Research

Arts, Culture and Society

A shift in energy

by Gemma Wolk

With the growing urgency to reach net zero by 2050, 17 Hunter Valley mines will close over the next 20 years. Conversations often centre around job losses, but what comes next for those who will remain?

Health and Wellbeing

Does coffee raise your blood pressure? Here’s how much it’s OK to drink

by Clare Collins, Laureate Professor, University of Newcastle

Coffee first entered human lives and veins over 600 years ago.

Health and Wellbeing

Is honey good for you? Can it speed recovery if you’re sick or injured?

by Clare Collins, Laureate Professor, University of Newcastle

Honey is often praised for a range of health benefits, from soothing a sore throat and helping you get to sleep to healing woulds and lowering risk factors for diabetes and heart disease.

Science and Technology

Girls to the front

by Rosemarie Milsom

Female high school students in the Hunter are being inspired to pursue meaningful careers in STEM thanks to a unique program created over a conversation at a campus cafe.

Environment

Tackling the chemicals we can’t see: PFAS

by Penny Harnett

PFAS contamination is persistent, but so is the determination of scientists working on solutions to remediate it.

Health and Wellbeing

Air is an overlooked source of nutrients - evidence shows we can inhale some vitamins

by Flávia Fayet-Moore. Adjunct Lecturer, School of Environmental and Life Sciences (University of Newcastle) and Stephen R. Robinson, Professor in Psychology, Research (RMIT University)

You know that feeling you get when you take a breath of fresh air in nature? There may be more to it than a simple lack of pollution.

Health and Wellbeing

We knew offshore detention was bad for the mental health of people seeking asylum. Our new research shows exactly how bad

by Belinda Liddell, Daphne Keats Chair in Cross-Cultural Psychology (University of Newcastle), & Adjunct Professor, School of Psychology (UNSW), Phillipa Specker, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Refugee Trauma and Recovery Program (UNSW), and Angela Nickerson, Professor & Director, Refugee Trauma and Recovery Program (UNSW)

For more than a decade, mandatory offshore detention has been a cornerstone of Australia’s strategy to deter people who arrive by boat to seek asylum.

Health and Wellbeing

Should school nurses weigh students? We asked 5 experts

by Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics (University of Newcastle), Fron Jackson-Webb Deputy Editor and Senior Health Editor (The Conversation), Brett Montgomery, Senior Lecturer in General Practice (The University of Western Australia), Natasha Yates, General Practitioner & PhD Candidate (Bond University), Rachael Jefferson, Senior Lecturer and Discipline Lead in Human Movement Studies (Health and PE) and Creative Arts (Charles Sturt University), and Vivienne Lewis, Assistant

One in four Australian children aged two to 17 are classified as above a healthy weight, based on their body mass index (or BMI, which is weight divided by height squared).

Environment

New video shows sharks making an easy meal of spiky sea urchins, shedding light on an undersea mystery

by Jeremy Day, PhD researcher

Long-spined sea urchins have emerged as an environmental issue off Australia’s far south coast.

Environment

Groundwater is heating up, threatening life below and above the surface

by Gabriel C Rau, Lecturer in Hydrogeology, School of Environmental and Life Sciences (University of Newcastle), Barret Kurylyk Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Coastal Water Resources (Dalhousie University), Dylan Irvine Outstanding Future Researcher - Northern Water Futures (Charles Darwin University) and Susanne Benz Freigeist Fellow, Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (IPF) (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)

Under your feet lies the world’s biggest reservoir. Groundwater makes up a whopping 97% of all usable freshwater.

Environment

Partnering to solve the Pacific plastics plight

by Penny Harnett

Microplastics are notoriously hard to detect but their impact is significant. How deep is the problem in the Pacific Ocean? Scientists from Australia and Samoa teamed up to find out.

Our Communities

The ripple effect of drought

by Penny Harnett

Drought is like a creeping cancer. It insidiously infects communities. It spreads profound and multifaceted challenges that demand multidisciplinary treatment.

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