The widespread adoption of Industry 4.0 in the mining industry has shifted labour demand toward roles requiring digital literacy, data analysis, and other non-traditional mining skills. This shift has influenced the labour supply and skills demands of the industry. Additionally, the entry of Generation Z into the workforce has introduced new dynamics, as their approaches to work and interaction create both challenges and opportunities for mining-dependent communities. This study examines job and skill demands in the Bowen Basin, a typical mining region, and assesses whether Gen Z can meet these demands or risk widening existing skill gaps. The findings indicate that, while Queensland offers a broader range of professional positions with strong emphasis on digitalisation and automation, the Bowen Basin remains highly concentrated in coal production-related jobs. Although Gen Z’s digital capacities align well with emerging roles, their soft skills may constrain their adaptability in roles that require different communication styles and hierarchical organisation. The findings highlight the need for enhanced training and organisational culture reforms in areas such as effective communication for the Gen Z workforce. In the meantime, place-based workforce development strategies need to integrate green transition goals to ensure that labour markets adapt to transformation while retaining a local talent pool. This requires coordination among policymakers, mining companies, and educational providers.
ABSTRACT Economic decision‐making is increasingly expected to incorporate biodiversity measures alongside traditional financial indicators. Specifically, natural capital accounting (NCA) frameworks aim to link ecosystem condition and services to policy and economic outcomes. In practice, however, NCA implementation is constrained by a lack of biodiversity data that are sufficiently comprehensive for detailed and consistent reporting across space and time. Here, we identify environmental DNA (eDNA)‐based biodiversity monitoring as a scalable tool for generating biodiversity inputs suitable for NCA. We explore the characteristics of eDNA methods and metrics that align with NCA requirements and present a conceptual illustration of how eDNA‐derived biodiversity information could be integrated into environmental accounts. Finally, we identify incomparability as a key limitation of current eDNA‐derived biodiversity estimates, arising from both the sensitivity of metabarcoding to rare taxa as well as the influence of methodological choices on species detection. We argue that standardization of specific eDNA workflows, as well as statistical harmonization of ecological inference, will enable delivery of biodiversity metrics suitable for broadscale NCA applications.
The partial substitution of metallurgical coal with renewable biomass may reduce fossil carbon input during cokemaking, but its effects on coke oven gas (COG)-relevant volatile evolution remain insufficiently understood. This study investigated the influence of Chlorella vulgaris (MA) and torrefied Bambusa balcooa (TB) on the thermal decomposition behaviour, IR-active functional-group evolution, and evolved-gas profiles of two Australian metallurgical coals of differing rank. Blends comprising 80wt.% coal and 20wt.% biomass were analysed using in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier-transform spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis coupled with mass spectrometry. MA-containing blends exhibited higher relative aliphatic C-H and hydroxyl-associated band intensities at low temperatures and earlier, broader evolution of CH4-, CO-, and H2O-associated signals, particularly in the mid-rank blend. TB produced a more coal-like gas evolution profile with smaller changes in functional-group intensity, consistent with the stabilising effect of torrefaction. However, its effect depended strongly on coal rank. In the high-rank blend, TB was associated with accelerated mass loss during coal devolatilisation and lower-than-calculated light hydrocarbon-associated signals, whereas the mid-rank blend showed a reduced mass-loss rate and non-additive enhancement of propene- and butane-associated signals. These contrasting behaviours demonstrate rank-dependent non-additivity in the TB blends, although the respective contributions of TB ash chemistry, residual organic structure, and physical effects could not be isolated. The results demonstrate that biomass selection and coal rank jointly influence COG-relevant gas evolution during coal-biomass co-pyrolysis.
Pregnant adolescents are often excluded from biomedical HIV research participation, resulting in less evidence to inform safe and effective treatment and prevention strategies. We explored adolescent views on enrollment in biomedical HIV research during pregnancy via in-depth interviews with ever-pregnant adolescents living with and at-risk of HIV age 15-20 years in Botswana and Malawi. A semi-structured interview guide explored decision-making around study enrollment during pregnancy using vignettes depicting two hypothetical HIV studies: (1) testing pregnancy-specific dosage of an HIV medication, and (2) a randomized control trial comparing an oral regimen to a new injectable. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed, translated to English, coded in NVivo, and thematically analyzed for emergent themes in participation motivators/barriers. Of the 80 adolescents interviewed (40 living with and 40 at-risk of HIV), 73 (91.3%) were interested in joining vignette study 1 and 65 (81.3%) in vignette 2. Participation motivators included treating/preventing HIV, gaining health knowledge, and helping others. Barriers included study participation requirements, the studies' experimental nature, and randomization. Adolescents' high interest in and reasons for participation during pregnancy suggest their exclusion from biomedical HIV research may be inconsistent with their views, interests, and capacities, providing important considerations for ethical and inclusive study design.
