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
Designing the next generation of geosynthetic liner systems . The project aims to improve the effectiveness of geosynthetic liner systems to contain emerging contaminants such as per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) for better protection of Australian groundwater resources. The project expects to experimentally validate theory to improve predictive models for performance of geosynthetic liner systems. Expected outcomes include new and updated design guidelines for effective environmental ....Designing the next generation of geosynthetic liner systems . The project aims to improve the effectiveness of geosynthetic liner systems to contain emerging contaminants such as per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) for better protection of Australian groundwater resources. The project expects to experimentally validate theory to improve predictive models for performance of geosynthetic liner systems. Expected outcomes include new and updated design guidelines for effective environmental protection against PFASs and establishment of new approaches for predicting functional containment lifetimes of liner systems. These outcomes are expected to benefit the waste and remediation industries by influencing next-generation design regulations to ensure long-term environmental protection from PFAS.Read moreRead less
Quantifying the flux of fugitive greenhouse gasses associated with coal seam gas and calibrating it to natural baseline and anthropogenic sources. Recent studies show that fugitive methane emissions associated with coal seam gas extraction pose a source of greenhouse gasses. In addition to the possible environmental impacts of methane emissions, quantifying the magnitude of emissions has potentially significant implications for future tax liabilities that could change the economics of the unconv ....Quantifying the flux of fugitive greenhouse gasses associated with coal seam gas and calibrating it to natural baseline and anthropogenic sources. Recent studies show that fugitive methane emissions associated with coal seam gas extraction pose a source of greenhouse gasses. In addition to the possible environmental impacts of methane emissions, quantifying the magnitude of emissions has potentially significant implications for future tax liabilities that could change the economics of the unconventional energy boom in Australia. The proposed research by an interdisciplinary team representing regulators, industry, and university researchers would establish a methodology for quantifying the flux of methane from gas fields. It would establish the range of natural baselines and determine the major sources of methane emissions using newly available highly sensitive instruments.Read moreRead less
Removing the blur: Guidestar lasers for the space industry . The speed and quality of transferring information between earth and space can be greatly enhanced by adaptive optical systems that provide correction for atmospheric aberrations. The laser-generated guidestars that lie at the heart of these systems must be bright, preferably multi-coloured and with low background. By taking advantage of the unique optical properties of diamond, this project aims to develop lasers that produce these adv ....Removing the blur: Guidestar lasers for the space industry . The speed and quality of transferring information between earth and space can be greatly enhanced by adaptive optical systems that provide correction for atmospheric aberrations. The laser-generated guidestars that lie at the heart of these systems must be bright, preferably multi-coloured and with low background. By taking advantage of the unique optical properties of diamond, this project aims to develop lasers that produce these advanced features to fulfil the needs of the space industry sector. These outcomes are expected to create new services and products in the areas of space situational awareness, space debris management and satellite communications, and have major spin-off benefits to astronomy and defence.Read moreRead less
Uncovering ancient landscapes with emerging technologies: integrating complex geospatial and fossil data to explore late Cenozoic environmental change. This project aims to use emerging technologies to unravel relationships between prehistoric climate changes and environmental impacts in northern Australia. Given current uncertainty about impacts of contemporary climate change on our biota, it is important to document the outcomes of past climatic changes and, in particular, the globally critica ....Uncovering ancient landscapes with emerging technologies: integrating complex geospatial and fossil data to explore late Cenozoic environmental change. This project aims to use emerging technologies to unravel relationships between prehistoric climate changes and environmental impacts in northern Australia. Given current uncertainty about impacts of contemporary climate change on our biota, it is important to document the outcomes of past climatic changes and, in particular, the globally critical period between 15 and five million years ago that shaped modern Australian environments. Fossil-rich deposits in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area of northern Queensland span this period. Interpretation of their fine-grained record of impact and change will improve our ability to predict and hence better manage impacts of future climate change on our unique national natural heritage.Read moreRead less