Stories of science from the Australian Rivers Institute
"We are entering a new era of science where ecosystem change is uncharted by historical observations. Observations are the foundation of predictive science, so how can we predict a future that is outside the envelope of the environments? "
"They have supported me throughout my PhD, through all the failures and successes, and I wouldn’t have made it through without them. They both provided me with guidance but also allowed me to follow through with my own ideas, even if they were possibly doomed from the beginning... All in all, I really lucked out with my supervisory team!"
By Dr Bianca Molinari Article Read Time: 974 words about 8 minutes. I've often been called brave for doing a PhD so far away from home, I don't know if it's bravery, but it's certainly rewarding. As a Brazilian, I couldn’t have picked any country further from home to complete my PhD than, Australia. Taking on [...]
"As the frequency and severity of bushfires increase due to climate change, Australian biodiversity is facing significant threats. A range of strategies and policies are in place to manage the damage of fires on species and ecosystems, including the use of fire-fighting chemicals."
"Often during flood events, water from agricultural catchments will erode productive agricultural soils and carry large loads of sediment and nutrients to downstream estuaries and coastal areas. This can threaten the provision of safe drinking water for humans and the ecology of marine ecosystems, as well as sometimes necessitating costly sediment dredging and disposal operations."
"Our research, published today, paints a grim picture. We estimate that even under the most optimistic emissions scenarios, we’ll see dramatic reductions in coral reef growth globally. The good news is that 63% of all reefs in this emissions scenario will still be able to grow by 2100."
"Revegetating abandoned agricultural land is critical for maintaining sustainability and biodiversity within our farming landscapes. Our recent paper demonstrated the feasibility of a large-scale revegetation approach in one of Australia’s most iconic agricultural regions, the Murray-Darling Basin."
Author's Dr Songyan Yu and Associate Professor Mark Kennard, Read Time: 622 words, about 3 minutes. There is a growing interest globally in the spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of intermittently flowing streams and rivers. Previous studies have predominantly relied on the use of gauged streamflow data to make inferences about the distribution of intermittent streams. [...]
By Andria Ostrowski Read Time: 504 words, about 3 minutes. Vegetated coastal wetlands including saltmarshes, mangrove forests and seagrass meadows store large amounts of carbon, protect shorelines from storms and erosion, support enormous biodiversity and improve water quality by filtering nutrients, contaminants and sediments. Despite their ecological and economic importance, increasing human settlement and development [...]
Author: Alyssa Giffin Read Time: 935 words about 6 minutes. Transition is a five-part blog series, the sequel to Emergent, that follows ARI’s Post-Doc Research Fellows as they navigate the next stage of their academic journey post-PhD. Take a journey with them and hear about some of the lessons they have learnt and what drives [...]
Catchment to Coast 