Phillip Arena

The wildlife fashion industry involves diverse products that include animal skin, feathers, fur, and curios as part of various apparel, footwear, and many other accessories. Positive messaging by advocates of the wildlife fashion industry frequently promotes products as sustainably sourced and beneficial for species conservation. To assess potential veracity of conservation claims by the wildlife fashion industry we conducted a rapid evidence assessment, brief survey, and novelty stress-test regarding data used by key regulatory sectors concerning four example species within the sector (Australian saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus), reticulated pythons (Malayopython reticulatus), Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus), and South African ostriches (Struthio camelus australis)). We collated information via online literature searches, requests to government agencies, and the CITES Secretariat. No relevant data were provided by any government agency nor by CITES to support claims that the wildlife fashion industry benefits conservation of the four target species. We conclude that reliance on the commercial sector for objective and impartial data or other input appears imprudent, and that both the nature and source of information used for policy-making requires transparency and reform. We recommend wider use of the precautionary principle, which should be supported with high-level monitoring and enforcement, as well as improved information and education.

Boola Katitjin, which translates to “lots of learning” in Noongar, is a newly built, sustainable building that amplifies the Murdoch experience with new places to learn, study and socialise, while reflecting the University’s commitment to both in-person and online learning. With over 60% of the university’s classes able to be timetabled in the building in 2023, the Support for Academic Learning team piloted a team-teaching model to deliver communication skills units to undergraduate and postgraduate cohorts. At the centre of Murdoch University's Perth campus, Boola Katitjin provides a mindful and technology-rich educational experience to learn, connect and belong. Students, staff, and industry alike can meet, work, and engage in the building’s 21 large flat-floor format teaching and learning spaces, technology-rich labs, and immersive industry collaboration facilities. These spaces have been designed to put students at the centre of a social learning environment, enable innovative teaching methods with technology-enhanced features and aesthetic furnishings that encourage active and collaborative learning. Together, we embrace the pedagogical and technology affordances that the new building provides, to deliver memorable and impactful learning experiences for our students. This paper will explore how understanding ways to effectively use the learning spaces plays a significant role in teaching and learning, enabling both students and educators to construct meaning through their interactions with the content, and with one another, within the environment.

Based on a Design Based Research approach, this project investigates the development and effectiveness of interventions designed to promote the integration of academic and artificial intelligence (AI) literacy activities and resources within postgraduate coursework at Murdoch University. Focusing on a core post graduate transition Engineering unit, the study aims to evaluate the efficacy of AI enhanced activities within the unit through a collaborative effort between the academics of the Support for Learning team and Engineering Lecturers. Focused on the instructional activities surrounding a literature review proposal, including guidelines for AI-assisted activities to scaffold academic writing and research skills, the assessment design includes both secure and open submissions. A major goal of the project is to evaluate the effectiveness of these activities and resources in developing academic and AI Literacies, from a student point of view. The project explores how students engage with academic and AI literacy activities, and how these experiences influence their ability to produce authentic written work and use AI tools ethically and effectively. The research employs a mixed-methods data collection approach, involving surveys and semi-structured interviews. The findings will inform future curriculum design and support services, contributing to broader efforts to enhance student transitions, academic capabilities, and responsible AI use across disciplines at Murdoch and beyond.

Scientific writing is a common challenge for university students, particularly those lacking proficiency in academic English. Despite being routinely evaluated on their understanding of concepts through scientific writing, students are not explicitly taught how to write scientifically. STEM education often prioritises the teaching of concepts and experimental theories, leaving students to independently decipher the expectations of advanced scientific writing at a tertiary level. However, first-year students often encounter difficulties discerning and executing the essential elements of scientific writing. To address this, we developed five high-quality, online interactive modules with the aim to augment the first-year experience and empower students to master the intricacies of scientific communication. These modules complement traditional in-class teaching and facilitate the acquisition of scientific writing skills by actively involving students through interactive unit-specific exercises and structured scaffolding of scientific writing concepts. By creating an inclusive learning environment aligned with Universal Design for Learning principles, we hope to bridge gaps in scientific communication skills. Preliminary data analysis, offers valuable insights into the effectiveness and potential impact of these modules, particularly on academic success and confidence. 

An understanding of spatial and thermal factors, two fundamentally intertwined elements, is essential to the health and welfare of captive reptiles; carers cannot address one without consideration of its influence on the other. This chapter highlights the need to recognise the many shortcomings of past practices, and urges individuals charged with keeping reptiles to become familiar and competent with new understandings revealed by research into the complex interplay of spatial and thermal factors. Essential to this issue is recognition that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach is never a good option. However, despite advances in our understanding of the spatio-thermal requirements of both wild and captive reptiles, there remains opportunity for abuse, exemplified by the highly restrictive rack system for housing snakes. In terms of spatio-thermal requirements, the modern, progressive reptile carer must become familiar, not only with species-specific requirements, but also the needs of individuals, taking into account the impact of seasonal and behavioural factors.

Captive animal welfare has benefited from various new technologies and a new generation of welfare-minded and better-informed individuals adopting more welfare-oriented practices. However, for captive reptiles, there remain many aspects that are grounded in and reflect a long history of arbitrary or folklore husbandry and advice, and reptile-keeping continues to be compromised by practices that benefit the keeper rather than the animal that is kept. This second edition of Health and Welfare of Captive Reptiles, like the first volume, contains a diversity of primary classical subjects, each hopefully constituting an advancement in our understanding of reptilian biology and meeting the associated needs of these animals in captivity. Some subjects, comprise miscellaneous considerations that, directly or indirectly, will have a significant bearing on reptile health and welfare. It is these factors that form the basis of this chapter. It is hoped that, at the very least, their inclusion may create or stimulate an awareness of other potential issues that may affect the well-being of captive reptiles.

Snakes are sentient animals and should be subject to the accepted general welfare principles of other species. However, they are also the only vertebrates commonly housed in conditions that prevent them from adopting rectilinear behavior (ability to fully stretch out). To assess the evidence bases for historical and current guidance on snake spatial considerations, we conducted a literature search and review regarding recommendations consistent with or specifying ≥1 × and <1 × snake length enclosure size. We identified 65 publications referring to snake enclosure sizes, which were separated into three categories: peer-reviewed literature (article or chapter appearing in a peer-reviewed journal or book, n = 31), grey literature (government or other report or scientific letter, n = 18), and opaque literature (non-scientifically indexed reports, care sheets, articles, husbandry books, website or other information for which originating source is not based on scientific evidence or where scientific evidence was not provided, n = 16). We found that recommendations suggesting enclosure sizes shorter than the snakes were based entirely on decades-old ‘rule of thumb’ practices that were unsupported by scientific evidence. In contrast, recommendations suggesting enclosure sizes that allowed snakes to fully stretch utilized scientific evidence and considerations of animal welfare. Providing snakes with enclosures that enable them to fully stretch does not suggest that so doing allows adequate space for all necessary normal and important considerations. However, such enclosures are vital to allow for a limited number of essential welfare-associated behaviors, of which rectilinear posturing is one, making them absolute minimum facilities even for short-term housing.

Exotic pets are essentially animals that are non-native to a region and/or non-domesticated. The trade in and keeping of exotic pets has been frequently criticized for the commonly inhumane and harmful practices that are associated with supply and keeping, including: animal welfare, species conservation, invasiveness, and public health and safety. Relatedly, a growing issue is that of unwanted exotic pets handed to animal care centers due to their overly demanding requirements and the confiscation of animals suffering from abuse. Mis-selling exotic species as ‘easy to keep’ or ‘beginner’ animals is widely regarded to be a major common and problematic factor. Efforts, post pet acquisition, to educate sellers and keepers to improve animal welfare and public health issues have proven unproductive. We propose that a system is required that facilitates decision-making at the interface between sale and purchase sectors, and that utilizes clear evidence-based labeling. We review current options for developing such a pet labeling scheme and recommend a novel approach based on the EMODE (‘Easy’, ‘Moderate’, ‘Difficult’ or ‘Extreme’) pet suitability assessment tool to provide a preventative educational approach to alleviating the multifactorial issues of concern.