Vanuatu Archives - Pacific Register

Dr Sarah Burkhart

March 29, 2023/in Food environments and food choice in the Pacific, Food security, Nutrition education, School food and nutrition environments Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu/by Dr Sarah Burkhart

Senior Lecturer, Nutrition & Dietetics, School of Health and Behavioural Sciences
Dr Sarah Burkhart is a Senior Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics in the School of Health and Behavioural Sciences, and the Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research at UniSC. Sarah’s research uses a food systems lens to explore food security and food choice in the Pacific Islands. Working with Pacific partners, academics and stakeholders, Sarah is interested in nutrition education and food provision in Pacific Island school settings and understanding determinants of food security across Pacific Island food systems, with a focus on food environments and consumer behaviour/food choice.

Sarah is currently leading projects that aim to develop a food and nutrition resource toolkit for Pacific Island teachers, to develop an Overview of Food and Nutrition Security in the Pacific Islands Report, and to adapt a NOVA screener for use in the Pacific Islands. She is also part of a team scoping the potential for local agriculture in food provision in Pacific Island schools. Other current and recent projects have focused on the role of diets, food systems and policy in the prevention of obesity and non-communicable diseases in Fiji, the current state and capacity for school food and nutrition education programmes across 14 Pacific Island countries, food environments in Samoa, nutrition impacts of climate change in Fiji, the impact of Covid-19 on food systems and food choice, dietary assessment methods and food literacy in the Pacific Islands region.

Sarah is a co-founder and current chair of the Pacific School Food Network, a group that advocates for and supports school food activities throughout the Pacific Islands region to eliminate hunger and improve food security.

Sarah teaches into several courses across the Bachelor of Nutrition and the Bachelor of Dietetics, with a focus on improving the student experience and readiness for practice using blended learning and the flipped classroom approach. Sarah’s scholarship of learning and teaching interests include the integration of a food systems approach and sustainability within Nutrition and Dietetic curricula, the use of blended learning strategies and the flipped classroom approach. Sarah is also an advocate for involving students in overseas learning and research experiences and has travelled with, and supervised UniSC students undertaking projects in Samoa and the Solomon Islands.

Sarah is a Registered Nutritionist with the Nutrition Society of Australia (NSA). She is also a member of the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior (SNEB) and is currently Chair for the SNEB Division for International Nutrition Education and Chair-elect for the SNEB Sustainable Food Systems Division.
Yes, would depend on workload at the time.
Topics of interest:
School food and nutrition environments in the Pacific Islands
Food environments in the Pacific Islands
Food choice in the Pacific Islands
Currently or have recently collaborated on research that includes; Cook Islands, Fiji, FSM, Kiribati, Palau, Marshall Islands, Niue, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.

Collaborating partners include FAO-UN, SPC, Ministries of Education/Health/Agriculture, Global Child Nutrition Foundation, National and Regional Universities, Pacific School Food Network, DFAT, The Alliance for Bioversity International and CIAT.

Dr Daniela Medina Hidalgo

March 29, 2023/in Climate Change Adaptation, Climate Policy and Planning, Food and Nutrition, Food Systems, Rural Development Fiji, Vanuatu/by Dr Daniela Medina Hidalgo

Research Fellow
Dr Medina Hidalgo is a Research Fellow with the Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research (ACPIR). She holds a BSc in agricultural engineering from EARTH University in Costa Rica, an MSc in environment with a specialisation in climate change adaptation, from Griffith University in Australia, and a PhD in human geography from the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia. Daniela has over 10 years of experience in international agricultural development projects. She worked for the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture as climate change and agriculture specialist for over 6 years. Her work allowed her to engage with policymakers and governments in the development, implementation, and evaluation of climate change strategies for the agricultural sector in the Americas and the Caribbean regions, and support capacity building, knowledge, and information management strategies.

Daniela also has practical and technical experience working with farmers’ organisations, community groups and the tourism sector on sustainable agriculture practices, agroforestry, payment for environmental services programs, waste management and environmental education. She has work and travel experience in more than 20 countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Regions. Daniela’s current research aims to assess the capacities of rural communities in the Pacific to adapt to climate change, placing emphasis on smallholder food systems and the potential to implement strategies targeted at increasing food and nutrition security. She is fluent in English and Spanish and has experience designing and managing development projects with multiple partners, funding sources and stakeholders.
Yes, able to co-supervise up to 3 students.
Topics of interest:
Climate change adaptation
Food systems
Food and nutrition security
Community development
Sustainable livelihoods
Dietary change and food environments
Climate change planning and policy
Daniela’s current research aims to assess the capacities of rural communities in the Pacific to adapt to climate change, placing emphasis on smallholder food systems and the potential to implement strategies targeted at increasing food and nutrition security. She is fluent in English and Spanish and has experience designing and managing development projects with multiple partners, funding sources and stakeholders.

Prof Patrick Nunn

March 29, 2023/in Climate Change, Coastal landscape change, Cultural resilience, Geoarchaeology, Geology, Geomorphology, Geomythology, Heritage, Human-environment interactions, Palaeoclimatology, Sea-level change, Sustainability Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu/by Prof Patrick Nunn

Professor of Geography; Director, Sustainability Research Centre
After his BSc in Geography and Geology from the University of London King’s College, Prof Patrick Nunn went on to undertake a PhD on Quaternary landscape evolution at University College London. After completing this and holding various short-term appointments in British universities, Patrick was appointed to a Lectureship in Geography at the University of the South Pacific, an international university serving 12 Pacific Island nations, based at its main teaching campus in Suva, Fiji. Thinking he would complete his three-year contract there before returning to the UK, Patrick in fact spent 25 years there, being appointed to a Personal Chair (Professor of Oceanic Geoscience) in 1997 and then in 2009 becoming Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and International). Patrick left the University of the South Pacific in 2010 to become Head of the School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences at the University of New England, a position he held until joining the University of the Sunshine Coast as Professor of Geography in March 2014.

Patrick’s main research interests for the past 30 years have focused on the Pacific Basin (both islands and the surrounding continents) and, as befits a true geographer, have been in a number of distinct areas. His early work on the Quaternary geology and tectonics of many islands and island groups in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu still represents the latest word on many of these issues today. In response to an invitation from the Fiji Museum, he began a collaboration that lasted more than a decade and involved Patrick directing a number of excavations in Fiji, notably the seven-year programme along the Rove Peninsula in southwest Viti Levu Island that involved the discovery of what is still likely to be Fiji’s first settlement at Bourewa, established perhaps 3100 years ago. Firmly believing in the importance of community awareness, Patrick has ensured that the results of his research have been returned to the people of the land in ways that they can understand its nature and importance, something helped in the case of Fiji by his fluency in the Fijian language and his familiarity with cultural protocols.
One of Patrick’s current research interests focuses on ancient understandings of coastal-environmental change and how these have been culturally filtered and encoded in narrative and myth. This research was laid out in his books, Vanished Islands and Hidden Continents of the Pacific (University of Hawaii, 2009) and The Edge of Memory (Bloomsbury, 2018). His new book, out last year from Bloomsbury, is Worlds in Shadow: Submerged Lands in Science, Memory and Myth.
The other main interest of Patrick at present is focused on climate change issues in the Pacific Islands, understanding past and (likely) future human-climate interactions and their implications for coastal livelihoods. This work has seen the publication of several books including Oceanic Islands (Blackwell, 1994) and Climate, Environment and Society in the Pacific (Elsevier, 2007) and more than 320 peer-reviewed publications. A long involvement with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) led to Patrick sharing its 2007 Nobel Peace Prize; Patrick was a lead author on the chapter about ‘Sea Level Change’ in the IPCC’s 5th Assessment Report and is currently a lead author on the chapter about ‘Small Islands’ for its 6th Assessment.
Yes, up to 4.
I am interested in supervising Pacific Island students at PhD level working on
• Heritage issues, including tangible heritage (like stonework structures including artificial islands) and intangible heritage (including oral traditions).
•Climate change challenges, including (a) traditional and local knowledge for coping with climate variability and (b) coastal settlement relocation.
•Livelihood sustainability, including autonomous community adaptation, peripherality, and anticipatory adaptive pathway development.
• Traditional and local knowledge in the Pacific Islands – use in future climate change adaptation
• Past community relocations in the Pacific: lessons learned for the future
• Veiqanivivili: Investigating the Only Known Shell-Midden Island in the Western Pacific Islands
Water security in relocated Pacific Island coastal communities
Has conducted research in most Pacific Island Countries, especially Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

Taught for 25 years at the University of the South Pacific, currently Adjunct Professor in Pacific Studies there and Adjunct Professor at Solomon Islands National University, with both of which he has close and ongoing links.

Dr Simon Quigley

March 29, 2023/in Agriculture, Food sciences, Grazing management and feeding systems, Livelihoods of smallholder farmers, Veterinary Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu/by Dr Simon Quigley

Research Fellow – Livestock and Animal Science
Dr Simon Quigley grew up on mixed crop-livestock farms in New South Wales, Australia. He completed a B. Ag. Sci. at The University of Queensland and a PhD at The University of Adelaide. His research focuses on beef cattle, sheep and goat nutrition and production systems, and ranges from feeding and grazing studies through to the use of molecular techniques to better understand animal metabolism. He is passionate about developing research capacity and improving the livelihoods of smallholder livestock farmers in developing countries, and has been involved in research in Indonesia, Timor Leste, Myanmar, Thailand and Vanuatu.
Yes, 2 as Principal Supervisor, and 2 as Co-Supervisor
Topics of interest:
Ruminant production and feeding systems (cattle, goats, sheep)
Ruminant metabolism and gene expression
Climate resilience in livestock systems (methane, carbon)
Use of technology in farm planning and animal management
ACIAR funded research with smallholder cattle farmers in Vanuatu, in collaboration with Department of Industry, Vanuatu Agriculture Research and Technical Centre, and Department of Livestock.

Regional description of beef cattle industries in Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.

Dr Cooper Schouten

March 28, 2023/in Agricultural Development, Beekeeping, Community Development, Environmental Resources Management, Environmental Science, Sustainable development Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu/by Dr Cooper Schouten

Lecturer, Project Leader
Dr Cooper Schouten’s research passion is developing impactful international agricultural research programs for the benefit of Australia and partner countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
Yes, up to 3 students.
Topics of interest:
Beekeeping, honey bee nutrition, biosecurity, queen bee breeding and genetics, post-harvest handling and marketing, training, education and extension, and gender equity and participatory approaches to agriculture
Fiji, PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu
Ministry of Agriculture Fiji
Biosecurity Authority of Fiji
Fiji Beekeepers Association
Coffee Industry Cooperation
PNG Department of Agriculture and Livestock

Prof Michael Furlong

March 23, 2023/in Biological Control, Ecology, Entomology, Insecticide Resistance, Integrated Pest Management Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu/by Prof Michael Furlong

Professor
Prof Michael Furlong’s research focuses on the biological control and integrated management of insect pests. Understanding the ecological and biological relationships between insects and their natural enemies (pathogens, parasitoids and predators) and the interactions between these natural enemies is fundamental to effective biological control and is central to my research. Strategies which manipulate natural enemies to enhance their impact on pest populations are under development, examples include:
• Integration of biological stressors and fungal entomopathogens for improved control of insect pests
• Reduced insecticide inputs combined with the provision of adult food sources to enhance endemic parasitoid performance
• Utilising inducible plant defences to manipulate pests and improve the effectiveness of natural enemies.
Externally funded research projects concentrate on the development of sustainable pest management strategies for insect pests in developing countries. In Indonesia the structure and function of the natural enemy complexes attacking the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) and the cabbage cluster caterpillar (Crocidolomia pavonana) are being determined. In Samoa the biology and ecology of the egg parasitoid Trichogramma chilonis is being investigated and the possibility of its release as a biological control agent of C. pavonana in Fiji, Tonga and Solomon Islands explored. Research in Fiji is focused on quantifying field resistance of the diamondback moth to commonly used insecticides. An insecticide resistance management strategy has been developed and will be implemented in collaboration with UN-FAO.
I cannot take on any new students in 2023.

Principal Supervisor to 10 PhD students.
Co-Supervisor to 5 PhD students.

Dr William Leggate

March 22, 2023/in Forest Products, Forestry, Manufacturing, Wood Science Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu/by Dr William Leggate

Team Leader & Principal Research Scientist
Dr William Leggate is a Wood Products Specialist/Scientist with more than 27 years’ experience in research, technical, commercial and management roles within the timber industry, both nationally and internationally.
Up to 3 students. Topics of interest: Forest products, wood science, wood processing, wood treatment, wood durability, wood quality.
Involvement in ACIAR Forestry projects in Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Vanuatu. This has involved research work, provision of training and capacitation of local people from these countries. It has also involved collaboration with diverse government, industry, academic and community stakeholders from these countries.
Currently Co-Supervisor to 1 Masters and 1 PhD student

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