Three researchers with strong ties to La Trobe Asia and the La Trobe Centre for Global Security have been awarded more than $3 million in research funds by the ARC.
La Trobe University researchers have been awarded almost $7 million in Australian Research Council funding to pursue research addressing challenges ranging from climate change to drug-related harm and antimicrobial resistance. Three successful recipients have strong ties with La Trobe Asia and the La Trobe Centre for Global Security.
Dr Ruth Gamble, Director of La Trobe Asia, will undertake the first historical study of energy transitions across the Asia-Australian Monsoon Zone - a region home to half the world's population and a growing majority of global carbon emissions.
Professor Andrea Carson, our Information Security Pillar Lead and Director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne, will deliver the first global systematic study of how election authorities can effectively counter electoral misinformation.
Dr Lauren Gawne, linguist and Centre member, will document Australia's national ways of gesturing - providing the first detailed record of the multimodal features of Australian English, including a sovereign digital database of Australian gesture for cultural and technical application.
Dr Gamble's project will examine how historical forces shaped the zone's interconnected energetic systems across the twentieth century, including climate, fuel, food and labour systems, plantations, and industries, and how those forces created unequal socio-ecological impacts that continue to hinder the adoption of renewable energy today.
"We cannot understand the energy challenges facing the Asia-Australian Monsoon Zone without understanding how we got here," says Dr Ruth Gamble. "This project will give policymakers a richer, historically grounded picture of what drives those challenges and where the opportunities lie, and I'm grateful to my university colleagues and community for supporting me in my research."
"These fellowships are wonderful recognition of the exceptional scholarship of three colleagues whose work reflects the full breadth of what security and engagement in the Asia-Pacific demands," says Professor Bec Strating, Director of the La Trobe Centre for Global Security. "From the historical forces shaping energy transitions, to the integrity of democratic information, to the cultural dimensions of language - each of these projects asks something important about how we understand and navigate our region."
The ARC Future Fellowships scheme supports mid-career researchers working in areas of national and international significance, providing four-year fellowships to build Australia's research capacity in priority areas.
