Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180101154
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$363,996.00
Summary
Regulating cumulative environmental effects: Designing global best practice. This project aims to analyse and evaluate laws regulating cumulative environmental effects in the United States of America, European Union, Canada and Australia. The project will use methods combining law, ethics, and natural and spatial science to develop a framework of globally relevant best practice tools for regulating cumulative effects. The outcomes will increase the capacity of regulators, industry, and the commu ....Regulating cumulative environmental effects: Designing global best practice. This project aims to analyse and evaluate laws regulating cumulative environmental effects in the United States of America, European Union, Canada and Australia. The project will use methods combining law, ethics, and natural and spatial science to develop a framework of globally relevant best practice tools for regulating cumulative effects. The outcomes will increase the capacity of regulators, industry, and the community to better manage common challenges in managing environmental effects and reducing environmental harms.Read moreRead less
Water availability and demand: better forecasts, better management. This project aims to improve Australia’s capability in the provision and use of water forecasts for managing water resources. The current water forecasts are not fully utilised by water agencies as they are not sufficiently comprehensive and advanced. This project expects to achieve a step change in the uptake and utility of hydro-climate forecasts through an extensive partnership of leading researchers and operational agencies ....Water availability and demand: better forecasts, better management. This project aims to improve Australia’s capability in the provision and use of water forecasts for managing water resources. The current water forecasts are not fully utilised by water agencies as they are not sufficiently comprehensive and advanced. This project expects to achieve a step change in the uptake and utility of hydro-climate forecasts through an extensive partnership of leading researchers and operational agencies of hydro-climate forecasting, with federal, state and regional water agencies.Read moreRead less
Storying and repairing water places in Wiradjuri Country. This project will centre Aboriginal knowledges to story, care for and repair Wiradjuri Country around the Mudgee area, central west NSW. Sharing information is a key goal of this project. Wiradjuri people are keen to see their cultural, economic, social and environmental knowledge about Country recorded and shared for people in the Mudgee area and beyond. By documenting in story form the proposed on-Country Learning, this project can faci ....Storying and repairing water places in Wiradjuri Country. This project will centre Aboriginal knowledges to story, care for and repair Wiradjuri Country around the Mudgee area, central west NSW. Sharing information is a key goal of this project. Wiradjuri people are keen to see their cultural, economic, social and environmental knowledge about Country recorded and shared for people in the Mudgee area and beyond. By documenting in story form the proposed on-Country Learning, this project can facilitate this process and serve as a pathway for other co-management contexts. At the heart of the project is on-Country Learning which will bring key collaborators, community members and local school students together on, and with, Country. Read moreRead less
Industry Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: IL230100175
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,763,434.00
Summary
Combatting wildlife crime and preventing environmental harm. Wildlife crime is one of the greatest threats to environmental and human security across the globe. In Australia, the illegal harvesting, killing, and trade of wild animals and plants endangers the country’s unique biodiversity and poses serious biosecurity risks to natural and agricultural systems. This Fellowship will deliver the intelligence tools and technologies, in wildlife forensics and cyber security, that are required for step ....Combatting wildlife crime and preventing environmental harm. Wildlife crime is one of the greatest threats to environmental and human security across the globe. In Australia, the illegal harvesting, killing, and trade of wild animals and plants endangers the country’s unique biodiversity and poses serious biosecurity risks to natural and agricultural systems. This Fellowship will deliver the intelligence tools and technologies, in wildlife forensics and cyber security, that are required for step-change reductions in wildlife crime in Australia, and Asia-Pacific. The project will establish new approaches for raising public awareness of the dangers of wildlife crime and provide much needed stewardship to protect Australia’s environmental assets and natural capital from current and future threats.Read moreRead less
Mapping the Political Ecology of the Edible Birds’ Nests Trade in Indonesia. This study examines the origins and impacts of the rapidly emerging edible birds’ nests (EBN) trade for rural livelihoods and ecologies in Southeast Asia. A high-value Chinese delicacy, the EBN trade has surged across rural Indonesia and beyond. In partnership with the WWF and Tropenbos, our pioneering study investigates how rural producers negotiate the uneven social, economic and environmental influences of the EBN co ....Mapping the Political Ecology of the Edible Birds’ Nests Trade in Indonesia. This study examines the origins and impacts of the rapidly emerging edible birds’ nests (EBN) trade for rural livelihoods and ecologies in Southeast Asia. A high-value Chinese delicacy, the EBN trade has surged across rural Indonesia and beyond. In partnership with the WWF and Tropenbos, our pioneering study investigates how rural producers negotiate the uneven social, economic and environmental influences of the EBN commodity chain in the threatened Heart of Borneo, Indonesia, and the major urban trading centres of Jakarta, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The project offers novel insights into the trade’s sustainability across rural and urban regions of Asia and informs policy for poverty reduction and environmental management in the region.Read moreRead less
Delivering robust hydrological predictions for Australia’s water challenges. This project aims to build a virtual hydrological laboratory to identify the best hydrological models that maximise predictive performance in a range of catchments, accounting for their dominant hydrological processes and data availability. New process-informed hydrological model structures will be developed using this virtual laboratory to embody our best understanding of hydrological processes and data from real catch ....Delivering robust hydrological predictions for Australia’s water challenges. This project aims to build a virtual hydrological laboratory to identify the best hydrological models that maximise predictive performance in a range of catchments, accounting for their dominant hydrological processes and data availability. New process-informed hydrological model structures will be developed using this virtual laboratory to embody our best understanding of hydrological processes and data from real catchments. The expected outcomes include major improvements in hydrological predictions for Australian catchments. This project will provide major benefits to irrigators, water authorities and engineers, who rely on hydrological predictions for sustainable water management in the highly-variable, semi-arid Australian climate.Read moreRead less
Rupture: nature-society transformations in mainland Southeast Asia. This project aims to understand the nexus between intense, cumulative processes of socio-ecological change and emerging forms of social agency. Three case studies of Cambodian and Vietnamese dams, and a review of Thai-Lao cases, will reveal local and civil society responses to nature-society rupture and how these responses affect the region, inform advances in environmental change management, and be relevant to Australia's secur ....Rupture: nature-society transformations in mainland Southeast Asia. This project aims to understand the nexus between intense, cumulative processes of socio-ecological change and emerging forms of social agency. Three case studies of Cambodian and Vietnamese dams, and a review of Thai-Lao cases, will reveal local and civil society responses to nature-society rupture and how these responses affect the region, inform advances in environmental change management, and be relevant to Australia's security policies.Read moreRead less
Authoritarian populism and livelihood change in the Philippines. This research aims to explore the impacts of authoritarian populism on development, governance, and livelihood change in the Philippines. The project will generate new knowledge on the consequences of the interrelated erosion of environmental protections, acceleration of development projects, and human rights violations for poor people in Southeast Asia. Expected outcomes of the project include new empirical insights into how poor, ....Authoritarian populism and livelihood change in the Philippines. This research aims to explore the impacts of authoritarian populism on development, governance, and livelihood change in the Philippines. The project will generate new knowledge on the consequences of the interrelated erosion of environmental protections, acceleration of development projects, and human rights violations for poor people in Southeast Asia. Expected outcomes of the project include new empirical insights into how poor, resource-reliant households respond to converging environmental and political pressures across rural and urban areas in the Philippines. Project outcomes will provide significant benefits for Australian responses to declining social and environmental safeguards occurring in the region.Read moreRead less
Optimal trade-offs for managing environmental water in inland wetlands. This project aims to optimise long-term water trade-offs in inland wetlands on managed catchments, without compromising their environmental value. These managed wetlands compete for water allocations with irrigation and other uses. Realistic predictions of wetland status will be achieved through the development and integration of an ecohydrological model and a water management decisions model. Application of the tools will i ....Optimal trade-offs for managing environmental water in inland wetlands. This project aims to optimise long-term water trade-offs in inland wetlands on managed catchments, without compromising their environmental value. These managed wetlands compete for water allocations with irrigation and other uses. Realistic predictions of wetland status will be achieved through the development and integration of an ecohydrological model and a water management decisions model. Application of the tools will improve existing decision support models to help analyse the effects of individual local management decisions on the long-term evolution of the system and the effects of changes in operation policies and climate over the long term. The project will provide critical new information for the improved prediction of wetlands evolution and as a consequence better management.Read moreRead less
International Travel Bursary - Elspeth Macdonald's (Scottish Fishermen's Federation) Experience With Spatial Management And The Renewable Energy Sector
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$29,700.00
Summary
Elspeth Macdonald, the CEO of Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF), is a key advocate for the fishing industry and has critical knowledge and experience with the spatial squeeze and the emerging offshore renewable energy sector. As such, WAFIC and the South Australian Northern Zone Rock Lobster Fishermen’s’ Association recognises an opportunity for the fishing industry and government representatives to share and learn from Scotland’s experiences. Through this exchange of knowledge, we hope to g ....Elspeth Macdonald, the CEO of Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF), is a key advocate for the fishing industry and has critical knowledge and experience with the spatial squeeze and the emerging offshore renewable energy sector. As such, WAFIC and the South Australian Northern Zone Rock Lobster Fishermen’s’ Association recognises an opportunity for the fishing industry and government representatives to share and learn from Scotland’s experiences. Through this exchange of knowledge, we hope to guide the development of Australian policy frameworks that encourage co-existence with commercial fisheries.
Tentatively, we are planning for Mrs Macdonald to arrive in Perth to attend high-level State Ministerial and State and Commonwealth Government meetings, before travelling to Adelaide to be a keynote speaker at the Rock Lobster Trans-Tasman Conference arranged by the South Australian Northern Zone Rock Lobster Fishermen’s’ Association and then attend a National Coordination Ocean Access Committee meeting coordinated by Seafood Industry Australia. Other potential opportunities may also be identified and discussed in the months leading up to Mrs Macdonald’s arrival. Read moreRead less