Water Resources
Water is an environmental problem.
Managing water in the Australian environment requires expertise in water science and knowledge of the physical, chemical and biological components of the system as well as how these components interact. We can address water from the dominant environmental crisis perspective using tools of traditional scientific endeavour. Research projects examine how physical, chemical, and biological components of aquatic ecosystems function and interact, and understand linkages between habitats, rivers and catchments to underpin the effective management of aquatic systems.
We welcome you to join us in contributing to the future of Australia and our water systems.
Dr Darren Ryder
Darren Ryder is a Senior Lecturer in Ecosystem Rehabilitation and Aquatic Ecology and his broad research interests are wetland and river ecology, and the application of scientific knowledge to the management of regulated river systems. He has been involved in the design, implementation and ecological assessment of environmental flows throughout the Murray Darling Basin as well as in coastal water supply catchments. Current collaborative research is focused on the design of an adaptive management framework for developing operational protocols for large dams that optimize demands from water users and improve river health.
Assoc. Professor David Lamb
David Lamb teaches physics in the School of Science and Technology. His key research related to water resource management is in the development and application of sensors to agricultural and environmental systems. Some of his latest development includes optical fibre techniques for monitoring water colour in turbid samples. www.une.edu.au/staff/dlamb.php Dr Paul Frazier Paul Frazier is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Geography and has been researching river landscapes and function. He combines a background in fluvial geomorphology with expertise in remote sensing and GIS to map, monitor and model fluvial and wetland systems.
Dr Lalit Kumar
Lalit Kumar is a GIS expert in environmental modelling and spatial analysis. This analysis is critical to policy design where the challenges and potential responses vary across landscapes. Recent work has included the application of advanced GIS techniques to environmental analysis for catchment management and rural production agencies. An area of current interest is the evaluation of environmental impacts of biofuels, including social impacts of changing grain prices and changes in land use.
Dr Glenn Wilson
Glenn Wilson is a Senior Research Fellow in Aquatic Ecology. He has broad expertise in the ecology of inland rivers and the population dynamics of fish, particularly throughout their early life history. Glenn previous position was with the the Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology in Mildura and Goondiwindi, researching the ecology of fish in floodplain rivers and wetlands and developing improved river health assessment techniques.
Dr Robert Haworth
Robert Haworth’s research and consulting interests include: Bed rock source streams and their suitability for hydro electric power generation; lake lunette systems in humid upland Australia and their relationship to groundwater systems and regolith formation, and associated peat and hydro-carbon formation; analysis of sediment from depositional sinks on Tablelands; coast and inland in order to reconstruct past environmental and climatic conditions and determine long term rates of denudation; sea level changes in the last 500 years; sustainable resource management and integrated catchment management.