Developing a decision support system for the management of road runoff for water quality protection. Multiple stakeholders share a vested and often significant financial commitment to ensure water quality standards. These industries, in turn, are vital to the social and economic sustainability of many rural communities in Australia. Recent climatic trends of increasing drought episodes and related natural disasters such as bushfires are expected to increase the delivery of sediments and associat ....Developing a decision support system for the management of road runoff for water quality protection. Multiple stakeholders share a vested and often significant financial commitment to ensure water quality standards. These industries, in turn, are vital to the social and economic sustainability of many rural communities in Australia. Recent climatic trends of increasing drought episodes and related natural disasters such as bushfires are expected to increase the delivery of sediments and associated pollutants to streams. The proposed DSS will allow testing of various management scenarios with respect to road position and layout, thereby providing a planning and management tool, and a method to educate the practitioners involved in environmental management in Australia. Read moreRead less
Atomically thin membranes to transform chemical separations. Energy-efficient chemical separation is at the heart of modern resource and manufacturing industries, central to a prosperous and sustainable Australia. This project aims to develop next generation membrane technologies to transform chemical separations by employing recent breakthrough in materials discovery and nanofluidics. Expected outcomes include new fundamental understandings on sub-continuum transport physics and new atomically ....Atomically thin membranes to transform chemical separations. Energy-efficient chemical separation is at the heart of modern resource and manufacturing industries, central to a prosperous and sustainable Australia. This project aims to develop next generation membrane technologies to transform chemical separations by employing recent breakthrough in materials discovery and nanofluidics. Expected outcomes include new fundamental understandings on sub-continuum transport physics and new atomically thin membranes that enable energy-efficient separations for processing challenging streams beyond water purification. This project aims to position Australia at the forefront of sustainable separation technology and make the local resource and manufacturing industries more sustainable and globally competitive.Read moreRead less
Riparian rehabilitation and ecohydraulics: interactions between flow, sediment, vegetation and bank erosion in longstem tubestock rehabilitation works. Riparian lands are important for maintaining viable ecosystems, improving water quality and reducing sediment yields in rivers and streams. Research in Australia has shown that streambank erosion is the most significant processes in the continuing physical and ecological degradation of riparian zones. The recently developed longstem tubestock sys ....Riparian rehabilitation and ecohydraulics: interactions between flow, sediment, vegetation and bank erosion in longstem tubestock rehabilitation works. Riparian lands are important for maintaining viable ecosystems, improving water quality and reducing sediment yields in rivers and streams. Research in Australia has shown that streambank erosion is the most significant processes in the continuing physical and ecological degradation of riparian zones. The recently developed longstem tubestock system has shown promise in controlling streambank erosion using native vegetation. However, rehabilitation practices rely on ad-hoc recipes without a thorough scientific understanding of near-bank processes. This research will fill this gap by combining field and laboratory experiments on tubestock plantings in order to develop guidelines and predictive tools for riparian zone management.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0668400
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$100,000.00
Summary
A high-throughput stable isotope ratio mass spectrometer for water resource management and climate change studies. Cave speleothems are highly sensitive to climate and are widely used to investigate past climate variability. Many researchers in Australia are now employing speleothems to find out more about the long-term behaviour of the Australian climate system, especially regarding ENSO. However, progress is inhibited by a lack of appropriate instrumentation capable of meeting the unique deman ....A high-throughput stable isotope ratio mass spectrometer for water resource management and climate change studies. Cave speleothems are highly sensitive to climate and are widely used to investigate past climate variability. Many researchers in Australia are now employing speleothems to find out more about the long-term behaviour of the Australian climate system, especially regarding ENSO. However, progress is inhibited by a lack of appropriate instrumentation capable of meeting the unique demands of speleothem research. Our new mass spectrometer will provide precise, rapid and low-cost isotope analyses of speleothem samples, and in doing so generate exciting and important palaeoclimate data, particularly in the area of pre-instrumental rainfall histories.Read moreRead less
Centre For Clinical Research Excellence In Respiratory And Sleep Medicine
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,200,000.00
Summary
The CCRE will enhance Australia's international research reputation in clinical respiratory and sleep medicine by enhancing links between hospital-based investigators. This will foster development of new clinical researchers in these fields. Major research projects will include reducing side effects of asthma therapy in the elderly, better and cheaper ways of diagnosing disorders such as sleep apnoea and blood clots in the lung, keeping patients with chronic lung diseases out of hospital and avo ....The CCRE will enhance Australia's international research reputation in clinical respiratory and sleep medicine by enhancing links between hospital-based investigators. This will foster development of new clinical researchers in these fields. Major research projects will include reducing side effects of asthma therapy in the elderly, better and cheaper ways of diagnosing disorders such as sleep apnoea and blood clots in the lung, keeping patients with chronic lung diseases out of hospital and avoiding accidents due to lack of sleep.Read moreRead less
In situ microbial conversion of coal to methane: Biotechnology development for clean use of Australian coal. We will develop a biotechnology that uses native microorganisms to accelerate the underground conversion of coal to methane. Approximately 90% of Australia’s coal resources cannot be accessed economically using traditional mining technologies. A technology that converts coal to methane could generate an energy supply worth an estimated $60 billion, foster the development of an energy indu ....In situ microbial conversion of coal to methane: Biotechnology development for clean use of Australian coal. We will develop a biotechnology that uses native microorganisms to accelerate the underground conversion of coal to methane. Approximately 90% of Australia’s coal resources cannot be accessed economically using traditional mining technologies. A technology that converts coal to methane could generate an energy supply worth an estimated $60 billion, foster the development of an energy industry now in its infancy, and generate numerous new employment opportunities. Environmentally, methane is a cleaner burning fuel than coal, uses much less water for processing and generates the same quantity of electricity with lower CO2 emissions. This project highlights the fact that Australia’s microbial diversity is a resource we cannot afford to ignore.Read moreRead less
We will conduct a survey of respiratory symptoms, lung function, smoking status, occupational exposures, and other risk factors among 3200 people aged 40 years and over living in five Australian communities: Melbourne, Sydney, Tasmania, Busselton (WA), and the Kimberley region (WA). In the Kimberley we will survey 400 Aboriginal people and 400 non-Aboriginal people. We will use a survey methodology that has been developed by an international expert panel and has been implemented in many other co ....We will conduct a survey of respiratory symptoms, lung function, smoking status, occupational exposures, and other risk factors among 3200 people aged 40 years and over living in five Australian communities: Melbourne, Sydney, Tasmania, Busselton (WA), and the Kimberley region (WA). In the Kimberley we will survey 400 Aboriginal people and 400 non-Aboriginal people. We will use a survey methodology that has been developed by an international expert panel and has been implemented in many other countries (in North and South America, Asia, and Europe). This study will provide the first nationally-representative information on the burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the opportunities for health gain by improving the management of this illness. In Australia, COPD is a relatively silent and under-recognised disease but nevertheless is the third most important contributor to the burden of disease and the third leading cause of hospital admission as well as being the underlying cause of 4.2% of all deaths. The information we will collect is needed to form a basis for prevention and disease management interventions to reduce the burden of COPD, particularly among population sub-groups who are disproportionately affected, either due to greater exposure to risk factors (mainly tobacco smoking and occupation), greater susceptibility, under-recognition and under-diagnosis, or inadequate disease management. Importantly, the study will serve to raise awareness about the hazards of smoking for all Australians. By identifying target groups, prevalent exposures and management deficiencies, it will lead the way towards policy-relevant randomised controlled trials testing community-based interventions to prevent COPD and-or manage it more effectively. The information collected will help advance knowledge of the prevalence, burden and treatment of COPD that will be relevant to communities throughout the world.Read moreRead less
The Clinical Utility Of Small Airway Function Tests In Paediatric Respiratory Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$64,631.00
Summary
Respiratory disease is an important child health issue with long term implications into adulthood. The evaluation of small airways involvement in disease processes, using an accurate sensitive measures of function, such as forced oscillation technique and multiple breath washout, potentially facilitates not only early detection of disease, but instigation of earlier treatment, better assessment of response to treatment, and ultimately better outcome.
A Stochastic Downscaling Framework for Catchment Scale Climate Change Impact Assessment. We propose a framework for climate change impact assessment at the catchment scale, that can both assess the change in catchment yield, as well as refine management policies to mitigate likely impacts. A key aim is to represent the full uncertainty in the simulated streamflow, thus enabling a risk-based comparison of current policies with those for climate change conditions. Given the importance of this rese ....A Stochastic Downscaling Framework for Catchment Scale Climate Change Impact Assessment. We propose a framework for climate change impact assessment at the catchment scale, that can both assess the change in catchment yield, as well as refine management policies to mitigate likely impacts. A key aim is to represent the full uncertainty in the simulated streamflow, thus enabling a risk-based comparison of current policies with those for climate change conditions. Given the importance of this research to the availability of water under a climate change scenario, this proposal has been listed under the ARC's Research Priority 1: 'An Environmentally Sustainable Australia', with the specific priority goals being 'Water - A Critical Resource', and 'Responding to climate change and variability'.Read moreRead less
Restoring hydrological connectivity of surface and ground waters: Biogeochemical processes and environmental benefits for river landscapes. This project examines the restoration of lateral hydrological connectivity to improve floodplain structure and function. The connections between stream flows and both shallow groundwaters and floodplains are critical in sustaining river landscapes. Degrading land and water management practices compounded by natural climatic extremes have severed this link. ....Restoring hydrological connectivity of surface and ground waters: Biogeochemical processes and environmental benefits for river landscapes. This project examines the restoration of lateral hydrological connectivity to improve floodplain structure and function. The connections between stream flows and both shallow groundwaters and floodplains are critical in sustaining river landscapes. Degrading land and water management practices compounded by natural climatic extremes have severed this link. Restoring hydrological connectivity is vital for replenishing groundwater storage and increasing base flows that affect fundamental riverine processes. Using an innovative approach to sustainable agriculture, our project unites multidisciplinary scientific and industry expertise to investigate the biogeochemical and biophysical effects of secondary floodplain channels and in-stream structures on riverine groundwater processes.Read moreRead less