Current Projects
TBA
Coastal Communities: Resident attitudes towards development & ecosystem maintenance
This project aims to identify the situational, psychological and socio-environmental factors that influence individual attitude towards coastal development and coastal eco-system/habitat maintenance. This project specifically targets the Townsville community.
Co-Investigators:
Dr Anne Swinbourne, Senior Lecturer
Dr Nathan Waltham, TropWater
To participate visit: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2099110/Sustainability-and-development
Work, home and the environment
This study investigates work spillover and pro-environmental behaviours in a university setting with the aim of providing greater insight into how work and study (unpaid work) sites can influence pro-environmental behaviours. This project specifically targets the James Cook University Townsville Campus.
Co-Investigators:
Dr Anne Swinbourne, Senior Lecturer
To participate visit: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2133388/Work-home-and-the-environment
Attitudes and behaviours toward disaster preparedness and responses
This study explores the factors that influence extreme weather event (cyclone and flood) preparedness in North Queensland. This study currently specifically targets Townsville residents.
Co-Investigators:
Dr Anne Swinbourne, Senior Lecturer
To participate visit: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2296829/Extreme-Weather-Event-Preparedness
Impacts of climate change on farmer work practices
This project explores the factors the influence adaptation and coping behaviours between different types of farmers. The study aims to provide recommendations that improve communication strategies to farmers and enhance mental health outcomes for farmers.
Co-Investigators:
Jacob Price (Honours student)
Emma Kassulke (Clin Masters student)
To participate visit: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2133155/Impacts-of-climate-change-on-farmer-work-practices
Ambivalent environmental attitudes
This project explores how cognitive and affective ambivalence influences individual’s attitudes towards the environment and environmental behaviours. This project does not target any specific community.
Co-Investigators:
Daniel Lindsay, Lecturer, biostatistician
To particpate visit: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2146996/Ambivalent-Environmental-Attitudes
End-of-life care in the neonatal unit: staff perceptions and meaning-making in a regional nursey
In the neonatal context, understanding the factors that influence end-of-life care for staff will provide an opportunity to improve the quality of care during this challenging period. This study provides staff the opportunity share their experiences and perceptions of end-of life care and aims to identify facilitators of and barriers to good care practices.
Co-Investigators:
Dr Susan Ireland, Senior Staff Specialist, Neonatologist, The Townsville Hospital
Closing the gap in the stillbirth rate: understanding the issues and challenges in gaining permission for autopsy
The stillbirth rate for Indigenous babies remains over twice the non-Indigenous rate. Implementation of a perinatal audit has been shown to reduce stillbirth rates. Perinatal autopsy is an essential tool in the process of perinatal mortality audit. While autopsy of the fetus is the gold standard for fetal investigation, the parental consent rate for the procedure remains very low. The objective of this study is to identify the factors that Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander parents and non-Indigenous parents take into consideration when asked to give consent for an autopsy.
Co-Investigators:
Dr David Watson, Senior Staff Specialist and Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist
Dr Yoga Kandasamy, Senior Staff Specialist, Neonatologist
Professor Yvonne Cadet-James, Indigenous Centre Townsville, JCU
Mrs Valda Wallace, Indigenous Centre Cairns, JCU
Life in the Tropics: Sun Exposure and UV Protection
This research project asks about participants attitudes and behaviours regarding sun protection and sun exposure. This study is being conducted by Kayla Morris and Rebekah Boynton in Townsville. Participants will be invited to complete a questionnaire about their sun-related behaviours and view a self-paced presentation about sun safety. Participants may or may not be asked to take photographs of their face under UV light and normal lighting conditions.
Co-Investigators:
Rebekah Boynton, PhD Candidate
PhD Project
My PhD explored the underlying nature of implicit attitudes toward alcohol consumption. In this project, the influence of associative processing on implicit attitude change was explored, as well as the ambivalent nature of explicit and implicit alcohol-related attitudes.
Supervisor:
Dr Anne Swinbourne, Senior Lecturer
Ambivalence toward pro-environmental behaviours (Secondary investigator)
This project explores how cognitive and affective ambivalence influences individual’s attitudes towards the environment and environmental behaviours. This project does not target any specific community.
Co-investigators:
Dr Connar McShane, Lecturer
Amateur sportspeople drinking motives with Kayla Morris & Anne Swinbourne
This project provides a descriptive look at rates of drinking alcohol among amateur sportspeople in Townsville, as well as identifying motives for drinking behaviour.
Co-investigators:
Dr Anne Swinbourne, Senior Lecturer
Dr Kayla Morris, Predictive Analyst
Workplace sitting with Anthony Leicht, Rebecca Sealy, Sue Devine
This research project focuses on the relationship between physical activity levels and quality of life as experienced by university staff.
Co-Investigators:
Associate Professor Anthony Leicht
Dr Rebecca Sealey
Dr Sue Devine
Rural intentions project with Louise Young, Robin Ray
The outcomes of this research will be used to obtain a greater understanding of how medical students’ attitudes toward rural practice and intentions to practice rurally change throughout their undergraduate degree.
Co-Investigators:
Associate Professor Louise Young
Dr Robin Ray
Investigating commercial fishers' attitudes and perceptions of industry sustainability - PhD project.
North queensland (from the Rockhampton region and north) commercial fishers are being sought to particpate in interviews and focuse groups to discuss the challenges that they face. The aim of this project is to imporve the understanding of challenges that commercial fishers and the commercial fishing industy face to help improve the sustainabality of the commercial fishing industry and to protect the livlihoods of those who work in the commercial fishing industry.
Supervisors:
Dr Anne Swinbourne, Senior Lecturer (Primary Supervisor)
Dr Connar McShane, Lecturer (Secondary Supervisor)
Professor Marcus Sheaves, Head, Marine Biology and Aquaculture
Affiliations:
Estuary and Coastal Wetland Ecosystem Research Group
Investigating cultural difference of the relationships between health-related cognitions and behaviour.
Students from James Cook University in Singapore are invited to take part in a research project that asks about their attitudes and behaviours regarding alcohol consumption. Participation involves an online survey which should take no longer than 20 minutes.
Co-Investigators:
Dr Anne Swinbourne, Senior Lecturer
Resilience of Mining Communities Throughout Different Stages of Mining Activity
This research involves an exploratory investigations into the factors that negatively and positively influence the resilience and overall wellbeing of individuals in mining communities during different stages of mining activity.
Supervisors:
Dr Connar McShane, Lecturer (Primary Supervisor)
Dr Anne Swinbourne, Senior Lecturer (Secondary Supervisor)
Dr Meegan Kilcullen, Lecturer - Clinical Psychology (Associate Advisor)
Host Country Attitudes Towards Environmentally Displaced People: An Integrated Threat Theory Approach
This research involves investigating prejudicial attitudes held by potential host nation populations towards environmentally displaced people. To do this Integrated Threat Theory will be used as a framework. This project aims to provide practical recommendations on how to mitigate host country reactions towards environmentally displaced people.
Recruitment for the first phase of this project is currently underway. To participate visit:
https://jcuchs.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_8JtbBoscp1wAMfj
Supervisors:
Dr Anne Swinbourne, Senior Lecturer (Primary Supervisor)
Dr Connar McShane, Lecturer (Secondary Supervisor)
Investigating effective communication of climate change: The application of a 'story telling' model
The project will investigate the different cognitive characteristics of farmers and develop a set of typologies based on their beliefs about climate change. A narrative approach that is personalised to each group will be employed to communicate environmental issues. The proposed outcome will be to increase the intake or attention of the environmental message, to ideally generate an appropriate level of perceived threat and efficacy to increase engagement in adaptive behaviour. The Extended Parallel Process Model will be used as a framework to formulate the studies design.
Supervisors:
Dr Anne Swinbourne, Senior Lecturer (Primary Supervisor)
Dr Connar McShane, Lecturer (Secondary Supervisor)
Prof. Jeremey VanDerWal, Deputy Director; Associate Dean, Engagement
An Investigation of the psychosocial factors that influence cyclone mitigation behvaiour in homeowners & A smpartphone-based decision tool to stimulate cyclone mitigation
Both projects involve recruiting North Queensland residents to participate in a questionnaire. The questionnaire will assess psychosocial variables of interest as well as the extent to which residents have prepared, or intended to prepare, for cyclones. Data from the questionnaire will be used to construct an adapted model for explaining cyclone mitigation behaviour.
Supervisors:
Dr Connar McShane, Lecturer (Primary Supervisor)
Dr Anne Swinbourne, Senior Lecturer (Secondary Supervisor)
Dr Daniel Smith, Research Fellow