PIURN projects lead by the University of the South Pacific:
Principal Investigator: Dr. Francis Mani
This study aims to investigate air pollution in major cities in the Pacific like Suva, Lautoka and Noumea using continuous PM2.5 samplers and also bio-indicators such as lichens. Suva city is one of the fastest growing cities in the South Pacific region that has seen recent increase in traffic on the road. This study aims to provide insights into the impact of traffic and industrialization on air pollution.
Apart from traffic and industrial pollution in Lautoka and Noumea there are other anthropogenic activities like sugar cane burning in Lautoka and nickel mining in Noumea that could seriously impact PM2.5 concentration and composition that could have adverse effect on human health. A detailed elemental analysis would be performed on PM2.5 aerosols using the state of the art ICP-OES instrument at the University of New Caledonia to undertake source apportionment studies.
Duration: 3 years from October 2017 to October 2020.
Funding: FJD$59,500.00.
Partners: University of New Caledonia, University of Massachusetts.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Morgan Wairiu
The proposed research study will focus on evaluating the effectiveness of adapting strategies used to address climate change impact on atoll islands and other selected Solomon Islands communities as prioritized in the Solomon Islands National Adaption Programme of Action 2008 and align with lessons learned and experiences from implementation of the NAPAs in the four other Pacific LDCs. A detail and comprehensive evaluation will be conducted on the specific key priority areas in Solomon Islands NAPAs. This includes:
- Managing the impact of and enhancing resilience to climate change and sea level rise on agriculture and food security, water supply and sanitation, human settlements, human health and education, awareness and information and,
- Climate change adaption on low –lying and artificially built up islands in Malaita and Temotu provinces.
Duration: October 2017- October 2018
Funding: FJD$46,150.00.
Partner: Solomon Islands National University.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Krishna Kotra
Project overview: The proposal is to investigate the quality of drinking water resources in Efate and outer six islands which were badly hit by natural calamities. This is supported by the concerns voiced by the communities about the decline in the water quality of these resources and their reports of changes in turbidity, salinity, fecal contamination, gastrointestinal aliments, etc. This was also in line with the longstanding thought to framework national standards by Govt. in Vanuatu.
The proposal besides investigating the water quality is also aimed in providing training for various Govt. department staff, NGOs, USP staff/students besides community leaders. Survey, sampling, analytical interpretation, policy making sessions along with field work would be the part of the research study.
Duration: 2 years
Funding: FJD$43,311.00.
Partners: The Papua New Guinea University of Technology, Government of Vanuatu, University of Auckland, University of New South Wales.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Sonny Lameta
This proposed project concerns the interactions and mutual influences of food production from traditional Melanesian and Polynesian family gardens and quality diets, and thus community health in Pacific societies. This food production, and ultimately food security, is intimately tied up with village lifestyles and the traditional cultures and knowledge systems of our rural people, but is being jeopardized by a range of factors such as population growth, urbanization, alienation of land for other purposes and ignorance on the part of the policy making political and business elite, with a focus almost exclusively on the market. The availability of quality land per head of rural population and soil fertility are declining and this has dietary consequences leading to such issues as non-communicable diseases and poor health outcomes. There is a necessity to document and quantify these issues to inform policy makers and activists, as well as educate farmers and service providers.
Duration: 2 years
Funding: FJD$48,000.00
Partners: Solomon Islands National University, University of Goroka, University of New Caledonia, Caledonian Agronomical Institute.
PIURN projects lead by the University of New Caledonia:
Principal Investigator: Dr. Valérie Burtet-Sarramegna
Hyperaccumulators are unusual plants that accumulate particular metals or metalloids in their living tissues to levels that may be hundreds or thousands of times greater than is normal for most plants. Most reported hyperaccumulator plants are for nickel and occur on ultramafic soils that are naturally enriched in nickel, cobalt and manganese. However, many hyper-accumulators have not been studied or described yet, especially in Papua New-Guinea. The goal of the present project is to study and compare hyper-accumulating species from Australia, PNG and New-Caledonia using multidisciplinary approaches in order to gain a global knowledge of the uptake, biotransformation and distribution of Ni in hyperaccumulators; a step which is critical in understanding the processes of metal acquisition and metal tolerance.
Duration: 2 years (End 2017 – March 2019)
Funding: FJD$30,600.00
Partners: University of Queensland, University of Papua New Guinea, Caledonian Agronomical Institute, IRD (Research Institute for Development).
Principal Investigator: Dr. Mathieu Bunel
The project aims to build a platform to access to individuals database for and by the Pacific in order to promote access to data, structure their use and disseminate the results to the scientific community. The first objective of the project is to constitute or participate with the SPC to the constitution of a numerical portal enabling access under conditions to a catalogue, as wide as possible to inquiries data on the Pacific islands region. The second objective is to structure a researcher’s community in order to promote the use and add value to studies using this local data. The creation of a dedicated website, the constitution of proper work studies and the organization of a one-day symposium aims to set out the studies realized thanks to the portal data or statistical methods or econometrical designed for data coming from small islands countries are contemplated.
Duration: 18 months
Funding: FJD$30,600.00
Partner: The University of the South Pacific
Principal Investigator: Prof. Géraldine Giraudeau
Creation of a visible bilingual academic network in order to mutualize current researches, creation of pedagogical useful supports to disseminate the results of these researches to students, universities staff, professionals, and to the public.
Duration: 18 months
Funding: FJD$41,000.00
Partners: The University of the South Pacific, Université du Mans.
Principal Investigator: Prof. Jean-Marie Fotsing
Interrogate and analyze agricultural practices in rural and urban area, evaluate the place and the importance of cultivated products in the alimentation to apprehend the alimentation consequences on population health and in priority on producers and their family. Focus on environmental, spatial and society’s basis, the project takes place on different fields chosen in the three partners territories. Looking for the link between demographic growth and the evolution of agricultural areas, evaluate and quantity cultivation plots and the species cultivated. Implementation of the inquiries questionnaire in order to product original data on the informal agricultural production portion in alimentary security.
Duration: 18 months (June 2018 – November 2019)
Funding: FJD$41,000.00
Partners: Vanuatu Ministry for Education and Training, Vanuatu Agricultural Research and Technical Centre, Divine Word University, Papua New Guinea University of Technology, IRD (Research Institute for Development).
Principal Investigator: Prof. Yves Letourneur
This project will response to essential concerns about contamination levels, and the diversity of species studied will enable also to evaluate the way the pollutants integrate their selves within food chain ending to commercial interest species.
Duration: 18 months (June 2018 – November 2019)
Funding: FJD$20,500.00
Partners: The University of the South Pacific
Principal Investigator: Prof. Frédérique FLOUVAT
Develop a new approach to model informal settlements growth in Fiji Islands and Vanuatu, and understand the socio‐spatial organization within the settlements. This approach intend to provide tangible information and scenarios that can help engineers and urban planners to plan informal settlements water related services and to test rehabilitation strategies.
Duration: 14 months (June 2018 – September 2019)
Funding: FJD$24,855.00
Partners: The University of the South Pacific, Massey University, Ecosophy (New-Caledonia).
Principal Investigator: Prof. Jean-Marie Fotsing
AASIP 2 followed the successful FALAH (Family Farming, Lifestyle, and Health) project, that was awarded 1.3 million euros from H2020-MSCA. This project was designed to support the implementation of the FALAH project, especially regarding research on the different sites (Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia)
Duration: 2019-2021
Funding: 20 385 euros
Partners: The University of the South Pacific, Solomon Islands National University, New Caledonia Institute of Agronomy (IAC), French Research Institute for Development (IRD), Vanuatu Agricultural Research and Technical Centre (VARTC)
Principal Investigator: Dr. Valérie Burtet-Sarramegna
Hyperaccumulators are unusual plants that accumulate particular metals or metalloids in their living tissues to levels that may be hundreds or thousands of times greater than is normal for most plants. Most reported hyperaccumulator plants are for nickel and occur on ultramafic soils that are naturally enriched in nickel, cobalt and manganese. However, many hyper-accumulators have not been studied or described yet. The goal of the present project is to study and compare hyper-accumulating species from Australia, Fiji and New-Caledonia using multidisciplinary approaches in order to gain a global knowledge of the uptake, biotransformation and distribution of Ni in hyperaccumulators; a step which is critical in understanding the processes of metal acquisition and metal tolerance.
Duration: 2019-2021
Funding: 16 760 euros
Partners: The University of the South Pacific, University of Queensland, New Caledonia Institute of Agronomy (IAC), IRD (Research Institute for Development).
Principal Investigator: Dr Olivier GALY
The Knowledge, Indigenous Practices and Resilience in the Pacific Islands (SPAR-Pacific) project focuses specifically on family perceptions and practices among New Caledonian and Vanuatu students and their families in 2022 in the Post COVID-19 Pandemic context. The interdisciplinary project worked on:
- Measuring the existence and activation of traditional knowledge and practices among New Caledonian and Ni-Vanuatu students.
- Appreciating the associated perceptions and intangible aspects of youth
- Understanding the modes of development, expression, and transmission after the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to the socio-economic and natural environment of young people
Duration: 2020-2022
Funding: 12 570 euros
Partners: National University of Vanuatu
Principal Investigator: Prof. Frédérique FLOUVAT
DURVIS follows-up the SOSPADIS project with the aim to study informal settlements in Vanuatu and in the Solomon Islands and collected date on urban dynamics in the two countries.
Duration: 2019-2021
Funding: 16 760 euros
Partners: The National University of Vanuatu, Solomon Islands National University, French Research Institute for Development (IRD)
Principal Investigator : Dr Nicolas LEBOUVIER
The genus Xanthostemon belongs to the Myrtaceae family which contains about fifty plant species distributed across Papua New Guinea, Australia, Indonesia and New Caledonia. The leaves of Xanthostemon produce essential oils, that can be utilized as a renewable chemical resource. An Australian study showed that some Australian species have unique compositions with aromatic molecules and β-triketones, while others have a more traditional composition of terpenoids. β-triketones having methyl substituents on a 6-membered ring with an acyl side chain and possess important antimicrobial and insecticidal activities. To date, there is no data on the molecular composition of species from New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea. Leaves of various Xanthostemon will be collected and extracted using steam distillation techniques. The objectives studied are:
– Compare the composition of essential oils and identify chemotaxonomix markers in species of the genus Xanthostemon from Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia
– Evaluate the antimicrobial and insecticidal activity of essential oils and isolated β-triketones and understand their evolutionary role in the biotic interactions between plants, insects ans associated microorganisms
– Modify the molecular structures of β-triketones in order to study their broader structure-activity relationships.
Duration: 2020-2022
Funding: 25 140 euros
Partners: PNG Unitech, New Caledonia Pasteur Institute, James Cook University