Western Cape Futures Symposium 2025
The Western Cape Futures Symposium 2025 (WCFS) is set to return to Weipa in May 7-8 next year. WCFS is hosted by the Western Cape Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Aurukun Shire Counci...
Tender screening
In November, the award-winning documentary 'Tender' was screened on Nguma-Bada campus at James Cook University (JCU). Together with support from the Department of Employment, Small Busi...
Smart Green Economy Launch
The Cairns Smart Green Economy project is a multi-stage strategic planning and feasibility study designed to position Cairns and Far North Queensland (FNQ) as a leader in the Smart Gree...
Supporting AFL Cape York House Cultural Group
The Sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Enterprise (SATSIE) program proudly supported the AFL Cape York House Dance Group in participating in DanceRites, Australia's premier&nb...
TNQ Delegation to Canberra
Professor Allan Dale was part of the ‘Our Tropical North Queensland’ delegation to Federal Parliament between the 18 and 21 of November 2024. This significant initiative, led by&...
Driving drought resilience through ESG
The Tropical North Queensland Drought Hub (TNQDH) is leading the way in helping farmers incorporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices into their operations. Recognising t...
International Mediation Awareness Week
International Mediation Awareness Week (IMAW), held from November 4–8, is a global initiative aimed at raising awareness of mediation practices around the world. During this week, ...
Capturing carbon dioxide naturally
The Cairns Institute Fellow Associate Professor Paul Nelson and Australian National University researcher Dr Wolfram Buss wrote about their research to capture carbon dioxide and improve soi...
Carpentaria Shire Indigenous Engagement Project
The Cairns Institute's Dr Jim Turnour supported by Indigenous engagement consultant Mr Keron Murray and Professor Marcus Foth of QUT recently completed a consultancy for the Carpentaria ...
Spotlighting Island Stars
As part of 2024's Indigenous Business Month (IBM), the Department of Tourism spotlighted Island Stars, a family-owned business founded in 2019 with a vision to help young Torres Strait ...
Networking opportunity in Karratha
The Tropical North Queensland Drought Hub's Sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Enterprise Program (SATSIE) proudly supported two delegates to join approximately 300 atten...
Confident Supervisors has significant impact
The e-book 'Confident Supervisors: Creating independent researchers' was announced winner of the Significant Impact award at the recent Open Education Global awards ceremony. The Cairns ...
Pay-by-weight airfares
"Pay-by-weight airfares are an ethical minefield" says Dr Denis Tolkach. He explains that charging passengers based on their weight is highly controversial for many reasons, however it has&n...
Building water security in remote communities
Tropical North Queensland Drought Hub's Tony Matchett is the Agricultural Innovation and Commercialisation Program Lead. Tony is supporting water security initiatives across remote regi...
Developing Northern Australia Conference 2024
Over 225 delegates attended the 10th Developing Northern Australia Conference (DNAC) in Karratha August 26-28.Conference delegates had the opportunity to bring their ideas, share their conce...
The Science of Disasters - impact, resilience and recovery in Far North Queensland
TNQ Drought Hub recently supported The Science of Disasters – impact, resilience and recovery event, May 31st 2024 in Cairns. This event was facilitated by Partner Up Queensland Regional Sc...
Regional Leadership Network in Weipa
During a recent trip to Weipa, Professor Hurriyet Babacan was asked to deliver a joint presentation with Neil O’Brien, CEO of the Gulf Savannah Development, to the Queensland Government Regional...
Activating First Nation Water Rights Learnings from the Cape York Water Plan
The Development in the Tropics Team (DitT) within the Cairns Institute is leading a project to understand the opportunities and constraints to First Nation peoples unlocking water rights as part of th...
Book launch attracts PNG interest
The book titled 'The Chinese in Papua New Guinea' had a successful launch at The Cairns Institute on the auspicious date of 8th August 2024. Master of Ceremonies was Prof Hurriyet Babacan who gav...
Sustainable and inclusive development pipeline
In August, The Cairns Institute's Professor Allan Dale released The Northern Australia Development Synthesis Report at the Developing Northern Australia Conference (DNAC) in Karratha.The rep...
Coastal Horticulture in Northeastern Australia: Global Networks and Regional Development
The Cairns Institute researcher Zoe Wang has co-authored a scoping report titled “Coastal Horticulture in Northeastern Australia: Global Networks and Regional Development”. This report, co...
Tropical North Queensland Decarbonisation and Regional Development Showcase and Dialogue
In a rapidly decarbonising world Far North Queensland has many opportunities to secure and complex challenges to overcome. As an anchor institution within the region, James Cook University (JCU) and t...
Rana Dadpour Joins The Cairns Institute: Blending Research with Real-Life Experience
In August 2024, The Cairns Institute welcomes Rana Dadpour as its newest Research Fellow in Social and Economic Risk. Rana's PhD research at James Cook University focused on exploring the intric...
USS Emory visits Gimuy
Building upon the engagement with the U.S. Consul in facilitating an International Women Day Event held at James Cook University (JCU), the US Consul's office reached out to the Development in the Tro...
Tropical North Housing Summit 2024
Organised jointly by Regional Development Australia -Tropical North (RDA), FNQ Regional Organisation of Councils (FNQROC) and the Torres Cape Indigenous Councils Alliance (TCICA). The summit was held ...
Why is Research Impact important?
In July, The Cairns Institute, in collaboration with the Research Division at JCU, delivered the first session of our new Research Impact Training. This introductory session was part of a pilot progra...
Does 'place' shape HR practice
In June, Dr Leigh-ann Onnis shared insights from her research about human resources (HR) in the Tropics at the Australian Human Resource Institute’s (AHRI) Queensland State Conference. The confe...
Academic visiting program for UPI lecturers at James Cook University
Dr. Fitri Rahmafitria, a lecturer from the Resort and Leisure Management Program at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI), embarked on a one-month academic visit to the College of Business, Law and G...
Practical pathways to climate justice for First Nations Australians and Pacific Islanders
The TNQ Drought Hub – Sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Enterprise (SATSIE) was pleased to be ale to support the Eastern Regional Organisation for Planning & Human Settlement...
Call for more support for wildlife volunteers
"Volunteer animal carers are at high risk of burnout with the current volunteer model unsustainable and in desperate need of more government support", says Associate Professor Hilary Whitehouse w...
Introducing Nathanael Edwards
The Cairns Institute at James Cook University (JCU) is proud to announce its collaboration with Goondoi Arts First Nations artist Nathanael Edwards for a special inaugural art exhibition, Guwal Yabala...
Cairns Port Douglas Reef Hub now online
The Cairns Port Douglas Reef Hub is a local network to connect, grow and champion the efforts of diverse organisations in the region to support the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef. ...
Farm Forestry Master Tree Growing
The Tropical North Queensland (TNQ) Drought Hub's Sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Enterprise (SATSIE) program was pleased to support the Farm Forestry Master Tree Growing Worksh...
Carbon farming in the Pacific
The First Nations (Fiji) Resources Foundation (FNFRF) and the Aboriginal Carbon Foundation (AbCF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop a high integrity carbon industry ...
International Society of Ethnobiology
In 2009, Traditional Owners in North Queensland identified that an ethnobotany research and resource centre could support them in the conservation, management, use and communication of their Tradition...
It takes a village to raise a family
Held 16-17 May at the Cairns Convention Centre, the 2024 Early Years Conference (EYC2024) exceeded all expectations for the organising committee. The 400-delegates conference was sold o...
Jabalbina MOU signing
A recent trip to the Daintree Rainforest Observatory (DRO) in Eastern Kuku Yalanji country saw The Cairns Institute's Director Professor Stewart Lockie participated in a meeting to workshop&...
"Reflections from the Kwibuka 30 Symposium: Commemorating the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda"
Dr. Judith Rafferty, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow of the Cairns Institute, participated in a thought-provoking symposium at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, on April 11th and 12th. The ...
Transformative Impact of Augmented Reality
As a dedicated researcher at the Blue Humanities Lab at James Cook University, Melusine Martin’s passion lies in exploring the intricate relationship between humanity and the world’s ocean...
Adaptive Capacity
The Cairns Institute Researcher Dr Henry Bartelet recently released an article titled "Changes in reef tourism's adaptive capacity after severe climate disturbances. The paper was co-au...
Wiley recognises TCI researchers
Kearrin Sims and Denis Tolkach were both recognised with the "Top Downloaded Article" category. Both papers were listed as one of the most downloaded during its first twelve months of p...
Thriving Kids in Disaster Report
The Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership (TQKP) is a Queensland-based intermediary and relationships broker focused on systems change for the benefit of children and youth. Instigated and hosted ...
The Unfinished Business: Fiji's Colonial Legacy
The Unfinished Business: Fiji’s Colonial Legacy After almost 50 years of independence, Fiji remains a fragile State politically because of the deep-seated racial division between the two major r...
US Consul General visit to celebrate IWD2024
International Women’s Day (IWD) was celebrated by the Development in the Tropics team in collaboration with TropWater and Regional Development Australia by hosting an international panel featuri...
Recognition for Hurriyet
The Cairns Post celebrated International Womens Day by highlighting who they believed to be the regions 30 most influential women in FNQ. Development in the Tropics team member Professor Hurriyet Baba...
Teacher Ethics in Anthropogenic Climate Change
Associate Professor Helen Boon had a paper published that reported preservice teachers' ethical dilemmas around teaching about anthropogenic climate change. Helen stated that the docume...
Lokes Brooksbank was awarded his PhD
Lokes’s thesis involved a governance systems analysis of the PNG petroleum sector exploring the discrepancies within governance structures. The thorough analysis of two specific case studies in ...
East Sepik Connections
PhD student Kulasumb Kalinoe recently returned from nearly five months of fieldwork in Papua New Guinea. Most of her time was spent in Port Moresby, conducting fieldwork at the National Museum and Art...
HR is different up here!
The tropics is a region known for its environmental, social, and economic diversity, as well as wonderful geographical features such as rainforests, palm trees and white sandy beaches. In countries li...
Symposium brings reef stewards together
As the world races to slow global heating by reducing carbon emissions, coral reefs around the world are already struggling to cope with the rate of environmental change. Ignoring their decl...
Putting farmers at the centre of industry innovation
As the world’s population grows there is increasing pressure on the agriculture sector to produce safe, high quality food in production systems that are climate smart, transparent and ...
Halal supply chain competencies
The Cairns Institute Researchers Dr Adam Voak and Dr Brian Fairman working with Dr Wahyuni in the Faculty of Businessand Law at the Universitas Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo, Indonesia have recently...
Ty'a Dynevor reflects on cadetship with the Institute
It has been over 12 months since Bachelor of Science student Tyá Dynevor joined The Cairns Institute (TCI) as a casual Research Assistant (RA) through a cadetship opportunity. He...
Deadly dancing
Under the The Tropical North Queensland Drought Resilience and Innovation Hub (TNQ Hub), the Sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Enterprise Program (SATSIE) was extremely pr...
IASNR returns to Australia
The International Association for Society and Natural Resources were to convene in 2020 in Cairns for their annual meeting. However, when the pandemic was declared, the organisers pivoted&nb...
Shell money of power and the money of deceit
The colonial economy and its impact on social relations in the Aitape area of Papua New Guinea have been for a number of years investigated by Dr Maria Wronska-Friend, anthropologist an...
Sub-committee to focus on economic recovery
To facilitate a coordinated approach to community recovery, the Cairns Local Disaster Committee recently stood up four recovery subcommittees covering economic, environment, human and s...
RACQ's mobile response after floods
Prof Allan Dale was able to gain support from James Cook University (JCU) to enable the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland’s (RACQ) Mobile Response Vehicles to be located The Cai...
Students challenged to develop solutions
On Friday 8th December 2023, Tropical North Queensland Drought Resilience and Innovation Hub (TNQ Hub) hosted the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Challenge Showcase at the Ideas Lab on ...
Developing a Manager's Toolkit for rural and remote health services
Dr Leigh-ann Onnis, a Fellow of The Cairns Institute, has been researching health workforce sustainability in rural and remote northern Australia for more than ten years. With many businesse...
SATSIE presence at DNA Conference 2023
The Tropical North Queensland Drought Hub’s (TNQDH) Sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Enterprise (SATSIE) program sponsored 5 Indigenous business owners, entrepren...
Family Wellbeing project featured in IRU
In 2007, James Cook University (JCU) became a member of the Innovation Research Universities (IRU) Australia. IRU includes Flinders University, Griffith University, Latrobe University, ...
Journeys to more equitable and effective conservation
The Cairns Institute Adjunct Associate Professor Lea Scherl recently contributed to a new issue of IUCN CEESP’s Policy Matters journal which presented case studies illustrating collabo...
Planning for drought resilience
The Australian Government's Future Drought Fund (FDF) works with states and territories to support regions to develop drought resilience plans which enables stakeholders to identify vul...
Responding to Mental Health Challenges
This year is the 20th anniversary of the Creating Futures (CF) collaboration. It has evolved from a conference to a movement that seeks to harness experience, expertise, innovation, and ...
Standing up to domestic and family violence
AFL Cape York Boys House hosted their annual ‘Stand up to domestic and family violence’ event in October. The event raises much needed funds for domestic violence services and pr...
Showcasing Indigenous food and business
Tropical North Queensland Drought Resilience and Innovation Hub's Sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Enterprise (SATSIE) program was pleased to be a partner organisation ...
Kampus Merdeka - Independent Campus
James Cook University-The Cairns Institute and the State University of Malang during the past year, have conducted research on Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (Independent Campus Freedom to Learn). Pre...
OPEN NOW: $5,000 Scholarship Opportunities available to build regional and community resilience
Are you passionate about agriculture and want to help your community be resilient to our ever-changing climate? The TNQ Drought Hub is offering scholarship opportunities, up to the value of $5000, to ...
Reconciliation through Research
The TNQ Drought Hub was delighted to partner with Tropical Indigenous Ethnobotany Centre, the Australian Tropical Herbarium and the CSIRO to hold an event celebrating Reconciliation through Research. ...
Bamaga: Indigenous Small Business Month
The Department of Youth justice, Employment, Small Business and Training (DYJESBT), in conjunction with the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships (DATSIP) hel...
Queensland Indigenous Business Network
Queensland Indigenous Business Network (QIBN) was officially launched as part of Indigenous Business Month 2023 on the 12th October at the Speakers’ Hall, Parliament House in Brisbane....
Queensland Plan Ambassadors
The Cairns Institute was very pleased to host the Queensland Plan Ambassadors (QPA) to James Cook University (JCU) for an Ambassadors Council Meeting in Cairns on the October 10. The Ca...
Driving the Public Debate: A contribution to Fiji
The Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji and Minister of Finance, Planning and Statistics Professor Biman Prasad recently launched four community education books authored by The Cairns Institu...
AI and Precision Analytics in Financial and Medical Services: A Recent Conference Perspective
Six James Cook University (JCU) research delegates attended the global 23rd International Conference on Electronic Business (ICEB) which was held across October 19 -23 last year, in Chiayi, ...
JCU receives a share in over $350K grant funding
James Cook University (JCU) is one of four recipients to have received a share in $350,000 in funding, thanks to the TNQ Drought Hub’s Tropical North Queensland Drought Resilience Grant Scheme.&...
Congratulations to final cohort of TNQ Drought Hub Hone and Harvest teams
Congratulations to the final cohort of Hone and Harvest teams who have graduated from the TNQ Drought Hub’s business accelerator program in partnership with Farmers2Founders. Over the last 12 mo...
Do colours affect our emotions?
Associate Professor Heather Winskel writes from Singapore. "My very considerate dentist has purposefully painted his surgery in a calming light blue. I haven’t had the heart to tell him that it ...
TNQ Drought Hub unveils new artwork collaboration with local Indigenous artist
The TNQ Drought Hub has unveiled a new artwork as part of their way to acknowledge and pay respects to Indigenous knowledge, created in collaboration with Cairns artist and cultural practitioner, Bern...
Australian American Leadership Dialogue delegation to JCU
The Development in the Tropics team hosted a delegation of forty leaders from across Australia and the United States on Sunday 6 August as part of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue (AALD) 20...
Reconnecting Bremen and New Ireland
For many years, Cairns Institute Adjunct Professor Craig Alan Volker has documented the language and culture of the Nalik people of Papua New Guinea’s New Ireland Province. For a month from 17 A...
New Chair of RDQ Tropical North
Early this year, Professor Hurriyet Babacan AM was appointed as the new chair of Regional Development Australia (RDA) Tropical North. Hurriyet who also serves as Vice Chair of the Cape York&...
Sandpit to Seed
The TNQ Drought Hub is excited to be working with James Cook University researchers to help them move their research ideas that could improve agricultural adaption, sustainability and resilience towar...
The National Soils Advocate visit
The TNQ Drought Hub recently hosted the National Soils Advocate, the Honourable Penelope Wensley AC for a whirlwind 2-day field trip visiting numerous soils restoration and rehabilitation sites to lea...
JCU RED's Public Lectures
The Cairns Institute Fellow Dr Kearrin Sims coordinates the JCU Research Ethical Development Symposium, now in its second year. It will be held 27-29 September at The Cairns Institute. This year will ...
DNA Conference 2023
The Developing Northern Australia Conference returned to Darwin this year in 2023. In 2021, the conference converted to an online event an hour before the program was due to begin due to a sudden NT C...
HDR Student Symposium on Decolonial Research Practices
The Cairns Institute will host an informal symposium for HDR students working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Far North Queensland. This symposium will explore if and how post-gr...
Science to Practice Forum
TNQ Drought Hub’s Professor Allan Dale, Doctor Jane Oorschot and Ms Kara Worth were invited to speak at the Science to Practice Forum and share their experience on innovative tools and practices...
TNQ Drought Hub Scholarships
Congratulations to the TNQ Drought Hub drought resilience scholarship recipients. The hub recently offered scholarship opportunities to JCU students who were interested in undertaking an Honours or Ma...
Collaboration Networks Help Asian-Pacific Reef Tourism Operators Adapt to Climate Change
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PhD Intro Sara Mohamed
Sara is an Egyptian-Canadian PhD candidate who has found her way back to James Cook University. After completing a Bachelor of Arts Degree majoring in Sociology and minoring in Business, Sara came to ...
Dictionary & Coffee Tuesdays in New Ireland, Papua New Guinea
For the past year, Cairns Institute Adjunct Professor Craig Volker has been hosting “Nalik Dictionary Coffee Nights” every Tuesday at his home in Madina Village, New Ireland, Papua New Gui...
New TCI Research Services Manager
Her recent accomplishments include successfully managing a cross-institutional research project funded by a Department of Defence Strategic Policy Grant. Working alongside researchers from Griffith Un...
Economic Empowerment of Fiji Women and Girls
A ground-breaking Report (“Beyond 33%: The Economic Empowerment of Fiji Women and Girls”) by Professor Wadan Narsey (Adjunct Professor at James Cook University) was launched in March by th...
Western Cape Futures Symposium Update
The future of the Western Cape York region was the focus of the recent symposium in Weipa which attracted around 200 people attended across 2.5 days. To date, much of the focus on Northern Australia h...
International Outreach
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander International Engagement Organisation (ATSIIEO) has successfully begun its foray into the international sphere in advocacy of Indigenous responses to cli...
Falling From The Sky Symposium & Exhibition
The SymposiumAssociate Professor Robyn Glade-Wright convened the Falling from the Sky Symposium earlier this month on Nguma Bada campus at Smithfield. Participants were diversely represented; from aca...
Making Your Research Open Access
JCU Scholarly Communications Manager Jayshree Mamtora recently presented to The Cairns Institute researchers on why there is a strong global push from government, research agencies and funde...
Hello from Samoa!
PhD Candidate Tanya Volentras arrived into Samoa for fieldwork and sent us her reflections. Her supervisors are Professor Rosita Henry and Associate Professor Simon Foale. Arriving in the early mornin...
Memories of the Kiaps Project
A group of researchers at James Cook University (JCU), the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) and PNG’s National Research Institute (NRI) are seeking interested former kiaps (both Austra...
TNQ Hub Update
The Tropical North Queensland Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub (TNQ Hub), led by JCU, is paving the way to deliver drought resilience activities in tropical north Queensland. The TN...
Social Sciences for the Reef Symposium
In collaboration with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), University of Queensland (UQ), Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial ...
Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development
The Cairns Institute Research Fellow Dr Kearrin Sims attended the 10th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD). Held 27-30 March, the APFSD is an annual, inclusive intergovernmental...
Congratulations Jim!
Jim Turnour celebrated receiving his PhD in Economics from JCU College of Business Law and Governance at the formal graduation ceremony held March 24 at the Cairns Convention Centre. After receiving h...
Ellie Bock's journey
Following completion of her Master in Philosophy (Society & Culture) studies last year, Ellie Bock enjoyed the honour of participating in the recent Cairns JCU Graduation Ceremony held on 24 ...
John Hamilton
The Cairns Institute Adjunct Chair Professor is a Member of Australian Institute of Company Directors (MAICD), and the International Consortium for Electronic Business’ (ICEB) Regional VP (Austr...
Cairns Tropical Writers Festival
Elizabeth’s role was part of a strong community volunteer program, which TCI Program Coordinator, Jennifer McHugh volunteered to help coordinate. This was an incredible contribution, given the r...
Social Enterprise Forum
The Cairns Institute Research Fellow Dr Narayan Gopalkrishnan was one of the organisers of the Social Enterprise in Far North Queensland (FNQ) Forum held in Cairns, October last year. He said, “...
Meet Dwi Sugiharti
Dwi Sugiharti is currently undertaking her PhD in Economics under the supervision of Associate Professors Taha Chaiechi and Josephine Pryce at the College of Business, Law and Governance. She complete...
Industry Expert Series
The Tropical North Queensland Drought Resilience and Innovation Hub (TNQDRIH) has engaged with two leading industry experts Professor Roger Stone and Bob Shepherd to build a series of v...
Waiting with no time to wait
Young people are frequently relegated to a state of waiting; expected to passively absorb and learn an adult culture that actively damages the earth. Governments persist in relying on h...
Western Capes Futures Symposium
The TNQ Drought Hub, Sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Enterprise (SATSIE) program are pleased to partner with the Western Cape Chamber of Commerce, Aurukun Shire Counci...
Falling From The Sky
James Cook University Associate Professor and The Cairns Institute Fellow Robyn Glade-Wright is passionate about climate change and seeks to communicate with the greater public about en...
Our islands: protection and conservation
The Oceania region has an incredible array of ecosystems and biocultural diversity along with many threats to those. Safeguarding and effectively managing such ecosystems and the liveli...
Tyá Dynevor joins CoTS
Tyá Dynevor is a proud Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander mixed-race woman; born on Dharawal Country, Campbelltown, Greater Western Sydney but had grown up between Darwin, Larrakia&nb...
Ellie embarks on a PhD
Ellie Bock has been awarded a Masters degree after completing her Master of Philosophy (Society and Culture). Ellie’s primary advisor was Professor Allan Dale and her secondary advisor...
SATSIE 2022 Highlights
Allan Dale heads the TNQ Drought Hub team that sits within The Cairns Institute and delivers the Sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Enterprise (SATSIE) program. The SATSIE&nbs...
Rural Economies Centre of Excellence (RECoE) 2.0
RECoE is a first-of-its-kind rural economic research collaboration comprised of four Queensland Universities: The University of Queensland (UQ), James Cook University (JCU), Central Que...
Kampus Merdeka Program
The Cairns Institute (TCI) and the State University of Malang, in East Java, Indonesia, have collaborated in conducting an analysis on the student learning experience in Industrial Internshi...
Understanding the Long-Term Sustainable Use of Australian Small Islands
Over two days in early December 2022, fourteen researchers from JCU, the University of Western Australia, Flinders University and the Australian National University gathered in Cairns from a range of ...
Indigenous Food & Business Expo
On November 16, the TNQ Drought Hub was pleased to support the Indigenous Food and Business Expo in Cairns. First Nations owned food and beverage and other businesses from throughout Qu...
Nature Feelz Symnposium
In December 4-8, The Cairns Institute Fellow, Dr Larraine Larri and JCU Doctoral Candidate, Nita Alexander participated in the Sydney Environment Institute, “Nature Feelz Symposium&rdq...
Straits Business: Action Today Impacts Tomorrow
As part of National Indigenous Business Month in October, the TNQ Drought Hub were pleased to partner with the Department of Senior Disability Services Aboriginal and Torres Strait Isla...
Indigenous Economic Development and Sustainable Livelihoods for Northern Australia
The Cairns Institute Research Fellow Dr Jim Turnour is celebrating after receiving his PhD investigating government policy and Indigenous economic development and sustainable livelihood...
Mosman Botanic Garden signs MOU with JCU
The Mossman Botanic Garden (MBG) has signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding with James Cook University (JCU) and is progressing to implementing stage one of the garden project earl...
Engineers Without Borders Challenge Showcase
On December 10, the TNQ Drought Hub, Sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Enterprise Program and The Cairns Institute (TCI) will host the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Showcase&nbs...
Building Social Enterprise Capacity in FNQ
Social Enterprise is an emerging sector in Far North Queensland, a sector that presents a number of opportunities to build more jobs and to address some of the serious ecological, social and...
Deadly Business 2032
Launched in Cairns on October 19 by Di Farmer MP, Queensland Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training and Skills Development, Deadly Business 2032 is a key a...
Re-Imagining the Australian Farm Novel
The Cairns Institute Postgraduate Research Fellow, Elizabeth Smyth, is breaking new ground in georgic literature with two new publications this month. The first is a chapter in Georgic ...
Evaluation Journal of Australasia Publication Award
The 2022 Evaluation Society Awards of Excellence had recently announced that they had awarded the Evaluation Journal of Australasia Publication Award to the Northern Land Council. The paper ...
Introducing Dom Orih
Dom Orih is undertaking his PhD in Education under the supervision of Prof Komla Tsey, Dr Rhian Morgan, and Dr Hyacinth Udah, at The Cairns Institute, James Cook University. He complete...
ABC Top 5 Science
Dr Emma Rehn, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Archaeology with The Cairns Institute, was selected as one of this year’s ABC TOP 5 Science. The program is a two-week residency run by ...
Introducing Rebekah Lisciandro
Rebekah Lisciandro is passionate about developing her career in research, specifically in health sociology and health justice. Their goal is to help increase health equity, access, and reduc...
Social Work Placements in General Practice
Facilitating Learning and Improving Wellbeing Dr Ines Zuchowski, a Research Fellow at The Cairns Institute, and Ms Simoane McLennan led a North Queensland Public Health Network-funded resear...
QSEC FNQ Regional Activator
Jennifer McHugh is working with The Queensland Social Enterprise Council Ltd (QSEC) as the QSEC Activator for Far North QLD region. QSEC exists to support a vibrant, innovative and capa...
Scholarships for Indigenous women to succeed in STEM
In the late 1990s, when Dr Chris Sarra became the first Aboriginal principal of Cherbourg State School, he challenged the whole school community to have High-Expectations Relationships ...
Research for Ethical Development Symposium
On 13-14 July JCU’s Research for Ethical Development (JCU RED) group held its inaugural research symposium at the Cairns Institute via hybrid delivery mode. Over two engaging days...
Hunter's Reef Madness
Professor Ernest Hunter, an Adjunct with The Cairns Institute, recently published a book titled Reef Madness: Digging up the dirt on an Australian myth. The book centres on how for gene...
What's in a name? Unearthing the origin of the ethnonym Ayoreo
Ayoreo is an indigenous language of the Zamucoan family spoken by about 4,500 people in northern Paraguay and southeastern Bolivia. Although we knew that the name Ayoreo means ‘people&...
The North provides for Australia's economic future and prosperity
The annual Developing Northern Australia Conference was held in Mackay 6-8 July 2022. Allan Dale is the Chair of this long running Conference that provides a platform for networking and conn...
Award-winning Irish Poet coming to Cairns
Colm Keegan is described as, “One of the most important voices in contemporary Irish literature” by poet Kerrie O’Brien, and he is coming to The Cairns Institute, Australia...
John Hamilton
The International Consortium for Electronic Business’ Regional VP for Australasia and The Cairns Institute Adjunct Chair Professor John Hamilton delivered the Universitas Diponegoro (I...
A community undertaking, Tender FNQ
On Monday 8th August, The Cairns Institute hosted a film screening of ‘Tender’. It is a film that documents the story of a community building a way to create more meaningful and&...
IERC meets Flinders U
Coffee and collaborations were on the agenda when colleagues from the Indigenous Education and Research Centre and The Cairns Institute met with visiting researchers from Flinders Unive...
Development in the Tropics update
The Development in the Tropics team (DITT) recently completed workshops with the Commonwealth, Queensland, and Northern Territory governments for the Marine and Coastal Hub’s Regi...
Brain Health in the Tropics
The Cairns Institute has been a partner with the Creating Futures initiative since 2012. Creating Futures (CF) has evolved from a conference to a movement that seeks to harness experience,&n...
IRSA2022 visits Mossman Sugar Mill
Mossman Sugar Mill is the most northern raw sugar factory in Australia. Each year between June and November, they crush approximately 1 million tonnes of cane and deliver over 130 thous...
Herstory: Alisa Hasamoh
Alisa hails from Thailand and had been supervised by Distinguished Professor Stewart Lockie and Dr Theresa Petray. She submitted her thesis in 2018 and had to leave Australia for Thailand as...
Jane Oorschot
The Cairns Institute’s Research Fellow and recently appointed Building Human Capacity Lead for the TNQ Drought Hub, Dr Jane Oorschot attended the IRSA2022 XV World Congress of Rur...
World Congress finally meets in Cairns
After two years of postponement; restricted international borders, COVID-19 regulations and airline schedule disruptions, delegates converged onto Cairns for the XV World Congress of Rural&n...
Movement in The Streets
The Streets Movement Organisation (TSM) is an Indigenous community development organisation which provides programs, pathways and opportunities for the disconnected, forgotten and waywa...
Cross-sector collaboration for EYC2022
We know that supported parents are the key to bringing up great kids, which is why the theme “It takes a village to raise a parent” was chosen for the 2022 conference. The Nation...
Connecting people to country through education
The Cairns Institute’s Research Fellow, Dr Vincent Backhaus had the opportunity to speak with radio host Trevor Tim on Bumma Bippera Media’s TalkBlack in May. As one of very few ...
Anne Stephens
The Queensland Parliament’s Education, Employment and Training Committee met on the 23 May to conduct a briefing with industry experts in VET challenges, opportunities and deliver...
Welcome Shannon
Shannon Burns joined The Cairns Institute in March 2022. Previously, he had held positions with the Queensland Government’s Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Pol...
Introducing Ellie Bock
Ellie Bock is undertaking a Master of Philosophy (Society and Culture), and in April presented her pre-completion seminar: Prescient Custodians: Biocultural Ecological Economics and Res...
Pacific Women's Political Empowerment
On 8 March 2022, Teddy Winn joined a small group of distinguished women scholars in Australia and PNG via zoom to discuss issues related to political and socio-economic empowerment of w...
Ed Johnson's visit to Cairns
Ed Johnson visited The Cairns Institute in February to explore research opportunities after recently completing his PhD at the University of Sydney. The collaborative and meaningful nature&n...
The myth of non-interference: Chinese foreign policy in Cambodia
On 13 April 2022, The Cairns Institute’s Research Fellow Dr Kearrin Sims and Griffiths University PhD Candidate Sovinda Po delivered a joint presentation to The Australian National Uni...
UN International Decade for Indigenous Languages
On 15 March 2022, the Cairns Institute Adjunct Professor Craig Volker joined colleagues from Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Germany in an online panel discussion at the Lowy Institute Austr...
Unpacking interregional migration
Diana Castorina is currently completing her PhD in economics in the area of interregional migration in Australia where her overall research objective seeks to understand what makes people wa...
Developing Northern Australia 2022
Professor Allan Dale will chair the Developing Northern Australia (DNA) Conference for the eighth time in 2022. The conference will be held from 6 to 8 July 2022 at the Mackay Entertainment&...
New addition to the QSEC Board
Dr Narayan Gopalkrishnan has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Queensland Social Enterprise Council (QSEC), the peak body for social enterprise in Queensland.Dr Gopalkrishnan, ...
STEM initiative at Parramatta State School
Parramatta State School (PSS) in collaboration with Wet Tropics Management Authority (WTMA) and James Cook University (JCU) recently held a field day for the Yellow Crazy Ant Eradicatio...
JCU RED is Founded
JCU’s Research for Ethical Development group – JCU RED – was established in late 2021 to promote ethical development research and ethical development practice. The work of ...
Welcoming Mitchell Sheppard
The Cairns Institute welcomed its newest member; Mitchell Sheppard (pictured above) who joins the Tropical Development team led by Professor Allan Dale. The team includes Jennifer McHug...
Circular Economy FNQ by Irene Pollak
Irene Pollak (pictured above) speaks and writes passionately on the Circular Economy space in Far North Queensland. She is keen to get everyone onboard and has big plans in steering this&nbs...
IRSA2022 back on track
The XV World Congress of Rural Sociology was originally planned for 2020. When the global pandemic halted all travel, plans were put in place to postpone the congress to 2022. With PM M...
National Research Institute of Papua New Guinea
James Cook University (JCU) signed a five-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the National Research Institute of Papua New Guinea (NRI) on December 7 2021. NRI conducts independ...
Exploring the historical linguistics of endangered languages
The decade 2022-2032 was declared by UNESCO International Decade of Indigenous Languages. In a world threatened by the loss of linguistic and cultural diversity, the documentation of en...
Containers of Culture
Application of Anthropology in the Workplace: The Museum Context Students enrolled in AN2114 “Australia through Time and Place” had the opportunity in October 2021 to learn about...
Anthropology Research Seminar 2021: Researching Social Creativity and Global Transformation with and through Audiovisual Technologies
During 2021, the Anthropology Research Seminar was hosted by ALTAR (The Anthropological Laboratory for Tropical Audiovisual Research) based at the Cairns Institute. The Seminar brought ...
Seagrass Seminar Series
TCI’s Jennifer McHugh who is the Program Coordinator for Development of the Tropics was asked to present at the World Seagrass Association’s Seagrass Seminar Series in 2022. ...
Social Enterprise Summit for Northern Australia [SESNA 2021]
This year’s SESNA 2021 was held on the 12th of November and brought together policy makers, practitioners, academics and other stakeholders with an interest in social enterprise in Northern Aust...
Spirit, Story, Symbol: Indigenous Curating in the Queensland Rainforest
Tahnee Innes is a PhD student in Anthropology. Tahnee tells us that her thesis has now been examined, and she is looking forward to being conferred in December this year. Her research project set out ...
Psych Research Bites
The Psych Research Bites Series is initiated by the Psychology Research Committee and aims to celebrate our Department’s vibrant, innovative, and collaborate research culture. The series will pr...
PhD Intro Kula Kalinoe
Kula is a Papua New Guinean PhD Student at JCU. She is supervised by Professor Rosita Henry, Dr. Michael Wood, Professor Elizabeth Spencer and Professor Sam Kaipu (UPNG). After growing up in Port More...
Changing rural economies
Professor Hurriyet Babacan is the Research Director for the Rural Economies Centre of Excellence (RECoE). RECoE is a first-of-its-kind rural economic research collaboration comprised of four Queenslan...
Torres and Cape Disaster Resilience Forum
The Torres Cape Indigenous Council Alliance (TCICA) hosted its second Indigenous Local Government Disaster Resilience Forum in Cairns on the 7th October. Facilitated by Professor Allan Dale, the forum...
TEDxJCU Cairns update
Our resident TEDxJCU Cairns curator, Jennifer McHugh writes an apology to the greater Cairns TEDx followers. ‘We’re sorry!! I know it’s been a while since you have heard from us. We ...
Digital Transformation in a Post Covid World
The year 2020 started with usual promises of technological advancements and a global economic rally that showed no signs of slowing down. Little did we know that, in a matter of weeks, our usual lifes...
Social Science for the Reef: Inaugural Symposium
The inaugural Great Barrier Reef's social science symposium bought together more than 200 scientists to discuss the role of social science in Reef management. The Reef social science symposium held in...
Leading from the North
Allan Dale was one of the editors of a recently released book lilted ‘Leading From The North.’ The book published by ANU Press, aims to improve public dialogue around the future of N...
Mindfulness and Mental Health in the Time of the Pandemic
In this special issue, they welcomed quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies, and systematic reviews that address, but were not limited to, the following topics in relation to mindfulness...
Seeking expressions of interest from Masters/Honours students
Expressions of interest are sought for Masters or Honours students for the following project: Exploring responses to genetic reef restoration – This project will suit an Honours or Masters stude...
It's all about the people: Stewart Lockie on National TalkBlack Radio
On the 22nd of September Director of The Cairns Institute Professor Stewart Lockie spoke on National TalkBlack radio with Bumma Bippera Media’s legendary radio host Trevor Tim. Bumma Bipper...
Moving in the Rights direction
To successfully conserve nature requires empowered stewardship by Indigenous Peoples and local communities Debates about averting a global ecological emergency often focus on how much lan...
Spotlight on Dr Fiona Allison
Fiona completed a doctoral thesis in 2020 looking at First Nations access to justice in the area of race discrimination - an issue with significant impacts across all First Nations communities. Recour...
The Litterateurs Rainforest Retreat for Academic and Creative Writers
The Inspiration behind The Litterateurs Rainforest Retreat from Tony Castles PhD Candidate "Academic writing does not always come easily for many of us. Like all of us who are writing, I want to be su...
PhD Intro Elizabeth Smyth
The Cairns Institute Research Fellow Elizabeth Smyth connects a forgotten novel set in the Wet Tropics Bioregion with the georgic mode of Virgil’s classical poetry in a paper to be pub...
Creating Futures Online Conference 2021
Over eighteen years, Creating Futures has evolved from a conference to a movement that seeks to harness the experience, expertise, innovation and goodwill to build the capacities necess...
Publication of Malaria Elimination Open Access Resources
Professor Peter Case recently published a set of open access resources in collaboration with the Malaria Elimination Initiative (MEI) and the University of California, San Francisco.The reso...
ReConnecting with GBR communities to achieve socially and culturally responsible Reef Restoration
Recently, a post-doctoral fellow from The Cairns Institute, Dr Gillian Paxton, travelled to Cooktown to join the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program’s Indigenous Partnerships team ...
Cape York Dynamic Business Symposium
Cooktown provided the spectacular backdrop for the symposium held June 15-16 as part of the Cooktown & Cape York Expo. The Cairns Institute, led by Professor Hurriyet Babacan, in partner...
My journey by Fiona Wirrer George Oochunyung
My PhD Journey has been one of the most intense and yet empowering processes I have encountered throughout my academic growth and development. The academic rigours as demanded and acqui...
CRC Pulse of the Community Survey
The Cairns Institute are working with Cairns Regional Council to find out how residents have been impacted and continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in our Pulse of the Community stud...
Kristine Van Dinther invited by the HAU
Adjunct Research Fellow with the Cairns Institute, Kristine Van Dinther, was happy to be invited by HAU: The Journal of Ethnographic Theory last year to share in the debate regarding th...
PhD Intro Teddy Winn
Hailing from Papua New Guinea, Teddy is a PhD Candidate in Political Science, College of Arts, Society and Education at James Cook University’s Townsville campus. He has a political sc...
RRAP: An ambitious and inclusive research program to help the Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest living structure and an ecosystem of significant aesthetic, cultural, economic and ecological value. However, warming oceans are causing more freque...
Valuing the Contribution of Biodiversity to Papua New Guinea's Economy and Livelihoods
UNDP Papua New Guinea, together with the national government, is partnering with James Cook University to account for the importance of biodiversity and ecosystem services in shaping Papua New Guinea&...
Launch of the Pacific Women's Political Empowerment Research Group - International Women's Day 2021
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Apply Now: Global Green Business Ideas Competition
Applications are now open for ClimateLaunchpad, the world’s largest and most successful cleantech and green business ideas competition. The competition is completely free of charge, and provides...
Northern Australian Savanna Fire Forum
Reported by Rebecca Pearse Holding a virtual forum might not have the buzz and opportunities that emerge from physically networking, spotting faces across the coffee lounge, re kindling or seeding new...
Cairns South Community Champions
A pilot program to encourage community to strengthen and cultivate community champions in Cairns South was recently delivered by the Cairns Institute and PCYC Safer communities. Jennifer McHugh throug...
Re-visualising the Past, Imagining the Future: Race, Governance and Development in PNG
Laurie Bragge’s gift of his personal archive of material concerning his life and work in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to James cook University was astoundingly detailed. Laurie was a "kiap"; patrol of...
Backseat Books
During the COVID lockdown period (April-June 2020) The Cairns Institute, as part of the Cairns South Collective Impact project, brought service providers together through informal online meetings. Thi...
BobikÃxh: An international online conference on the Indigenous languages of the Chiquitania
Organizers: José Chuvé, Luca Ciucci, Swintha Danielsen, María Pia Franco, Brittany Hause, Andrey Nikulin, Paula Peña, Ignacio Tomichá, Claudia Vaca....
Feral Atlas ranks 15 in Power 100
The London-based magazine ArtReview recently released their annual Power 100 list of the top influencers in the contemporary art world for 2020. The Cairns Institute's theme leader...
Join a multi-institutional team of social scientists contributing to the RRAP
Three opportunities to be involved in this partnership; a multi-institutional team of social scientists contributing to the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP), Community Engagement Subprog...
Enhancing Women's Position in PNG's Protected Area Network
James Cook University has partnered with the United Nations Development Programme in Papua New Guinea to conduct a Gender Analysis and develop a Gender Action Plan for the Sustainable Financing of PNG...
Feral Atlas: The More-Than-Human Anthropocene
A digital experiment in multispecies storytelling, has just been released by Stanford University Press as an open access, interactive website. Feral Atlas invites you to explore the ecolo...
Phone and Spear
Right in time for Open Access week, Phone & Spear by Miyarrka Media has gone digital. It is now available to everyone as on MIT's Knowledge Futures Group platform Pubpub. The book stretc...
Call to smarten up Northern Australia's agricultural supply chains
Northern Australia’s agricultural supply chains need an urgent shake up to fully capitalise on the region’s economic development opportunities – a new Cooperative Research Centre for...
JCU scoops the pool in national video competition
Picking up their cameras to answer the question “What is Anthropology?”, JCU postgraduate students took out two out of three prizes in the Australian Anthropological Society’s E...
COVID-19 and Young Australians - The long-term effects of a pandemic
Don’t take a gap year, stay engaged, work or study, was the advice from University of Melbourne researcher Dr Jenny Chesters for young people wondering what they should be doing to build positiv...
Toku Fenua Tuvalu - Project
Tuvalu is the smallest Pacific Island state, with a population of less than 13,000 people, predominantly Polynesian, located to the north of Fiji and immediately south of Kiribati. The former British ...
Mossman Botanic Gardens taking shape
A new Australian national tropical botanical garden is taking shape in Mossman, north of Port Douglas, with strong links to The Cairns Institute and James Cook University. The Mossman Botanic Garden w...
Agricultural futures: growing with technology
Drought, climate variability, biosecurity, global competition and consumer preferences are some of the greatest challenges facing Australian farmers, their impacts threatening our position among the m...
JCU at Istanbul Biennial
In September last year the 16th Istanbul Biennial officially opened, unveiling its theme of ‘The Seventh Continent’ to a packed room of cameras and international Press. The Cairns Institut...
Dances with Cranes
Dr Tim Nevard has just joined the Cairns Institute as an Adjunct Professor. His career has encompassed roles in corporate governance, business development, sustainability, policy and communicati...
Clean Growth Choices
Professor Allan Dale has led the Clean Growth Choices project which partnered with USQ, CSIRO and the Eco-Efficiency Group (the Clean Growth Choices Consortium) with funding from Queensland Government...
Reuniting a linguistic family: From the ancient Taino of the Caribbean to the modern Tariana of the Brazilian Amazon in the times of COVID 19
COVID 19 has swept across the world, wreaking havoc and affecting the most vulnerable and unprotected. With a ‘tropical Trump’ for a president and a precarious health care system for those...
Examination of the Bradfield inland irrigation scheme
Professor Allan Dale has been appointed to a three person panel to conduct a comprehensive State government examination of the Bradfield inland irrigation scheme. The panel will be chaired by Professo...
Disquiet: Ecological Anxieties & Transformations
The knowledge that, every year, millions of tonnes of plastic are discarded into the environment, and that plastic is found everywhere from deep ocean floors to high mountain ranges, gives rise to fee...
Cairns South Collective Forum in July
Led by Professor Allan Dale,the Cairns South Collective Impact Project, continues to connect and collaborate to improve outcomes for children in Cairns South. In July we held a forum including a prese...
Ever wondered what our curriculum teaches kids about climate change? The answer is ‘not much’
The following article was originally published in The Conversation on 19 September 2019, authored by Cairns Institute Research Fellows, A/Prof Hilary Whitehouse and Ms Larraine Larri. This story...
New book, Pil: Ancestral Stories of the Lihir Islands, launched in Papua New Guinea
A new book by TCI Research Fellow, Dr Kirsty Gillespie has recently been launched in Papua New Guinea. Pil: Ancestral Stories of the Lihir Islands is a collection of seven pil stories in Lihir and Eng...
Poor digital inclusion in FNQ is a barrier to economic and social development
New research by James Cook University explores the need to improve digital connectivity in Far North Queensland agricultural communities. Rural local governments and community organisations also need ...
Ironic twist wraps up PhD
Kristine Van Dinther explored the ethics of end of life decision making by examining the experiences of family members who were engaged with the care of a loved one with terminal cancer. She found tha...
The National Family Wellbeing Forum: Sharing stories on the journey to empowerment
This is a story about saving lives. It’s a story about regaining control. It’s a story about overturning generations of disempowerment. Above all it’s a story of hope. This is the st...
Addressing inclusive and sustainable economic development across a global stage
Approximately half the world’s population lives on the equivalent of US$2 a day with global unemployment rates of 5.7%. There is great need to rethink our social and economic policies aimed at e...
Please help us maintain a beautifully restored Kubirri Creek
On the northern outskirts of Mossman appears a line of riparian vegetation framed against the mountain backdrop. The vegetation is along the banks of Kubirri creek, a small seasonal tributary of the M...
Cairns South community come together to make a Collective Impact
Late last month, the Collective Impact project group held a workshop to update key stakeholders on the project progress and to also seek input into the update of the 2016 State of the Children Report....