Advancing vegetation classification and mapping to meet conservation needs. The project aims to develop advanced statistical and modelling techniques to classify and map vegetation over very large areas, using the most extensive and detailed vegetation data set in Australia and new methods to evaluate these classifications. Such classifications and maps provide the data needed to make biodiversity conservation decisions, yet current operational methods are limited over very large areas, and cann ....Advancing vegetation classification and mapping to meet conservation needs. The project aims to develop advanced statistical and modelling techniques to classify and map vegetation over very large areas, using the most extensive and detailed vegetation data set in Australia and new methods to evaluate these classifications. Such classifications and maps provide the data needed to make biodiversity conservation decisions, yet current operational methods are limited over very large areas, and cannot deal with varied sources of uncertainty. Expected outcomes and benefits include a fine-scale vegetation classification and map for almost a million square kilometres, and associated analytical tools and guidelines for large-scale vegetation classification and global mapping.Read moreRead less
Improved monitoring of aquatic pollutants in national water resources. Clean water is predicted to become the world’s most valuable asset during this century, necessitating the improved monitoring of Australia’s limited water resources. Using a new and integrated monitoring approach, this project expects to develop and implement novel passive sampling technologies to monitor a range of water pollutants, specifically toxic ionised organic chemicals of emerging concern. The outcomes of this projec ....Improved monitoring of aquatic pollutants in national water resources. Clean water is predicted to become the world’s most valuable asset during this century, necessitating the improved monitoring of Australia’s limited water resources. Using a new and integrated monitoring approach, this project expects to develop and implement novel passive sampling technologies to monitor a range of water pollutants, specifically toxic ionised organic chemicals of emerging concern. The outcomes of this project will create cost-effective tools to advance the detection of emerging chemicals in drinking, ground, surface and waste waters. The technology will benefit millions of Australians by safeguarding essential water resources.Read moreRead less
Establishing advanced networks for air quality sensing and analyses. Establishing advanced networks for air quality sensing and analyses. This project aims to develop innovative, cost-effective, high resolution air quality networks. Recent developments in sensor technologies improve the ability to harvest atmospheric data. This project will develop, validate and implement methods for high sensitivity atmospheric sensing and apply cutting-edge statistical and analytic techniques to the data sets, ....Establishing advanced networks for air quality sensing and analyses. Establishing advanced networks for air quality sensing and analyses. This project aims to develop innovative, cost-effective, high resolution air quality networks. Recent developments in sensor technologies improve the ability to harvest atmospheric data. This project will develop, validate and implement methods for high sensitivity atmospheric sensing and apply cutting-edge statistical and analytic techniques to the data sets, unprecedented in scope and resolution. Outcomes include an open access database to quantify and visualise intra-urban air pollution and human exposure and develop air quality maps and smoke pollution management tools. It is expected to advance the evidence-based management of air as a resource, increasing economic prosperity and enhancing human health and quality of life.Read moreRead less
Understanding Australia by analysing wastewater during the Census 2021 . This project aims to utilise the Australian Census 2021, a unique opportunity to link exposure to chemical and biological hazards with catchment socio-demographic data via systematic wastewater analysis. The project is expected to advance our capabilities to identify emerging hazards and understand factors that affect spatiotemporal trends in hazards across Australia. Moreover, in a world first, the project aims to assess c ....Understanding Australia by analysing wastewater during the Census 2021 . This project aims to utilise the Australian Census 2021, a unique opportunity to link exposure to chemical and biological hazards with catchment socio-demographic data via systematic wastewater analysis. The project is expected to advance our capabilities to identify emerging hazards and understand factors that affect spatiotemporal trends in hazards across Australia. Moreover, in a world first, the project aims to assess chemical fate on a national level by linking sales/use with fate and release from wastewater treatment plants and assess treatment efficiency at >100 plants around Australia. The project expects to provide insight for government, wastewater managers and industry into hazards that may affect environmental and human health.Read moreRead less
Nitrous oxide and methane emissions from South East Queensland waterways and influence of wastewater discharges. Climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most serious challenges facing mankind. Substantial emission reduction must be achieved, with responsibilities to be shared by all sectors. Rivers, estuaries and water storages contribute considerably to global nitrous oxide and methane emissions, much of which is anthropogenic contributed by urban and agricultural run-of ....Nitrous oxide and methane emissions from South East Queensland waterways and influence of wastewater discharges. Climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most serious challenges facing mankind. Substantial emission reduction must be achieved, with responsibilities to be shared by all sectors. Rivers, estuaries and water storages contribute considerably to global nitrous oxide and methane emissions, much of which is anthropogenic contributed by urban and agricultural run-off and wastewater discharges. Through an in-depth study on several rivers, estuaries and reservoirs in South East Queensland, this project will provide data to enable reliable estimation of such emissions in Australia, and deliver knowledge and tool support for the development of strategic catchment management strategies.Read moreRead less
Estimating per capita use and release of chemicals by wastewater analysis. This project aims to systematically collect and analyse wastewater to assess human exposure to chemicals including drugs, pharmaceuticals, lifestyle chemicals and environmental pollutants. By combining temporal sampling from key sewage treatment plants with comprehensive nationwide sampling over the week of the 2016 census day, the project expects to estimate the per-capita human exposure to chemicals in the Australian po ....Estimating per capita use and release of chemicals by wastewater analysis. This project aims to systematically collect and analyse wastewater to assess human exposure to chemicals including drugs, pharmaceuticals, lifestyle chemicals and environmental pollutants. By combining temporal sampling from key sewage treatment plants with comprehensive nationwide sampling over the week of the 2016 census day, the project expects to estimate the per-capita human exposure to chemicals in the Australian population. Accurate and objective per-capita based consumption and release estimates for a wide range of chemicals is intended to provide a baseline against which to measure changes in our chemosphere.Read moreRead less
Gaining insights into mine waste dumps to avoid environmental legacies. The project aims to develop new methods for identifying pollution source hotspots and pathways inside mine waste rock dumps. This addresses the national need for effective management of Acid and Metalliferous Drainage (AMD), which is now a critical consideration in the viability of new mines and in confronting pollution legacies of old mines. The research will develop and test innovative methods of geophysical and geochemica ....Gaining insights into mine waste dumps to avoid environmental legacies. The project aims to develop new methods for identifying pollution source hotspots and pathways inside mine waste rock dumps. This addresses the national need for effective management of Acid and Metalliferous Drainage (AMD), which is now a critical consideration in the viability of new mines and in confronting pollution legacies of old mines. The research will develop and test innovative methods of geophysical and geochemical analysis and their integration that provide 3-dimensional mapping of key physical and chemical features of the dump. Expected outcomes include greater confidence in the ability of the mining industry to manage its AMD liability. Read moreRead less
Saving Nemo: Reducing animal use in toxicity assessments of wastewater. Every day, Australians produce ~5 billion litres of wastewater, which contains a cocktail of chemicals. Industries that discharge wastewater are required to assess chemical risks to the receiving environments by conducting whole animal direct toxicity assessments (DTA), which are expensive and pose an ethical dilemma. Our preliminary research shows that new in vitro bioassays provide an ethical and cost effective alternative ....Saving Nemo: Reducing animal use in toxicity assessments of wastewater. Every day, Australians produce ~5 billion litres of wastewater, which contains a cocktail of chemicals. Industries that discharge wastewater are required to assess chemical risks to the receiving environments by conducting whole animal direct toxicity assessments (DTA), which are expensive and pose an ethical dilemma. Our preliminary research shows that new in vitro bioassays provide an ethical and cost effective alternative that could be incorporated into DTA programs if their ecological relevance can be demonstrated. This project will develop and validate a new and internationally significant suite of in vitro bioassays for incorporation into DTA programs, leading to more ethical, cost effective and improved environmental protection.Read moreRead less
New metrics to measure and track fauna community condition in Australia. This project aims to improve how biodiversity is measured by developing a system to describe the condition of animal communities, analogous to those used for plant communities. It develops and tests the system for Australia’s birds, then extends the approach to other animal groups. The project expects to develop a data-driven typology of bird communities, accompanying community condition metrics that are scalable from site ....New metrics to measure and track fauna community condition in Australia. This project aims to improve how biodiversity is measured by developing a system to describe the condition of animal communities, analogous to those used for plant communities. It develops and tests the system for Australia’s birds, then extends the approach to other animal groups. The project expects to develop a data-driven typology of bird communities, accompanying community condition metrics that are scalable from site to national levels, and guidance for using these metrics in practice. These metrics will enable holistic and relevant measures of the biodiversity value of sites, improve evaluation of restoration actions, reveal trends in community condition, and inform monitoring and evaluation tools for emerging biodiversity markets.Read moreRead less
Airborne ultrafine particles in Australian cities. There is an acute deficiency of knowledge in Australia on urban airborne ultrafine particles, originating from transport and other anthropogenic sources, which pose significant health and environmental risks. The aim of this project is to address this deficiency by an extensive multi-city, cross-disciplinary study using state of the art instrumentation and data analytic techniques. The outcome will be an in depth, quantitative insight into the c ....Airborne ultrafine particles in Australian cities. There is an acute deficiency of knowledge in Australia on urban airborne ultrafine particles, originating from transport and other anthropogenic sources, which pose significant health and environmental risks. The aim of this project is to address this deficiency by an extensive multi-city, cross-disciplinary study using state of the art instrumentation and data analytic techniques. The outcome will be an in depth, quantitative insight into the characteristics of the particles, their sources and spatial and temporal variation across different urban areas and time scales. Further, the impacts of changing fuels, vehicle technologies, and climate on future trends of the particles will be elucidated.Read moreRead less