The social and interdisciplinary science meetings are held on the Townsville campus at JCU and are open to anyone who wishes to participate. Please contact louisa.evans@jcu.edu.au, christina.hicks@my.jcu.edu.au or pip.cohen@my.jcu.edu.au for further information.
In 2012 Programme 7 continued to facilitate a network of over twenty social and interdisciplinary scholars from Anthropology, Marine and Tropical Biology, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, the Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture, the WorldFish Centre and CSIRO. Scientists participate in monthly meetings, which are essentially self-organising in that different participants take the lead in each session. The broad aim of the network is to provide support to scientists engaging in social science research by sharing ideas, skills and expertise in theories and concepts, research methodologies, and analysis techniques, as well as providing practical support through review of papers, proposals and fieldwork materials. In 2012 topics included; frontiers and challenges in the nexus of conservation and development, lessons from anthropology for interdisciplinary researchers and conservation action, proposal development and dealing with donors, research ethics, Elinor Ostrom and others’ work on institutional rules and norms, and different disciplinary perspectives on human values. In 2011 topics included: mixed methods approaches and social network analysis, sense-making tools, attitudinal and behavioural change, and resilience and functionalism.
This network of scholars continues to provide a valuable forum in which to bounce ideas around or to help address particular challenges faced in interdisciplinary research careers.