CDU Researcher Profile

School of Environmental & Life Sciences
Faculty of Education, Health and Science
Charles Darwin University
Darwin NT 0909
Australia

• Research interests
• Publications
• Current projects
• Recent completions supervised

Research Interests

Research Interests

Tropical floodplain ecology
Plant population ecology
Weed ecology

Professional Highlights
National Carrick Institute Citation (2006) for An engaging, flexible postgraduate program, focusing on tropical Australia and building skills and understandings for regional Professionals in authentic learning contexts. ($10,000) http://www.carrickinstitute.edu.au/carrick/go/pid/97. In collaboration with Dr Keith Mc Guinness, Dr Lindsay Hutley, Dr Diane Pearson and Dr Samantha Setterfield (CDU).

National Australian Society for Computers in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE) Award (2005). Fire Ecology & Management in Northern Australia teaching and learning materials won one of the 2005 National ASCILITE Awards for Educational Design & Technology in Tertiary Education, for “Exemplary use of electronic technologies in teaching and learning in higher education” http://www.cdu.edu.au/newsroom/story.php?nID=638. In collaboration with Dr Lesley Instone (CDU), Helen Rysavy (CDU) and Dr Kate Parr (CSIRO/Bushfire CRC).

Recent Publications

Kayrooz C., Wurm P., and Myers B. (in prep). Curriculum Collaboration in Science for Australian and Indonesian universities: Beyond neo-colonialism. In Australian University Science Teaching at the Crossroads.

Bellairs S.M., Wurm P.A.S. & Kernich B. (in prep). A comparison of the seed biology of an annual and perennial Australian wild rice species (Oryza rufipogon and O. meridionalis). In preparation for Seed Science Research.

da Costa Guterres A., Wurm P., Janes J. and Paul T (accepted). The Control of Bellyache Bush (Jatropha gossypifolia) Monocultures - Properties of a Bellyache Bush Burn. Peer reviewed paper In ‘Topics in the Tropics’: Proceedings of the 16th Australian Weeds Conference, Cairns, QLD, 18-22 May 2008.

Wurm P.A.S. (2007) Suppression of germination and establishment of native annual rice by an exotic grass on an Australian monsoonal floodplain. Plant Protection Quarterly 22(3): 106-112.

Wurm P., Kayrooz C., Karwur F. & Hill G. (2007). Higher education capacity building in eastern Indonesia: a briefing paper. In Djoeroemana S., Myers B., Russell-Smith J., Blyth M. & Salean I.E.T (eds) Integrated rural development in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Proceedings of a workshop to identify sustainable rural livelihoods, held in Kupang, Indonesia, 5-7 April 2006. ACIAR Proceedings No 126, 196p.

Wurm P.A.S., Bellairs S.M. & Kernich B. (2006) Suppression of native wild rice germination by exotic para grass. In C. Preston, J.H. Watts & N.D. Crossman, 'Managing Weeds in a Changing Climate': Proceedings of the 15th Australian Weeds Conference, Adelaide, SA, 24-28 September 2006, pp 823-826.

Wurm P.A.S. & Sememiuk V. (2000). The Leschenault Inlet estuary: physical features and habitats for benthic fauna. Journal of the Royal Society of WA Special edition 83(4): 229-250.

Semeniuk V. & Wurm P.A.S. (2000). Molluscs of the Leschenault Inlet estuary: their diversity, distribution, and population dynamics. Journal of the Royal Society of WA Special edition 83(4): 377-418.

Wurm P.A.S. (1998). A surplus of seeds: high rates of post-dispersal seed predation in flooded grassland in monsoonal Australia. Australian Journal of Ecology 23: 385-392.

Current Projects

Capacity Building for Higher Education in Eastern Indonesia (2006, on going). Coordinating member of CDU higher education team in a consortium of universities, developing collaborative curriculum products, staff exchanges and postgraduate research training – in collaboration with staff at CDU, Satya Wacana Christian University and Nusa Cendana University. The current focus of this project is a collaborative curriculum development project, comprising a field intensive unit, for postgraduate and advanced undergraduate Australian and Indonesian students, to be held in eastern Indonesia. In development.

Has a coursework master in tropical environmental management impacted on the professional practice of its graduates? (2006 – 2007) – in collaboration with Dr Lindsay Hutley, Dr Samantha Setterfield and Professor Ian Falk. This project is a formal evaluation of the Master program, funded by CDU Project Grant.

Recent Completions Supervised

Master of by research:

Acacio da Costa Guterres. The effects of mechanical treatments on the control of Bellyache Bush (Jatropha gossypiifolia) (Commencing semester 1 2007) External, local co-supervisor for Curtin University candidature (70%).

James Boyden. Landscape-scale analysis of the environmental weed, Paragrass (Urochloa mutica), on the Magela Creek floodplain, Kakadu National Park: A case study of remote sensing to monitoring and spatial risk assessment (Commencing semester 1 2007) Associate supervisor (15%).

Master of Tropical Environmental Management research projects:
The basis for decision making in the establishment of primary industries in the NT – political or scientific? (2007) Margaret Roberts

What comprises an appropriate burning regime for Northern Territory floodplains? (2006)Eva Hruskova

Has the Carpentarian grasswren Amytornis dorotheae (Mathews 1914) declined in the Gulf of Carpentaria (NT) since 1986? (2005) Justin Perry

The dilemma of listing natural heritage in the N T under the Heritage Conservation Act of NT (1991). (2005) John Bonney

Seagrass Watch, an example of a community environmental monitoring program: An evaluation of its effectiveness (2004) Deb Bass

Community based environmental management plans for the tropical savannas (2004)Fiona Eddleston

A review of environmental impact statements in Port Curtis, Gladstone (2003) Natalie Madden

The Northern Territory wild-catch barramundi fishery: A comparative investigation of the social, cultural, economic and environmental values for key stakeholders (2003) Brian Cluney

North Australian beef industry natural resource management best practice. (2002)Siobhan Dennis

Vegetation Compositional and Structural Changes over a 27 years on the Revegetated Minesite, Nhulunbuy, N.T. (2002) Rachel Wedd