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Category Archives: University of the Sunshine Coast
USC Student Assisting FINIA
USC Technology and Innovation in Tourism, Leisure and Events student, Beau Ivey is currently working on a FINIA-nominated ‘industry’ project to help us re-design our barge video.
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8th Biennial K’gari (Fraser Island) Conference
Saturday 31 August 2019
Community, Culture and Collaborations (more…)
K’gari-Fraser Island Mobile App
The University of the Sunshine Coast has developed the K’gari-Fraser Island App which is now available in the App store. Search for ‘Fraser Island Guide’. The App is designed to assist USC’s students and staff plan their trip to the Island, choose itineraries and learn about K’gari. Given the University’s interest in Dilli Village, all itineraries start at Dilli but can be adapted. The App is available to the public, is not commercial and is free to anyone who wishes to download it. (more…)
Fraser Island -K’gari Symposium: Sharing Knowledge, Sharing Understanding
The Fraser-K’gari Island symposium is being held at the Hervey Bay campus of the University of the Sunshine Coast on the 7-8 June 2018. (more…)
Fraser Island Repository
The Fraser Island Repository is a project of the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC). The collection will, for the first time, gather in one place dispersed material relating to Fraser Island, particularly that held in government departments.
Ships Ahoy! Research to Focus on Cruise Tourism
Cruise tourism has witnessed unprecedented growth rates amidst greater interest in terms of new destinations and ships with an impressive array of features. There is some agreement within industry that the sector is likely to continue its growth trajectory given that many cruise tourists are sold to the idea of all-inclusive and value-based pricing strategies employed by many operators. (more…)
The First K’gari BioBlitz
From 28 November to 4 December 2016, a multidisciplinary team of experienced scientists and enthusiastic amateurs based at the University of the Sunshine Coast’s (USC) Dilli Village Research and Education Centre carried out the first of what are hoped to be regular BioBlitzes to better document the wide range of both plant and animal species on Fraser Island (K’gari).
The BioBlitzes are a kind of ‘natural stocktake’ to develop an inventory of every living thing on K’gari. They are extremely important on K’gari, because biological values are one of the three natural values for which the island has been inscribed on the World Heritage list. Criteria (vii) recognises K’gari’s outstanding aesthetic values. Criteria (viii) recognises the ongoing geological processes which are currently being studied over three years by a team from the University of Queensland. Criteria (ix) recognises that the island ‘represents an outstanding example of significant ongoing biological processes. These processes, acting on a sand medium, include biological adaptation (such as unusual rainforest succession), and biological evolution (such as the development of rare and biogeographically significant species of plants and animals). Vegetation associations and succession represented on Fraser Island display an unusual level of complexity, with major changes in floristic and structural composition occurring over very short distances.’ It is this criteria that the BioBlitz was addressing.
Collaboration in Action
The collaboration between the University of the Sunshine Coast and the Fraser Island Defenders Organisation (FIDO) developed further recently when FIDO made a $100,000 donation to the USC on 1 September to fund research into minimising the impact of vehicle traffic on the fragile natural environment of Fraser Island. The collaboration has grown over recent years from the USC sponsorship of the biennial Fraser Island conferences organized by FIDO and the forthcoming BioBlitz, to assisting the development of the Fraser Island Repository at Sippy Downs and other projects. (more…)
Fraser Island WHA Indigenous Advisory Committee FINALIST in National Landcare Awards!
Vote now for the People’s Choice Awards
The Recognising & Recording K’Gari’s (Fraser Island) Cultural Heritage project was initiated by the Fraser Island World Heritage Area Indigenous Advisory Committee in 2012 and was delivered by the Butchulla people and Aboriginal Rangers of Fraser Island.
Through strong partnerships, the project provided training to the Butchulla community, leading to additional cultural heritage sites being located including the highly significant Bogimbah Mission grave sites on this World Heritage listed property. The project has established closer ties between the Aboriginal Ranger team and Butchulla elders and broader engagement and stewardship by the Butchulla community with forums, field trips and newsletters.
Judging is currently underway with the announcements to be made at the National Landcare Conference and Gala Awards being held in Melbourne in September. You can also vote for the Indigenous Advisory Committee in the People’s Choice Awards, just click on the icon.
Note: Although you are able to vote in every category, you don’t have to, so just look for the group in the Indigenous Land Corporation Indigenous Landcare Category.
