Academic Research Interests

The School's mission is "To excel in pure and applied research and teaching in environmental science; to disseminate knowledge and research results that can help in resolving environmental problems; and to serve community needs."

The School’s research areas encompass our seven major themes: air, land, water, biota, people, policy and technology. Most school staff are members of University Areas of Research Strength, namely Ecosystem Management and Restoration, and Technologies and Policies for Sustainable Development. Specific topics include:

air pollution | meteorology | environmental impact assessment | policy and law | environmental management | environmental technology | indoor air quality | ecosystem management and restoration | marine, estuarine and wetland ecology | mine-site rehabilitation | nature-based tourism and nature conservation management | pollution control.

Projects and consultancies are carried out with a wide range of national and state agencies, local government authorities and industries as well as international agencies. Co-operative projects aim to improve industrial efficiency while protecting the natural environment, in addition to developing cost-effective approaches to preventing problems later on.

Dr Helen Allison

Application of resilience theory to complex adaptive social-ecological systems, Natural resource management and policy.

Dr Martin Anda

Liquid waste recycling. Solid waste recycling. Energy efficiency in buildings and human settlements. Sustainable development, governance and environmental technology in Australian indigenous communities. Permaculture.

Associate Professor John Bailey

The environmental impact assessment of government policies as an extension of the EIA of development projects and plans. Environmental policy and law. Relating legal instruments and the legal process to the science of environmental management.

Dr Catherine Baudains

Environmental Education

Associate Professor Lynnath Beckley

Biological oceanography (especially ichthyoplankton), fisheries biology, coastal zone management, assessment of marine resource use, marine protected areas and marine ecology.

Professor Richard Bell

Land rehabilitation; plant nutrition, soil fertility and nutrient cycling; land and catchment management, rehabilitation and restoration of remnant vegetation.

Associate Professor Krzysztof Cena

Built environments, indoor climate, thermal comfort, thermal physiology, clothing, heat and cold stress; occupational environment, safety problems, occupational hygiene; indoor climate: thermal comfort, indoor air quality.

Dr Jane Chambers

Wetland ecology and rehabilitation: aquatic plants, wetland creation, nutrient dynamics, wetland management

Professor Nick Costa

Sustainable grazing systems; rumen ecology, nutrient monitoring and management.

Dr Viki Cramer

Nature conservation and ecological restoration in social-ecological systems; restoration ecology in fragmented landscapes; plant ecology; landscape ecology; human perceptions of nature and their influence on nature conservation and ecological restoration.

Associate Professor Jennifer Davis

Freshwater ecology - wetlands, rivers and streams. Biodiversity, food web structure, aquatic invertebrate conservation and taxonomy; bioassessment, water quality and wetland management

Associate Professor Peter Dingle

Indoor air quality in homes and office buildings; toxic chemical use; air pollution and health; environmental education; environmental management systems and industry; risk management, environmental leadership.

Professor Goen Ho

Waste management; pollution control; environmental technologies, particularly those which achieve sustainable development.

Professor Richard Hobbs

Ecosystem repair and design; restoration ecology, landscape ecology, conservation biology; plant regeneration; management of fragmented ecosystems.

Dr Halina Kobryn

Applications of geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing in environmental science and natural resource management. Environmental monitoring, especially change detection techniques using GIS and remote sensing. Land use changes and their effects on properties of stormwater. Shore and coastal erosion.

Dr Philip Ladd

plant community ecology, population biology and pollination ecology; palaeobotany - mainly palynology past vegetation history; paleaoclimates based on vegetation reconstruction

Mr Ross Lantzke

Village development in the third world; global population resources and environment issues; multicriteria analysis and decision support software.

Professor Thomas Lyons

Air-surface interaction; applied boundary-layer meteorology, air pollution.

Dr Kuruvilla Mathew

Wastewater treatment, water pollution control, technologies for remote Aboriginal communities, appropriate technology, bacteriological testing of drinking water.

Professor Arthur McComb

Water quality and wetland management.

Associate Professor Susan Moore

Environmental policy; environmental decision-making, especially dispute resolution; public involvement in planning; social aspects of nature conservation; sense of place in agricultural landscapes; social aspects of salinity management; and using local knowledge in environmental management and visitor use of protected areas (natural area tourism).

Dr Angus Morrison-Saunders

The effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Specific interests include EIA audits, utility of environmental monitoring and management programmes, and the role of science in EIA.

Associate Professor Francis Murray

Air pollution effects on ecosystems and plants; environmental indicators; allergens in air.

Dr Jaya Nair

Drinking water Microbiology and water test kits ; Wastewater reuse ; On-site Wastewater Treatment ; Vermicomposting ; Pathogen inactivation during composting and Anaerobic digestion ; H2S method as an on-site test for microbial quality of drinking water ; Efficiency of silver oxide for disinfecting Legionella sp, E.coli and Salmonella typhimurium ; Evaluation of the microbial quality of rainwater stored in tanks ; Testing borewater using the H2S method ; Aquaponics as a method for treatment and reuse of domestic wastewater

Dr David Newsome

Ecotourism embracing environmental impacts and sustainability of tourism in national parks and nature reserves; biological and physical impacts of recreation and nature based tourism; land management including pedology, land capability and geomorphology.

Associate Professor Eric Paling

Seagrass dynamics and rehabilitation; Mangrove assessment on arid coasts; Marine nutrient cycling and processes in water, plants and sediment; Aerial assessment of macrophytes.

Dr William Scott

Environmental modelling; computer-aided learning; groundwater hydrology. Bill Scott has put together a book that may help with data structures, modelling, or the generation of manuscripts. The book is active and can evolve and be revised by the reader; it starts at a lowest level and builds into mathematics. The book is written for use with the symbolic manipulator Maple® but could be useful in any scientific or lay context. Free supplimentary programs, data and software are available at Home Page.

Dr Rachel Standish

Restoration ecology in fragmented landscapes / Ecosystem assembly in fragmented landscapes / Impact of invasive weeds on community and ecosystem processes / Ecological genetics and evolution