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
Tenants of the soil: adapting agricultural land ownership in Australia. Resolving the problem of environmental degradation on agricultural land, which is 60% of Australia’s land surface, is a major challenge. By engaging with farmers whose innovative practices have generated environmental and productivity benefits, this project aims to investigate the co-constructive relationship between land ownership, land use decision making and geography. The project tackles conventional accounts treating pr ....Tenants of the soil: adapting agricultural land ownership in Australia. Resolving the problem of environmental degradation on agricultural land, which is 60% of Australia’s land surface, is a major challenge. By engaging with farmers whose innovative practices have generated environmental and productivity benefits, this project aims to investigate the co-constructive relationship between land ownership, land use decision making and geography. The project tackles conventional accounts treating private property rights in agricultural land as unavoidably opposed to environmental goals. A key projected outcome is a set of rich case studies showing how geography shapes land use decision-making. This new approach provides much-needed evidence to inform law reform that transcends the public law/private rights impasse.Read moreRead less
Owning nature: mapping the contested country of private protected areas. This project aims to improve public good outcomes from private protected areas in Australia. Nature conservation on private land is being pioneered by Indigenous and other communities, landholders, governments, philanthropists and businesses. An innovative and interdisciplinary research design across diverse cases will provide knowledge of social drivers, impacts and future pathways for private protected areas. This will pr ....Owning nature: mapping the contested country of private protected areas. This project aims to improve public good outcomes from private protected areas in Australia. Nature conservation on private land is being pioneered by Indigenous and other communities, landholders, governments, philanthropists and businesses. An innovative and interdisciplinary research design across diverse cases will provide knowledge of social drivers, impacts and future pathways for private protected areas. This will provide evidence that can guide policy and governance to integrate nature conservation and social justice outcomes, and enhance the sustainability of benefits from private lands.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
Contribution of comammox bacteria to soil nitrification. This project aims to understand the diversity, activity and environmental relevance of comammox bacteria, the newly-discovered complete nitrifiers, in Australian soils, and to evaluate their relative contributions to nitrification processes compared to other canonical nitrifying prokaryotes. Nitrogen transformations are pivotal microbial processes, with nitrification largely responsible for nitrogen losses through nitrous oxide emissions a ....Contribution of comammox bacteria to soil nitrification. This project aims to understand the diversity, activity and environmental relevance of comammox bacteria, the newly-discovered complete nitrifiers, in Australian soils, and to evaluate their relative contributions to nitrification processes compared to other canonical nitrifying prokaryotes. Nitrogen transformations are pivotal microbial processes, with nitrification largely responsible for nitrogen losses through nitrous oxide emissions and nitrate leaching in the terrestrial ecosystems. The expected outcomes will develop new knowledge on the comammox bacteria and provide novel insights into refined strategies to manipulate nitrification processes for improved nitrogen use efficiency and sustainable agricultural management.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100094
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$430,000.00
Summary
A new 3D data model to integrate underground land information in Australia. This project aims to develop a novel 3D digital approach to managing subterranean ownership spaces by referencing these spaces to the physical reality of the underground environment. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of underground land administration using new 3D data modelling techniques. Expected outcomes of this project include a new underground 3D data model to improve management and communi ....A new 3D data model to integrate underground land information in Australia. This project aims to develop a novel 3D digital approach to managing subterranean ownership spaces by referencing these spaces to the physical reality of the underground environment. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of underground land administration using new 3D data modelling techniques. Expected outcomes of this project include a new underground 3D data model to improve management and communication of physical location and ownership extent of Australia’s underground assets. This should provide significant benefits such as protecting underground assets, decreasing the risk of damaging utilities, avoiding unnecessary disruptions and delays when planning, constructing and managing underground infrastructure. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100052
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$437,020.00
Summary
Impacts of the apartment boom on public transport in Australian cities. This project aims to investigate the impacts of high density housing on public transport use and service provision to directly inform policy and practice. Recent growth in high density housing along public transport corridors is associated with overcrowded public transport services in Australian cities, yet this complex and interconnected relationship is not well understood. This project expects to generate new knowledge in ....Impacts of the apartment boom on public transport in Australian cities. This project aims to investigate the impacts of high density housing on public transport use and service provision to directly inform policy and practice. Recent growth in high density housing along public transport corridors is associated with overcrowded public transport services in Australian cities, yet this complex and interconnected relationship is not well understood. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the field of transport and land use integration and produce much needed cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence of the impacts of the apartment boom on public transport. Anticipated benefits include reduced overcrowding on public transport, improved travel choices and enhanced liveability in Australian cities.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230100622
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$452,350.00
Summary
Ending Aqua Nullius: Sustainable and Legitimate Water Law in Settler States. This project aims to investigate how treaty and agreement making can lead to water law reform in settler colonial states. This project will use interdisciplinary approaches in Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada and the US to develop new knowledge of how Indigenous sovereignty shapes water law. Expected outcomes of this project include enhanced collaborations between researchers and Indigenous Peoples, evidence-base ....Ending Aqua Nullius: Sustainable and Legitimate Water Law in Settler States. This project aims to investigate how treaty and agreement making can lead to water law reform in settler colonial states. This project will use interdisciplinary approaches in Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada and the US to develop new knowledge of how Indigenous sovereignty shapes water law. Expected outcomes of this project include enhanced collaborations between researchers and Indigenous Peoples, evidence-based law and policy guidelines for ethical, pluralist water laws, and context-specific pathways for water law reform developed in partnership with Indigenous Peoples as part of Treaty-making. This should provide significant benefits, such as improving both the legitimacy and ecological sustainability of water law in Australia.Read moreRead less
Mineral transformation and oxidant production in subsurface environments. Sporadic influx of oxygen-rich rainwater / groundwater into subsurface waste sites induces dramatic biogeochemical changes which greatly influence the transport of contaminants present. In this project, fundamental knowledge gaps regarding the impacts of redox oscillations upon contaminant behaviour in these sediments will be addressed through a comprehensive program of field studies at a purpose-constructed experimental f ....Mineral transformation and oxidant production in subsurface environments. Sporadic influx of oxygen-rich rainwater / groundwater into subsurface waste sites induces dramatic biogeochemical changes which greatly influence the transport of contaminants present. In this project, fundamental knowledge gaps regarding the impacts of redox oscillations upon contaminant behaviour in these sediments will be addressed through a comprehensive program of field studies at a purpose-constructed experimental facility in an existing waste site, and complementary laboratory investigations. The intended outcomes are to improve understanding of contaminant mobility at the field-scale in these pervasive sites spread across the globe, and provide critical insight into their remediation using cost-effective techniques.Read moreRead less
Observed streamflow generation changes: better understanding and modelling. This Project aims to investigate drivers and triggers of variable streamflow response during and after drought and develop modelling strategies and model structures more robust to changing streamflow response. In many catchments during the Millennium Drought, streamflow generation was less than expected and hydrologic models performed poorly. After the drought, streamflow generation is yet to recover in some catchments. ....Observed streamflow generation changes: better understanding and modelling. This Project aims to investigate drivers and triggers of variable streamflow response during and after drought and develop modelling strategies and model structures more robust to changing streamflow response. In many catchments during the Millennium Drought, streamflow generation was less than expected and hydrologic models performed poorly. After the drought, streamflow generation is yet to recover in some catchments. This Project expects to generate new knowledge about variable streamflow response to drought and develop strategies and models to robustly simulate runoff during and after changed conditions, which should provide significant benefit via better understanding and modelling of streamflow response under changing conditions.Read moreRead less