Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100102
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$304,080.00
Summary
Managing land surface radiation management to reduce the intensity of heat waves. This project aims to use land surface radiation management to reduce the intensity of heat waves. Heat waves have high social, environmental, and economic effects, and their intensity will increase. Using climate models, this project will examine how altering current land management practices could change properties of soils and vegetation to reduce the intensity of heat waves. The expected outcomes of this project ....Managing land surface radiation management to reduce the intensity of heat waves. This project aims to use land surface radiation management to reduce the intensity of heat waves. Heat waves have high social, environmental, and economic effects, and their intensity will increase. Using climate models, this project will examine how altering current land management practices could change properties of soils and vegetation to reduce the intensity of heat waves. The expected outcomes of this project are information on adaptation to the increasing intensity of heat waves in Australia, which will be applicable globally.Read moreRead less
Annual rainfall variability and extreme drought over the late Holocene. This project aims to understand long-term rainfall variability for Australia by developing a network of extended, high resolution rainfall records from tree rings. How anthropogenic changes to the atmosphere have influenced changing rainfall patterns across Australia is unclear. By extracting climatic information from tree growth rings across a latitudinal gradient from the subtropical north to the south coast of western Aus ....Annual rainfall variability and extreme drought over the late Holocene. This project aims to understand long-term rainfall variability for Australia by developing a network of extended, high resolution rainfall records from tree rings. How anthropogenic changes to the atmosphere have influenced changing rainfall patterns across Australia is unclear. By extracting climatic information from tree growth rings across a latitudinal gradient from the subtropical north to the south coast of western Australia, the project will extend hydroclimatic records by several centuries, to identify the frequency and extent of extreme droughts across the continent. Outcomes are expected to provide appropriate context for evaluating and adapting to climate change, allowing climate modellers, agricultural producers and other industries to improve forecasts of likely change for risk management.Read moreRead less
Southeast Asia's global economy, climate and the impact of natural hazards from the 10th to 21st centuries. This project's scope is uniquely broad and multidisciplinary, comprising collaborations between historians, archaeologists, seismologists and others. The aim is to analyse the development of south east Asia's vast and sophisticated economic system within the context of human-environment interactions, over a scale and time period which has been inadequately investigated.
Keeping pace with a changing climate: can Australian plants count on rapid evolution? Integrating field and common-garden experiments with cutting-edge genomic technology, this project will answer the critical question of whether Australia's flora can count on evolution to keep pace with a rapidly changing climate. The project outcomes will inform science-based policies integrating social-economic development and biodiversity conservation.
Deep-sea coral ocean-climate records of the last glacial and recent eras. The project aims to predict the ocean carbon dioxide sink’s long-term capacity and future trajectories of global warming and increasing carbon dioxide. This project will use geochemical proxies encoded in the skeletons of deep-sea corals in the Perth Canyon, Tasman seas, and Antarctica, in the heart of the ocean-climate system, to reveal continuous long-term records of environmental change at annual-decadal resolution for ....Deep-sea coral ocean-climate records of the last glacial and recent eras. The project aims to predict the ocean carbon dioxide sink’s long-term capacity and future trajectories of global warming and increasing carbon dioxide. This project will use geochemical proxies encoded in the skeletons of deep-sea corals in the Perth Canyon, Tasman seas, and Antarctica, in the heart of the ocean-climate system, to reveal continuous long-term records of environmental change at annual-decadal resolution for our recent past (hundreds to thousands of years) and the Last Glacial Maximum. These records are expected to provide a more accurate understanding of Earth’s long-term responses to anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions and global warming.Read moreRead less
Transient coastal upwelling along Western Australia: The dynamics of the Ningaloo Current system. This project will lead to significant advances in our understanding of the Ningaloo Current system that dominates the regional circulation surrounding Ningaloo Marine Park, part of the National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas. The numerical model and field measurements will, for the first time, elucidate which physical factors drive the Ningaloo Current and the resulting spatial and ....Transient coastal upwelling along Western Australia: The dynamics of the Ningaloo Current system. This project will lead to significant advances in our understanding of the Ningaloo Current system that dominates the regional circulation surrounding Ningaloo Marine Park, part of the National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas. The numerical model and field measurements will, for the first time, elucidate which physical factors drive the Ningaloo Current and the resulting spatial and temporal variability of upwelling. This will ultimately provide insight into how various ecological processes are linked to hydrodynamics (e.g., nutrient delivery, bleaching) and help assess how susceptible the reef ecosystem may be to changes to physical forcing resulting from climate change.Read moreRead less
Consequences of extraterrestrial impacts on the biosphere and geosphere. This project will investigate whether high-velocity meteorite impacts can account for the Earth's mass extinctions and whether meteorite impacts and mass extinctions were synchronous. This work will help scientists understand the long-term climatic and biologic effects of massive injections of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Ocean-reef interactions as drivers of continental shelf productivity in a changing climate. Poor coastal management results in the irreparable destruction of reef systems' function and biodiversity, nationally and globally. To manage marine resources effectively we must implement sustainable practices, including forward planning in the context of climate change. A critical limitation in determining appropriate actions is a poor understanding of mechanisms driving productivity. Our project will p ....Ocean-reef interactions as drivers of continental shelf productivity in a changing climate. Poor coastal management results in the irreparable destruction of reef systems' function and biodiversity, nationally and globally. To manage marine resources effectively we must implement sustainable practices, including forward planning in the context of climate change. A critical limitation in determining appropriate actions is a poor understanding of mechanisms driving productivity. Our project will provide key information on the oceanographic mechanisms supporting Australia's coastal systems, linking nutrient supply, physical drivers and climate. By linking all these factors we will both assist in determining appropriate ecosystem management, and provide a knowledge base to support adaptation to future changes in Australia's climate.Read moreRead less
Extreme tidal forcing of a topographically complex coastal region: the Kimberley, Western Australia. This project will lead to significant advances in our understanding of the ocean circulation of the Camden Sound region of the Kimberley, Western Australia. The combination of field and laboratory observations, coupled with numerical modelling will, for the first time, elucidate the influence of the series of islands, reefs and headlands on the circulation and mixing along this coast. This will u ....Extreme tidal forcing of a topographically complex coastal region: the Kimberley, Western Australia. This project will lead to significant advances in our understanding of the ocean circulation of the Camden Sound region of the Kimberley, Western Australia. The combination of field and laboratory observations, coupled with numerical modelling will, for the first time, elucidate the influence of the series of islands, reefs and headlands on the circulation and mixing along this coast. This will ultimately provide insight into other similar systems with complex coastal topography, such as the Great Barrier Reef, and provide the frame work to understand the various physical processes that drive the marine ecology of the region.Read moreRead less
Aqueous fluids in the deep earth. This project aims to improve our understanding of the role of fluids in controlling exchanges between the deep Earth, shallow rocks, and atmosphere. The project expects to investigate some of the key weaknesses in the thermodynamic models that are used to predict the behaviour of sulphur, carbon and metals in fluids at high pressure and temperature by using recent advances in computational and experimental (geo)chemistry. Integrated in large-scale geodynamic mod ....Aqueous fluids in the deep earth. This project aims to improve our understanding of the role of fluids in controlling exchanges between the deep Earth, shallow rocks, and atmosphere. The project expects to investigate some of the key weaknesses in the thermodynamic models that are used to predict the behaviour of sulphur, carbon and metals in fluids at high pressure and temperature by using recent advances in computational and experimental (geo)chemistry. Integrated in large-scale geodynamic models, the more reliable predictions will provide a more realistic assessment of the role of sulphur in controlling metal endowment and atmospheric chemistry through geological times. This should provide a useful guide for mineral exploration and planetary science.Read moreRead less