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The question of how Aboriginal Elders influence the leadership of non-Aboriginal led service organisations when working biddiya to biddiya (boss to boss) emerged while conducting a qualitative analysis as part of the evaluation of the Looking Forward Moving Forward project. This project brought together non-Aboriginal service leaders, Aboriginal Elders and Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal researchers to implement and evaluate a framework for engagement to promote organisational change and transform the way in which services respond to Aboriginal people in need of mental health and drug and alcohol support in Perth, Western Australia. This paper uses a case study to demonstrate how Elders on Nyoongar Country have influenced one non-Aboriginal service leader. At the heart of this case study is a close examination of a recorded, semi-structured, in-depth focus group exchange between a non-Aboriginal leader, Elders and co-researchers. This exchange foregrounds the Elders' and co-researchers' voices, capturing the dialogic nuances and interplay of the interaction to provide a more detailed picture of how building long-term relationships with Elders influences leaders. A key theme to emerge from the data was the developmental change in leadership approaches resulting from the biddiya to biddiya working relationship between Elders and this non-Aboriginal leader. The data show that, along with their deepening relationship, the leader demonstrated an openness and humility to be teachable. This leader demonstrated how he applied his new learning, integrating new ways of working into his leadership practice to change the way his organisation responded to Aboriginal people seeking support and to enhance the organisation's cultural safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the participatory approach used by a group of academic support staff in evaluating an academic professional development resource designed to support e-learning and teaching. The resource, titled Designing Electronic Learning and Teaching Approaches (DELTA), showcases examples of electronic learning and teaching approaches developed at Monash University, Australia. The evaluation included individual and collective reflection, dialogue and action, drawing on the features of participatory action research. This paper explores the value of this critically reflective, participatory approach for evaluation to improve the use of new learning technologies, demonstrating how it provided a clear decision-making framework for iterative improvement of the DELTA site by identifying consensus items for action and recording other items for later consideration, while also contributing to team members' own professional development. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)

Bat conservation is hindered by a lack of geographic-specific knowledge of characteristics of roost sites used by reproductive females. We examined roost selection by reproductive female Myotis evotis (long-eared myotis) in the Channeled Scablands of northeastern Washington. We used radiotelemetry to locate 35 roosts of reproductive female Myotis evotis. Habitat variables were measured for each roost itself and at a 0.1-ha microplot and 78-ha macroplot surrounding each roost. We measured habitat variables at random 0.1-ha microplots in the vicinity of each roost and at general random 0.1-ha microplots and 78-ha macroplots. Thirty-four roosts were found in crevices in small basalt rock formations. All radiomarked bats switched roosts at least once and roost switching apparently involved the entire colony. The average number of switches was 3.3 with an average of 2 days between roost switches. The distance traveled between day roosts averaged 148.9 m. Compared to random plots, roosts were in more open, rocky habitats, closer to edge of forest stands, and relatively distant from sources of permanent water. Key words: Channeled Scablands, habitat selection, long-eared myotis, maternity roosts, rock crevices, roost switching

Aboriginal children are overrepresented in Australia’s child protection system, and limited tools are available to assist with connecting these children to their culture. The Stitching Our Future Together (SOFT) Program, developed in consultation with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples, services, and other specialists, is used within the Department of Communities’ Child Protection and Family Support (CPFS) Division in Western Australia to address big emotions and safe behaviours with Aboriginal children in care. This study used phenomenology and social constructivism to explore CPFS staff’s perspectives and experiences of the SOFT Program. Seven semistructured in-depth interviews took place with CPFS staff. Five themes were identified: the SOFT Program and its use, culturally responsive practice, facilitating relationships, communication, and recommendations and implementation challenges. Participants expressed that the SOFT Program fostered an understanding of, and communication about, pertinent issues such as family and domestic violence, drug and alcohol addiction, mental health, and child neglect and abuse. The findings show how staff described the program’s capacity to help them navigate complex situations, highlighting the need to incorporate more culturally centred and creative-based work into child protection practice.IMPLICATIONS The SOFT Program positively supports culturally responsive practice and facilitates relationships and communication for child protection workers and children in care.The integration of creative and legislated practices assists with personalising and enhancing the effectiveness of child protection work with children in care.The SOFT Program positively supports culturally responsive practice and facilitates relationships and communication for child protection workers and children in care.The integration of creative and legislated practices assists with personalising and enhancing the effectiveness of child protection work with children in care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mammalian community ecology asks how interacting biotic and abiotic processes at local and regional scales shape community assembly. Throughout the 100-year history of the American Society of Mammalogists (ASM), mammalogists laid the foundation for studying community assembly by documenting presence and abundance of mammals across different sites through time. During the past 50 years, mammalian community ecology has matured due to long-term studies, new perspectives, and advanced analytical approaches. From an initial focus on local communities and ecological time frames, community ecologists now integrate regional processes and evolutionary time frames. Examination of patterns of assembly expanded from taxonomic diversity derived from species identity and abundance to incorporate phylogenetic and functional diversity. Arid-land small mammal and island systems provide natural laboratories to examine community assembly. Worldwide, small-mammal communities in arid lands exhibit several general trends including low α-diversity, greater β-diversity, and structures comprising core and transient species. Despite broad similarities in ecological conditions, the relative dominance of proximate processes structuring communities varies between regions due to differences in factors such as small-mammal lineages and predictability of resource pulses. Island studies reveal how island size and isolation affect species composition, and how processes of community assembly and disassembly are often simplified, compared to the situation in mainland communities. Recent approaches document the contributions of speciation on, and dispersal to and between islands, to patterns of community assembly. Islands also serve as models of how humans affect mammal communities. Land use practices were altering ecosystems before the founding of ASM, and these changes have accelerated over the last 100 years. Habitat conversion and degradation combined with climate change are redefining mammal communities globally. We discuss the need to apply our understanding of community ecology in efforts to restore ecological function, structure, and composition to stem potentially large losses in mammalian diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]