A national study shares the success of a new rural caring platform, technology haul a boon for students, VC’s thesis winner takes out psychology honour, citizen scientists blitz conservation event and a political scientist zones in on regional growth challenges.
Rural caring platform a success
Findings have been released from the Virtual Dementia Friendly Rural Communities (Verily Connect) project, which uses technology to deliver support to rural carers. The virtual project received $1.7 million in Federal Government funding and includes video conferencing, website and smartphone app.
Flinders University collaborated on the La Trobe University-led project, with data collected across 12 communities in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.
Results illustrated the heavy burden of caring for a person living with dementia, particularly among multiple other roles. Carers who joined the Verily Connect app and peer support video conference meetings reported 37 per cent improvement in their social support.
In South Australia, Riverland and Victor Harbor communities were involved. Dr Mohammad Hamiduzzaman from Flinders Rural Health SA coordinated the activities and said participants found the mobile application informative and useful.
The full report and Verily Toolkit can be accessed on the Verily Connect website.
Technology haul a boon for students
Dr Anna Shillabeer, Teaching Program Director (Computing and Mathematical Sciences) and Director of Flinders Cisco Academy, has negotiated more than $100,000 worth of donated Cisco technology with the assistance of Dr Lawrence Sambrooks (Computer Science lecturer).
The equipment includes a Cisco core switch for enterprise backbone deployment which is optimised for multigigabit services with high-density modules. The equipment is all high-end, industry relevant technology that presents a unique opportunity for students in the College of Science and Engineering to gain real world skills and knowledge to supplement their classroom learning.
National honour for VC’s thesis winner
Dr Sasha Quayum, who completed her PhD at Flinders in 2019 has been awarded the APS(Australian Psychology Society) Award for Excellent PhD thesis in Psychology.
The award recognises Dr Quayam’s excellent work throughout her PhD and her efforts in publishing her work and making it relevant – and is also testament to the support provided by her supervisors Associate Professor Melanie Takarangi and Professor Reg Nixon.
Her thesis is titled An Investigation into the Mechanisms Underlying the Memory Amplification Effect. It investigated why trauma survivors often recall experiencing more trauma at follow-up, compared to their initial assessment. Across several studies, she found three potential reasons for this ‘memory amplification’: People may reappraise their trauma as worse over time to make sense of, or justify, their current symptoms; they may incorporate trauma-related post-event information into memory; or they can construct mental representations of others’ responses to their trauma and incorporate these into their memory.
Dr Sasha Quayum was awarded a Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Doctoral Thesis Excellence this year. She is now working as a cognitive scientist at Defence Science and Technology.
Citizen scientists blitz conservation event
The Great Southern BioBlitz was held over the weekend, with Flinders University coordinator Seamus Doherty (PhD candidate in science conservation) advising it was a great success.
As of the third day, the Adelaide region was coming second out of the 154 Southern Hemisphere areas that participated.
More than 300 people connected to the iNaturalist app mobile platform to record and observe more than 660 plants and animals from more than 2,700 installations.
In total, the event collected more than 43,000 observations of 7,700 species, involving more than 3,200 volunteers.
Mr Doherty featured in a Sunday Mail photo with two year 11 students from the Australian Science and Math School, Nicole Jeffries and Sean Doan.
Ms Jeffries’ friend told her about the blitz and encouraged her to take the idea to the school, who subsequently organised a group of students.
“I’m a passionate bug-lover and I’m often trying to introduce people to the world of the wriggly and wonderful,” she said. “The BioBlitz is a great opportunity for this, as it urges people to stop for a moment and pay attention to all the critters and plants that surround them.”
Political scientist zones in on regional growth challenges
Professor Andrew Parkin has won a grant through the Local Government Research and Development Scheme to investigate and share the external and internal challenges facing regional population growth strategies, through examining the Limestone Coast.
Professor Parkin received $35,089 through the grant. His study will be completed by the end of August 2021.
Digital doctorate program earns plaudits
Flinders University’s ground breaking digital doctorate made the finals of the prestigious CAUDIT awards, but was narrowly pipped at the post for top honours.
The Inspire Program – Australia’s 1st Digital Doctorate, was selected as a finalist in the CAUDIT Awards 2020 for the Improving Student Success category.
CAUDIT is a national organisation focused in Information Technology in the Higher Education Sector, and its awards serve to promote excellence in service and innovation in a range of categories, including innovation in teaching and learning, excellence in research support, operational excellence, and improving student success.