ScienceNetwork WA

STUDENTS at the University of Western Australia are using digital photography software to capture ancient indigenous artwork which has been painted over to help determine how art influenced early Kimberley society.

TRADITIONAL owners are using a unique software program that collects environmental and cultural data to contribute to the land management and conservation of the desert rangelands areas in WA.

OPTICALLY-STIMULATED Luminescence (OSL) has confirmed the earliest datable human habitation at Lake Gregory, Kimberley.

A MARITIME archaeologist says the Camden Harbour settlement site is in urgent need of a proper management plan.

ENGAGING students in science through hands-on activities is a highly effective method of teaching in Aboriginal communities, new research suggests.

SPINIFEX  (Triodia sp.) grasses played an important role in Indigenous culture and researchers from University of Queensland (UQ) are working with traditional land owners in WA to understand more about the genus and its usage.

A NEW research report exploring the escalating suicide toll in the Kimberley has called for culturally based community programs that are designed to empower Aboriginal communities.

A KIMBERLEY archaeologist is studying the Bunuba and Goonyandi rock art using digitally-enhanced photography to expose images in underlying layers of paint without causing any damage.

A SCREENING tool assessing indigenous mental health is being validated and will be ready for distribution across the country this year.

A CURTIN University lecturer’s research on what builds resilience in successful Aboriginal people is being implemented into Indigenous health programs.

THE berries of Grevillea pyramidalis ssp. Leucadendron have caused severe skin burns to children in remote Aboriginal communities.

DO social conditions have a pronounced influence on Australian Aboriginal populations?

AN ethno-ecologist is researching traditional Aboriginal groups’ ecological impact on wild desert plants, which they harvest for sale to wholesale suppliers.

WESTERN Australian Centre for Health and Ageing Professor Leon Flicker says older Kimberley Aboriginal people have a prevalence of dementia five times as high as non-aboriginal Australians.

A WA researcher has found the land management practices of Indigenous Australians throughout prehistoric times may have altered the climate of the State’s north west resulting in a hotter and longer dry season..

THE world's second-largest rimmed meteorite crater is of considerable interest to traditional Aboriginal Law and modern science.

AN Australian research team including international scientists has published findings that reinterpret the history of early Aboriginal descendants.

JARLMADANGAH Burru community holds a joint patent for a traditional Aboriginal pain-killing medicine with Griffith University.

FORTY-five Indigenous secondary students from years nine, ten and 11 travelled from around the State in July to UWA for an Indigenous Science, Engineering and Health Camp.

ABORIGINAL astronomy offers a way for scientists to better understand the depth and richness of one of the world’s oldest stargazing cultures, according to CSIRO astrophysicist Ray Norris.