News & Events
Recent Research Success
The Department has had fantastic recent success with Cooperative Research Centres, ARC Discovery Projects, CSIRO Collaborative Grants and ARC Networks, as well as awards for staff and students. See below for recent research success, or view the Full Grant Listing.
ARC eResearch Success
Funding:$100k over two years.
Project: Collection, Sharing, Visualisation and Analysis
of locally gathered information from geographically remote
areas vulnerable to tidal waves
Linkage Success
Funding: $735,000 plus industry funding
Project: Phytocapping for sustainable waste containment systems and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and odour from waste disposal sites
Summary: Landfills remain the
main method of waste disposal in Australia and are a major
source of groundwater contamination and greenhouse and odour
emissions. This national research program will establish,
under a wide range of Australian conditions, whether landfill
phytocaps can meet regulatory performance criteria for water
infiltration into and gas emissions from closed landfills
more effectively, efficiently and sustainably than conventional
capping systems. The project will produce (a) a scientific
basis for site owners and regulators to agree on the performance
and cost of conventional and phyto cover technologies, (b)
a manual for the design and permitting of alternative covers
and (c)improved scientific prediction of cover performance.
NH&MRC Success
Professor David Smith, with Roger Smith, The University of Newcastle
Funding: $380,000
Project: Computer program to predict premature birth
More Info: See The
Age article,
7/7/05.
State Government's Science,
Technology and Innovation (STI) infrastructure grants program
Funding: $1.5 million
Project: Regional
and Economic Benefits Through Smarter Irrigation
The STI
Infrastructure Grants Program is the biggest State grants
investment program in science and technology infrastructure
in Australia. The grants support leading-edge biomedical,
environmental, agricultural, manufacturing, and information
and communication technology projects that are generating
economic, environmental and social benefits across metropolitan
and regional Victoria. more
source: UniNews
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Travel Grant
Funding: $8,500
Bruce has been awarded a travel grant from the Australian Academy of Science, under the scientific visits to the USA, Canada and Mexico scheme. He will use the grant to visit Professor Alan Grodzinsky at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for one month. The project title is "Transport of large molecules through articular cartilage subject to dynamic load".
CRC for eWater
Funding: $40.25 million
The recent round of CRC selection saw success for eWater, which will build on current CRCs in Environmental Engineering. Congratulations to John Langford and the team. See the DEST Fact Sheet for further information.
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Salinity Processes in Lake Eyre Basin Rivers - CSIRO collaborative
This project will investigate the movement of solutes between shallow groundwater and the unregulated rivers of the Lake Eyre Basin. This research integrates hydrological modelling with the analysis of major ions and environmental isotopes. The collaboration draws upon the strengths of both parties in an emerging field that will be at the forefront of hydrological research in the future. Understanding the movement and storage of solutes and water in arid zone rivers will provide important information to water resource managers, as well as open up complementary areas of research, such as the water use of riparian trees in these river systems.
High resolution mapping of surface and root zone soil moisture - ARC Discovery Project
Dr JP Walker; Prof JD Kalma; Dr E Kim
2005: $300,000, 2006: $212,000, 2007: $155,000
Summary: Knowledge of the spatial and temporal variation of surface and root zone soil moisture content at high spatial resolution is critical to achieving more efficient water utilisation practices in agriculture. Australia 's main river basins are under mounting pressure to satisfy a wide range of competing economic, social and environmental needs for water, particularly in terms of environmental flows and efficient irrigation. A better understanding of the soil moisture distribution at sub-farm scales will allow farmers to better utilise both the moisture in their soil and their limited allocation for irrigation. This will help alleviate soil moisture related problems in some of the nation's key catchments, such as the Murray Darling Basin.
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Assimilation of latent and sensible heat flux data into the CSIRO Biosphere Model - CSIRO Collaborative
2005: $29,000, 2006: $24,000
Summary: This project will investigate the use of latent and sensible heat flux data to improve the predictive performance of a land surface model. The significance of land surface models is their ability to provide continuous prediction of latent and sensible heat flux feedback to atmospheric models for weather and climate forecasting. Historically, soil moisture and/or air temperature and humidity data have been used to correct land surface model predictions, despite their often weak and indirect relationship to latent and sensible heat flux. This research aims to use direct information on latent and sensible heat flux to achieve optimal flux predictions from land surface models.
Daily hydrological and erosion modelling utilising sub-daily rainfall intensity distributions - ARC Discovery Project
2005: $90,000, 2006: $90,000, 2007: $90,000
Summary: Australian catchments face major environmental problems. Computer modelling for predicting outcomes of management decisions, in the priority setting process and for assisting with setting local targets is central to environmental management today. This research will develop a new approach for modelling runoff and erosion that is consistent with key process time and space scales. The research is based on improved process understanding and will utilize the large Australian database of hydroclimate and spatial data. This research will lead to improved estimation of runoff and erosion in gauged and ungauged catchments, allowing decisions on land and water resources and environmental management to be made with more reliable information.
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Numerical investigation of signal mechanotransduction of bone cells - application to bone remodeling - ARC Discovery Project
2005: $75,000,
2006: $73,000,
2007: $75,000
The central paradigm of skeletal mechanobiology is that mechanical forces modulate morphological and structural fitness of the skeletal tissues bone, cartilage, ligament and tendon. The concept of bone remodeling by basic multicellular units (BMUs) is well established, but the mechanism by which osteoclasts and osteoblasts are activated in order to start resorption and formation of bone mass remains so far poorly understood. Extensive studies emphasize the role of osteocytes as being the mechanosensory cells of bone, and the lacuno-canalicular network as the structure that mediates mechanosensing. Strain-derived flow of interstitial fluid through this network appears to mechanically activate the osteocytes, as well as ensuring transport of cell signaling molecules, nutrients, and waste products. Finding the details of the specific mechanisms by which local bone gain and loss is mediated, is essential for the prognosis of osteosporosis, control of bone implants, and understanding of changes in microgravity (as occurs in space flights).To better understand the mechano-signal transduction mechanism, this project aims to formulate a new state-of-the-art mathematical model that includes coupled electrochemical, chemomechanical, and electromechanical effects. It is believed that the numerical results will give new answers to the question how mechanotransduction and bone remodeling operates in tissue.
Airborne laser scanning for advanced environmental monitoring - ARC LIEF Grant
Dr PM Dare; A/Prof JM Hacker; Dr JP Walker; Dr SD Jones; Prof JD Kalma; Dr MM Lewis
2005: $167,777 + $170,035
Summary: This proposal seeks to enhance the national capability for airborne remote sensing of key environmental variables through the acquisition of an airborne laser scanner and inertial navigation system. Many environmental science studies, such as hydrology, soil moisture scaling and salinity, can be significantly enhanced by airborne laser scanning, through the creation of high precision, high resolution digital terrain models. Airborne laser scanning can also measure three dimensional vegetation canopy structure, a useful indicator of biomass, carbon storage and vegetation health. This infrastructure will provide Australian researchers with a unique arsenal of remote sensing tools for advanced yet affordable environmental research Studies.
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ARC Research Network for a Secure Australia
Total Indicative
Funding (for 5 years): $1,950,000,
Indicative Funding per Year (2004-05 to 2008-09): $390,000
The ARC Research Network for a Secure Australia (RNSA) is a multi-disciplinary collaboration established to strengthen Australia's research capacity for protecting critical infrastructure from natural or human-caused disasters including terrorist acts. The RNSA will facilitate a knowledge-sharing network for research Organisations, government and the private sector to develop research tools and methods to mitigate emerging safety and security issues relating to critical infrastructure. World-leaders with extensive national and international linkages in relevant scientific, engineering and technological research will lead this collaboration. The RNSA will launch various activities to foster research collaboration and nurture young investigators.
IDTC Research Funding for Krishna River Basin, India
The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has awarded $1.2 million to fund collaborative research between IDTC of our Department, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and India 's Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU).
The grant will fund a research project titled "Water Allocation in the Krishna River Basin to Improve Water Productivity in Agriculture". The project is led by Associate Professor Hector Malano and Dr Biju George.
The Krishna River is one of India 's largest domestic waterways which supplies water to 67 million people and 3.19 million ha of agriculture in 3 States, one of the most important food production areas in the country. The basin is faced with severe water shortage and complex water allocation and sharing arrangements which threaten the economy and sustainability of water resources. Water allocation in the basin is further complicated by the fact that the three States have irrigation, urban and industrial sectors which are rapidly developing with increasingly competing water demands. The research will focus on developing an integrative modelling framework for the formulation and evaluation of water allocation strategies in the Basin including the options to increase water use efficiencies (economic and bio-physical), as well as the impacts of changing sectoral water allocations.
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