A Griffith University student has put the call out to cat owners in the Brisbane and Gold Coast regions to get the scoop on their cat’s poop in the hope of better understanding their impact on wildlife.
Renee Piccolo is an Ecology and Conservation Biology student completing her Honours research project on the potential impact of domestic cats on native wildlife through an online survey and the analysis of their diet using scat samples.
Complete the online survey on your cat’s eating behaviour.
Renee said having more respondents to her online survey will yield greater insight into patterns of cat roaming behaviour, such as the numbers kept indoors or that are free to roam 24/7, but also what animals these cats are preying upon when they are outdoors.
“Although our aim is to learn more about the wildlife domestic cats are potentially eating while wandering away from their residence, we also hope to
Category: Griffith University Feed
Kate earns her Masters the smart way
Despite not having higher education qualifications, a 30-year career across a wide range of business endeavours reaped dividends for Kate Crouch.
And she wants other mature age students to know that it is possible to gain entry to a Griffith University postgraduate degree without undergraduate qualifications.
“I had started a Bachelor of Business degree before a ‘eureka moment’ arrived through a casual conversation with one of my lecturers.
“It was a pleasant shock when my lecturer told me my work history enabled me to apply for a postgraduate degree.” Kate said.
The mother of three became the proud holder of both a Griffith Graduate Certificate in Marketing and a Master of Marketing two years on.
Kate’s 30 year business career began when she owned a gym in the early 1980’s before working in a slew of business-related positions from catering to marketing and training at Deloitte. A significant part of her career was spent in marketing
Pictures paint a thousand words on how Gold Coasters value The Spit
Do the photos we take and share using social media paint a picture of how we use and value parks and other open areas in our cities?
According to a new analysis conducted by Griffith University, the answer is a resounding yes.
Professor Catherine Pickering, an expert in nature based tourism and recreation with the Environmental Futures Research Institute who is head of the Ecology and Evolution discipline, worked with two undergraduate students to analyse just under 500 images tagged The Spit, Gold Coast that were posted to photo-sharing platform Flikr by 141 people over more than a decade.
The analysis found that the beach, the ocean and waves were the most common images posted by Spit visitors, despite the fact that the The Spit also covers a lot more, including SeaWorld, Marina Mirage and Fisherman’s Wharf.
Professor Pickering said the large number of images that captured the natural landscape and tagged The Spit,
Collaborative study aims to enhance child wellbeing in disadvantaged communities.
A new Australian Research Council Linkage Project led by Griffith University aims to improve child wellbeing in nine disadvantaged communities.
Using a model that blends new human and digital resources, the $597,000 project builds on longstanding work in this area with collaborations between schools, families and community agencies..
Professor Ross Homel.
Chief investigator Professor Ross Homel (pictured), from the Griffith Criminology Institute, said the study would generate new knowledge in prevention science about how to influence risk and protective factors for child wellbeing cost-efficiently within existing service systems.
“Children and young people living in economically deprived areas drop out of school, become trapped in cycles of welfare dependence, and entangled in the child safety or youth justice systems at much higher rates than their counterparts in more affluent communities,’’ said Professor Homel, who will work with colleagues from the Griffith Institute for Educational Research on the study.
“Family support and child services are among the
Dual awards for Griffith Law alumnus
Griffith Law School alumnus Terrence Stedman was awarded twice at the 2018 Queensland Law Society Profession Awards, taking out the Community Legal Centre Member of the Year and the Equity Advocate Award for his service to the community.
One of Terry’s most remarkable achievements during his decade long career at Southwest Brisbane Community Legal Centre, is the successful introduction of a duty lawyer service for child protection matters – the first of its kind in Queensland.
Terry says it was one of the biggest anomalies he could see in the system when he started.
“Families were turning up to court, after their children had been grabbed, not knowing what’s happening in the system and they’d go into meltdown because Department of Child Safety wanted to put their children into care until they were 18,” says Terry.
“We approached the Department of Justice and Attorney-General and proposed the service.”
The duty lawyer service ran for five
Environmental crusader joins 2018 Annual Appeal to change students’ lives
One of Griffith University’s most successful alumni whose conservation missions have taken her to some of the coldest places on earth is returning to where it all began to help change the lives of students.
After blazing trails in Mongolia, jagging prestigious scholarships, and being profiled in the upcoming edition of Griffith’s digital magazine, Emma Dale is now helping the university that helped set her on the path of conservation by raising awareness of the Griffith Futures Scholarships and how much they change lives, including her own.
Emma thought her dreams for the future were over, until she received a Griffith Futures Scholarship in 2016. These scholarships help students who are excelling at university despite personal or financial hardship.
Since graduating in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science (Ecology and Conservation Biology with Honours) and a University Medal, Dale has traded sunny Brisbane for the freezing outskirts of the Mongolian capital Ulaanbataar
Hayfever patients can benefit from probiotics
New research from a pilot study at Griffith has shown that probiotics can improve the quality of life of hayfever patients.
As part of a clinical first-of-its-kind development program, the researchers investigated whether a multispecies-probiotic formulation, which has been shown in previous research to reduce eczema in children, could benefit hayfever patents as well.
They gave 44 adults aged 18-65 with moderate to severe hay fever, the probiotic twice a day for a period of eight weeks. The patients were asked to report hayfever symptoms, medication use, and rated their quality of life.
“At the end of the study, 63% of the participants taking the probiotic reported a significantly improved quality of life,” says research leader Dr Nic West from Griffith’s Menzies Health Institute Queensland.
“In addition, the patients experienced less severe hayfever symptoms and required less medication.”
Hayfever (seasonal allergic rhinitis), is a chronic disorder of the upper respiratory tract, caused by an overreaction
Griffith Business School represents University at Hult Prize Challenge
A team of four undergraduate students represented the University at the regional stages of the 2018 Hult Prize Challenge. The Hult Prize is an annual, year-long competition that brings together the brightest college and university students from around the globe after challenging them to solve a pressing social issue.
Former US President Bill Clinton is the official ambassador for the Challenge. Bill Clinton personally selected this year’s challenge theme: “Harnessing the Power of Energy to Transform the Lives of 10 Million People”.
The multi-disciplinary team was selected out of a record number of applicants (more than 100,000) to take their plan to tackle inefficient waste management practices and access to clean energy in Southern Africa to San Francisco in March. During this time, more than 50 teams from around the world competed for a place in an eight-week, all-expenses-paid, start-up accelerator in the United Kingdom.
“We pitched an idea to create a scalable,
New book hopes to slow down the ‘Fantasia’ of harmful algal blooms
Smelly, murky water. Damage to the Great Barrier Reef. Toxic build-up in fish that can be deadly when eaten.
Harmful algal blooms can play a part in all of these issues, but a new book that has been co-edited by a Griffith University expert reveals there are ways to reduce the occurrence of damaging blooms.
Professor Michele Burford, from Griffith’s School of Environment and Science and the Australian Rivers Institute, was part of the team of editors behind Global Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms, published by Springer and now available online.
Professor Burford said the book featured input from experts from around the world and collated their research from the past 10 years into one place on the causes, impacts and management options for harmful algal blooms, which she said was a growing problem worldwide.
“The blooms are a problem is for a range of reasons,” Professor Burford said. “They can be
International business students gain unique perspective on innovative business solutions
Industry speakers offer different points of view to students, enhancing their learning experience by providing first hand insights into real world business bringing theory to life and inspire students to see the opportunities that await them.
Mr Craig Somerville, Managing Director, Reload Media.
The Department of International Business and Asian Studies was delighted to welcome Mr Craig Somerville, Managing Director at Reload Media as a special invited guest to talk to the students of 1005IBA (Introduction to International Business) on Monday 21 May.
Reload Media is a full service digital marketing agency based in Brisbane with a reputation for delivering high-quality digital marketing services across SEO, pay-per-click (PPC) and social media. Craig has played a pivotal role in the successful growth of the company from a start-up of $10,000 into a multi-million dollar company today. Reload now has 300 clients in Australia and around the world with offices in London, Auckland, Manilla and