Functional characterisation of contaminant-nanoparticle associations. Nanoparticles present in the environment modify the movement and toxicity of contaminants. This project targets key gaps that hinder the ability to predict the fate and behaviour of environmental contaminants; this will lead to the optimisation of legislative framework and the management/remediation of contaminated sites (for example, mine sites, landfills).
Improved management of marine habitats by learning from historical change. This project aims to greatly improve the cost-effectiveness of actions to protect and restore shallow subtidal marine habitats by quantifying the severity and distribution of recent human impacts. Environmental change will be quantified as the difference between contemporary and historical assemblages encompassing thousands of invertebrate species, and by reading historical chronicles coded by mollusc shells layered in se ....Improved management of marine habitats by learning from historical change. This project aims to greatly improve the cost-effectiveness of actions to protect and restore shallow subtidal marine habitats by quantifying the severity and distribution of recent human impacts. Environmental change will be quantified as the difference between contemporary and historical assemblages encompassing thousands of invertebrate species, and by reading historical chronicles coded by mollusc shells layered in sediments. The roles of different stressors (warming, dredging, eutrophication, introduced species, sediment runoff) will be distinguished. Expected outcomes include continental-scale understanding of factors that facilitate ecosystem decline and recovery, and of sites and species traits most affected by ongoing threats.Read moreRead less
Robotic investigation of water optical properties in the Southern Ocean. The project aims to improve our understanding of light–matter interactions in the waters of the Southern Ocean (SO), in particular the role of phytoplankton and associated material of biological origin. Phytoplankton are the energy source for the food web and a critical component of carbon cycling in the SO. However, their dynamics in the SO cannot be quantified using satellite observations because bio-optical data processi ....Robotic investigation of water optical properties in the Southern Ocean. The project aims to improve our understanding of light–matter interactions in the waters of the Southern Ocean (SO), in particular the role of phytoplankton and associated material of biological origin. Phytoplankton are the energy source for the food web and a critical component of carbon cycling in the SO. However, their dynamics in the SO cannot be quantified using satellite observations because bio-optical data processing algorithms perform poorly due to a lack of field data. This project seeks to remedy this by improving understanding of SO bio-optics, and by providing novel algorithms of known uncertainty, based on in situ data.Read moreRead less
High resolution health assessment of Antarctic plants as climate changes. Declines in terrestrial ecosystem health as a result of a drying climate have been observed in some areas of East Antarctica. This project aims to determine if such changes are widespread. Since mosses, the dominant plants of Antarctica, preserve a record of past climate down their shoots they can be used as surrogates to study how both ecosystems and climate are changing at remote polar sites. Outcomes will include improv ....High resolution health assessment of Antarctic plants as climate changes. Declines in terrestrial ecosystem health as a result of a drying climate have been observed in some areas of East Antarctica. This project aims to determine if such changes are widespread. Since mosses, the dominant plants of Antarctica, preserve a record of past climate down their shoots they can be used as surrogates to study how both ecosystems and climate are changing at remote polar sites. Outcomes will include improved climate data for Antarctica, enabling more robust analysis of regional climate change, and development of ultrahigh-resolution techniques capable of non-destructively monitoring Antarctic ecosystem health. This research will advance ecosystem science and inform best practice in management of Antarctic biodiversity.Read moreRead less
Managing Fresh-Water Resources in Saline Environments. Australian industry and urban developments often rely on a secure supply of fresh water. In many situations, the fresh water occurs adjacent to large expanses of saline water. This poses special constraints on how the fresh water can be recovered. This project undertakes careful mathematical modelling of fresh water recovery from reservoirs and from within islands (where it may be the only practical source of drinking water). The injecti ....Managing Fresh-Water Resources in Saline Environments. Australian industry and urban developments often rely on a secure supply of fresh water. In many situations, the fresh water occurs adjacent to large expanses of saline water. This poses special constraints on how the fresh water can be recovered. This project undertakes careful mathematical modelling of fresh water recovery from reservoirs and from within islands (where it may be the only practical source of drinking water). The injection and extraction of ground water in novel "mineral leaching" mining technology will also be investigated.Read moreRead less
Governing solar radiation management research, development and deployment. This project will expand Australia’s climate response options by developing a governance framework for research, development and deployment of solar radiation management. These emerging technologies seek to reflect part of the sun’s energy from the earth to reduce climate change impacts. Through case studies of key proposals, marine cloud brightening and stratospheric aerosol injection, the project aims to develop nationa ....Governing solar radiation management research, development and deployment. This project will expand Australia’s climate response options by developing a governance framework for research, development and deployment of solar radiation management. These emerging technologies seek to reflect part of the sun’s energy from the earth to reduce climate change impacts. Through case studies of key proposals, marine cloud brightening and stratospheric aerosol injection, the project aims to develop national laws and research policies to responsibly govern research, development and deployment in Australia. This will deliver benefits for Australian governments, civil society, communities and researchers by managing risks and building public confidence in these technologies and provide a best practice model for other countries.Read moreRead less
Encounters with Urban Nature in Australia: An investigation into environmental values, anti-urbanism, multiculturalism, and the transition to urban sustainability. This project offers strategic basic and applied research approaches to overcoming the neglect of moral experience of ?nature? in urban environments so as to further the transition to sustainability in Australia. Working at the intersection of aesthetic, geographical, philosophical, and sociological studies of ecology, this project dev ....Encounters with Urban Nature in Australia: An investigation into environmental values, anti-urbanism, multiculturalism, and the transition to urban sustainability. This project offers strategic basic and applied research approaches to overcoming the neglect of moral experience of ?nature? in urban environments so as to further the transition to sustainability in Australia. Working at the intersection of aesthetic, geographical, philosophical, and sociological studies of ecology, this project develops a comparative qualitative study of three Australian cities. It explores: (1) the paradoxical appeal of anti-urban environmental values to urbanites; (2) the multicultural axis of diversity in urban environmental values; (3) political sites for contesting experiences of ?nature?; and (4) policy opportunities for expression of local synergies between social and biotic well-being in urban ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Using Conservation Covenants for Ecosystem Restoration & Climate Adaptation. This project aims to investigate the role of conservation covenants in facilitating ecological restoration and adaptation to climate change. In light of international experience, the project examines Australia's legal experience with conservation covenants, with case studies in NSW, Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria. The project expects to generate new theoretical insights and practical knowledge about the obstacles an ....Using Conservation Covenants for Ecosystem Restoration & Climate Adaptation. This project aims to investigate the role of conservation covenants in facilitating ecological restoration and adaptation to climate change. In light of international experience, the project examines Australia's legal experience with conservation covenants, with case studies in NSW, Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria. The project expects to generate new theoretical insights and practical knowledge about the obstacles and opportunities for enabling covenants to play a more ambitious role in meeting biodiversity conservation and recovery goals. This should generate significant benefits to Australia in meeting its international environmental obligations, and improving collaboration between governments and community and landholder stakeholders.Read moreRead less
When Sinks Become Sources;
Understanding Persistent Organic Pollutant Behaviour in Dynamic Polar Environments. Polar regions are environmental ‘sinks’ for man-made, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). The unique biogeochemical processes governing POP behaviour in the Polar landscape are not understood, yet are necessary to predict their impact in polar ecosystems. The Antarctic seasonal-ice zone provides an archetype for multi-compartment, temporal observations of POP partitioning in respons ....When Sinks Become Sources;
Understanding Persistent Organic Pollutant Behaviour in Dynamic Polar Environments. Polar regions are environmental ‘sinks’ for man-made, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). The unique biogeochemical processes governing POP behaviour in the Polar landscape are not understood, yet are necessary to predict their impact in polar ecosystems. The Antarctic seasonal-ice zone provides an archetype for multi-compartment, temporal observations of POP partitioning in response to the major drivers of ice cover and primary productivity. In addition, the major Antarctic POP reservoirs of seawater and ice will be characterised. Empirical data will be used to parameterise a regional fugacity model. Model application to varying climate scenarios will extend our understanding of POP behaviour and threat in polar regions.Read moreRead less
Multi-Country Study on Health Effects of Bushfire Air Pollution. Catastrophic bushfires are a major natural disaster, causing serious air pollution. However, aligning bushfire air pollution and public health policies becomes a significant challenge, because limited studies are available on relationships between bushfire air pollution and human health, particularly for the prolonged exposure. We will characterize the nature of the relationships between bushfire air pollution and mortality/morbidi ....Multi-Country Study on Health Effects of Bushfire Air Pollution. Catastrophic bushfires are a major natural disaster, causing serious air pollution. However, aligning bushfire air pollution and public health policies becomes a significant challenge, because limited studies are available on relationships between bushfire air pollution and human health, particularly for the prolonged exposure. We will characterize the nature of the relationships between bushfire air pollution and mortality/morbidity by developing a multi-country study; and estimate the burden of diseases attributed to bushfire air pollution. This project will provide essential scientific evidence to policy-makers and stakeholders in the development, prioritization and implementation of health protection strategies and policies.
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