Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.) - University of Queensland, 2004. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2004. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2004. / Includes bibliography.

This thesis is a comparative law study of the national water laws of four jurisdictions - Scotland, England, South Africa and Queensland Australia. The purpose of the research was to develop an analytical framework for reform of national water law. The management of the water resource is a pressing global concern and law is one of the disciplines working to achieve this. As part of the global policy agenda for water, many states are reforming their national laws; many other actors are also engaged in these processes. However there is no framework for this area of law reform, no structure against which reform proposals can be assessed. This thesis attempts to draw out such a framework, by a primarily positivist and pragmatist analysis.

Most of the early wind erosion research undertaken in Australia, concentrated on how wind erosion affects cultivated farm land. However, in the 1990's the focus of wind erosion research in Australia started to shift to include rangeland environments. Initially these rangeland experiments used experimental configurations that were developed for cultivated fields. This meant that in most cases a sampler was set up in the middle of a field and it was assumed that the data collected was representative of the field as a whole. It was also assumed that temporal changes in dust fluxes/concentration reflect overall changes in the land type erodibility and wind erosivity. However, recent experiments and field observations within the rangelands, of the Channel Country suggest that this assumption is not valid. These experiments and observations suggest that there are substantial spatial and temporal variations in erodibility within individual land types. Such variations complicate the interpretation of temporal and spatial erosion trends. In particular, this variability implies that it is difficult to compare sampler data between different wind erosion events. To begin quantifying and comparing sampler data between events within the rangeland environments, the Dust Source Interaction Simulation Model (DSism) was developed to simulate the effect that physical processes and spatial variations in erodibility have upon observed dust concentration pro- files. The modelling/simulation approach used is closely linked to experimental data via the extensive use of sensitivity testing. Another key feature of the DSism approach, is its flexibility in allowing different dust source areas to have particle emission characteristics. This combined sensitivity testing and simulation approach has provided new insights into the wind erosion processes. By using DSism, it has been possible to identify several key features of the wind erosion process within rangeland environments. The first observation is that spatial and temporal changes in erodibility produce distinct changes in both the vertical and crosswind dust concentration profiles. Further investigations, indicate that the dispersion processes in operation vary from event to event. In particular, the results presented here indicate that surface heating plays an important role in some wind erosion events. These results also suggest that even small variations in the vertical dust concentration profile can reflect temporal and spatial changes in processes and erodibility. Finally the simulation results show that the particle size distribution of a vertical dust concentration profile depends on (a) the processes in operation during a given event and (b) the spatial variation in the particle size emission characteristics of the various source areas. These findings have several important implications. In particular, they indicate that both the crosswind and vertical dust concentration profiles can be viewed as amalgamation of several distinct plumes from different dust source areas and that dust concentration profiles contain significant information about both the spatial distribution of sources and the processes in operation during any given event. Most field studies have used regression models to describe the variation in dust concentration with height. A problem with this approach is that it assumes that the variation in dust concentration with height, always has a given functional form (or shape) and that dust concentration always decreases with height. Field observations, indicate that this assumption is only valid for some events within rangeland environments and that dust concentration does not always decrease with height in these environments. In most cases, such variations from the regression fit have been assumed to be the result of experimental 'noise' (error) or spatial variations in erodibility. This thesis presents, modelling and field evidence, which suggests that such variations, are the result of a combination of spatial variations in erodibility and changes in thermal conditions.

This study examines young people’s internet access and use in nine locations in Queensland, Australia. The primary aim of the research is to assess if internet use supports young people’s social inclusion: that is, if internet use supports young people to participate in society in ways they have most reason to value. The research findings demonstrate that the digital divide in Queensland – the gap between citizens with and without access to ICTs – continues to inhibit young people’s ability to participate online. This divide is embedded within historic, economic, social and cultural inequalities. To address this, this study proposes that a digital inclusion framework, founded on the concept of social inclusion, offers the Australian federal and state governments an opportunity to extend digital divide policies so that they connect with and complement broader social policy goals. The research outcomes also illustrate that creative uses of online networks provide a powerful means through which young people can participate in a networked society. While young people’s access to a range of ICTs impacts on their ability to use online networks, gradations of use, social networks and informal learning contexts frequently act as mediators to support effective internet use. This study contends that by understanding the social benefits of young people’s online network use and the role that mediators play in different environments, we can move towards a policy framework that supports equitable opportunities for young people’s digital inclusion.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2008. / Abstract and vita. Description based on Print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 271-280).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2008. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 271-280).

This exegesis examines the proposition that playwriting is an entrepreneurial activity when combined with the role of producer. The thesis demonstrates that, when a playwright combines the two roles and considers the development of a network of relationships in the process, positive steps can be made towards the marketing of a work and the career progression of the playwright. The issues of marketing and career progression are considered in a regional context. The thesis comprises the creation of a full-length theatrical work through the MA (Research) Program at Queensland University of Technology and an analysis of that journey in the context of regional theatre practice in Queensland. Nicolas Bourriaud’s theory of the Relational Aesthetic is used as a way of charting my practice and of examining how this approach might be appropriate to theatre-making in regional Australia. The paper establishes strategies by which the playwright, when also undertaking the role of producer, might manage the complex set of circumstances and interactions between the work, the community and the industry. Using practice-led research methodologies, the exegesis examines the process of the creation of a new play, Sinking, and explores, through the use of an autobiographical case study, what the process has meant to the author’s development as a playwright over a fifteen month period. The paper uses a network map to explore the interactions created through a rehearsed reading of the first draft of the play in October 2006 and, in doing so, demonstrates how a close engagement with the community formed the basis of the entrepreneurial strategy. The exegesis demonstrates that Bourriaud’s work connects very closely with the author’s practice and examines how the approach might be useful for other regional arts practitioners, particularly those in the early stages of their careers. The research aims to identify how the creation of the play, and the subsequent interactions generated within a regional community, can lead to opportunities to create connections both within the author’s place of residence and in broader theatre industry contexts, nationally and internationally, in order to provide commercial and professional outcomes.