School of Geography - Theses
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ItemMicro geographies of youth movement in Darjeeling, India( 2020)This thesis explores the everyday experiences of young women aged 19 to 21, as they navigate their lives as college students in a regional Indian town. It draws on two months of ethnographic fieldwork in the northeast Indian town of Darjeeling, to explore young women’s everyday movements in and around Darjeeling’s urban and natural settings. It examines the walking and wandering practices of both unmarried and married students, whose patterns of everyday movement shed light on the relationship between young people’s engagements with space and their own gendered journeys through the life course. I analyse these routine spatial practices to consider how young women’s everyday movements are folded into the wider spatial and social rhythms of life in the town. In this way, this thesis analyses the micro geographies of people’s movements, asking: how do young women move through local space, and what does this tell us about their gendered experience of youth? It examines the everyday walking and wandering practices of this group to highlight the gendered experiences of everyday life, within a period of youth marked by anticipation and uncertainty, waiting and expectation. It argues that these movements while ordinary and routine, bead together the tensions, joys and contradictions at the heart of small-town life.
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ItemPlanting a stance: food security in solar geoengineering discourse( 2020)In order to reduce the impacts of climate change, Solar Geoengineering (SGE) is a technology proposed to reduce impacts of climate change, without the need for CO2 intake. SGE is a largely contested technology and prediction of its impact are contentious, including its expected impact on food security. This study investigated different conceptualisations of food security within SGE debates. Through discourse analysis of 30 texts, 3 storylines were established, being a) food security is not significantly addressed, b) food security will improve under SGE and c) food security will worsen under SGE. The storylines were largely differentiated in their understandings of food security, impacts, and agents. Material and ideational power each storyline and their attached actors and practices was investigated. Material power was lacking overall, however there were distinct differences in how ideational power was attributed to each group.
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ItemBeach Dynamics in Response to Varying Boundary Conditions: The Role of Rocks & Tidal Deltas( 2020)Climate change induced variations in modal wave conditions as are increasing the rates of beach erosion globally, impacting coastal land use and infrastructure. Current research underpinning coastal management has focused on understanding the response of open-coast sandy beaches to changes in wave and tide conditions. However, current predictive models and understandings of shoreline change do not apply to all beach systems as they ignore the influence of different boundary conditions, such as geological constraints and estuarine processes, on beach dynamics. To create sustainable management plans for coastlines, a comprehensive understanding of shoreline change across different boundary conditions is required. This research aims to understand how annual-decadal scale beach change varies in response to changing boundary conditions, using Inverloch in Victoria (Australia) as a case study site. A combination of modern and historical aerial imagery between 1950-2020 and UAV-derived elevation models, were used calculate the rates and magnitude of shoreline change. Particle size analysis was performed to determine the energy environment and sediment transport pathways within Inverloch. At Inverloch, shoreline change was found to be spatially and temporally variable, with geological controls being a primary factor moderating wave energy and driving alongshore variations in shoreline change. The modern morphology of the Inverloch coastline is inherited from a series of storms in 2012-2013, which removed large volumes of sand from the open coast and into the Inlet. The volume of sediment eroded from the open-coast was found to account for only 1/6th of the total sediment deposited, suggesting that there are additional sediment sources, which are hypothesised to be the flood-tide delta and adjacent barrier island. This research displays the unique morphodynamic behaviour of estuarine and geologically controlled beaches and highlights the potential sediment transport pathways within estuaries, which can be used to refine current models of shoreline change.
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ItemFrom sandcastles to concrete jungles: researching the sand industry in Victoria, Australia( 2020)Carr and Gibson (2016) call for renewed attention to resources which constitute the making of our modern world. I respond to their call by focusing on sand, a primary ingredient in concrete and the making of the contemporary urban form. A critical but under-studied resource, sand requires further research attention and to address this gap, I conducted fieldwork from June to August 2020 into the sand industry in Victoria, Australia. Research included conducting semi-structured interviews, participant mapping, and site observations. I approached this research by bringing together two key frameworks to illuminate the human and non-human actors involved in the production of sand as a resource. First, I deployed frameworks on the tracing or ‘following’ of commodities (Cook et al., 2004; Tsing, 2015). Second, I looked to the literature on 'becoming' a resource (Zimmermann, 1933). This research approach enabled me to not only identify some key actors in Victoria’s sand trade, but also helped to outline the sand production network, from sites of survey and extraction, to consumption and recycling. In outlining the production network of sand, I was also able to show how sand ‘becomes’ a natural resource, attending to both human and nonhuman actors. The key argument I put forward is that a critical part of attending to the production network and the ‘becoming’ of sand is identification of the rhythms and changes in form that it undergoes as it moves across the production network. In doing so, this thesis aims to extend literature on human environment relations to the realm of sand and the sand industry.
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ItemSurfacing, intensifying and accelerating: how COVID-19 changed social relations in Quanzhou, China( 2020)The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a variety of social, political and economic changes at the global scale. In examining the changing social relations under the influence of the pandemic, this thesis reports the findings of an empirical investigation undertaken in Quanzhou, China. While COVID-19 is considered an overwhelming crisis that created a series of disruptions in people’s everyday lives, it is shown here that the pandemic has influenced the ways people interact with others in a more complex and ambiguous manner. Changes include conflicts occurred to parent-child relationships and spousal relationships in private spaces, as well as othering and digitisation of urban life in public spaces. By examining the observed changes, this thesis demonstrates that rather than being the source of changes, COVID-19 and the resulting policies have played a critical role in surfacing, intensifying and accelerating existing process of change in people’s social relations in the private and public spheres of Quanzhou. It is also evident that through these influences, the pandemic has the potential to facilitate a ‘bounce forward’ from society’s former equilibrium to a new state.
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ItemFarmers’ responses to non-chemical-fertilizer-utilization policy in the source region of the middle route of the South-to-North Water Transfer project( 2019)The water shortage is a major issue to constrict the development of North China, especially Beijing. The South-to-North Water Transfer project was constructed to solve this issue, by diverting sufficient water from the southern part of China to North China. One of the water protection policies was issued by the Chinese government is the Non-Chemical-Fertilizer-Utilization Policy. This policy will influence the farmers living in the source regions of the middle route of this hydrological project. The aims of this thesis are to investigate the response of these farmers in their daily lives and to understand how the local farmers arrive at the final consequences in this instance. Three questions are proposed: 1) How will those farmers respond to this non-chemical-fertilizer-utilization policy? 2) What are the impacts of this policy? 3) What does the factor influence their responses? This thesis applied plenty of interdisciplinary theories to explain the farmers’ responses comprehensively, mainly from two perspectives the attitude and behavior of them. The research questions are solved by analyzing the data collected from a case study located in the source region. The main research methods used in this thesis are semi-structured interviews and questionnaire surveys, supplied by the direct observation in fieldwork and the secondary source from the internet. The findings state that the responses of farmers towards the policy are various, three main responses are detected, the resistance, the conformity, and the anti-compliance. Even though they hold different attitudes, the ultimate consequence of behavior is the same. No one obeys the policy. The thesis finds there is a change in the implementation of the policy, consequently, the results of the responses in the two phases are different. The finding concludes the changes in the agriculture structure in this village. The thesis also reveals the main factors influencing the response of farmers, and they are economically rational individuals.
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ItemAnalysing climate-forced urbanisation in Mongolia( 2019)By 2030, two thirds of humanity is likely to live in urban areas. In many nations such as Mongolia, rapid urbanisation can be associated with development challenges where many people live with limited access to adequate urban infrastructure and services. There are many drivers of urbanisation in Mongolia. One of these drivers is thought to be a cold-climate disaster (dzud), that causes mass livestock fatality and consequent rural-urban migration, when nomadic herders are thought to seek alternative opportunities in urban centres such as the overcrowded capital city, Ulaanbaatar. As a result the city’s urban footprint is thought to spatially expand. The dynamics of this coupled human-physical system are not well understood. This project used mixed-methods, conducting qualitative and quantitative analyses of urban expansion in Ulaanbaatar. It used supervised classification on a 30-year time series of satellite images to measure the rate of change in urban areas from 1989-2019. To gather an understanding of the context of this phenomenon the spatial findings were compared with the opinions expressed in 26 semi-structured interviews with urban management experts in Mongolia to analyse the potential relationship between dzud and the rate of urban expansion. The findings may carry implications for the management of urbanisation in Mongolia, while enhancing our understanding of human-environment relations more broadly.
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ItemThe drivers of hourly-scale surface changes on shore platforms( 2017)Subaerial weathering is a key process in the formation of shore platforms, with downwearing dominating the semi-horizontal intertidal rock surfaces. Over decadal to millennial scales this downwearing lowers platforms to mean low water spring tide elevations. On daily to hourly timescales, however, swelling at micro-scale (
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ItemWave energy transformations over Type-B shore platforms with beaches( 2016)The evolution of rock coasts is driven by the erosional power of wave energy. Type-B shore platforms provide a morphologically unique environment for wave energy transformation between gravity and infragravity frequencies. All previous studies of wave dynamics over Type -B shore platforms have taken place on platforms with a vertical cliff at their rear, while platforms backed by beaches having been overlooked despite their prevalence. The Caves shore platform on Cape Paterson, Victoria, Australia, provides an ideal case study to examine how wave energy changes over Type-B shore platforms backed by dissipative beaches. The platform itself is 180 m wide with a 0.7 degree slope and experiences an average tidal range of 1.8 m. Over the course of 12 months, wave probes (benthic pressure sensors) were deployed at regular intervals over the platform's surface, capturing incident wave conditions ranging from low (offshore wave heights = 1.5 m) to high intensity (heights = 3.5m). This study investigates the effect of platform morphology, offshore wave height and on-platform water depths as limiting factors for energy transformation. Wave energy attenuation and transformation at The Caves was found to be moderated both spatially and temporally, with a strong relationship existing between tidal height and on-platform wave energy. Wave heights and energy spectra differ markedly between the platform's seaward edge and beach toe due to morphological forcing of wave conditions over the platform's width. Infragravity wave energy was found to be dampened in the nearshore environment (up to a 30% reduction in energy signal compared to previous studies) due to beach face causing dissipation of wave energy. The specific energy transformation between gravity and infragravity frequencies were also modulated, but the dominance of infragravity wave energy over the platform's width suggests transformation is occurring in the sub-tidal zone.
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ItemRethinking risk on rocky coasts: moving towards integrated physical and social hazard analysis( 2015)Rocky coasts are hazardous environments accounting for 19% of all coastal drowning fatalities in Australia from 2004 - 2014 (Surf Life Saving Australia, 2014). In most cases, drowning fatalities are thought to result from waves washing over platforms, which sweep unsuspecting victims into the sea. Morphological elements of the shoreline, namely platform elevation, the slope of platforms, and the depth of water off the seaward edge, have been shown to be key elements for understanding the likelihood of wave overtopping: termed Morphological Exposure (Me) (Kennedy et al., 2013). However, little is known about what features of the rocky coast are perceived as being hazardous. This gap is an obstacle to understanding complex behavior in human-environmental systems as well as the interactions between humans with place, which are more complex than physical assessments are able to capture. The focus of this project is to address this gap by integrating the physical risk of wave overtopping (Me) and socially perceived risk with the aim of generating a holistic understanding of hazards on shore platforms. This can be used to promote safe decision making and behavior in risky situations and reduce the likelihood of drowning fatalities on rocky coasts. Perceived risk data was collected via an online self-completion questionnaire from Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) volunteers. SLSA was chosen by virtue of its direct experience with the hazards under investigation. This experience permits communication of site-specific expertise on risk, in addition to an acute understanding of capabilities in the context of risk on rocky coasts. All SLSA volunteers whose surf club is within 1km of a rocky coast in Victoria, Australia received the questionnaire. Mixed methods are used to generate data from competing epistemological and ontological assumptions of risk. The aim is to compare and analyse if physical and social risk possess similar trends in rating the threat of drowning risk. Three geotagged photos of varying platform morphologies were taken and assigned a physical risk value (Me) using airborne LiDAR. Respondents were experienced lifesavers, with 33% having been a lifesaver for >15 years and only 5% < 1 year. SLSA volunteers used a Likert scale to rate the perceived risk in each photo. Results show there is a statistical difference between perceived risk ratings among the geotagged photos, showing changes in risk perceptions between contexts. Me and risk perception ratings are on different risk scales, however, their magnitude ratings of the threat of drowning follows a similar pattern. Additionally, each respondent identified specific hazards in each photo. The most frequent hazard (29% of all responses) identified was slipping. Upon further investigation, slipping hazards are perceived as the greatest risk on shore platforms, particularly when waves are not breaking on platforms. In addition to Me, slipping can be used as a proxy for quantifying and communicating site-specific risk in hazardous rocky coast environments. This project contributes new risk knowledge to the development of a rocky coast hazard framework and demonstrates a methodology for improved understanding of complex human-environmental interactions through integrating physical and social measures of risk.