More than a reserve? Measuring the benefits of private protected areas. This project aims to develop a framework for understanding the full suite of benefits derived from privately protected areas in Australia. It will develop and test a new interdisciplinary approach to measure the ecological, socio-cultural, and economic benefits of protected areas to both human and non-human beneficiaries. Outcomes will include a systematic process to effectively gather data, analyse, and report on the full s ....More than a reserve? Measuring the benefits of private protected areas. This project aims to develop a framework for understanding the full suite of benefits derived from privately protected areas in Australia. It will develop and test a new interdisciplinary approach to measure the ecological, socio-cultural, and economic benefits of protected areas to both human and non-human beneficiaries. Outcomes will include a systematic process to effectively gather data, analyse, and report on the full suite of benefits derived from protected areas. The framework will provide a robust evidence base for the range of benefits provided by private protected areas. This will be vital to manage and grow Australia’s protected area network to reduce biodiversity and environmental declines, and meet international commitments.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240101152
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$460,073.00
Summary
A Justice-based Approach to Climate-related Planned Relocation. Planned relocation of populations away from climate risk is a critical adaptation strategy. Yet relocation is fraught as it disrupts livelihoods, social networks and place-attachment. This project aims to examine how justice can be centred in planned relocation using innovative cross-cultural methods in six case studies across Australia and Fiji. New knowledge will be generated on effective governance, barriers to participation, and ....A Justice-based Approach to Climate-related Planned Relocation. Planned relocation of populations away from climate risk is a critical adaptation strategy. Yet relocation is fraught as it disrupts livelihoods, social networks and place-attachment. This project aims to examine how justice can be centred in planned relocation using innovative cross-cultural methods in six case studies across Australia and Fiji. New knowledge will be generated on effective governance, barriers to participation, and long-term impacts of relocation. Expected outcomes of this project are innovations at the nexus of adaptation, relocation and justice, new international research networks, and direct improvement of how relocation is planned and managed by governments, through recommendations and a framework for Just Relocation.Read moreRead less
Early Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IE230100441
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$474,443.00
Summary
Sounds of change: using ecological knowledge to advance acoustic monitoring. To recover biodiversity, conservation actions must be informed by robust ecological data. In partnership with Bush Heritage Australia, this project aims to transform ecological monitoring with eco-acoustic technologies by developing new acoustic metrics to measure biodiversity at various levels, from individual species through to whole communities. This project will combine advanced computer methods with theories of ani ....Sounds of change: using ecological knowledge to advance acoustic monitoring. To recover biodiversity, conservation actions must be informed by robust ecological data. In partnership with Bush Heritage Australia, this project aims to transform ecological monitoring with eco-acoustic technologies by developing new acoustic metrics to measure biodiversity at various levels, from individual species through to whole communities. This project will combine advanced computer methods with theories of animal sounds and communities to generate metrics that are informed by animal ecology and directly address monitoring needs of conservation organisations. By experimentally testing the metrics on long-duration real-world sound data, this project will provide new tools to measure conservation impact and prioritise actions.Read moreRead less
Mid-Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IM230100184
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,034,832.00
Summary
A new catchment gully erosion model for a healthier Great Barrier Reef . Sediment impacts Great Barrier Reef water quality and coral health. Erosion of gullies within a river catchment are the dominant source of sediment. This project aims to develop a novel catchment level modelling tool, allowing land managers to compare rehabilitation options and identify optimal actions. The project will generate new knowledge in applied mathematics, using innovative model emulation techniques to bring proce ....A new catchment gully erosion model for a healthier Great Barrier Reef . Sediment impacts Great Barrier Reef water quality and coral health. Erosion of gullies within a river catchment are the dominant source of sediment. This project aims to develop a novel catchment level modelling tool, allowing land managers to compare rehabilitation options and identify optimal actions. The project will generate new knowledge in applied mathematics, using innovative model emulation techniques to bring process insights to the catchment scale. Expected outcomes include a validated land rehabilitation decision making tool, benefiting both natural resource managers by increasing ability to meet Reef 2050 policy targets and landowners though development of Natural Capital Markets.Read moreRead less
The Macroderma initiative: conserving ghost bats and informing development. This project aims to improve methods for capturing biological information required for environmental assessments of highly mobile species and enable strategic environmental planning in Northern Australia. Using Australia’s iconic ghost bat as a focus, the project will test and apply emerging technologies to obtain key information on a species’ population status and its critical resources to inform assessments of ecologic ....The Macroderma initiative: conserving ghost bats and informing development. This project aims to improve methods for capturing biological information required for environmental assessments of highly mobile species and enable strategic environmental planning in Northern Australia. Using Australia’s iconic ghost bat as a focus, the project will test and apply emerging technologies to obtain key information on a species’ population status and its critical resources to inform assessments of ecological impacts of industry development. Important benefits of the project include information and tools for streamlining development approvals and accurately assessing risks to threatened species to improve outcomes for both our economy and our natural environment.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230101327
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$428,000.00
Summary
Assessing the impacts of droughts and water extraction on groundwater. This project aims to develop a novel framework that uses big data from satellites to assess the impacts of droughts and water extraction on groundwater resources in Australia, currently poorly understood and difficult to monitor. This project expects to generate new insights into the mechanisms driving changes in groundwater availability and identify risks from sustained groundwater extraction. Expected outcomes include a new ....Assessing the impacts of droughts and water extraction on groundwater. This project aims to develop a novel framework that uses big data from satellites to assess the impacts of droughts and water extraction on groundwater resources in Australia, currently poorly understood and difficult to monitor. This project expects to generate new insights into the mechanisms driving changes in groundwater availability and identify risks from sustained groundwater extraction. Expected outcomes include a new national capability to assess and monitor groundwater resources from space and providing data for government, farmers, communities and traditional owners to better prepare for future droughts, increase disaster preparedness, and sustainably manage groundwater resources in a changing climate.Read moreRead less
Enabling wider use of mechanistic models for biodiversity forecasts . Forecasting species distributions is challenging yet necessary. The pattern-based models commonly used are error-prone. Mechanistic models, best equipped for the task, are limited by lack of data. This project aims to enable wider use of mechanistic models by developing new methods for dealing with incomplete trait data and uncertainty. It expects to generate new knowledge about how species’ traits define the environments in w ....Enabling wider use of mechanistic models for biodiversity forecasts . Forecasting species distributions is challenging yet necessary. The pattern-based models commonly used are error-prone. Mechanistic models, best equipped for the task, are limited by lack of data. This project aims to enable wider use of mechanistic models by developing new methods for dealing with incomplete trait data and uncertainty. It expects to generate new knowledge about how species’ traits define the environments in which they persist. Anticipated outcomes include enhanced capacity to apply mechanistic models to conservation problems, methods for communicating uncertainties and models for tens of species of immediate conservation interest. This will enable more reliable biodiversity forecasts, supporting better decision-making.
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Tapping into non-English-language science in tackling global challenges. This project aims to transform the conventional practice of English-biased evidence use to multilingual evidence synthesis to enable us to better tackle global challenges. The project expects to lay the foundations and provide platforms for multilingual, unbiased evidence-based solutions to global issues including biodiversity loss, climate adaptation and animal-origin diseases. Expected outcomes include a database of non-E ....Tapping into non-English-language science in tackling global challenges. This project aims to transform the conventional practice of English-biased evidence use to multilingual evidence synthesis to enable us to better tackle global challenges. The project expects to lay the foundations and provide platforms for multilingual, unbiased evidence-based solutions to global issues including biodiversity loss, climate adaptation and animal-origin diseases. Expected outcomes include a database of non-English-language evidence on the three global issues of focus, machine learning tools, and machine translation platforms that make non-English-language evidence accessible. This should benefit national/international policies and practices by making a neglected source of evidence available for science-led decision-making.Read moreRead less
Improving desert fire management with culturally directed science. This project aims to improve fire management in Australian deserts. Working with 4 Indigenous ranger teams managing >150,000 km2 of the Great Sandy Desert, the project expects to document fire patterns caused by pre-European, traditional burning practices over large environmental gradients; compare these with contemporary fire patterns; and undertake extensive fieldwork to understand how fire affects native fauna, including cultu ....Improving desert fire management with culturally directed science. This project aims to improve fire management in Australian deserts. Working with 4 Indigenous ranger teams managing >150,000 km2 of the Great Sandy Desert, the project expects to document fire patterns caused by pre-European, traditional burning practices over large environmental gradients; compare these with contemporary fire patterns; and undertake extensive fieldwork to understand how fire affects native fauna, including culturally significant species. This information will shape a template for fire management planning and evaluation that is culturally meaningful to local managers. The project should support Indigenous rangers to access sustainable funding pathways for conservation management through emerging biodiversity markets.Read moreRead less
New metrics to measure and track fauna community condition in Australia. This project aims to improve how biodiversity is measured by developing a system to describe the condition of animal communities, analogous to those used for plant communities. It develops and tests the system for Australia’s birds, then extends the approach to other animal groups. The project expects to develop a data-driven typology of bird communities, accompanying community condition metrics that are scalable from site ....New metrics to measure and track fauna community condition in Australia. This project aims to improve how biodiversity is measured by developing a system to describe the condition of animal communities, analogous to those used for plant communities. It develops and tests the system for Australia’s birds, then extends the approach to other animal groups. The project expects to develop a data-driven typology of bird communities, accompanying community condition metrics that are scalable from site to national levels, and guidance for using these metrics in practice. These metrics will enable holistic and relevant measures of the biodiversity value of sites, improve evaluation of restoration actions, reveal trends in community condition, and inform monitoring and evaluation tools for emerging biodiversity markets.Read moreRead less