Private Land Conservation in a Dynamically Changing and Risky World. Climate change, and the increasing risk of drought, heatwaves, and fire, have major implications for the design and effectiveness of private land conservation programs. This project aims to generate new knowledge about the effect of climate change on adoption and outcomes of private land conservation agreements. It will use an innovative social-ecological approach focused on koalas. Expected outcomes include an innovative frame ....Private Land Conservation in a Dynamically Changing and Risky World. Climate change, and the increasing risk of drought, heatwaves, and fire, have major implications for the design and effectiveness of private land conservation programs. This project aims to generate new knowledge about the effect of climate change on adoption and outcomes of private land conservation agreements. It will use an innovative social-ecological approach focused on koalas. Expected outcomes include an innovative framework to help make decisions about private land conservation investments under climate change. This should provide significant benefits for government and non-government organisations by providing solutions to climate-proof their conservation investments on private land in a rapidly changing world.Read moreRead less
The impacts of land ownership change on rural social and economic change. This project aims to develop a comprehensive framework for explaining how and why rural land is changing hands, what this means for the ways we understand socio-economic change in rural Australia, and how it can inform best-practice rural and regional decision making by public, private and community sector interests. The project will generate a unique, research-ready database that will detail every land transaction in rura ....The impacts of land ownership change on rural social and economic change. This project aims to develop a comprehensive framework for explaining how and why rural land is changing hands, what this means for the ways we understand socio-economic change in rural Australia, and how it can inform best-practice rural and regional decision making by public, private and community sector interests. The project will generate a unique, research-ready database that will detail every land transaction in rural NSW over a period of ten years, and analyse these data in light of complementary datasets and a series of in-depth interviews with land-owners and key stakeholders. The project expects to transform national understanding of rural land-ownership change, and promote best practice decision making.Read moreRead less
Use of Distichlis spicata for sustainable forage production on saline land to manage dryland salinity. Sustainable and productive use of salt-affected lands is a priority for many farmers. This project aims to develop management strategies that optimise yield, water use and nutritive value of Distichlis spicata (a salt-tolerant grass) forage on salinised lands, and to understand how this forage species affects the salt cycle, water use and fertility improvement of saline soils.
Improving water use efficiency of grapevine production in the Great Western region using effluent water and soil amelioration practices. Irrigation of vineyards with municipal wastewater is a desirable option for the viticulturists of the Great Western region of Victoria, but only if vineyard soil structure is not adversely affected. This project will (1) study the impact of dissolved chemicals in the waste water on the structure of the local sandy soils; (2) model the data to enhance understand ....Improving water use efficiency of grapevine production in the Great Western region using effluent water and soil amelioration practices. Irrigation of vineyards with municipal wastewater is a desirable option for the viticulturists of the Great Western region of Victoria, but only if vineyard soil structure is not adversely affected. This project will (1) study the impact of dissolved chemicals in the waste water on the structure of the local sandy soils; (2) model the data to enhance understanding of the key chemical and physical mechanisms controlling grey water impact in heterogeneous environments. The resulting predictive tools will have direct application in the Great Western region's vineyards, and for irrigation of grey water in vineyards across Ausralia.Read moreRead less
Hydraulic durability of geosynthetic clay liners in steep slope sealing systems for landfills constructed in former quarries. Old quarries are increasingly used for the construction of landfills. The engineering challenge in constructing such landfills includes developing an appropriate lining system for the often steep sided quarry walls. The use of GCLs as part of the lining system can be a viable and a cost effective solution. However, this solution suffers from the lack of meaningful data on ....Hydraulic durability of geosynthetic clay liners in steep slope sealing systems for landfills constructed in former quarries. Old quarries are increasingly used for the construction of landfills. The engineering challenge in constructing such landfills includes developing an appropriate lining system for the often steep sided quarry walls. The use of GCLs as part of the lining system can be a viable and a cost effective solution. However, this solution suffers from the lack of meaningful data on their hydraulic durability in this particular situation. This proposal presents an original approach to investigate this durability under operating conditions typically encountered in steep sided quarries. This work is expected to provide benefits to waste containment efforts at national and international level.Read moreRead less
Synthesis of Activated Carbon Supported Zero Valent Iron Nanoparticles and Application to Contaminant Degradation in Benthic Sediments. Sediment contamination is a major problem in harbours and estuaries around Australia. For example, in Sydney Harbour, a total fishing ban has been implemented as a result of excessive levels of dioxins and benzofurans in fish tissues. There is also concern at the possibility of large scale contamination of Botany Bay as a result of historic industrial activity a ....Synthesis of Activated Carbon Supported Zero Valent Iron Nanoparticles and Application to Contaminant Degradation in Benthic Sediments. Sediment contamination is a major problem in harbours and estuaries around Australia. For example, in Sydney Harbour, a total fishing ban has been implemented as a result of excessive levels of dioxins and benzofurans in fish tissues. There is also concern at the possibility of large scale contamination of Botany Bay as a result of historic industrial activity around the Bay. While dredging and on-land treatment of sediments is being adopted at the most severely contaminated sites, the cost of this approach is exorbitant. For sites where removal of contaminated sediments cannot be justified, the approach proposed in this study of a technology that entraps contaminants and enhances their in situ biodegradation is potentially a way forward.Read moreRead less
Settlement of municipal solid waste. The mechanisms governing municipal solid waste settlement are many and complex. There is a clear need to adopt a methodology to forecast the landfilling space based on high quality full scale data where composition, method of placement, compactive effort employed during placement of the waste, thickness of daily cover, stage filling and local moisture content are all recorded. This is the only sound scientific way forward to develop a predictive model that ....Settlement of municipal solid waste. The mechanisms governing municipal solid waste settlement are many and complex. There is a clear need to adopt a methodology to forecast the landfilling space based on high quality full scale data where composition, method of placement, compactive effort employed during placement of the waste, thickness of daily cover, stage filling and local moisture content are all recorded. This is the only sound scientific way forward to develop a predictive model that links settlement to these parameters. This project will contribute to developing such a methodology for the benefit of the Australian waste containment industry.Read moreRead less
Development of a new technique to improve very soft soils using geogrid wrapped stone columns. Many large Australian infrastructure projects will be developed in regions with inherently poor soil conditions. Port developments, for instance, are by their nature located in river estuaries which are characterised by deep deposits of soft alluvial soils. Many highway projects also traverse low-lying ground or coastal regions with soft soil conditions. This project will develop a novel technique to ....Development of a new technique to improve very soft soils using geogrid wrapped stone columns. Many large Australian infrastructure projects will be developed in regions with inherently poor soil conditions. Port developments, for instance, are by their nature located in river estuaries which are characterised by deep deposits of soft alluvial soils. Many highway projects also traverse low-lying ground or coastal regions with soft soil conditions. This project will develop a novel technique to improve the engineering characteristics of very soft soils (shear strength lower than 15 kPa) by using geogrid wrapped stone columns. The effectiveness of this technique will be investigated in both small scale laboratory tests and field trials.Read moreRead less
Locating jobs to improve urban sustainability: investigating the Transport Impacts of Employment Decentralisation in Australian Cities (TIEDAC). This project investigates how the relocation of public sector employment to suburban nodes can improve the efficiency of Australian cities. The project will identify transport efficiencies from employment decentralisation that can reduce infrastructure costs for governments and reduce commuting distances for Australian urban residents.
Managing Australia's water resources: Automated demand scheduling and supply control systems for large scale irrigation networks. Irrigation water delivery losses in Australia are equal in volume to the total non-agricultural water consumption nationwide. In a drought-prone country where water is such a scarce resource, precise water management is critical. Through the intelligent development and application of technology to the supply and management of water flows in irrigation networks, this p ....Managing Australia's water resources: Automated demand scheduling and supply control systems for large scale irrigation networks. Irrigation water delivery losses in Australia are equal in volume to the total non-agricultural water consumption nationwide. In a drought-prone country where water is such a scarce resource, precise water management is critical. Through the intelligent development and application of technology to the supply and management of water flows in irrigation networks, this project will deliver increased flexibility and security in water delivery to farmers, and substantial water savings overall. These benefits will lead directly to increased productivity and growth in the rural sector and wider economy, whilst providing improved environmental and catchment flows of benefit to all Australians.Read moreRead less