Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100922
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$408,490.00
Summary
Foresight: Anticipatory decision-making in water resource management. Long-term planning is vital to secure Australia’s water resources in the face of environmental disruption. This project aims to contribute to sustainable and equitable water management by examining the efficacy of anticipatory decision-making approaches. Qualitative research will be used to examine how scientific knowledge is used or contested in water reform within the Murray-Darling Basin. Intended outcomes include improved ....Foresight: Anticipatory decision-making in water resource management. Long-term planning is vital to secure Australia’s water resources in the face of environmental disruption. This project aims to contribute to sustainable and equitable water management by examining the efficacy of anticipatory decision-making approaches. Qualitative research will be used to examine how scientific knowledge is used or contested in water reform within the Murray-Darling Basin. Intended outcomes include improved capacities to plan for future change and establishing anticipatory decision-making within Australian natural resource management. This should provide significant benefits based on an integrated approach to science and decision-making that addresses trade-offs between stakeholders to identify shared action pathways.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230100132
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$438,909.00
Summary
Population genetics from environmental DNA to revolutionise conservation. This project aims to revolutionise conservation monitoring by developing environmental DNA tools to rapidly and efficiently extract detailed genetic data on entire populations from a simple environmental sample. This project expects to significantly enhance conservation management by providing critical information on genetic diversity and population health. Expected outcomes include new techniques to collect population gen ....Population genetics from environmental DNA to revolutionise conservation. This project aims to revolutionise conservation monitoring by developing environmental DNA tools to rapidly and efficiently extract detailed genetic data on entire populations from a simple environmental sample. This project expects to significantly enhance conservation management by providing critical information on genetic diversity and population health. Expected outcomes include new techniques to collect population genetic information with increased speed and affordability, enhancing the capacity for both industry and government to address conservation questions. This project is likely to provide significant benefits for aquatic conservation, where traditional monitoring proves problematic for many cryptic, elusive or rare species.Read moreRead less
Ecohydrological forecasting: the pivotal role of root-zone soil moisture. This project aims to overcome the scientific and technological challenges preventing soil water and vegetation forecasting at useful land management scales (eg. 25 m). The significance is in enabling an unprecedented hyperresolution modelling capability for Australia through the integration of new ecohydrological theory with a range of satellite observations. Outcomes include more accurate, spatially-detailed information o ....Ecohydrological forecasting: the pivotal role of root-zone soil moisture. This project aims to overcome the scientific and technological challenges preventing soil water and vegetation forecasting at useful land management scales (eg. 25 m). The significance is in enabling an unprecedented hyperresolution modelling capability for Australia through the integration of new ecohydrological theory with a range of satellite observations. Outcomes include more accurate, spatially-detailed information of current soil water amounts, and reliable forecasts of vegetation condition several months into the future. This will greatly enhance timely decision making and forward planning by farmers, fire agencies, and other land and water managers, with corresponding increases in productivity, sustainability and community safety.Read moreRead less
Indigenous-led Sea Country Management: Protecting Australia's Marine Estate. This project aims to understand and support the aspirations and achievements of Sea Country Traditional Owners in leading the management of their marine and coastal estates. The project expects to generate new approaches to marine management based on Indigenous knowledge and governance systems and reconceptualise marine spatial and conservation planning methodologies. Expected outcomes include solutions to problems face ....Indigenous-led Sea Country Management: Protecting Australia's Marine Estate. This project aims to understand and support the aspirations and achievements of Sea Country Traditional Owners in leading the management of their marine and coastal estates. The project expects to generate new approaches to marine management based on Indigenous knowledge and governance systems and reconceptualise marine spatial and conservation planning methodologies. Expected outcomes include solutions to problems faced by Indigenous and non-Indigenous marine managers working in remote and cross-cultural spaces and supporting governments to implement effective and equitable legal and policy frameworks. This may provide significant cultural, environmental and economic benefits to Traditional Owners, governments and the Australian community.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
Healing Country: integrating knowledge systems to meet climate challenges. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are currently experiencing severe environmental challenges related to a changing climate. Led by Aboriginal communities, this project aims to integrate traditional knowledges and environmental and health data to create community story-data maps. These interactive, online maps will be a unique and powerful blend of information, providing a rich evidence base, decision-suppo ....Healing Country: integrating knowledge systems to meet climate challenges. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are currently experiencing severe environmental challenges related to a changing climate. Led by Aboriginal communities, this project aims to integrate traditional knowledges and environmental and health data to create community story-data maps. These interactive, online maps will be a unique and powerful blend of information, providing a rich evidence base, decision-support and communication tool to inform the co-design of local climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience plans. The project aims to give agency to Aboriginal communities in leading a systems change process to reduce environmental risks and strengthen health and wellbeing.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR180100005
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,225,000.00
Summary
Remediation of PFAS contaminated soil using soil washing and immobilisation. This project aims to assess the applicability of soil washing and immobilisation as cost-effective techniques for the remediation of per- and poly-fluroalkyl substance (PFAS) contaminated Australian soils. The project expects to establish the efficacy of the remediation of a range of PFASs, including many polyfluorinated precursors of perfluorinated, chemically-persistent legacy pollutants which are of concern. The proj ....Remediation of PFAS contaminated soil using soil washing and immobilisation. This project aims to assess the applicability of soil washing and immobilisation as cost-effective techniques for the remediation of per- and poly-fluroalkyl substance (PFAS) contaminated Australian soils. The project expects to establish the efficacy of the remediation of a range of PFASs, including many polyfluorinated precursors of perfluorinated, chemically-persistent legacy pollutants which are of concern. The project will provide a scientific basis for understanding the benefits and limitations associated with soil washing and immobilisation techniques and a more comprehensive understanding of future liabilities associated with formation of PFASs from precursors remaining in remediated soils. Collaboration with stakeholders will ensure benefits are captured both commercially and environmentally, as well as removing a potential and on-going health threat to communities exposed to these contaminants.Read moreRead less
Snails to the rescue! Conservation of Australia’s island invertebrates. This project aims to deliver an exemplar industry network model for conservation on Australia’s islands which are hotspots both of biodiversity and of extinctions. Protecting species on islands is therefore key to securing Australia’s biodiversity. We will secure Norfolk Island's 60 species of land snails via in situ and ex situ conservation with six key industry partners. The project expects to unite conservation actions ac ....Snails to the rescue! Conservation of Australia’s island invertebrates. This project aims to deliver an exemplar industry network model for conservation on Australia’s islands which are hotspots both of biodiversity and of extinctions. Protecting species on islands is therefore key to securing Australia’s biodiversity. We will secure Norfolk Island's 60 species of land snails via in situ and ex situ conservation with six key industry partners. The project expects to unite conservation actions across research, governments, and industry. Expected outcomes of this project include Norfolk Island emerging as a leader in global conservation. This should provide significant benefits such as a model for conservation that is applicable to thousands of isolated, range-restricted invertebrate species across Australia.Read moreRead less
More than a reserve? Measuring the benefits of private protected areas. This project aims to develop a framework for understanding the full suite of benefits derived from privately protected areas in Australia. It will develop and test a new interdisciplinary approach to measure the ecological, socio-cultural, and economic benefits of protected areas to both human and non-human beneficiaries. Outcomes will include a systematic process to effectively gather data, analyse, and report on the full s ....More than a reserve? Measuring the benefits of private protected areas. This project aims to develop a framework for understanding the full suite of benefits derived from privately protected areas in Australia. It will develop and test a new interdisciplinary approach to measure the ecological, socio-cultural, and economic benefits of protected areas to both human and non-human beneficiaries. Outcomes will include a systematic process to effectively gather data, analyse, and report on the full suite of benefits derived from protected areas. The framework will provide a robust evidence base for the range of benefits provided by private protected areas. This will be vital to manage and grow Australia’s protected area network to reduce biodiversity and environmental declines, and meet international commitments.Read moreRead less
Developing Ecosystem Services Economies for northern Australia. The project aims to advance economic opportunities for Indigenous communities across Northern Australia by developing culturally appropriate ecosystem services economies. The project will offer new alternatives for collectively addressing chronic Indigenous socio-economic issues and pressing environmental issues. Expected outcomes include a co-developed ecosystem services economies business model with a toolkit, involving Indigenous ....Developing Ecosystem Services Economies for northern Australia. The project aims to advance economic opportunities for Indigenous communities across Northern Australia by developing culturally appropriate ecosystem services economies. The project will offer new alternatives for collectively addressing chronic Indigenous socio-economic issues and pressing environmental issues. Expected outcomes include a co-developed ecosystem services economies business model with a toolkit, involving Indigenous and business stakeholders, for establishing innovative enterprises across northern Australia. Key benefits include new ecosystem services-based enterprises; sustainable land sector development; jobs in remote locations; improved well-being of Indigenous peoples; and better environmental management. Read moreRead less