PhD reports

Ground-level governance of Arnhem Land Fire Abatement savanna burning projects: fire for the future, presented by Taegan Calnan.

Based on an analysis of interviews with leaders from four organisations operating savanna fire management projects in Arnhem Land, this presentation will explore what project outcomes drive engagement with the projects, what barriers exist to these outcomes, and what the future priorities are for project outcomes.

The value of the project outcomes is affected by relationships between landowners and ranger groups and relationships within the two-way knowledge sites across the multilevel governance of the projects. Present and potential governance arrangements that support these pivotal relationships are discussed.

Taegan Calnan is an environmental scientist who has worked in natural resource management across northern Australia for the past two decades. She has a strong interest in supporting the Indigenous Land and Sea Management movement that aims to maintain and practice Aboriginal ecological knowledge, improve landscape health, and promote viable livelihoods in remote areas of Australia.

Since 2018, Taegan has been a PhD candidate at Charles Darwin University, researching the governance of Aboriginal-owned savanna fire management carbon abatement projects in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia.

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Impact of fortified biochar on sustainable food crop production and income generation in a vegetable-rice cropping sequence in Timor-Leste, presented by Acacio da Costa Guterres.

Acacio da Costa Guterres is an agronomist with a research practice that includes soil management, agronomy, weed management, food security, postharvest management, agricultural and livelihood applications. He is a Senior Lecturer and Researcher at the Faculty of Agriculture, National University of Timor Lorosa’e in Timor-Leste.

Acacio has also served as the head of the Department of Agronomy (2001-2005; 2016-2020) and deputy manager of the National Scientific Investigation and Research Centre (2010-2012), and has led or been a team member on research projects funded by ACIAR, FAO, IFAD and the Government of Timor-Leste.

His PhD at Charles Darwin University (2020-2024) investigates the impact of fortified rice husk biochar on yields and profitability in a vegetable-rice cropping sequence in Timor-Leste.

YouTube video