Partnering with the new Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Environmental Histories and Futures is an opportunity for TERN to demonstrate the values on which it is founded – building relationships to enhance connection, coordination and collaboration in long-term monitoring of environmental changes.
TERN is therefore delighted to be one of two NCRIS-enabled projects that have a role in the new ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures (CIEHF), the other being Bioplatforms Australia. CIEHF is administered by James Cook University and officially launched in November. Most of the images in this story were taken at the launch.
Funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC), CIEHF was created to pursue better outcomes for Land and Sea Country by bringing Indigenous and Western knowledges together to understand the long-term histories and near-term futures of Australia.
TERN is just one of the 29 organisations that will be working together across diverse fields.
Guests at the launch of CIEHF catching up with JCU’s Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research, Professor Jenny Seddon and CIEHF Director, Distinguished Professor Sean Ulm, included the Queensland Chief Scientist, Professor Kerrie Wilson.
Through TERN, CIEHF will have access to more than 1000 long-term monitoring sites across the continent.
TERN recognises that Indigenous perspectives must become central to monitoring on Country, but this has been limited in our operations to date.
Through CIEHF, TERN plans to partner with Indigenous communities and add Indigenous capacity to our network.
TERN looks forward to expanding approaches and technologies to support the environmental and
cultural monitoring aspirations of communities.
Currently there are TERN monitoring sites on the lands of 2 of the Centre’s 8 Indigenous Partner Organisations, with scope to extend this network to other Indigenous Partners and beyond.
The Centre’s research program brings together cutting-edge techniques from Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous science, archaeology, history, ecology, palaeoecology, palaeoclimatology, mathematics, high-performance computing, remote sensing, and genomics.
This research pursuit is underpinned by an unwavering commitment to respectful, authentic co-designed research with Indigenous partners.
Outcomes of CIEHF will support healthy Land and Sea Country management planning now and into the future, centered in Aboriginal- and Torres Strait Islander-led approaches.
But the Centre’s planned research outcomes are only half the story.
CIEHF has an ambitious plan to foster a new generation of Indigenous and non-Indigenous research leaders, equipped with rigorous training and experience in authentic co-designed research frameworks, culturally appropriate transdisciplinary research methods, and who aspire to achieve better outcomes for Country and communities.
A significant aim of the Centre is to support the growth of Indigenous research capacity through training and mentoring programs, including creation of a deep pipeline for Indigenous students into
research extending from primary school.
