This page presents our ongoing research project at Cape Schanck. If you were given a postcard during your visit and are here to complete our questionnaire, please click here.

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Cape Schanck (Victoria) attracts around 320,000 visitors each year according to Parks Vic. It features a striking volcanic landscape shaped by past eruptions of the Older Volcanics Province. These two elements give Cape Schanck strong potential for visitors to informally learn about their local volcanoes.

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Education about volcanoes is particularly important in Victoria, as the region is at risk of a future eruption from the Newer Volcanics Province. It is a volcanic region stretching from west of Melbourne to South Australia, which is likely still active (see map below). Yet, not many people are aware of this volcanic risk, and raising public awareness is important for the community to be informed and prepared.

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Cape Schanck’s popularity makes it an ideal place to share information about volcanoes with a broad audience, thereby raising awareness of the ongoing risk posed by the nearby Newer Volcanics Province.

 

This is what our research project aims to do: consider what people want to learn about Cape Schanck while they visit. We believe this will also make visits more engaging and enjoyable, by helping visitors understand what they see and what it means.

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Conducting such a large project takes time. That is why we divided it into several stages.

 

1. What are the existing signs at Cape Schanck about?

We started the project in winter 2025 by analysing the signs already present at Cape Schanck. Specifically, we looked at what they communicate and whether they do so in an accessible way. Our question was: What do the current signs at Cape Schanck communicate, and do they do so effectively?

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To answer this, we first reviewed existing best practices for signage design and readability, which we used as a benchmark to evaluate the signs.

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Collecting and analysing existing signage

We visited Cape Schanck and photographed all the signs in the area. We separated signs into three categories: Safety, Direction, and Information/Interpretation. Only the Information/Interpretation category is of interest to us, as we wanted to understand what information signs give visitors about the landscape. This is what we call ‘interpretation’: the way signs explain a place and its meaning to visitors.

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Once all signs were organised, we recorded a number of characteristics about them. For the analysis, we focused on the most relevant ones for answering our question: how long and complex is the text of each sign, and what topic or subject does it cover?

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We then conducted several statistical analyses and compared the results against our benchmark. Stay tuned for our results!

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2. Who is visiting Cape Schanck?

From early 2026, we began the second phase of the project, dedicated to studying Cape Schanck visitors so we can later tailor the content of future signage to their needs and preferences.

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Specifically, we focus on how visitors experience and engage with the site. Our question is: How do visitor characteristics, motivations, prior knowledge, and expectations shape their experience of Cape Schanck and their interest in learning about its geology?

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To answer this, we are using three methods to collect data from visitors at Cape, over the course of several days on site.

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Surveying visitors

We will invite interested visitors to complete a 15-minute digital questionnaire at the end of their visit. The questionnaire covers visitors’ motivations for coming to Cape Schanck, their experience at the site, and their preferences for future signage.

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Participants who complete the questionnaire can enter a draw to win a $50 voucher.

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Visited Cape Schanck recently and want to participate? You can find the survey here: https://monashred.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ahPGCp6SjZrWly6

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Interviewing visitors

Following the on-site data collection, willing participants will be recontacted for an online interview.

The interview will explore the same themes as the questionnaire (visit motivations, experience at the site, and preferences for future signage) but in greater depth, and guided by the topics that come up naturally in the conversation.

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Participants can enter a draw to win a $100 voucher.

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Ethical considerations

Ethics approval for this phase of the project has been obtained from the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (project ID: 51307).

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Informed consent will be obtained from all participants before taking part in the survey or interviews.

For any complaint or ethical enquiry, you can contact the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (MUHREC): Tel: +61 3 9905 2052   Email: muhrec@monash.edu

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Sources

Handley, H. K., Bratchell, J., Haynes, K., Solana, C., & Magill, C. R. (2019). Public Perceptions of Volcanic Hazards and Risk in Australia. Fall Meeting Abstracts, 2019, NH21D-0996. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019AGUFMNH21D0996H

Kavanagh, J. L., Chamberlain, K. J., Hrintchuk, J. A., Mariani, E., Boyce, J., Urbani, S., Havard, T. A., Williams, K. M., & Cas, R. A. F. (2026). Complex eruption processes and deposits of basaltic fissures: Insights from the ~37 ka Budj Bim volcanic complex, Southeastern Australia. Bulletin of Volcanology, 88(4), 45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-026-01967-9

Parks Victoria: New Business Opportunities. (2025, June 30). Mornington Peninsula Business. https://mpbusiness.com.au/parks-victoria-new-business-opportunities/

Price, R. C., Nicholls, I. A., & Day, A. (2014). Lithospheric influences on magma compositions of late Mesozoic and Cenozoic intraplate basalts (the Older Volcanics) of Victoria, south-eastern Australia. Lithos, 206–207, 179–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2014.07.027

Scholte, T. (2010). Physical volcanology, composition & emplacement environment of the Flinders Province Basalt, Flinders, Victoria [Honours thesis, Monash University]. Unpublished.

Simmons, J. M. (2011). Volcanological and Petrogenetic Origins of the Eocene Flinders Province, Intra-Plate, Basaltic Volcanics, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia [Honours thesis, Monash University]. Unpublished.

Simmons, J. M., Cas, R. A. F., & Nicholls, I. A. (2014). The volcanological and petrogenetic origins of the basaltic Flinders Volcanic Province (49–39 Ma), Older Volcanics Provinces, southeast Australia. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 61(5), 719–733. https://doi.org/10.1080/08120099.2014.920725