Each year, the Australian Research Council (ARC) funds up to 200 Discovery Early Career Research Awards (DECRAs) to support excellent and innovative research that addresses a significant problem or gap in knowledge and that benefits Australia. When the 2024 cohort came together in March 2024 for an induction event, it became clear that enhancing community resilience through multiple disciplines and approaches was a common theme across many projects. The contribution to the DECRA24 cohort to community resilience was synthesised in a publication for the Australian Journal of Emergency Management, and was the impetus to form the DECRA24 Community Resilience Consortium.
Meet the consortium members
The multidisciplinary group covers the research fields of human geography, urban and regional planning, architecture, social work, civil and chemical engineering, health services, computational and evolutionary biology, ecology, oceanography, biogeochemistry and more.
Consortium impacts
1. A report summarising the contribution of the DECRA24 Consortium, entitled: Building community resilience through the multi-disciplinary research of Australia's leading early-career researchers
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Researcher, Institution |
DECRA Project Summary |
Contribution to community resilience |
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Exploring Business Approaches to the Modern Slavery - Climate Change Nexus. This project aims to generate awareness and knowledge about the modern slavery – climate change nexus. Businesses can be linked to modern slavery and climate change through their operations and supply chains, and play a major role in mitigating these critical issues. The project will: (1) reveal the extent to which businesses recognise and address modern slavery and climate change as related issues; (2) develop an evidence-base detailing what constitutes meaningful and holistic business approaches and disclosures; (3) assess how market-based mechanisms are used to incentivise action and hold businesses to account. The outcomes will advance business efforts and accountability in relation to these problems and benefit impacted communities. |
Modern slavery and climate change are interconnected in several ways that exacerbate both social injustices and environmental degradation. Firstly, climate change-induced disasters can increase vulnerability among populations, making them more susceptible to exploitation through forced labour or trafficking. For instance, individuals displaced by floods or droughts may migrate in search of work and fall prey to exploitative labour practices. Secondly, modern slavery contributes significantly to climate change because forced labour is often used in industries with high carbon emissions, such as deforestation or mining. By employing forced labour, these practices violate human rights and cause environmental destruction. Thirdly, the shift towards renewables and the associated demand for raw materials used in the production of batteries and solar panels has also come at a human cost in the form of labour exploitation. Therefore, addressing these issues in tandem is crucial to enhance community resilience. |
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Building community resilience to coastal climate hazards in Australia. More frequent and intense climate hazards are devastating Australian communities and are projected to worsen as climate changes. This project aims to develop and communicate urgently needed strategies to assist coastal communities to prepare for and respond to climate hazards. The relationship between local-scale connection and capacity to prepare and respond will be investigated using mixed methods research in at-risk communities. The research will deliver practical guidance to policy makers and managers that will optimise investments in building community resilience, advance the discipline of human geography, and benefit over 20 million Australians living in coastal areas by creating new knowledge on neighbourhood adaptive capacity. |
This project will work with three coastal case-study communities (Kalbarri, WA; Deception Bay, QLD; Ballina NSW) to better understand the role of local scale (neighbourhood) connection in accessing and mobilising capacity to prepare, respond and recover from social-ecological change (including extreme climate risks). The research seeks to advance adaptive capacity scholarships towards a next (third) generation that considers the interrelationships between individuals and groups – extending knowledge beyond a focus on organisations, households or individuals as isolated entities that respond to change. This will support investments in building resilience that moves beyond information provision, towards approaches that integrate with, and align to, community needs. |
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Using systems science to secure the health workforce against climate change. The widespread maldistribution of the Australian health workforce is creating significant health human resource shortages in non-urban areas of need. Climate-related extreme weather events (i.e., heat, droughts, fires, floods) are projected to exacerbate workforce deficiencies in rural regions. This project aims to explore how climate change will impact the future of the rural health workforce through a novel integration of computational systems science methods. The project expects to discover new policies to correct the maldistribution and strengthen the resilience of the rural health workforce against climate change impacts. Benefits include a sustained and more adaptable workforce leading to improved health for vulnerable communities. |
Project 2050 uses systems science methods to explore and quantify the impacts of climate change on both the future supply of Australia’s rural health workforce, and the health needs of at-risk communities. By analysing how extreme weather events will lead changes in healthcare demand and access, this project aims to pre-emptively prepare regional, rural and remote communities against natural disasters, thus reducing vulnerabilities and ensuring the suitable allocation of human resources in health. Furthermore, the research will support quicker recovery in the aftermath of climate-related disruptions, particularly in terms of mental health. Given that ‘community resilience’ covers adaption, recovery and transformation, anticipatory-focussed programs of research like Project 2050 are desperately needed to reduce uncertainties and build adaptive capacity before it is too late. |
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Inclusive community planning for a just transition to net zero emissions. This project aims to understand how a just transition to net zero emissions can support First Nations peoples' self-determination with the case study of Collie on Wilman Noongar Country (WA), a community phasing out coal-fired power. The project expects to generate significant new theoretical and applied understandings about community practice for climate justice. With the support and engagement of Wilman Elders, this project expects to generate outcomes of guidance for the field of community development about just transition planning with First Nations peoples. As Australia transitions to net zero emissions by 2050, this project should provide significant benefits such as greater understanding of, and capacity in, just transition planning. |
This project involves participatory and Indigenist methods to examine how community-based transitions to net zero emissions can centre First Nations peoples and Country and build community resilience. The project focuses on the coal-dependent community of Collie, located on the Boodja (Country) of the Wilman Noongar peoples in the southwest of Western Australia (WA). Collie is the epicentre of coal mining and electricity generation in WA and is undergoing a significant economic and social transition with the closure of all state-owned coal-fired power generators by 2029. Collie’s Just Transition Plan mainly focuses on supporting affected workers and transitioning to new industries. However, a social justice analysis of Collie’s transition, co-led by Godden, Wilman Elders, Climate Justice Union WA and Collie community members (Wilman Boodja et al., 2023), highlights community concerns that Collie’s transition plan and resource allocation do not address the needs of First Nations peoples, Country and community members who are systemically disadvantaged. Community members are deeply concerned about the impacts of climate change in Collie, particularly increased frequency and severity of bushfires, floods, severe storms and droughts. Wilman Traditional Owners observe the detrimental impacts of climate change in the patterns of the six Noongar seasons. Collie community members call for the transition process and decision-making to centre community resilience to disasters, by responding to the needs and lived experiences of local peoples in all their diversities. In particular, Elders explain that Wilman custodians and knowledges can lead the community in responding to the impacts of climate change, building community resilience, and caring for Boodja. This First Nations perspective highlights the intersecting possibilities for transition policies and practices that enhance community resilience to climate hazards. |
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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. |
This project will look at case studies in Australia, and Fiji, where populations are considering relocating, in the process of relocating, or have already relocated, in response to disaster and climate-related hazards. Through taking a justice-based lens, this project will generate knew knowledge on effective governance, barriers to participation for households and communities, and long-term wellbeing and livelihoods impacts of relocation. Outcomes of this project will be improvement of how relocation is planned and managed by governments, and other actors, through recommendations and a framework for Just Relocation. Ca |
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Partnering with local knowledge systems to impact river management. The project aims to connect Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) to other actors and processes involved in river transformation. Working in partnership with holders of Local and Indigenous knowledge, and using Indonesian river catchments as case studies, the project expects to generate new knowledge in development and planning studies. Expected outcomes include the development and dissemination of recommendations and strategies for how LINKS can inform river management. Anticipated benefits include significant new knowledge on how river management actors can partner with local communities to innovate to meet the compounding challenges of climate change and deliver greater impact and efficiency of investment. |
This project addresses community resilience to climate change by leveraging Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) in river management to improve water security and mitigate the impacts of drought and flooding. Recognizing that traditional infrastructures often fail to adapt to the challenges posed by climate change, the project explores innovative, nature-based solutions and green infrastructure as sustainable alternatives. By focusing on case studies of compromised rivers in West Java, Indonesia, and utilizing a blend of qualitative methods, the research investigates how local and indigenous socioecological knowledge and practices can be integrated into river management. This approach aims to foster partnerships with Local and Indigenous communities, enhance capacity building, and ensure that river management practices are culturally appropriate, ecologically sustainable, and resilient to climate change. Ultimately, the project contributes to the global sustainability agenda by advocating for the inclusion of LINKS in environmental governance, thereby improving the effectiveness and impact of river management programs. |
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Protecting oyster aquaculture from heatwaves and flooding rains. This project aims to grow our understanding of disease in oysters following extreme weather events such as heatwaves and floods. Working with industry partners, I will use field and lab-based experiments to determine the underlying causes of oyster mortality following extreme weather. Critically, this project will trial real solutions to reduce disease including selective breeding and co-culture of seaweeds. Expected outcomes include new knowledge on the causes of bacterial disease in aquaculture and real progress towards solutions to mitigate oyster disease following extreme weather events. This project expects to enable the iconic Australian oyster aquaculture industry to grow despite the extreme weather brought by climate change. |
This project will contribute to community resilience in Australia by building resilience in how food is produced through aquaculture. Oyster aquaculture is NSW’s single biggest seafood industry and provides essential employment and income for coastal communities. This iconic industry, is however, vulnerable to climate change. Already, the worsening effects of heatwaves and floods are devasting oyster production. Working with the oyster industry, Dr Scanes will use field and lab-based experiments to determine how we can build resilience in oysters and oyster farming methods. Critically, this project will trial real solutions to reduce the impacts of climate change including selective breeding and co-culture of seaweeds. By building resilience in oyster farming, building the resilience of communities reliant on the oyster industry for employment and income will also be built. Dr Scanes brings to this project a strong understanding resilience in both biological (e.g. Pereira et al., 2020; Parker et al., 2024) and academic ecosystems (Ross et al., 2022; 2023). |
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Investigating public support for climate aid in Australia and abroad. This project aims to investigate public attitudes towards policies that provide aid to those affected by climate change, including resettlement for those displaced. It aims to do so using a series of innovative approaches, including large-scale international surveys and novel experiments. Expected outcomes of this project include new knowledge about the degree of public support for these climate policies and the psychological predictors of public acceptability of climate aid and climate migration. This should provide significant benefits, such as by building Australia’s capacity for effective social and policy responses to climate change, and helping Australia plan for the repercussions of environmental change on social cohesion. |
This project contributes to community resilience through reducing the impacts and consequences of climate change. It does so by building understanding of the determinants of public attitudes towards policies that direct support to those most affected by climate change. This includes funding adaptation measures to make climate-vulnerable areas liveable for longer, compensating for losses caused by climate change, and responses to climate displacement. The knowledge gained from the project can help shape the way climate finance policies are designed and implemented, such as to build public support for financing the measures that will build community adaptive capacity to climate impacts. It can also help communities prepare for changing migration patterns, where a supportive host community is critical to the wellbeing of those moving into an area, and those already established in the area. |
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Housing, social wellbeing and climate change resilience in Australia. The project aims to investigate the capacity for current and future housing policy to build social wellbeing and reduce vulnerability to climate change. It will be the first systematic evaluation of housing-based reforms in terms of their social and equity impacts in the context of climate change. The evidence generated will inform the development of climate adaptation strategies across Australian jurisdictions. It will also contribute to improving housing suitability in the private rental market and reducing energy hardship. The project will deliver new knowledge using novel data linkage and rigorous methods. By focusing on social wellbeing, findings will contribute to an assessment and monitoring framework based on equity principles. |
This project investigates the capacity for current and future housing policy to build social wellbeing and reduce housing vulnerability to climate change. It will provide evidence to support strategic housing responses to social, economic, and environmental challenges. Through examination of the social impacts of rental minimum energy efficiency standards and retrofit subsidies, the project generates evidence on what and how housing regulations and subsidies can reduce the impacts of temperature extremes, especially for vulnerable communities including rental tenants and lower-income households. Increasing the energy efficiency of existing housing stock in Australia is critical to improving community preparedness and reducing community vulnerability to future climate hazards. The project also investigates housing circumstances following climate related disasters and the impact of post-disaster housing support policies on housing and social wellbeing recovery. The findings will provide evidence for housing vulnerabilities pre and post climate hazards and implementation of policy responses that can mitigate negative effects of climate hazards on social wellbeing, assist recovery following disaster events, and increase community capacities to better plan and respond before, during, and post climate hazards. |
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Beyond broadcasting: Community radio as a model community organisation. With 20,000 volunteers, almost six million weekly listeners, and 50 years of history, Australia has one of the most well-established community radio sectors in the world. Yet discussions about community radio are limited to debates about media. Community radio stations are diverse and community-engaged organisations, with much more to offer than just what's on air. This research aims to explore community radio as a model for successful, sustainable, and diverse community organisations. The findings of this project will help other community organisations improve their community connections and engagement, and articulate their value, which will contribute to re-engaging Australians in civic life. |
This project will explore the broader role of community radio within Australian communities. Discussions on community radio and climate change have predominantly focussed on disaster responses and preparedness. Outside of these times of acute disaster and recovery, there is little research that explores the connections between community radio and broader community resilience. There is significant potential for community radio to play a role in this space: robust community organisations and established communication channels are characteristics of resilient communities (Thornley et al., 2015). Further, social capital and opportunities for social learning are important factors in determining recovery and renewal following times of risk, uncertainty, and upheaval (Graveline & Germain, 2022). Community radio, as a not-for-profit community organisation, is both a source and indicator of social capital within a community, and also provides an invaluable space for hyperlocal, participatory storytelling and knowledge exchange. As such, community radio and other forms of community media have a vital role to play, not just in providing information during and directly after crises, but also in strengthening the social and cultural ties that hold communities together when times are tough. By exploring how we might strengthen critical community infrastructure, like community media, this research will contribute to improving the services and supports available to communities before, during, and after disasters, thus strengthening community resilience. |
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Theory use in social care practice: improving implementation and outcomes . This project aims to harness the power of theorising to advance implementation science. The project expects to generate new knowledge on how frontline workers can use and move beyond their tacit knowledge to strengthen the implementation and effectiveness of programs designed to address pervasive disadvantage and promote positive child and family outcomes. The expected outcome is a tested theoretical model that will inform how frontline workers' critical thinking supports the consolidation of tacit and new knowledge and the use of implementation science. Strengthening understanding of effective program implementation through theory driven inquiry is viable and may generate urgently needed population level change in the social care sector. |
This project aims to understand how frontline workers can strengthen the implementation and effectiveness of programs designed to address disadvantage and promote positive child and family outcomes. Their tacit knowledge of programs, people and communities, is critical to effective service delivery particularly when hazards to local communities and families occur through climate change and its associated weather events. Floods, fires, storms, droughts and cyclones are regular events in the Australian context. Children and families, particularly those who are vulnerable because of socio-demographics, social determinants of health, cultural heritage or other factors, consistently face the brunt of these events. Further, frontline workers often share these experiences because they are community members too. As such, frontline workers who engage with families in support and welfares services are our best hope to drive effective change and enhance community resilience for the most vulnerable in our community. |
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Adaptive and Efficient Robot Positioning Through Model and Task Fusion. This project aims to create fit-for-purpose positioning systems that continuously adapt to diverse and changing environments. The project expects to contribute to the knowledge across robotics, computer vision, and neuromorphic computing. Expected outcomes of this project include ground-breaking place recognition techniques that address two fundamental limitations in the state-of-the-art: continuous adaptation, critically important in safety-critical systems, and energy efficiency, critically important in resource-constrained systems. This should provide significant benefits, such as accelerated deployment of mobile robots, drones and augmented reality solutions in manufacturing, defence, healthcare, household, and space. |
This project on adaptive and efficient robot positioning aims to enhance the capabilities of emergency response systems during climate-related disasters. By developing robust place recognition algorithms that adapt to rapidly changing environments, the project will enable mobile robots and drones to operate and navigate effectively in disaster-stricken areas where traditional Global Positioning Service (GPS) based systems are compromised or have failed (Schubert et al., 2023). In turn, this will have the potential to accelerate the delivery of critical services and aid and support rapid assessment and recovery processes in affected communities. The energy efficiency of these systems will be vital for sustained operations in scenarios where power resources are scarce. Overall, the project aims to support communities to rebound and adapt after climate hazards. |
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Chameleon-Inspired Building Envelope for the Australian Building Sector. The project aims to develop an intelligent reflective coating that can act like a chameleon skin on a building surface, allowing sunlight to reflect efficiently in summer and be absorbed in winter without using pigments or dyes. The research will reveal how microstructural architecture can mimic a chameleon skin on building envelopes to address the critical challenge of this technology, which is overcooling in winter. The expected outcome is a smart coating technology that is easy to manufacture on small and large scales with no winter penalty, compatible with even, uneven and rough surfaces, free from the use of pigment and durable under sunlight. |
The consequences of climate change are evident worldwide, such as frequent heatwave events in many parts of the world, including Australia, extreme rainfall in the Middle East, and record warmer days in 2023/24 in Australia. One of the major contributors to climate change is carbon emissions, and in Australia, residential and commercial building sectors are responsible for 49% of total energy use and 23% of total greenhouse gas emissions. Weather adaptive intelligent reflective coating can be added to the building surface, which could minimise building energy demand and reduce emissions from this sector. At the same time, it can keep the surface cooler, resulting in a synergetic effect on managing the urban heat island issue. This project aims to develop an intelligent reflective coating that can act like a chameleon skin on a building surface, allowing sunlight to reflect efficiently in summer and be absorbed in winter without using pigments or dyes. The expected outcome is a smart coating technology that is easy to manufacture on small and large scales with no winter penalty, compatible with even, uneven and rough surfaces, free from the use of pigment and durable under sunlight. |
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Nature-based solutions for the climate change-biodiversity nexus in cities. This project aims to advance knowledge of governance and implementation of nature-based solutions to address the climate change-biodiversity nexus in cities. Nature-based solutions offer multiple synergistic solutions for climate change and biodiversity, yet implementation is challenging due to complex governance and policy. The project will generate new knowledge of governance and policy, using transdisciplinary research. Outcomes include a framework for transformative governance, to support enhanced capacity for urgent, integrated action for the climate-biodiversity nexus. The project will deliver environmental and social benefits to Australia and internationally through new approaches to address these intersecting environmental crises. |
Climate change and biodiversity extinction are interconnected and intersecting crises, posing existential risks to all life on earth (UNEP 2021; Bush and Doyon 2021). There is increasing focus on how their intersection is amplifying the effects: climate change exacerbates species extinctions; and disrupted ecosystems are worsening greenhouse gas emissions and climate change impacts. As a result, there are calls for addressing the climate-biodiversity nexus in an integrated approach, including through the implementation of nature-based solutions (Pascual et al. 2022). Without an integrated response, the risks of maladaptation, unintended consequences and negative trade-offs multiply, and there are missed opportunities for synergies from aligned responses that seek to address both climate change and biodiversity restoration together (UNEP 2021). The implementation of nature-based solutions, as multi-functional systems, is challenging, due to complex governance and policy arrangements, which span multiple policy domains, levels of government and policy actors, and across spatial scales. Collaboration in governance, policy and implementation is required to develop and implement responses that bridge disciplinary and knowledge boundaries. |
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Animal cultures and anthropogenic change. This project aims to investigate the impacts of anthropogenic change on the elaborate song cultures of declining Australian songbirds. Culture is fundamental to the biology of social animals, and has profound implications for biodiversity conservation; however, the drivers of animal cultural change are unclear. This project will analyse how lyrebird song cultures respond to anthropogenic environmental change, including Australia’s 2019-20 megafires. Furthermore, it will assess the mechanisms linking environmental and cultural change, and examine the utility of vocal cultures as bioindicators of ecological health. This project will advance fundamental research in animal culture and enhance the conservation of cultural diversity in the wild. |
This project investigates the impacts of anthropogenic environmental change – including extreme events (disaster hazards) – on the elaborate song cultures of declining Australian songbirds. The important role of animal culture in generating and maintaining biodiversity, and as an indicator of ecological health, is emerging as an urgent new front in animal conservation (Brakes et al., 2021). The loss of animal cultures can also profoundly affect human societies, yet animal culture is rarely integrated into conservation practice. Birdsong presents one of the clearest examples of animal culture (Catchpole and Slater, 2008 . These elaborate, socially transmitted vocalisations play key roles in reproduction and competition for resources (Austin et al., 2021; Catchpole and Slater, 2008). Birdsongs often form ‘dialects’ characterised by song conformity at smaller spatial scales but divergence at larger scales. The songs of native bird species have great cultural significance for both indigenous and non-indigenous human societies (Dumyahn and Pijanowski, 2011; Feld, 1979) with local cultural variants of birdsong, for example, contributing to a sense of place (Lomolino et al., 2015). Yet human-mediated environmental change can result in the impoverishment of local bird song cultures (Backhouse et al., 2023), contributing to the homogenization of natural soundscapes at continental scales (Paxton et al., 2019). Dalziell’s project aims to advance fundamental research in animal culture and enhance the conservation of cultural diversity in the wild. This will include determining how lyrebird song cultures respond to anthropogenic environmental change, including Australia’s 2019-20 megafires. The project will also assess the mechanisms linking environmental and animal cultural change, examine the utility of animal vocal cultures as bioindicators of ecological health, and generate explicit recommendations for the conservation and management of animal vocal cultures. In these ways, this project will help to increase community resilience by reducing future environmental vulnerabilities to disasters by examining past events and generating new, useful knowledge. The unique and distinctive natural soundscapes of Australia form an important but often overlooked ‘natural value’ (Dumyahn and Pijanowski, 2011). However, soundscapes worldwide are undergoing rapid and substantial changes as a result of human activities, to the extent that they are now considered an endangered resource (Jensen and Thompson, 2004). This project aims to help prevent the unravelling of our distinctive soundscapes in the face of rapid environmental change. |
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Identifying key fire drivers in Australia; biomass, climate or people. This project aims to provide a greater understanding of Australia’s bushfire risk in the face of climate change. By comparing fire occurrence in three Australian bioclimates across two millennial-scale time periods, one prior to human settlement and one during active Indigenous management, this research expects to define which factors — climate, vegetation profile, or landscape management —most impact fire frequency and severity. Outcomes will likely create new knowledge on how past climates affected the Australian environment; enhance predictive ability for future fire risks under emerging climate scenarios; and provide new insights into how cultural burning can be incorporated into fire management plans to reduce catastrophic bushfires. |
Currently Australia’s ability to prepare for, and mitigate against, hazards is hampered by a lack of long-term data on the reoccurrence of large-scale hazard events and the full range of natural variability. Many common environmental hazards, e.g.. bushfires, floods, and droughts are defined by a reoccurrence probability such as a 1:100 or 1:1000 year event (Franks et al., 2015). However, knowledge of how often events of these magnitudes occur within the natural system are largely unknown and the magnitude of potential future events are constrained by our knowledge of recent events. Palaeoecology and palaeoclimatology records from natural archives can provide valuable observational information for elucidating long-term reoccurrence and magnitude of hazards on 1,000-year timescales (Seddon et al., 2014). Utilising these archives we can understand the impact of hazards and assess the resilience of ecosystems to hazards (Manzano et al., 2020; Napier and Chipman, 2022). Understanding the nature of these events in the past can allow for better management and planning for future scenarios (Napier and Chipman, 2022). Further, understanding the long-term drivers of these hazards can help mitigation strategies to reduce future amplification of hazards |
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Sensory and bioengineering approaches to predict hearing abilities in fish. This project aims to understand the factors responsible for the extraordinary diversity in the shape and size of fish ears and why some fishes are more sensitive to sound than others, which is little understood. Using innovative techniques and a multidisciplinary approach, expected outcomes of this project include the first model representing the hearing function of fish underwater. This may allow unique insights into the importance of sound for fish, as well as inspire the development of new sensor technologies, including in robotics and biomedical applications. Benefits include the ability to predict the vulnerability of a fish species to noise pollution and to inform conservation strategies and policy guidelines. |
Over millions of years, evolution has finely tuned organisms to be intricately adapted to their environments. However, environments are dynamic systems, not entirely stable, requiring organisms to adapt to transient changes to survive. Various structures and systems have evolved across species to enable adaptation and resilience to these environmental fluctuations. The nervous system, in particular, equips organisms with the capacity to handle environmental challenges and maintain resilience within their typical operational ranges. This capability to adjust optimally to change is known as "allostasis”. Given the widespread consensus that human activities and environmental changes can severely disrupt the delicate equilibrium of biomes, it is critical to determine how organisms respond and the extent to which their physiological and behavioural adaptations are limited. For example, sensory systems are crucial in how species react to environmental disturbances. Factors such as habitat destruction, climate change, or the introduction of invasive species trigger responses (genetic and/or non-genetic) from the nervous system (brain and senses), potentially leading to cascading effects on multiple biological systems. The precise mechanisms through which sensory systems respond to environmental changes, via genetic adaptation or plasticity, and the timescales involved remain unclear. This is research of great promise: by exploring the factors promoting resilience or impart vulnerabilities, as well as the neural mechanisms that modulate these effects, we can unlock the secrets by which the brain help animals to adapt and cope with a changing environment. Understanding these conditions and mechanisms may help us find ways to intervene when these systems fails and compromise species resilience. |
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High-Efficiency, Modular and Low-Cost Hydrogen Liquefaction and Storage. Australia’s first modular hydrogen liquefaction and storage. This project aims to develop a novel multi-faceted cooling system and software to increase efficiency, lower cost, and improve the safety of hydrogen liquefaction and storage. The project will establish a new multi-disciplinary research capability in Australia and expand our fundamental knowledge to model, design, and build modular liquefaction and zero-boil-off storage systems, allowing widespread distribution and usage of hydrogen. It will create a paradigm shift from traditional scale-up to modern number-up approaches. This level of innovation is crucial for Australia to lead the world in hydrogen and also enable accessible and sustainable clean energy sources for Australians. |
This project contributes to community resilience to climate hazards by offering a clean and reliable energy alternative that reduces reliance on traditional fossil fuels. As climate change exacerbates the intensity of weather events, this project helps communities transition to a more adaptable energy system capable of withstanding disruptions. The modular and scalable nature of liquid hydrogen infrastructure ensures that communities can implement localized, decentralized energy networks, enhancing their ability to maintain critical services in emergencies. Moreover, the environmental benefits of hydrogen, such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions, support broader social-ecological resilience by mitigating climate impacts and fostering healthier ecosystems. This project thus strengthens communities' capacity to adapt, respond, and recover from climate hazards. |
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Transforming Australian cities through net-zero transit activated corridors. Cities represent a huge, but largely untapped, opportunity to meet Australian commitments to become 'net zero by 2050'. Transforming Australian cities through net-zero transit activated corridors is a transdisciplinary research project about sustainable urban planning. It builds upon past research on integrating land use and transport planning and places it within a net zero frame. It will involve national and international academic collaboration. Expected outcomes include evidence-based urban planning recommendations focused on increased liveability, sustainability and affordability through new spatial structures (urban design) and new governance structures (planning policy) necessary to deliver thriving net zero Australian cities. |
Close to 90% of Australians live in urban areas – urban areas are particularly vulnerable to climate hazards; therefore, it is critical to increase urban resilience – for both infrastructure and the community. Until recently, the dominant mode of urban development post WWII has been urban sprawl, sprawl has long been identified as a risk both sustainability and liveability (Newman and Kenworthy, 1999). Australian cities must reduce their urban sprawl, as not only is this kind of urban development ecologically damaging, it also underprovides for social facilities and employment (Newton et al. 2022). The typical planning response to sprawl in recent years has been ‘urban infill housing’ (ie new housing built on previously developed land) (Thomson et al 2017) but this raises other challenges not least compounding the impact of urban heat island effect within a warming climate through vegetation loss and its urban cooling effect. There is a common misconception that resource efficient compact cities and leafy ecological cities paradigms are incompatible, as one is pro-density, while the other is anti-density, but this is not inevitable; for example the City of Sydney (municipality) and Singapore are both examples of very population dense urban areas, that have also managed to significantly increase their vegetation density due to targeted greening strategies (Thomson and Newman, 2021). This research is investigating how and where it is possible to strategically densify cities, with the goal to tackle the multiple interrelated systemic crises of a housing crisis, climate crisis, biodiversity crisis while creating more liveable and accessible open spaces for urban residents. |
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Circular clean energy regulation to solve the PV solar waste crisis. This project aims to design a new analytical framework, circular clean energy regulation, to fundamentally re-orient renewable energy law from the accelerated uptake of new technologies to a lifecycle approach. This re-orientation is urgently needed because while Australia is world leading in its uptake of rooftop solar, 90% of used panels go to landfill as hazardous waste. This project will explore how circular clean energy regulation can improve the management of solar waste to reap the significant environmental, security and health benefits associated with solar recycling and critical mineral recovery. Expected outcomes include a new circular model of regulating renewable technologies, and better regulation and recovery of solar waste. |
Renewable and distributed energy resources are often touted as an important tool in enhancing the resilience of the electricity grid to natural disasters. In the past, faults with electricity assets have caused bushfires including the Victorian Black Saturday bushfires. Increasingly, lithium-ion battery storage devices are also sparking fires. This research is seeking to better understand the lifecycle of renewable technologies, particularly PV solar panels, to ensure that they can operate safely, are used to their maximal usage point and then at end of life are appropriately decommissioned. This research is aiming to ensure that the new energy technologies that we are reliant on to reduce the risk of harm and increase our resilience to natural disasters are appropriately regulated throughout the lifecycle to reduce waste, improve safety and deliver optimal outcomes for our society. |
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Quantifying climate change impacts for wetlands in agricultural landscapes. This project aims to quantify the impacts of changed water availability on wetland biodiversity. Research will focus on high conservation value wetlands in agricultural regions, which face significant climatic risk. Novel integration of biodiversity theory with hydroecological and spatial modelling is expected to generate new understanding of how water availability drives wetland diversity. Intended outcomes include new techniques to model wetland biodiversity, building of international collaborations and enhanced ability to support policy development to ameliorate climate-related wetland impacts. This should promote sustainable management of water and biodiversity in farmlands, benefitting productive capacity and environmental amenity. |
Biodiversity is an important element of maintaining resilient and functional landscapes. In agricultural regions, wetland biodiversity supports the many ecosystem services they provide. However, wetlands only persist in these landscapes because they are too wet for other uses. Climatic drying could alter this delicate balance, but the magnitude of possible impacts, which range from small changes in species composition to complete loss of wetland habitat are largely unknown. Most wetlands are located on private land and responsibility for their management falls to community members supported by regional NRM authorities and NGOs. To best protect wetlands and their ecosystem services under climatic uncertainty, managers need to understand the risks. This research will model probable future outcomes, informing discussions on how best to prepare wetlands within our working landscapes for an uncertain climatic future, while maintaining the biodiversity that underwrites their contribution to landscape function. |
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Reducing uncertainty in prediction of leaf respiration in a changing world. This project aims to advance our understanding of responses of carbon dioxide (CO2) release by leaf (leaf respiration) to sustained changes in CO2 and temperature. Leaf respiration in terrestrial forests releases yearly CO2 that is two to four times higher than CO2 emitted by human activities, but its response to climate change is not well understood. The project expects to generate new knowledge on mechanisms underlying responses of leaf respiration to these climate change variables, separately and combined. Expected outcome is to deliver criteria that enable dynamic changes in leaf respiration to be predicted in climate models. Results should benefit improved forecast of feedback between Australian forests' carbon cycling and climate. |
Each year, while producing the energy required for plant cellular maintenance and growth, leaf respiration in terrestrial vegetation releases 60-80 gigatons of carbon (Gt C) (Huntingford et al. 2017), equivalent to 49-65% of the carbon previously fixed by the photosynthesis process (Beer et al. 2010). By comparison, anthropogenic carbon emissions release approximately 11.5 Gt C/year (Friedlingstein et al. 2020), which means that leaf respiration produces carbon that is approximately six times higher than human emissions. However, leaf respiration is also affected by ongoing climate change factors such as temperature, elevated CO2, and drought (Dusenge, Duarte & Way 2019; Collins et al. 2021). However, the exact mechanisms underlying the impacts of these global change drivers on day-to-day variability in leaf respiration remain poorly understood (Atkin et al. 2015), hindering its accurate representation in Earth System Models used for predicting future climates (Smith & Dukes 2013). Specifically, our limited knowledge of plant leaf respiration slows Australia’s ability to respond to climate change, meet international carbon emission obligations, and build resilient farming systems. My DECRA project aims to develop a framework that climate models use to predict changes in the exchange of CO2 between Australian forests and the atmosphere, with the overall goal to enable Australia to reshape best practices in climate change mitigation and risk management. |
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Evaluating the Impact and Efficiency of Engineering the Ocean to Remove CO2. This project aims to evaluate the viability of engineering the ocean to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by simulating a suite of climate intervention and baseline scenarios. To better predict changes in marine carbon cycling, I will first make novel observations of zooplankton grazing dynamics, then use them to improve, validate and constrain a new marine biogeochemical model. Using this model, coupled to an ocean, atmosphere and fisheries model, I will quantify the long-term efficiency with which marine carbon dioxide removal strategies sequester carbon along with their impact on fisheries catch. These projections will help scientists, policy-makers, and industry leaders decide if, when, and how we should geoengineer the ocean. |
To keep global warming below 1.5°C by 2100, the IPCC 6th Report considered 230 pathways. All require CO2 removal (CDR). Through an extensive suite of modelling experiments, this project will help scientists, policy makers, and industry leaders decide if, when, and how to implement ocean CDR. By working towards determining if marine CDR is safe and effective, this work is contributing to reducing atmospheric CO2 and thus the impact of extreme weather. From a precautionary perspective this work could also reduce future ecological hazard wrought by poorly planned/managed CDR deployment. Most marine CDR technologies will have a biological/ecological impact. Some by design and some as a side effect. By evaluating the ecological impact of different mCDR strategies deployed at different scales (ie highly dispersed in the open ocean vs highly concentrated near a populated coastal area) this work will help communities understand the tradeoffs between local ecological perturbations and global atmospheric CO2 reductions. The research will involve running projections of different mCDR deployment strategies to reduce the future uncertainty in how different deployment strategies (local and global) will reduce the impacts of climate change but potentially impact marine ecosystems at different scales. |
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Unravelling the pathways of methane production and oxidation in mangroves. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that contributed 35% of global warming in the past decade. Australia has recently joined The Global Methane Pledge to urgently reduce global methane emissions, which are ~50% driven by aquatic/wetland ecosystems. However, we currently do not understand the processes that drive methane production (source) and consumption (sink) in coastal wetlands that are hotspots in the marine environment. By identifying and quantifying the origins and pathways of methane fluxes in mangroves using a novel combination of cutting-edge instrumentation, this project will establish a complete picture of the methane cycle in coastal mangrove wetlands, that are abundant along Australia’s coast. This project is of national significance because it will provide the first Australian mangrove ecosystem methane emission estimate and improve Australia's national ‘blue carbon’ strategy to mitigate climate change. This project is of global significance because it will provide fundamental understanding of coastal methane cycling that will advance Earth System Models to predict future climate feedbacks |
Coastal wetlands such as mangrove forest have been highlighted as efficient natural carbon sinks. Although coastal wetlands cover only a small area of the coastal ocean, they can bury more than 40 times more organic carbon than tropical rainforests and account for more than 50% of the carbon buried in marine sediments. While they are efficient natural carbon sinks, coastal wetland sediments can also produce the potent greenhouse gas methane. Importantly, these methane emissions can counteract the climate benefit of coastal wetlands. In fact, coastal vegetated habitats represent a methane hotspot in the coastal ocean but regional and global methane fluxes are still poorly understood and underlying processes largely unknown. This project addresses current research gaps by investigating methane production (sources) and oxidation (sink) pathways in coastal mangrove ecosystems to establish a fundamental understanding of mechanisms by which high methane emissions are sustained in saline mangrove sediments and waters. Resolving the sources and sinks of methane is critical for achieving our global ambitions to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the near-term future and to develop effective climate mitigation strategies. The quantitative assessment of the methane sources, sinks, and ‘blue carbon’ offsets in mangrove ecosystems can be implemented in current (national) policy and management strategies mitigating climate change. This is a direct contribution to the Australian science and research priority “environmental change”. By identifying and quantifying methane processes and comparing these in natural and impacted mangroves, this project will directly support the development of options of coastal change management. Despite their climate benefit, mangrove forests, that are abundant along Australia’s coast, provide a wide range of ecosystem services such as protection from storm, floods, and erosion control, breeding and nursery habitats for fish and plants, cultural services for nature-recreation, as well as spiritual, intellectual, and cultural benefits. |
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Cao Wang
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Next-generation system resilience-based design of infrastructure facilities. This project aims to develop a framework for system resilience-based design of infrastructure facilities. In Australia, the costs of natural disasters will rise to $33B per year by 2050 unless steps are taken to guarantee resilience. This project expects to quantify the impacts that structural deterioration, external hazards, and component interaction have on infrastructure resilience. Expected outcomes include new practices for resilience-based structural design, reflecting a next-generation evolution of design philosophy. Expected benefits stem from the development of novel decision-making tools for community planners and designers that will guarantee the resilience of infrastructure systems, and thus mitigate hazard-induced damage costs. |
Physical infrastructure networks (e.g., power grid and transportation networks) play a vital role in physically supporting modern society’s functionalities and are expected to be resilient. An infrastructure network that adopts the latest design standards/codes for its components cannot be guaranteed to display resilience when subjected to hazardous events, because (i) the facilities have been designed individually and thus do not perform in such a synchronised manner that supports system resilience; and (ii) the currently-enforced design standards emphasise the serviceability and reliability of the structures but have not taken into account the resilience aspects (e.g., the post-hazard recovery process). The aim of this project is to develop a framework for resilience-based design of infrastructure facilities, considering their roles within the associated infrastructure networks. The impacts of the time-variant characteristics of structural performance and the external hazards will be examined. This project is aligned with the theme of “reducing future uncertainties” through improved design, preparedness, and management of infrastructure facilities. |
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Great Antarctic uncertainties: How to better predict rising sea levels. This DECRA project aims to significantly reduce the uncertainties in future projections of the Antarctic contribution to global and regional sea-level rise. This will be achieved by including, for the first time, the influence of interactions with the subglacial hydrologic system and surrounding ocean circulation on the ice sheet dynamics, using a coupled ice–ocean–hydrology model. This research will build on Dr Zhao's international expertise in ice sheet modelling and coupled ice–ocean modelling. This project provide substantial benefits to Australia and internationally, particularly in regions vulnerable to rising sea levels, by producing more accurate sea-level rise projections for policy and mitigation strategies. |
The outcomes of this project will be a reduction in the uncertainty associated with Antarctica’s contribution to future sea-level rise and improved understanding on the influences of ice–ocean interaction and subglacial discharge to narrow down uncertainties. While my project directly focuses on improving scientific understanding of Antarctic ice dynamics and sea-level rise, its outcomes have significant implications for enhancing community resilience. By providing more accurate projections and insights into future sea-level rise, my research can inform adaptation and mitigation efforts, helping communities reduce their vulnerability to coastal hazards and disasters. Ultimately, this contributes to building more resilient communities capable of adapting to a changing climate and minimizing the impacts of sea-level rise on human societies and ecosystems. |
