Wave Climate in the Southern Great Barrier Reef. Sea surface roughness has a major influence on global climate modelling. This project will provide a better understanding of the variability of sea waves in coastal waters. New technology of HF ocean radar can map wave fields over coastal waters and thus fill a gap between the open ocean satellite measurements and the point measurements from wave buoys. In this project we will improve the analysis of the radar echoes to produce sea wave spectra, a ....Wave Climate in the Southern Great Barrier Reef. Sea surface roughness has a major influence on global climate modelling. This project will provide a better understanding of the variability of sea waves in coastal waters. New technology of HF ocean radar can map wave fields over coastal waters and thus fill a gap between the open ocean satellite measurements and the point measurements from wave buoys. In this project we will improve the analysis of the radar echoes to produce sea wave spectra, and evaluate focussing of waves by complex currents on the continental shelf to help improve wave forecasting in coastal waters. The HF radar will be used to experimentally test current theories of wind wave spreading.Read moreRead less
The Effects of Nano and Ultrafine Particles from Traffic Emissions on Children's Health. The socio-economic benefits to Australia will include (i) quantitative knowledge of the exposure to nano and ultrafine particles, pollutants in the centre of current scientific, medical and policy debates and (ii) a breakthrough in the scientific understanding of the specific particle properties, which have impacts on health effects. The ultimate economic benefit will be improved urban design to lower, in pa ....The Effects of Nano and Ultrafine Particles from Traffic Emissions on Children's Health. The socio-economic benefits to Australia will include (i) quantitative knowledge of the exposure to nano and ultrafine particles, pollutants in the centre of current scientific, medical and policy debates and (ii) a breakthrough in the scientific understanding of the specific particle properties, which have impacts on health effects. The ultimate economic benefit will be improved urban design to lower, in particular, children's exposure to ultrafine particles, thus reducing life long impacts, health care cost and productivity losses. The research will also place Australia at the forefront of international progress towards better methods for achieving environmental and public health sustainability.Read moreRead less
Laboratory and Theoretical Investigation of Soft Clay Behaviour under Cyclic Loading Stabilised by Prefabricated Vertical Drains. Coastal Australia is under increasing pressure from rapid population growth that requires continual capital investment in civil infrastructure such as road and rail links, ports and buildings. Many regions have soft compressible clays that present challenges for infrastructure design and construction. The use of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) in stabilising soil ....Laboratory and Theoretical Investigation of Soft Clay Behaviour under Cyclic Loading Stabilised by Prefabricated Vertical Drains. Coastal Australia is under increasing pressure from rapid population growth that requires continual capital investment in civil infrastructure such as road and rail links, ports and buildings. Many regions have soft compressible clays that present challenges for infrastructure design and construction. The use of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) in stabilising soil can reduce construction and maintenance costs, and increased soil strength will enhance the performance of infrastructure. In this project, the soil behaviour under cyclic loads stabilised by PVDs will be thoroughly investigated. Extensive laboratory testing will result in more efficient design and construction on soft soils, including roads, railways and airport runways.Read moreRead less
Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. This project aims to develop indices that link change in invertebrate communities to specific environmental stressors, and combine these indices with innovative, low cost molecular approaches to species identification to rapidly identify the causes of decline. River health assessment methods, usually based on aquatic invertebrates, identify if rivers are impaire ....Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. This project aims to develop indices that link change in invertebrate communities to specific environmental stressors, and combine these indices with innovative, low cost molecular approaches to species identification to rapidly identify the causes of decline. River health assessment methods, usually based on aquatic invertebrates, identify if rivers are impaired but must be developed to identify the causes of decline. The intended outcomes are improved sustainable water resource management within and among states, and improved natural resource policy development.Read moreRead less
New perspectives on arsenic speciation and fate in anoxic aqueous environments: Resolving unexplored interactions with the sulfur cycle. Using exciting new experiments and innovative analyses, this project will provide transformational insights into how sulfur cycling in the Earth’s critical zone affects arsenic speciation and fate. The project will resolve, for the first time, unexplored interactions between arsenic geochemistry and the low-temperature formation and transformation of metastable ....New perspectives on arsenic speciation and fate in anoxic aqueous environments: Resolving unexplored interactions with the sulfur cycle. Using exciting new experiments and innovative analyses, this project will provide transformational insights into how sulfur cycling in the Earth’s critical zone affects arsenic speciation and fate. The project will resolve, for the first time, unexplored interactions between arsenic geochemistry and the low-temperature formation and transformation of metastable iron sulfide minerals. The outcomes will provide crucially important new perspectives on arsenic geochemistry in anoxic soils, sediments and groundwater systems.Read moreRead less
Interactions between antimony and the sulphur cycle. This project aims to unravel unexplored interactions between the sulphur cycle and fundamentally important aspects of antimony geochemistry in the Earth’s critical zone. This project will resolve interactions between antimony geochemistry and the low-temperature formation and transformation of metastable iron sulphide minerals. The outcomes are expected to provide crucially important perspectives on antimony geochemistry in anoxic soils, sedim ....Interactions between antimony and the sulphur cycle. This project aims to unravel unexplored interactions between the sulphur cycle and fundamentally important aspects of antimony geochemistry in the Earth’s critical zone. This project will resolve interactions between antimony geochemistry and the low-temperature formation and transformation of metastable iron sulphide minerals. The outcomes are expected to provide crucially important perspectives on antimony geochemistry in anoxic soils, sediments and groundwater systems. This understanding should lead to more accurate geochemical risk assessments and better site treatment strategies for environmental antimony contamination.Read moreRead less
Investigating movement, distribution, abundance and diet to support management objectives for threatened riverine predators in Northern Australia. The rivers and estuaries of northern Australia are highly productive environments, containing an exceptional diversity and abundance of large predatory aquatic species. This project aims to monitor the movements, habitat preferences and diet in eight large predatory species in a northern Queensland river over the next three years. Movement data will b ....Investigating movement, distribution, abundance and diet to support management objectives for threatened riverine predators in Northern Australia. The rivers and estuaries of northern Australia are highly productive environments, containing an exceptional diversity and abundance of large predatory aquatic species. This project aims to monitor the movements, habitat preferences and diet in eight large predatory species in a northern Queensland river over the next three years. Movement data will be combined with isotopic analysis to reveal how environmental and biological factors drive animal movements and impact habitat connectivity. In a world of vanishing top predators, it is imperative to understand system dynamics before we can evaluate the impact of species removal on ecosystem function.Read moreRead less
Modelling the Environmental Impacts of Commercial Vehicle Tours and Freight Management Policies in Urban Areas. Commercial vehicle flows have a negative impact on the health and wellbeing of millions of pedestrians and urban dwellers. Commercial vehicles' environmental costs per kilometre are about four times higher the corresponding environmental costs of a private car. However, the amount and level of these impacts are highly dependent on the population density and its proximity to freight flo ....Modelling the Environmental Impacts of Commercial Vehicle Tours and Freight Management Policies in Urban Areas. Commercial vehicle flows have a negative impact on the health and wellbeing of millions of pedestrians and urban dwellers. Commercial vehicles' environmental costs per kilometre are about four times higher the corresponding environmental costs of a private car. However, the amount and level of these impacts are highly dependent on the population density and its proximity to freight flows. Existing methods to assess environmental impacts such as air quality or noise tend to focus on the production source of the pollutant not the impacts, without providing the necessary framework and methodology to evaluate freight management policies in urban areas.Read moreRead less
Quantitative metrics for determining aquifer ecosystem state. Clean groundwater comes from dirty surface water by way of biological purification. This project will develop quantitative ways to assess groundwater ecosystems to ensure the sustainable extraction of water and maintenance of these crucial ecosystems.
Development of advanced lithium ion battery and battery management system for electric /hybrid electric vehicle applications. This project represents a significant scientific and economic development for Australia as it aims to create advanced, high performing, energy storage devices with a focus on safety, that will provide enormous benefits for the environment. An added advantage will be the establishment of local and national expertise in the area of electrochemical energy storage systems, th ....Development of advanced lithium ion battery and battery management system for electric /hybrid electric vehicle applications. This project represents a significant scientific and economic development for Australia as it aims to create advanced, high performing, energy storage devices with a focus on safety, that will provide enormous benefits for the environment. An added advantage will be the establishment of local and national expertise in the area of electrochemical energy storage systems, that will place Australia at the forefront of lithium ion battery research and development. Flow-on benefits will also be created for Australian organizations involved in the manufacturing of electric vehicles and portable devices.Read moreRead less