Ecologically responsible mining to fuel a green energy transition. An energy transition is key to tackling climate change. However, renewable energy is mineral intensive and boosting its supply may create new mining threats to biodiversity. This project aims to facilitate strategic development of ecologically responsible mining. It expects to reveal where new mines will be needed to meet future energy demand, and create innovative tools to predict and mitigate threats to plants and animals. Expe ....Ecologically responsible mining to fuel a green energy transition. An energy transition is key to tackling climate change. However, renewable energy is mineral intensive and boosting its supply may create new mining threats to biodiversity. This project aims to facilitate strategic development of ecologically responsible mining. It expects to reveal where new mines will be needed to meet future energy demand, and create innovative tools to predict and mitigate threats to plants and animals. Expected outcomes include an improved ability to inform sustainable climate and energy policies, leading to strategic investment decisions, cleaner mineral supply chains and conservation outcomes that capture valuable environmental and social benefits and create a competitive advantage for Australia’s mining sector.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100684
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,000.00
Summary
Offsetting effects of development on biodiversity and ecosystem services. This project aims to reform biodiversity offsetting policies by integrating ecosystem services—nature’s contribution to human wellbeing. Current offsets tend to focus on achieving biodiversity goals, potentially at the expense of ecosystem services, a significant problem given global development pressures and the costs of eroding ecosystem services. Expected outputs include understanding how offsets affect ecosystem servic ....Offsetting effects of development on biodiversity and ecosystem services. This project aims to reform biodiversity offsetting policies by integrating ecosystem services—nature’s contribution to human wellbeing. Current offsets tend to focus on achieving biodiversity goals, potentially at the expense of ecosystem services, a significant problem given global development pressures and the costs of eroding ecosystem services. Expected outputs include understanding how offsets affect ecosystem services; and quantified costs and benefits of integrating ecosystem services goals. Such innovation could help secure ecosystem services for long-term human wellbeing.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions. Despite facing the sixth global mass extinction of species, most conservation management is unevaluated and inefficient. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions will provide international research leadership in tackling the complex problems of environmental management and monitoring in an uncertain world. Working through six Australian universities and six international organisations, the Centre will forge new approaches and ....ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions. Despite facing the sixth global mass extinction of species, most conservation management is unevaluated and inefficient. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions will provide international research leadership in tackling the complex problems of environmental management and monitoring in an uncertain world. Working through six Australian universities and six international organisations, the Centre will forge new approaches and tools from ecology, mathematics, statistics, economics and the social sciences. It will lead the world in developing and delivering predictive models and decision-making approaches to improve outcomes in conservation.Read moreRead less
Enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem services in production landscapes. This project aims to develop new approaches using causal inference, optimal allocation theory, and spatial statistics to characterise impacts on a diverse suite of ecosystem services. It will endeavour to develop case studies from three continents and generalisations explicitly tested using simulated landscapes. Environmental and agricultural policies promote land sharing (biodiversity-friendly production) or land sparing (p ....Enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem services in production landscapes. This project aims to develop new approaches using causal inference, optimal allocation theory, and spatial statistics to characterise impacts on a diverse suite of ecosystem services. It will endeavour to develop case studies from three continents and generalisations explicitly tested using simulated landscapes. Environmental and agricultural policies promote land sharing (biodiversity-friendly production) or land sparing (protected areas, with yield increases elsewhere). Yet the impacts of such policies in diverse contexts and for multiple outcomes are poorly understood. The project could advance our ability to deliver sustainable outcomes and more effective as well as equitable policies for production landscapes.Read moreRead less
What's the catch? Social and environmental sustainability of seafood. This project aims to improve the social and environmental sustainability of wild caught seafood globally. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of seafood trade and sustainability using interdisciplinary approaches that account for social sustainability concepts and the displacement of fishing impacts. Expected outcomes include innovative approaches that can improve the traceability and sustainability of s ....What's the catch? Social and environmental sustainability of seafood. This project aims to improve the social and environmental sustainability of wild caught seafood globally. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of seafood trade and sustainability using interdisciplinary approaches that account for social sustainability concepts and the displacement of fishing impacts. Expected outcomes include innovative approaches that can improve the traceability and sustainability of seafood and new international collaborations. This should provide significant benefits to the ocean, by proposing innovative ways for protecting the ocean through improving the sustainability of trade policies, and to the billions of people that depend on a healthy ocean for their health and livelihood. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100683
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$418,735.00
Summary
Catastrophic shifts: the value of knowing more about ecosystem feedbacks. Ecosystems respond to gradual change in unexpected ways. Feedback processes between different parts of an environment can perpetuate ecosystem collapse, leading to potentially irreversible biodiversity loss. However, it is unclear if greater knowledge of feedbacks will ultimately change environmental decisions. The project aims to identify when feedbacks matter for environmental decisions, by generating new methods that pr ....Catastrophic shifts: the value of knowing more about ecosystem feedbacks. Ecosystems respond to gradual change in unexpected ways. Feedback processes between different parts of an environment can perpetuate ecosystem collapse, leading to potentially irreversible biodiversity loss. However, it is unclear if greater knowledge of feedbacks will ultimately change environmental decisions. The project aims to identify when feedbacks matter for environmental decisions, by generating new methods that predict the economic benefit of knowing more about feedbacks. Combining ecological modelling and value-of-information theory, the outcomes of these novel methods will provide significant and broad environmental benefits, by enabling managers to make informed decisions and stay one step ahead of potential ecosystem collapse.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrated Coral Reef Studies. The overarching aim of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrated Coral Reef Studies is to provide the scientific knowledge necessary for sustaining ecosystem goods and services of the worlds coral reefs, which support the livelihoods and food security of millions of people in the tropics. The Centre will enhance Australia's global leadership in coral reef science through three ambitious research programs addressing the future of coral ....ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrated Coral Reef Studies. The overarching aim of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrated Coral Reef Studies is to provide the scientific knowledge necessary for sustaining ecosystem goods and services of the worlds coral reefs, which support the livelihoods and food security of millions of people in the tropics. The Centre will enhance Australia's global leadership in coral reef science through three ambitious research programs addressing the future of coral reefs and their ability to adapt to change. A key outcome of the research will be providing tangible benefits to all Australians by building bridges between the natural and social sciences, strengthening capacity, and informing and supporting transformative changes in coral reef governance and management.Read moreRead less
Conservation of tropical forests for their carbon and biodiversity values. International efforts to save tropical forests for the carbon they store could help mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss. This project will aid these efforts by developing methods to model future deforestation and extending decision theory for the new challenges presented by international carbon-payment schemes.
Resilience of Coral Reef Ecosystems to Climate Change. Science-based management of coral reefs provides enormous environmental, social and economic benefit to Australia and other tropical maritime nations. The proposed research will provide scientific knowledge and research training that underpins the management and long-term sustainability of Australian reef resources. Climate change research is vital for supporting the sustainable use of the ecosystem goods and services provided by reef ecosy ....Resilience of Coral Reef Ecosystems to Climate Change. Science-based management of coral reefs provides enormous environmental, social and economic benefit to Australia and other tropical maritime nations. The proposed research will provide scientific knowledge and research training that underpins the management and long-term sustainability of Australian reef resources. Climate change research is vital for supporting the sustainable use of the ecosystem goods and services provided by reef ecosystems (e.g. to tourism and fishing industries, recreational users and indigenous Australians). This research will place Australia in the forefront of understanding and responding to the regional-scale impacts of climate change on tropical societies and economies.Read moreRead less
Tackling pests using game theory to support cooperative management. This project aims to improve management of invasive species by assisting pest mitigation agencies to work together. This is expected to result in more efficient and effective strategies, with the potential to dramatically improve local and global agricultural and environmental outcomes. An interdisciplinary approach using game theory, spatial modelling, and ecology is expected to create a novel framework to identify how and when ....Tackling pests using game theory to support cooperative management. This project aims to improve management of invasive species by assisting pest mitigation agencies to work together. This is expected to result in more efficient and effective strategies, with the potential to dramatically improve local and global agricultural and environmental outcomes. An interdisciplinary approach using game theory, spatial modelling, and ecology is expected to create a novel framework to identify how and when agencies might collaborate, and how collaboration might impact on costs and benefits of pest control strategies. The project will provide significant benefits by improving management of invasive species across Queensland, one of Australia's largest agricultural producing states and home to a vast number of Australia's threatened species. Read moreRead less