) skills and knowledge of hydrological processes and modelling (e.g. ENVT2251 and ENVT3362).

Project: Coastal Planning and Development in Western Australia


Geography; Environmental Science

Supervisor: Julian Clifton, [email protected], 6488 2695

Description: The potential topics are:

Marine protected areas in Western Australia, focused on the current bio-regional planning process and an examination of the priorities and concerns of principal coastal resource users and stakeholders in order to evaluate the significance and impacts of this process for Western Australia;

Metal pollution in estuarine and coastal environments, including a systematic sampling of sediments in an estuarine or coastal habitat in order to determine current and historic levels of heavy metal contamination in these sediments. This would enable the determination of likely sources, trends over time and the potential environmental significance of these contaminants;

Marina developments in coastal Western Australia, focused on the current and future trends in marina developments, examining the process by which marinas are evaluated in environmental and economic terms as well as evaluating the planning process which considers these proposals and the potential impact of future expansion of marinas in Western Australia; and

Other topics related to marine and coastal planning and management, indigenous environmental management, community participation in management, pollution management.

Project: Microbialte Ecohydrology and Sedimentology


Hydrogeology, Geology, Geography, Environmental Science

Supervisor: Ryan Vogwill [email protected], 6488 2680

Description: South West Western Australia contains a large number of microbialte bearing wetlands which are under threat from climate change, anthropogenic water use and landuse change. Microbialites (stromatolites, thrombolites and tufas) are all formed by the presence of microbial communities which form CaCO3 deposits. Multiple project opportunities exist at multiple sites to assess microbialite formation, microbialite sedimentology, microbialite evotuion, wetland surface and groundwater interaction, links between microbial assemblage and water quality to contribute towards developing environmental water requirements.



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Project: South West Western Australia Hydrogeology and Ecohydrology


Hydrogeology, Geography, Environmental Science

Supervisor: Ryan Vogwill [email protected], 6488 2680

Description: South West Western Australia is an area of high population, critical groundwater resources and amazing biodiversity with landuse change, climate change and water resource utilization all threatening sustainability. Consequentially the area has been recognized by WWF as a global biodiversity hotspot. Assessment of available groundwater resources, environmental impacts and links between the two is urgently needed at multiple sites. Multiple project opportunities exist to partner with the Department of Water or the Department of Parks and Wildlife to work across these critical issues.

Project: Measuring the influence of the childcare indoor and outdoor environment on early health behaviour




Hayley Christian, [email protected], 6488 8501

Description: The child care setting is where young children spend a considerable portion of their time and is an important setting in which children should have the opportunity to accumulate physical activity and other forms of unstructured physical play. This research examines the influence of the physical and spatial environment on young children’s physical activity and sedentary behaviour while attending childcare. Spatial measures of the size, attributes and greenness of the outdoor childcare space as well as physical environment surrounding the childcare centre will be developed. This project will provide information on how best to create a healthy childcare environment.

Project: The Built Environment and Child Health and Development




Hayley Christian, [email protected], 6488 8501

Description: Built environments that support healthy child development could have a large impact on the health of children over their lifetime and are especially critical for the overall health and wellbeing of the community. The built environment incorporates land use patterns, transportation systems, building design and social infrastructure including public open space, and creates conditions that are optimal (or detrimental) for child health and development. This research will involve developing spatial measures of the built environment that are important for child health and development within different settings (i.e., home environment, local neighbourhood, childcare facilities).




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