The term mentoring has traditionally been associated with mentors being senior in age and experience. However, as more people are entering the workforce or changing career paths at midlife, it is becoming increasingly common for the mentor to be close in age or younger than their protégé. There has been limited research that has examined the affects and outcomes of non-traditional age relationships in mentoring. The aim of the current study was to shed light on the limited existing literature surrounding the role of age in mentoring. Specifically, it aimed to investigate how age affects mentoring relationships in an academic setting, and what factors may be contributing to this. Participants consisted of students enrolled in postgraduate academic papers (Masters Dissertation, Masters Thesis and PhD) and their assigned academic supervisor. In total, 95 students and 89 supervisors were recruited from three universities with a total of 80 matched student and supervisor pairs. Two surveys were developed, one for postgraduate students and one for their academic supervisors. The student’s survey consisted of demographic questions, a measure of psychosocial and career mentor functions, and a measure of student competence. The supervisor’s survey consisted of demographic information, a measure of psychosocial and career mentor functions, and a measure of human capital investment. The results of the research indicate that within an academic setting, age difference does not have any aversive affects on the processes found in mentoring relationships. In future, mentoring literature needs to expand the conceptualization of mentors and protégés to encompass the increasing existence of varying age relationships. This would enable research to identify the challenges and unique strengths associated with age diversity in mentor relationships.

Globally, research has shown that media coverage of illicit drug issues can play an important role in influencing public opinion and shaping drug policies. However, in Afghanistan, the world’s largest opium producer, very little is known about the media coverage of illicit drug issues. Afghan media, especially radio and television have developed dramatically during the past 11 years. Using the theories of agenda setting and framing, this study explored what drug-related topics were covered in the Afghan news media; how were these topics covered; how were the health and social consequences of drug abuse depicted in the media; and how much time was devoted to drug related topics in the media. Employing content analysis, the study examined primetime news coverage of the two leading media outlets: Azadi Radio and Tolo Television from 1st March 2011 until 31st July 2011. This thesis found the following types of imbalances in Afghan media reporting on illicit drug issues: 1) media reports on drug issues were heavily focused on supply reduction issues (81%) while paying considerably less attention to drug demand reduction issues (19%); 2) media predominantly framed illicit drugs as a law enforcement issue (83%) with only 15% of the paragraphs in the sample framing illicit drug as a public health problem; 3) media reporting on illicit drugs heavily relied on official sources (79%) lacking voices of the public health practitioners and drug addicts; 4) media coverage of illicit drug issues was heavily centered in Kabul (56%) with considerably less reporting from southern Afghanistan, which is the largest opium producing region. This study, which is presumably the first of its kind, provides media organizations, policy makers, and public health officials with a broad picture on the drug-related information available to the public on the leading Afghan news outlets. In addition, it serves as a basis for future research on media coverage of illicit drug issues in Afghanistan.

Syfte och frågeställning: Utifrån kvalitativa intervjuer med journalister på dags-, kvälls- och lokaltidningar ska vi undersöka hur Twitter, som informationsteknologi, påverkar journalisters agendasättande roll, deras identitet och journalistik som profession. Detta görs för att i slutet kunna uttala sig om hur Twitter påverkar svensk journalistik. Metod och material: Studien bygger på kvalitativa intervjuer med fem journalister som har jobbat eller är aktiva på GT, Sydsvenskan, Norra Halland, Aftonbladet, Expressen och Café. Det är expertintervjuer och vi har valt att använda oss av det som kallas bekvämlighetsteknik i vårt urval. Vår empiri analyseras sedan genom abduktion. Huvudresultat: Studien finner att Twitter delvis förändrar svensk journalistik. Publiken har idag en större roll i relation till tidningarna men pressen innehar fortfarande den agendasättande makten. Slutligen förändrar Twitter det som kan kallas den journalistiska identiteten. Ett resultat av detta blir att journalistik inte följer de regler som befäster profession – vilket leder till att journalistik idag kan klassas som en semi-profession.

Syfte och frågeställning: Att undersöka hur två svenska nyhetstidningar valt att skildra en nyhet under vald period. Detta görs genom att besvara följande frågeställning: På vilket sätt skildrar Dagens Nyheter och Svenska Dagbladet ebolaviruset i sina tidningsartiklar från 1 maj 2014 till och med den 31 oktober 2014? Metod och material: Kvantitativ innehållsanalys på samtliga artiklar publicerade i DN och SvD under perioden 1 maj 2014 till och med 31 oktober 2014 samt diskursanalys på sex artiklar. Huvudresultat: I studien framkom det en tydlig förändring i artiklarna under hela undersökningsperioden. Det förändrades från att vara diskussioner om en kris till att sedan diskuteras om olika åtgärder för att minska oroligheten bland invånarna.

Thesis (MEd) -- University of South Australia, 1993

Biodiversity is declining globally due to mounting anthropogenic threats. Actions to protect biodiversity against threats can be costly, involving land purchase, invasive species management, and inflicting opportunity costs of lost revenue and livelihoods in conservation areas. Governments and conservation organisations are under increasing pressure to deliver the greatest benefits from conservation funds, and to minimise conflicts between conservation and other human priorities. Most conservation planning approaches are limited in their ability to assist with cost-effective funding allocation decisions. First, approaches often lack quantifiable objectives and appropriate tools. Second, approaches rarely consider economic information, such as spatially explicit data on the costs of conservation actions. In this thesis I address these two limitations, which often co-occur, in spatial conservation planning. Problem definition includes specifying a quantifiable objective, a set of constraints and control variables, and knowledge of the system. A simple conservation objective is to protect target amounts of biodiversity features, such as 15% of the range of each species and vegetation type, over a minimal total reserve area. Here, targets are the constraints and the control variables are the decisions of whether or not to conserve each site. Target-based conservation planning is the dominant spatial prioritisation approach, but has been criticised for failing to protect untargeted portions of biodiversity and for employing targets too low to ensure species persistence. In Chapter 2, I review target-based systematic conservation planning, discovering that many perceived limitations can be overcome with current developments in research and software and better communication, whilst acknowledging the value of alternative approaches. Conservation planning objectives are becoming increasingly complex due to the need to conserve many kinds of features, such as species, habitat types, and ecosystem services. Measures of the spatial congruence between features is often used to determine if one feature is a good surrogate for representing another and whether multiple features can be easily captured in a single plan. In Chapter 3 I review the use of congruence metrics in conservation planning research, explaining the differences between the three most common metrics – spatial correlation, hotspot overlap, incidental representation – and demonstrating why high values in one metric can coincide with low values in another. Most importantly, I show that integrated systematic conservation planning, rather than congruence metrics, is the only way to determine how efficient it will be to protect multiple features in a reserve system. While conservation planning has an implicit goal of cost-efficiency, spatially explicit data on the costs of conservation action are rarely considered. Prioritisation analyses that do not consider conservation costs can lead to the misallocation of funds and high opportunity costs. In Chapter 4 I carry out a global analysis at 1º resolution to identify areas that could protect targets of 10% of every mammal species’ range whilst minimising the opportunity costs of forgone agricultural production. The a priori inclusion of opportunity costs reduced the cost of meeting conservation targets by at least 30%. I then compare cost-effective allocation of funds to actual funding allocation by international conservation agencies in 2006, highlighting globally important, threatened and under-funded regions. While estimates of conservation opportunity costs can increase conservation planning efficiency, there are often various actions under consideration, each with different associated costs. The definition of specific actions, and their respective costs, is rarely considered in conservation planning. In Chapter 5 I develop cost surfaces for two conservation actions in Australia (i) land purchase for reservation estimated by unimproved land values and (ii) stewardship payments to private landholders to conserve biodiversity estimated by forgone agricultural production. I then identify priority areas at a 10 km2 resolution for conserving 15% of the pre-clearing extent of a range of biodiversity features by these actions. I demonstrate that using cost data to reflect specific conservation actions minimises improves financial efficiency by up to two-fold. Cost-effective conservation planning is also hindered by uncertainties in estimates of conservation costs. In Chapter 6 I carry out the first comprehensive sensitivity analysis of conservation priorities to cost value, using the same goal as in Chapter 5, but restricting planning to reservation in Queensland, which is the Australian state with the best quality unimproved land value data. First, I show that sites which are essential or unhelpful for meeting conservation targets maintain a high and low priority status respectively, over a large range of cost data (1-400% of their estimated cost). Medium priority sites are sensitive to estimates of cost, and represent the greatest opportunities to make cost-effective decisions. Next I develop a simple approach for planning with uncertain cost data, where priorities can be updated as real information on the cost of a parcel of land becomes available. This chapter shows that uncertain cost data is useful for conservation planning. Potentially cost-effective areas for conservation actions in Australia are identified in Chapters 5 and 6. My final chapter serves to synthesise and interpret this research. Through comprehensive analyses, I have shown that cost-effective conservation planning requires the definition of appropriate objectives and tools, and the integration of conservation costs. Further, I have demonstrated accessible approaches that integrate these crucial factors, showing at least a doubling of efficiency in conservation investments. There are cost-effective opportunities for conservation actions in Australia and around the world: this research will assist Governments, Non-Government Organisations, and other conservation-minded people in finding them. Further investment is required in obtaining and wisely applying socio-economic data for conservation planning and in evaluating conservation projects to improve our knowledge base.

Biodiversity is declining globally due to mounting anthropogenic threats. Actions to protect biodiversity against threats can be costly, involving land purchase, invasive species management, and inflicting opportunity costs of lost revenue and livelihoods in conservation areas. Governments and conservation organisations are under increasing pressure to deliver the greatest benefits from conservation funds, and to minimise conflicts between conservation and other human priorities. Most conservation planning approaches are limited in their ability to assist with cost-effective funding allocation decisions. First, approaches often lack quantifiable objectives and appropriate tools. Second, approaches rarely consider economic information, such as spatially explicit data on the costs of conservation actions. In this thesis I address these two limitations, which often co-occur, in spatial conservation planning. Problem definition includes specifying a quantifiable objective, a set of constraints and control variables, and knowledge of the system. A simple conservation objective is to protect target amounts of biodiversity features, such as 15% of the range of each species and vegetation type, over a minimal total reserve area. Here, targets are the constraints and the control variables are the decisions of whether or not to conserve each site. Target-based conservation planning is the dominant spatial prioritisation approach, but has been criticised for failing to protect untargeted portions of biodiversity and for employing targets too low to ensure species persistence. In Chapter 2, I review target-based systematic conservation planning, discovering that many perceived limitations can be overcome with current developments in research and software and better communication, whilst acknowledging the value of alternative approaches. Conservation planning objectives are becoming increasingly complex due to the need to conserve many kinds of features, such as species, habitat types, and ecosystem services. Measures of the spatial congruence between features is often used to determine if one feature is a good surrogate for representing another and whether multiple features can be easily captured in a single plan. In Chapter 3 I review the use of congruence metrics in conservation planning research, explaining the differences between the three most common metrics – spatial correlation, hotspot overlap, incidental representation – and demonstrating why high values in one metric can coincide with low values in another. Most importantly, I show that integrated systematic conservation planning, rather than congruence metrics, is the only way to determine how efficient it will be to protect multiple features in a reserve system. While conservation planning has an implicit goal of cost-efficiency, spatially explicit data on the costs of conservation action are rarely considered. Prioritisation analyses that do not consider conservation costs can lead to the misallocation of funds and high opportunity costs. In Chapter 4 I carry out a global analysis at 1º resolution to identify areas that could protect targets of 10% of every mammal species’ range whilst minimising the opportunity costs of forgone agricultural production. The a priori inclusion of opportunity costs reduced the cost of meeting conservation targets by at least 30%. I then compare cost-effective allocation of funds to actual funding allocation by international conservation agencies in 2006, highlighting globally important, threatened and under-funded regions. While estimates of conservation opportunity costs can increase conservation planning efficiency, there are often various actions under consideration, each with different associated costs. The definition of specific actions, and their respective costs, is rarely considered in conservation planning. In Chapter 5 I develop cost surfaces for two conservation actions in Australia (i) land purchase for reservation estimated by unimproved land values and (ii) stewardship payments to private landholders to conserve biodiversity estimated by forgone agricultural production. I then identify priority areas at a 10 km2 resolution for conserving 15% of the pre-clearing extent of a range of biodiversity features by these actions. I demonstrate that using cost data to reflect specific conservation actions minimises improves financial efficiency by up to two-fold. Cost-effective conservation planning is also hindered by uncertainties in estimates of conservation costs. In Chapter 6 I carry out the first comprehensive sensitivity analysis of conservation priorities to cost value, using the same goal as in Chapter 5, but restricting planning to reservation in Queensland, which is the Australian state with the best quality unimproved land value data. First, I show that sites which are essential or unhelpful for meeting conservation targets maintain a high and low priority status respectively, over a large range of cost data (1-400% of their estimated cost). Medium priority sites are sensitive to estimates of cost, and represent the greatest opportunities to make cost-effective decisions. Next I develop a simple approach for planning with uncertain cost data, where priorities can be updated as real information on the cost of a parcel of land becomes available. This chapter shows that uncertain cost data is useful for conservation planning. Potentially cost-effective areas for conservation actions in Australia are identified in Chapters 5 and 6. My final chapter serves to synthesise and interpret this research. Through comprehensive analyses, I have shown that cost-effective conservation planning requires the definition of appropriate objectives and tools, and the integration of conservation costs. Further, I have demonstrated accessible approaches that integrate these crucial factors, showing at least a doubling of efficiency in conservation investments. There are cost-effective opportunities for conservation actions in Australia and around the world: this research will assist Governments, Non-Government Organisations, and other conservation-minded people in finding them. Further investment is required in obtaining and wisely applying socio-economic data for conservation planning and in evaluating conservation projects to improve our knowledge base.

Biodiversity is declining globally due to mounting anthropogenic threats. Actions to protect biodiversity against threats can be costly, involving land purchase, invasive species management, and inflicting opportunity costs of lost revenue and livelihoods in conservation areas. Governments and conservation organisations are under increasing pressure to deliver the greatest benefits from conservation funds, and to minimise conflicts between conservation and other human priorities. Most conservation planning approaches are limited in their ability to assist with cost-effective funding allocation decisions. First, approaches often lack quantifiable objectives and appropriate tools. Second, approaches rarely consider economic information, such as spatially explicit data on the costs of conservation actions. In this thesis I address these two limitations, which often co-occur, in spatial conservation planning. Problem definition includes specifying a quantifiable objective, a set of constraints and control variables, and knowledge of the system. A simple conservation objective is to protect target amounts of biodiversity features, such as 15% of the range of each species and vegetation type, over a minimal total reserve area. Here, targets are the constraints and the control variables are the decisions of whether or not to conserve each site. Target-based conservation planning is the dominant spatial prioritisation approach, but has been criticised for failing to protect untargeted portions of biodiversity and for employing targets too low to ensure species persistence. In Chapter 2, I review target-based systematic conservation planning, discovering that many perceived limitations can be overcome with current developments in research and software and better communication, whilst acknowledging the value of alternative approaches. Conservation planning objectives are becoming increasingly complex due to the need to conserve many kinds of features, such as species, habitat types, and ecosystem services. Measures of the spatial congruence between features is often used to determine if one feature is a good surrogate for representing another and whether multiple features can be easily captured in a single plan. In Chapter 3 I review the use of congruence metrics in conservation planning research, explaining the differences between the three most common metrics – spatial correlation, hotspot overlap, incidental representation – and demonstrating why high values in one metric can coincide with low values in another. Most importantly, I show that integrated systematic conservation planning, rather than congruence metrics, is the only way to determine how efficient it will be to protect multiple features in a reserve system. While conservation planning has an implicit goal of cost-efficiency, spatially explicit data on the costs of conservation action are rarely considered. Prioritisation analyses that do not consider conservation costs can lead to the misallocation of funds and high opportunity costs. In Chapter 4 I carry out a global analysis at 1º resolution to identify areas that could protect targets of 10% of every mammal species’ range whilst minimising the opportunity costs of forgone agricultural production. The a priori inclusion of opportunity costs reduced the cost of meeting conservation targets by at least 30%. I then compare cost-effective allocation of funds to actual funding allocation by international conservation agencies in 2006, highlighting globally important, threatened and under-funded regions. While estimates of conservation opportunity costs can increase conservation planning efficiency, there are often various actions under consideration, each with different associated costs. The definition of specific actions, and their respective costs, is rarely considered in conservation planning. In Chapter 5 I develop cost surfaces for two conservation actions in Australia (i) land purchase for reservation estimated by unimproved land values and (ii) stewardship payments to private landholders to conserve biodiversity estimated by forgone agricultural production. I then identify priority areas at a 10 km2 resolution for conserving 15% of the pre-clearing extent of a range of biodiversity features by these actions. I demonstrate that using cost data to reflect specific conservation actions minimises improves financial efficiency by up to two-fold. Cost-effective conservation planning is also hindered by uncertainties in estimates of conservation costs. In Chapter 6 I carry out the first comprehensive sensitivity analysis of conservation priorities to cost value, using the same goal as in Chapter 5, but restricting planning to reservation in Queensland, which is the Australian state with the best quality unimproved land value data. First, I show that sites which are essential or unhelpful for meeting conservation targets maintain a high and low priority status respectively, over a large range of cost data (1-400% of their estimated cost). Medium priority sites are sensitive to estimates of cost, and represent the greatest opportunities to make cost-effective decisions. Next I develop a simple approach for planning with uncertain cost data, where priorities can be updated as real information on the cost of a parcel of land becomes available. This chapter shows that uncertain cost data is useful for conservation planning. Potentially cost-effective areas for conservation actions in Australia are identified in Chapters 5 and 6. My final chapter serves to synthesise and interpret this research. Through comprehensive analyses, I have shown that cost-effective conservation planning requires the definition of appropriate objectives and tools, and the integration of conservation costs. Further, I have demonstrated accessible approaches that integrate these crucial factors, showing at least a doubling of efficiency in conservation investments. There are cost-effective opportunities for conservation actions in Australia and around the world: this research will assist Governments, Non-Government Organisations, and other conservation-minded people in finding them. Further investment is required in obtaining and wisely applying socio-economic data for conservation planning and in evaluating conservation projects to improve our knowledge base.

If current environmental problems are to be addressed and future environmental problems are to be prevented, significant changes are needed in the way people live. Environmental education has been identified as an important tool for encouraging people to make the changes needed for sustainability. However, environmental education has been largely ineffective in doing this. Education about the environment is being achieved, but education that creates the skills and motivation for action is not. The purpose of this research was to investigate the potential of goal setting to be used in environmental education programs to develop the skills and motivation required to change environmental behaviour and create positive environmental outcomes. Goal setting is one of the most replicable and reliable of psychology theories, with extensive evidence of its benefits for increasing performance and changing behaviour. The premise of this research was to take an already proven and well-established behaviour change theory and apply it within environmental education programs. The first step was to develop a framework, which enabled goal setting to be incorporated into a program. To do this the environmental behaviour change literature was reviewed and the components of successful environmental education were identified and incorporated into the framework. The goal setting literature was also reviewed to determine the characteristics of an effective goal and how goal setting could be facilitated to create greater goal achievement. As there has been little research on the community’s attitudes towards goal setting a questionnaire was developed to determine if the Perth community uses goals, the characteristics of those goals and how those goals may be linked to behaviour. The survey indicated that most people were already using goals in their daily lives and the majority of people would respond positively to the use of goal setting in an environmental education program. Thus, a new environmental education framework was developed which included providing action knowledge, teaching goal setting skills, setting goals and providing continued feedback and support. The proposed environmental education framework was then implemented and evaluated through two environmental education programs, Green Houses and Living Smart. The Green Houses program assessed the effectiveness of the framework for reducing household energy consumption and the effectiveness of different communication methods for delivering the framework. Personal communication through the workshop was the most effective method for changing behaviour, with workshop participants reducing their energy consumption by 17%. The website and booklet approach also had reductions in energy consumption (7% & 8%, respectively). The schools group was the only group not to achieve a reduction, suggesting that what the students learnt about energy saving was not being transferred to the home environment or impacting on their parent’s behaviour. The groups that set goals reduced their energy consumption by an additional 5% compared to the corresponding control groups and maintained those savings for a significantly longer period of time. The Living Smart program then assessed the effectiveness of the framework for creating behaviour change across a range of sustainability topics. As a result of the program, participants significantly increased both their environmental knowledge and sustainable behaviours. A control group that received the same environmental information as the Living Smart group, but no goal setting skills, only increased their environmental knowledge. This demonstrated that environmental information alone is not sufficient for changing behaviour. The qualitative evaluation identified that goal setting facilitated behaviour change in participants because it gave them direction and strategy and increased their motivation and commitment to changing their behaviour. Importantly, the goal setting process worked equally well across all the sustainability topics, suggesting that the tool works for a variety of behaviours, not just energy conservation. In conclusion, the goal setting process and framework created effective behaviour change that was maintained longer than when goal setting is not used. The goal setting process and framework can be delivered effectively through a range of communication strategies and can be applied effectively to a range of environmental behaviours. Therefore, goal setting is an effective and valuable behaviour change tool that has great potential across a range of environmental education programs to create positive environmental outcomes in, for and about the environment.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 47-51).