All in Innovation

Dr Larry Barber - Visiting International Fellow

superuser — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:06:22 +0000

An Australian roadshow by Dr Larry Barber

Background

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Senior Research Fellowships

Research Type:

Travelling Fellow

Researchers:

Dr Larry Barber

Subjects

Subjects:

Innovation

Keywords:

International Fellowship

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Professor Graham Farquhar

superuser — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 04:36:34 +0000

Linking plant evaporative demand and pan evaporation

Professor Farquhar is Professor of Environmental Biology at the Research School of Biological Sciences, ANU . He is a world leader in researching and modelling the interactions between plants and their environment. As a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Professor Farquhar shared the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize with other IPCC scientists.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Senior Research Fellowships

Research Type:

Senior Research Fellow

Researchers:

Professor Graham Farquhar

Subjects

Subjects:

Climate (General)

Innovation

Keywords:

carbon dioxide fixation

plants

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Successfully managing saline watertables to realise production and environment synergies

superuser — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:12:32 +0000

‘Strategic tree planting’ is the story Yass farmer John Ive and his family want to tell. After moving to the Yass Valley near Canberra, John transformed ‘Talaheni’ from a run down grazing property into a productive farm with increased production and environmental values.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Community Fellows

Researchers:

John Ive

Subjects

Subjects:

Innovation

Landscape Management

Salinity

Keywords:

Groundwater

Tree planting

2002 2003 Community Fellow

Project Information

Summary:

‘Twenty years ago saline seeps were common, pastures poor and in decline, and erosion sites active. With a combination of approaches, starting with strategic tree planting, the worst of the salinity has been rehabilitated and groundwater over substantial areas is declining’ says John.

‘It’s been a long process, but along the way I’ve learned some valuable lessons - about the need to read the landscape and appreciate the processes, to keep detailed records and to be proactive’.

With support from the Land & Water Australia Community Fellowship, John will create a website documenting his management of saline watertables to realise production and environmental synergies with 22 years of diaries, photographs and data.

Since winning his Land & Water Australia Community Fellowship John Ive and his family have won: the 2004 NSW/ACT Regional Achievers Award; were nominees for the 2003-04 National Landcare Awards; winners of won the CPA Australia Triple Bottom Line Award and received a Commendation in the Award for Outstanding Service to the Environment at the United Nations Association of Australia World Environment Day Awards in June 2004; and winners of the 2003 NSW Telstra CountryWide Landcare Research Award.

John has also been a guest speaker at Land & Water Australia’s Science in the Paddock Breakfast Briefings (number four).

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Farmer as researcher: forty years in the field

superuser — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:27:21 +0000

For nearly forty years, the Jones have farmed at Henrietta in the states north-west, experimenting with different crops, grazing systems and machinery along the way.

‘I suppose I wanted to find out why certain things worked and others didnt,’ said Lance Jones.

Over the decades, Lance came to think about a new way of farming.

‘I decided to reduce the inputs and noticed that the cattle got better . Slowly I began to get interested in organics, and with the newly formed Organic Farming and Gardening Society in the 1970s I was able to talk with like minded people’.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Community Fellows

Research Type:

Community Fellow

Researchers:

Lance Jones

Addie Jones

Subjects

Subjects:

Innovation

Primary Industries

Field Crops and Horticulture

Keywords:

organic farming

2002 2003 Community Fellow

Project Information

Summary:

For nearly forty years, the Jones have farmed at Henrietta in the states north-west, experimenting with different crops, grazing systems and machinery along the way.

‘I suppose I wanted to find out why certain things worked and others didnt,’ said Lance Jones.

Over the decades, Lance came to think about a new way of farming.

The Land & Water Australia Community Fellowship will provide financial support to the Jones to write about their experiences and their life at Henrietta, and importantly, the lessons theyve learnt over the decades.

At 81 years, Lance says ‘hes more determined than ever to tell his story about his move to organic agriculture and the role played by his grazing method’.

‘I want to pass on some of the essence of my 40-odd years of experience (and experimentation). . I feel it is important for our community to know that many of us farmers are innovative and creative even us oldies!’.

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Greenie Mula

superuser — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:42:19 +0000

Nina Brown, a tireless volunteer coordinator of Irati Wanti Campaign office in Coober Peedy. The Irati Wanti -‘the poison leave it’ in Yankuntjatjara language - Campaign was started by the Indigenous women’s council, Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta, to prevent a national radioactive waste dump being established on their traditional land.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Community Fellows

Research Type:

Community Fellow

Researchers:

Nina Brown

Subjects

Subjects:

Innovation

Landscapes

Project Information

Summary:

In 1998, Nina was so moved by the Kungka Tjuta’s fight to stop the waste dump, she left behind her friends and family in Melbourne and moved to Coober Pedy to help the Kungka’s communicate their message to the broader Australian community.

Nina has used her Land & Water Australia Community Fellowship to share her knowledge of how to work with traditional Indigenous people on environmental issues and demonstrate that one person can make a difference when they act on their passion and conviction.

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Mending the Goulburn-Broken - The John Dainton Story

superuser — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:16:03 +0000

The achievements of John Dainton are well-known in the Goulburn Valley, a rich region for fruit, vegetables, dairy products and associated processing industries. The intensive irrigation used in the region has meant it has been threatened by salinity that could result in economic disaster.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Community Fellows

Research Type:

Community Fellow

Researchers:

John Dainton

Subjects

Subjects:

Innovation

Landscapes

Water (General)

Project Information

Summary:

John has lead a number of industry and natural resource management organisations in the development of salinity management and weed action plans and regional catchment, water quality and native vegetation management strategies.

The Land & Water Community Fellowship will allow John to document his story in a book to be shared with a wider audience.

Current Activities

Status:

Pending

Oil vulnerability in peri-urban and rural Australia

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:05:31 +0000

Rural and regional Australia is a major consumer of petroleum for agricultural and allied production and for transportation.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Innovation

Innovation Call

Research Type:

Innovation Call

LWA Project Code:

002477

Host Organisation:

Griffith University

Researchers:

Dr Jago Dodson

Subjects

Subjects:

Innovation

Project Information

Summary:

Rural and regional Australia is a major consumer of petroleum for agricultural and allied production and for transportation. The past three years have seen a trend towards higher global petroleum prices with a resulting increase in domestic fuel prices. There is however little literature on the use of petroleum energy in agricultural production nor on the associated petroleum-based farm inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides. A similar void in the research literature concerns the dependence of rural and regional economic and social systems on transport networks, which are also heavily petroleum dependent. Rising fuel prices and the possibility of supply shortages would have significant implications for the rural and regional sector given the extent of use of these inputs in farm production. Yet there is very little known about the likely secondary impact of such price increases or supply constraints on the farming sector and on rural and regional areas generally. How would rural and regional production systems respond to much higher fuel prices? Would such price shifts result in significant sectoral restructuring? If there is sectoral restructuring what re the flow effects for natural resource management? This landmark study of rural and regional oil vulnerability in two states has two objectives: (a)To investigate the extent of dependence of the rural and regional economic sector on petroleum energy for production and transport. This will involve an examination of farm energy use relative to production type and volume and the locational efficiency of the farming units relative to transport systems. (b) Outline the implications of rising petroleum costs for future rural and regional productive activity; identify likely future patterns of rural and regional production and the natural resource management implications of any changes in the productivity and viability of rural and regional production.

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Interactive effects of salinity and water regime on ecologically significant waterplants

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:04:29 +0000

Aquatic vegetation is represented by a variety of growth forms, including floating, submerged, amphibious, emergent and semi-terrestrial taxa. The persistence of these growth forms in aquatic habitats is strongly influenced by water regime; long-term flooding favours submerged species and excludes most emergent species whereas alternation in wetting and drying may allow both to persist. The artificial homogenisation of naturally fluctuating water regimes and secondary salinisation are major contributing factors to the loss of plant biodiversity in wetlands worldwide. However, the interactive effect of these processes remains poorly quantified.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

PhD Students

Research Type:

PhD Student

LWA Project Code:

002366

Host Organisation:

Monash University

Researchers:

Jacqueline Salter

Subjects

Subjects:

Innovation

Salinity

Catchment Management

Project Information

Summary:

Modification of natural flooding and drying cycles is recognised as one of the most severe threats to wetland plant biodiversity. Chronic flooding favours submerged wetland plant species and excludes most emergent species whilst seasonal fluctuations generally allow the greatest diversity of plant types to persist. In addition to experiencing changes to their hydrology, many Australian wetlands are also threatened by increased salinity. Salinity may impair a plant’s ability to tolerate changes to water regime. My project examines how salinity may alter the response of wetland plants with contrasting growth forms to water regime. I focus on two common Australian wetland plants with contrasting growth forms; the wetland tree Swamp paperbark (Melaleuca ericifolia) and the submerged wetland macrophyte, Ribbonweed (Vallisneria australis). By exploring the response and tolerance range of different life history stages of both species to the interactive effect of water regime and salinity, I aim to predict the persistence of these species under a number of management scenarios. This research will provide information on water regimes appropriate for fresh and saline conditions that would promote the persistence of a diverse community of aquatic plants.

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Healthy catchments through detection and remediation of contaminants with novel technologies

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:46:52 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Innovation Call

Research Type:

Innovation Call

LWA Project Code:

002500

Host Organisation:

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

Researchers:

Professor David Mainwaring

Subjects

Subjects:

Innovation

Contaminants

Catchment Management

Project Information

Summary:

This one year project has critically tested two novel technologies for contaminant detection and treatment in catchment water contaminated by agricultural chemicals. The project brings together RMIT’s expertise (polymer compositions suitable for fungicide iprodione sensing in real ground and run-off water) and Victorian DPI expertise (analytical support and samples) to develop a chemical detection device made of a polymer. The research has tested whether salinity, pH, water temperature and colloids interfere with polymer used to trap and detect iprodione (Ip). Ip is a widely used fungicide that effects ecosystems and organisms and is undesirable in water and export fruit but is necessary for fungal management. Managing the chemical Iprodione impacts off-site is vital to various land uses (eg strawberry farming). These tests have shown the polymer is sensitive, durable and inexpensive. It has shown that this polymer system has the capacity to detect iprodione in more efficient ways than currently available. Avoiding specialist laboratory analysis and reducing costs per measure is attractive to managers of water quality. Prototypes of the polymer thin film-Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) chips have been fabricated and trials of the long-term stability have been conducted with solutions that could be encountered in field application. Tests using samples from creeks in the Yarra catchment, groundwater from boreholes and surface flow in the Yea River area were compared to an independent conventional lab test. The potential to reuse the sensor multiple times was also demonstrated. Some interference was observed and varied between different water samples; however, quantitative detection was demonstrated. The polymer is able to bind up to 10% of its own weight in Ip at the residual concentration of 7 ppm (i.e. after polymer binding) satisfying the requirements for a mass detection device. Polymer binding of the Ip concentrations below the solubility limit of Ip in water (13 ppm) leaves equilibrium concentrations <0.02 ppm which is the current detection limit of the analytical technique employed (GC-NPD). The results of tests using Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) for detecting and identifying contaminants Ip and metsulfuron-methyl (MM a widely used herbicide at low parts per million) levels) identified some research challenges. Reproducibility of results at 0.47 mg/L Ip was low and was attributed to the irregular deposition of Ip on the SERS substrate during the water evaporation step – further methodological work is needed. The interaction of Ip and MM is also worthy of further research and a RMIT post-doctorate may be working on this next. Focus group workshops in 2008 identified ways the work can be adopted in the water industry. RMIT is considering ongoing investments and meeting with the Victorian Strawberry Industry Development Committee and Melbourne Water have discussed ongoing collaboration. Further workshops are being planned by RMIT, DPI and LWA.

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Resources

External Links:

Cheap sensor finds pollutants (ScienceAlert, 4 May 2009)

A rapid genetic approach for assessing sediment biodiversity and functioning

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:21:51 +0000

The goal of this project is to develop a generic technique to concurrently assess the structural and functional status of ecosystems using genetic measures of the organisms within them. The proof of concept approach entails the development of a DNA microarray chip (ecosystem array) that encapsulates the genetic information for a broad range of biota (invertebrates, algae and microorganisms) and functional genes diagnostic for major estuarine biogeochemical processes.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Innovation Call

Research Type:

Innovation Call

LWA Project Code:

2453

Host Organisation:

CSIRO Entomology

Researchers:

Dr Chris Hardy

Subjects

Subjects:

Innovation

Biodiversity

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Novel in situ desalination of low quality groundwater

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:20:59 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Innovation Call

Research Type:

Innovation Call

LWA Project Code:

2387

Host Organisation:

University of Western Australia

Researchers:

Dr Chris Barber

Subjects

Subjects:

Innovation

Water (General)

Project Information

Summary:

Providing potable water in remote locations (such as pastoral properties and indigenous communities) with access to saline groundwater currently requires costly surface infrastructure and involves surface disposal of salts. Dr Chris Barber, in a commercial spin-off from University of Western Australia, was supported through the Land & Water Australia Innovation call to develop and trail an In Situ Desalination (ISD). Designed to fit entirely within a borehole, and using reverse osmosis technology (prior patent), it extracts high quality fresh water and leaves behind the iron and salt-rich water. The trials have provided safe drinking water from saline and anoxic iron-rich ground water for a full cost (including infrastructure and energy) of $1.50 KL – comparable to urban water process and considerably less than typical costs of remote supplies. This innovation has delivered a desalination option with lower set-up and operation costs than rivals, a smaller environmental footprint, no surface disposal needs and improved energy efficiency. As a result, this innovation is now at a commercialisation threshold being assisted through AusIndustry for Australian and overseas applications, particularly from India, Israel and the UK.

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Resources

External Links:

Desaln8

Investigating adoption processes for sustainable farming practice: Potter Project casestudy

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:18:42 +0000

The Australian community makes multiple and conflicting demands of rural land. As a result there has been an increasing awareness of environmental issues associated with the practice of agriculture. Programs designed to support and encourage farmers to improve their farming practices to ameliorate and minimise their impact on the environment have been a feature of natural resource management in Australia since the 1980s. Progress has been made toward understanding the factors involved in the adoption of improved farming practices. As a result, adoption is now conceptualised as a ‘journey’, rather than a defined event, and is understood to be dynamic, non-linear and often fragmented.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

PhD Students

Research Type:

PhD Student

LWA Project Code:

002433

Host Organisation:

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

Researchers:

Cathy Wagg

Subjects

Subjects:

Innovation

Governance and Markets

Project Information

Summary:

The objectives of this postgraduate project are to use the Potter Farmland Project as a research casestudy to make new contributions to understanding the processes influencing adoption practices for sustainability at a farm-scale and the on-going translation of R&D knowledge into farming practice. The contribution to the knowledge of farm-scale decision-making processes leading to sustainable and productive primary industries is an important outcome of this research.

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Testing ecological models in Australia's northern tropical rivers

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:17:38 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

PhD Students

Research Type:

PhD Student

LWA Project Code:

002320

Host Organisation:

Griffith University

Researchers:

Catherine Leigh

Subjects

Subjects:

Innovation

Rivers and Wetlands

Tropical Rivers

Project Information

Summary:

The major aims of Catherine Leigh’s PhD thesis were to investigate the function of floodplain rivers in the Gulf of Carpentaria, northeast Australia (‘tropical’ Gregory and ‘dryland’ Flinders River systems), and to use results to form a conceptual model of function for similar river systems in Australia’s wet/dry tropics, as described by flow, pattern and process: flow as broad-scale hydrology and more localised hydrological connectivity; patterns as spatiotemporal variation in macroinvertebrate biodiversity; and processes as carbon flow through macroinvertebrate food webs. In summary, this thesis showed that, based on a detailed understanding of the existing situation in the lower Gregory and Flinders river systems and robust data collection and analysis with explicit caveats, it appears that any variation in assemblage composition and diversity between wet and dry seasons within each of the river types that exists under current conditions may significantly decline under flow regulation, and that this decline may be more apparent in ‘dryland’ than ‘tropical’ rivers. That there is a degree of resilience to disturbance , including flow modification. That there are further knowledge needs in tropical river ecological research to inform management decisions.

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Growing Capacity in Seasonal Climate Risk Management in South-East Australia

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:30:11 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Managing Climate Variability

Research Type:

Research Project

Subjects

Subjects:

Innovation

Keywords:

Climate Risk Management

adoption

south-east australia

agribusiness

farmers

Project Information

Summary:

Project focused on extension and adoption of climate risk management technologies. Recent survey results suggest the project’s online magazine The Break is highly regarded by subscribers and has had a positive impact on grower knowledge of climate and risk management issues. Project spearheaded an awakening within the Vic Govt of the need for CRM extension services for agribusiness and farmers. Has raised awareness amongst farmers and agribusiness of the role and importance of CRM.

Next Steps: Project leaves a legacy of ongoing Vic Govt investment in seasonal climate risk management activities – esp with ongoing publication of The Break and The Fast Break, & upskilling of DPI staff in climate risk.

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Location

State & NRM Region:

National

Enabling NRM Decision-Makers to Make Better Use of Climate Science

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:28:47 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Managing Climate Variability

Research Type:

Research Project

Subjects

Subjects:

Innovation

Keywords:

seasonal forecasts

decision makers

strategic decisions

cllimate change projections

Project Information

Summary:

This project assisted the researchers and their selected clients in understanding how various decisions are made, using a framework based on Real Options – providing for these participants insights into how more strategic decisions might be made and the processes involved in these decisions.

Next Steps: Project resulted in better understanding of decision making process, but little potential for adoption or ongoing work in this area. Decision making processes will evolve as seasonal forecasts and climate change projections are improved.

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Location

State & NRM Region:

National