Southern Cross University is a contemporary and connected regional research university, with remarkable campus locations - Coffs Harbour and Lismore in New South Wales and the uniquely situated Gold Coast Airport campus in southern Queensland. Our regional environs provide living laboratories for learning and research and creative hubs for artistic endeavour. Southern Cross University has a growing research profile, with 24 research areas identified ‘at or above world standard’ in the most recent Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) national evaluation. Our research strengths include disciplines as diverse as plant genetics, zoology, geoscience, oceanography, engineering, nursing, and complementary and alternative medicine.
As the health of the Murray Darling Basin is in decline, fish ear bones recovered from ancient Aboriginal camp sites can provide vital data about river health in the past.
Volunteer tourism is often criticised for focusing on profit and volunteer experience. But improving monitoring and evaluation and putting host communities in charge can make it more sustainable.
There’s been a drop in the number of people enrolling in teacher preparation courses. This is due to problems such as pay, professional autonomy, and a national obsession with standardised testing.
Our study found that office workers performed just the same, whether the air conditioning was set at 22°C or 25°C. But making that tweak can cut energy use by 18%.
‘Social licence to operate’ is a term describing how much community support a project or company has. As the Northern Rivers CSG experience shows, failing to get it can have costly impacts for firms.
Critics say that #MeToo has turned the legal principle of innocent until proven guilty on its head, but such comments privilege the rights of perpetrators over justice for victims.
Despite the Federal Government’s teacher education reforms and the push for evidence-based teaching, less than 2% of ARC research funding is directed to educational research.
If intelligently managed, festivals attract substantial numbers of LGBT tourists to regional and rural destinations, injecting additional income into the local economies.
Ocean acidification poses an increasing threat to the sediments that form the framework of coral reefs - within around 30 years, these carbonate sands may no longer be able to form.
So-called ‘party’ towns like Byron Bay attract huge numbers of visitors for schoolies weeks and New Year’s Eve – but sometimes at high cost to the young people who live there.
The four ingredients for holy incense are listed in the Old Testament, but there was much debate over the origin of one of them – onycha. Scientists think they’ve now confirmed the source.
Australia’s regional universities face many challenges that need to be addressed at a national level if we’re going to keep feeling the economic benefit from agriculture we felt last financial year.
Doctors often overestimate the time a patient has left to live. In the case of Victoria’s assisted dying bill, an optimistic prediction could deny the patient the peaceful death they deserve.
Finding secure affordable housing is a problem for older women across Australia. But new research finds women in regional areas have different priorities from those in the cities.
Savouring the pleasures in life is linked to better health and well-being. And no, that doesn’t necessarily mean binge drinking or all-night wild parties.