Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Environmental Sciences
Potential research projects offered for Level 4 (Honours) and
Level 5 (Masters) students commencing in Semester 2 2016.
Geography (Human and Physical)
Urban and Regional Planning
International Development
The projects outlined in this handbook are NOT necessarily all of those
available. Please feel free to talk to supervisors about designing projects
around your interests.
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Table of Contents
Spatial Economic Analysis and Regional Development ......................................................................... 4
The Geography and Regulation of Contentious Land-Uses................................................................... 4
From Dreamscape to Blandscape? Social, Economic, Environmental and Cultural Meaning,
Symbolism and Life in Suburbia ............................................................................................................ 4
The appropriateness of a hierarchy of activity nodes as a city structuring device under current
economic growth trends/dynamics/patterns and in the Perth city development context .................. 5
From a dot on a map in a plan to a viable urban activity node in practice– what are the critical
success factors? ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Exploring the trade-off between housing and transport costs of households ..................................... 6
Understanding train patronage trends in Perth .................................................................................... 6
Validating crowd sourced GPS data for congestion management ........................................................ 6
Bimodal distribution of travel speed ..................................................................................................... 7
Optimal locations of charging stations for electric vehicles ................................................................. 7
How Accessible are Perth’s Activity Centres? ....................................................................................... 8
Access to Jobs and Services ................................................................................................................... 8
Making Public Transport a Mode of Choice .......................................................................................... 9
The value of travel time: Productive travel time .................................................................................. 9
Regional Geographies of Innovation, Productivity and Worker Connectivity .................................... 10
Global Industrial Network Geometries ............................................................................................... 10
International Socio-Economic Spatial Analysis.................................................................................... 10
Natural hazards, risk and vulnerability ................................................................................................ 11
Planning and emergency Management/Disaster Management ......................................................... 11
Development of high resolution land-use land-cover classification of Perth neighbourhoods in
relation to physical activity ................................................................................................................. 11
Does Ownership Matter? Examining Hazard Preparedness of Renters and Absentee Homeowners in
conjunction with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services.................................................... 12
Is Recovery Really Community Centric? The Role of Community in Disaster Recovery ..................... 12
Various collaborations with the Business School ................................................................................ 12
Urban Heat Island: Examining the role of the Built Environment on Increased Morbidity and
Mortality in Perth ................................................................................................................................ 13
Flooding: good for the environment but when does it become a disaster? ....................................... 13
WA Flood Risk: A comprehensive assessment of current flood studies to compare and contrast risk.
............................................................................................................................................................. 13
The role of geospatial technology in participatory mapping for flood-prone regions in Cambodia .. 14
The role of geospatial technology in participatory mapping for flood-prone regions in Fiji .............. 14
Sustainability of natural resources in the Kimberley region ............................................................... 15
Water security in the Kimberley region .............................................................................................. 15
Environmental livelihood security and climate-smart landscapes...................................................... 15
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Geography and Health I....................................................................................................................... 16
Geography and Health II...................................................................................................................... 16
Urban Ecosystem Services ................................................................................................................... 16
Urban and Rural Aboriginal Geographies ............................................................................................ 16
The Geographies of Migrants and Refugees in Western Australia ..................................................... 17
The Kenyan Diaspora in Perth: Living Between Two Worlds .............................................................. 18
Food Desserts and Fast Food Alleys? Spatial Justice in Perth’s Food Landscape................................ 18
Representations of Mining, Migration, and Development in the Global South ................................. 18
Promoting just and inclusive community development in larger and smaller cities .......................... 19
The role of ecological research information in the urban planning process: mapping ecological
knowledge and needs against the West Australian planning system ................................................. 19
Biodiversity & conservation patterns in the novel ecological systems of West Australian cities:
studying socio-cultural contexts in Perth’s front gardens & public parks .......................................... 20
Promoting healthy urban nightscapes in an climate of global change: the ecological and planning
challenges of artificial lighting at night in Perth. ................................................................................. 22
Representations of identity and belonging in the West Australian city: exploring and advancing the
just and inclusive Perth ....................................................................................................................... 23
Physical drivers of reef carbonate sediment budgets ......................................................................... 24
Seasonal variability in the morphology of reef-protected beaches .................................................... 24
Quantifying storm impacts at moderate-energy beaches .................................................................. 24
Biogeomorphlogy of south coast rivers: Patterns of river change and vegetation degradation ........ 25
Climate Change and Transforming River Hydrology in SW WA .......................................................... 25
Water balance of “mega” Lake Woods ............................................................................................... 25
Coastal Planning and Development in Western Australia .................................................................. 26
Microbialte Ecohydrology and Sedimentology ................................................................................... 26
South West Western Australia Hydrogeology and Ecohydrology ....................................................... 27
Measuring the influence of the childcare indoor and outdoor environment on early health
behaviour ............................................................................................................................................ 27
The Built Environment and Child Health and Development ............................................................... 27
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Project: Spatial Economic Analysis and Regional Development
For majors Geography; Urban and Regional Planning
including:
Supervisor: Paul Plummer, paul.plummer@uwa.edu.au
Description: Please email to make an appointment to discuss ideas related to topics in
economic geography and regional economic analysis. This can include a range of
topics, but especially geographies of local labour markets, regional
competitiveness and socio-economic wellbeing in resource communities.
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Project: The appropriateness of a hierarchy of activity nodes as a city
structuring device under current economic growth
trends/dynamics/patterns and in the Perth city development context
For majors Geography, Urban and Regional Planning
including:
Supervisor: Sharon Biermann, sharon.biermann@uwa.edu.au, 6488 3385
Description: A hierarchy of activity centres has been identified in recent planning policy
(Directions 2031 (August 2010)) as a city structuring element so that new growth
occurs in a “more balanced way” (Directions 2031, p 33). Starting from the basis
of classical urban location theory, this project seeks to investigate the applicability
and relevance of a hierarchy of activity nodes in the context of current economic
growth dynamics and trends and in the Perth development context. The project
would entail a spatial analysis of economic growth trends and travel patterns to
examine the underlying assumption of urban hierarchy theory that people will
neatly travel first locally and then increasingly further for higher order activities. A
possible approach would be to select a specific existing centre from each level of
the proposed hierarchy in Direction 2031 and analyse the “catchment area” for
each.
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Project: Exploring the trade-off between housing and transport costs of
households
For majors Geography, Urban and Regional Planning
including:
Supervisor: Sharon Biermann, sharon.biermann@uwa.edu.au, 6488 3385
Description: City planning and policy documents are unanimous in their calls for more
affordable housing yet housing costs continue to be a major and often inhibitive
household expenditure item. Households respond by moving to the urban
periphery where housing is cheaper yet transport costs may be higher. These
same plans and policies promote higher densities along public transport corridors
and closer to the city centre to counteract urban sprawl and increase public
transport ridership. These locations may have lower transport costs but housing
costs are generally higher due to higher land cost and building costs (for multi-
storey housing). From the perspective of the household, analyse average annual
household expenditure on housing and transport in relation to household
location and attempt to understand the trade-offs households make between
housing and transport costs.
Description: There has been a lack of reliable ways of measuring road network performance.
Coverage is one of the largest challenges facing traditional data collection
methods. Road counters and loop detectors located at traffic signals and
freeways are the most commonly used sources in Australia. However, these are
sparse point counts that do not necessarily reflect conditions over the distance of
the roads. Floating car surveys (actually driving along routes) can provide route
based information but their application is severely limited by their high costs.
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In recent years, the prevalence of GPS devices has made crowd sourcing for road
performance monitoring possible. However, much of the data is synthesised from
taxis and trucks, which introduce sample bias into the data sets. This research will
validate the GPS data from one particular provider by using Main Roads WA’s
existing floating car survey results. It will help Main Roads WA make an informed
decision on whether crowd sourced GPS data is a viable alternative to floating car
surveys.
Description: Electric vehicles (EVs) have become increasingly mature. However, range anxiety
is still being labelled as its major obstacle, although some high performance EVs
can already match their fossil fuel counterparts. Many manufactures have
promised easy access to charging stations as a way to overcome this anxiety so
the location and number of these stations become an important decision. It
involves trade-offs between conflicting goals. This project will look at how to set
the criteria to achieve the best balance. A GIS and/or traffic modelling package
will need to be used for modelling.
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Project: How Accessible are Perth’s Activity Centres?
Description: The WAPC’s State Planning Policy 4.2 Activity Centres for Perth and Peel (August
2010) identifies a number of existing and proposed new centres where future
growth is to be concentrated. This planning approach is reinforced in the Draft
Perth and Peel @ 3.5 million Frameworks released for public comment in May
2015. But just how accessible are these centres by public transport – and by car?
How easy is it to get to UWA, for example? Are these centres in the most
accessible locations and if not which locations are? For those centres with poor
access, how could access be improved?
This research project is to investigate these questions, and any other issues that
may arise, using raw accessibility data that would be provided to the student in a
spreadsheet from the Departments of Transport and Planning transport model,
STEM.
Description: As Perth’s population grows and Perth’s footprint expands, more and more
people will be living in the outer areas of Perth, further and further away from
the concentration of jobs and services in the central core. But is this an issue?
How accessible does an area need to be to be “accessible enough”. How does this
affect social inclusion, vulnerability etc? How does access to jobs and services for
someone living in, say, Subiaco compare with someone living in, say, Byford?
How is access to jobs and services likely to change over time as Perth expands
and congestion increases?
This research project is to investigate these questions, and any other issues that
may arise, using raw data of how many jobs can be accessed within 30 minutes
and 45 minutes by car or public transport from different areas covering the Perth
and Peel region, which would be provided to the student in a spreadsheet.
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Project: Making Public Transport a Mode of Choice
Description: There is considerable debate in Perth over how congestion can be addressed as
Perth expands to 3.5 million and beyond. Increased public transport, such as light
rail, is being considered. But just how competitive is public transport compared
to the car and how can it be made more competitive? What impacts would rising
fuel costs have, or free public transport?
This research project is to investigate these questions, and any other issues that
may arise, using a simple spreadsheet calculator that would be provided. The
calculator compares the relative costs of travel, including time, for car, public
transport and cycle trips. It has a number of parameters affecting travel time and
cost, eg. value of time, car operating costs, bus fares and parking charges. The
values can be adjusted, eg. PT fares set to zero, to determine the potential
impact on mode choice.
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Project: Regional Geographies of Innovation, Productivity and Worker
Connectivity
For majors Geography; Urban and Regional Planning
including:
Supervisor: Kirsten Martinus, kirsten.martinus@uwa.edu.au, 6488 7674
Description: Linked to economic competitiveness, productivity has become increasingly
important in government policy and research worldwide. In Australia, for
example, the Productivity Commission explores the environmental, economic and
social factors affecting the welfare of Australians as means to understand regional
productivity differences. Two areas of productivity advantage lie in a regions’
capacity to support innovation as well as the virtual and physical connectedness
of its workforce. This project may include research into innovation, worker
connectivity and productivity aspects of regional or metropolitan Australia (or
other nations) to better understand the spatial relationships between these
factors as well as identify geographies associated with regional innovation
systems.
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Project: Natural hazards, risk and vulnerability
For majors Geography, GIS, Remote Sensing, Urban and Regional Planning, Environmental
including: Management
Supervisor: Bryan Boruff, bryan.boruff@uwa.edu.au, 6488 2700
Description: If you are interested in any project relating to disaster management, natural
hazards, risk and vulnerability, you are more than welcome to discuss your ideas
with me. Depending on the project there are possibilities for links with the
Department of Emergency Service, Department of Parks and Wildlife, the State
Emergency Management Committee and many local governments around the
states.
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Project: Does Ownership Matter? Examining Hazard Preparedness of Renters
and Absentee Homeowners in conjunction with the Department of Fire
and Emergency Services
For majors Geography, GIS, Remote Sensing, Urban and Regional Planning
including:
Supervisor: Bryan Boruff, bryan.boruff@uwa.edu.au, 6488 2700
Description: Recently the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) has conducted a
survey of several hundred absentee landowners focusing on what motivates
owners to prepare properties that are not their primary residence. The
organisation has conducted a cursory analysis of the data but this project provides
the opportunity to work more closely with the results conducting in depth
analysis. The project may also require follow up interviews with survey
respondents.
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- Social housing – spatial analysis of how integrated the new
developments are in the city;
- Activity spaces and data needs;
- Impact of tourist mobility in Perth CBD.
Project: Urban Heat Island: Examining the role of the Built Environment on
Increased Morbidity and Mortality in Perth
For majors Geography, Health, GIS, Remote Sensing, Urban and Regional Planning,
including: Environmental Management
Supervisor: Bryan Boruff, bryan.boruff@uwa.edu.au, 6488 2700; Paula Hooper
Description: Temperature and humidity influence thermal comfort with the direct impacts of
heat exposure include heat fatigue, exhaustion, heat rash, cramps and oedema.
Groups vulnerable to increased temperatures include the elderly, the young,
people with disabilities, and the homeless among others. A recent, study funded
by the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility developed a Heat
Vulnerability Index for Australia’s Major metropolitan cities. The assessment
however, used a number of course special metrics to measure heat related
vulnerability. This project will use GIS and Remote Sensing technologies in an
attempt to further refine this methodology to develop new and innovative ways
to measure heat vulnerability in the urban environment.
Project: Flooding: good for the environment but when does it become a
disaster?
For majors Geography, Physical Geography, Urban and Regional Planning
including:
Supervisor: Bryan Boruff, bryan.boruff@uwa.edu.au, 6488 2700; Heather Taylor
Description: Flooding is a natural element of the geomorphic processes and is essential for the
movement of materials through the landscape. But at what point does it become
a problem for society? This project seeks to understand the impacts of flooding
and what the threshold of an event is for it to become a disaster. An investigation
of the hydrological, physical and social dimensions of previous flood events in WA
will assist in answering this question. The research will contribute to Western
Australia’s State Risk Project led by the State Emergency Management
Committee.
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provide an overview of the highest risk areas, allowing the prioritisation of flood
risk across the state.
The project will involve:
Sourcing flood study data
Developing a method to compare and contrast flood risk
Determining the areas within the state with the highest flood risk.
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developing locally-appropriate methods to use GIS technology as part of a
participatory spatial planning process, where community members contribute to
the mapping process and final product. Fieldwork at the research site may be
required and supported as part of this project; only a highly motivated student
with strong interests and/or demonstrated capabilities in the topic will be
considered for this interesting and challenging research project.
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Project: Geography and Health I
For majors Geography, GIS, Remote Sensing, Urban and Regional Planning, Environmental
including: Management
Supervisor: Bryan Boruff, bryan.boruff@uwa.edu.au, 6488 2700
Description: The Centre for the Built Environment and Health operates jointly between the
School of Earth and Environment and the School of Sport and Exercise Science.
There are a number of opportunities for research in this area avenues for research
in this area. Please discuss your interests with me.
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topics of interest related to these associations. This can include a range of topics
across urban, regional and remote environments. Some potential projects in
which I have particular expertise are listed below. Please note: if you wish to
undertake a project that utilises qualitative methods (e.g. interviews, focus
groups, participatory methods), you must come and discuss the project with me
as early as possible (prior to the commencement of your research year) so that
ethical approvals can be secured in a timely fashion.
1. Urban Aboriginal Geobiographies - Aboriginal presence in cities is often
unrecognized or considered inauthentic by the majority population. At the
same time, many Aboriginal people live and move within cities in ways that
are 'unseen', but are critical to their sense of belonging and wellbeing. This
project will draw on innovative mapping techniques, and/or methods such as
photovoice, geo-biographies, yarning, travelling journeys, participant
observation and/or interviews to map how Aboriginal participants ‘use’ the
city: the places that are important to them, the places the avoid, and how
they navigate the city to create and reinforce a sense of belonging.
2. Native Title and Indigenous Development in Australia – Native Title now plays
a significant role in regional development policy and practice in Western
Australia. Students are invited to develop projects related to aspects of native
title and regional development in Western Australia. In particular, projects are
invited that examine the roll out, media coverage, and/or implications of the
recent, historical South West (Noongar) Native Title Settlement.
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Project: The Kenyan Diaspora in Perth: Living Between Two Worlds
For majors International Development; Human Geography; Urban and Regional Planning
including:
Supervisor: Sarah Prout Quicke, sarah.prout@uwa.edu.au, 64883433
Description: Research on international migration is increasingly interested in the experiences
of migrant, diaspora communities and the nature of their connectedness to their
countries of birth. This project will draw on interviews with members of the
Kenyan diaspora in Perth to unpack the nature of their connections and
obligations to Kenya, and the challenges and opportunities emerging from these
for the diaspora community. It will also examine their migration experience and
factors that have eased or inflamed the transition for them. There is considerable
scope for students to shape the project around aspects of international migration
and diaspora experience that are of most interest to them.
Project: Food Desserts and Fast Food Alleys? Spatial Justice in Perth’s Food
Landscape
For majors Master of International Development; Human Geography; Urban and Regional
including: Planning
Supervisor: Sarah Prout Quicke, sarah.prout@uwa.edu.au, 64883433
Description: Access to healthy and affordable food is critical to human wellbeing. While food
security is a major challenge, particularly amongst the worlds poorest (often in
rural and remote localities), there is growing evidence of ‘food deserts’ emerging
in cities of the Global North. Students are invited to develop projects that employ
qualitative, quantitative and spatial techniques to analyse spatial patterns
associated with food availability in Perth and the extent to which these patterns
correspond with particular neighbourhood socio-economic characteristics
(derived from census profiles).
Description: Over the past decade or so there has been an increasing amount of interest in
the linkages between sustainable development and mining in the Global South.
This includes understanding the ways in which mining impacts on local
communities, and typically involves a consideration of a range of social,
economic, ecological, and demographic effects. In highly populated areas,
forced resettlement of local populations can be a contentious issue, as can the
downstream impacts of the operation. Given the growing focus on Corporate
Social Responsibility and ‘risk management’ within the mining industry, there is
considerable concern for how these mining projects are ‘socialised’ within
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operational contexts, and the kinds of narratives that develop about their
impacts.
This project will use content analysis of online news and social media sources to
explore different stakeholder (e.g. government, company, community)
perceptions of, and responses to, mining within one or more case study
countries in the Global South. The study will also draw on existing literature and
available datasets from the UN and World Bank to contextualise these findings
within the broader historical narrative of mining and its relationship to
development in the selected country(ies).
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relations, and improving city life amidst urbanisation, rapid growth, and climate
injustice. Thus a number of complementary projects are envisioned to examine the
challenges and opportunities for advancing the use of ecological information.
PROJECT
This project addresses how local governments engaged considering local
biodiversity in planning decisions and impact assessments. In preparing for this
project, comparative analysis and methodological guidance, students should read:
Yli-Pelkonen and Niemelä (2006) Use of ecological information in urban planning:
Experiences from the Helsinki metropolitan area, Finland. Urban Ecosystems 9(3):
211-226.
NOTE: This project is best suited to students interested in working in a
complementary team environment.
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Project: Promoting healthy urban nightscapes in an climate of global change: the
ecological and planning challenges of artificial lighting at night in Perth.
For majors Geography, Urban and Regional Planning, Environmental Science
including:
Supervisor: Clare Mouat, clare.mouat@uwa.edu.au, 6488 2652
Description Urban planning must register that Perth and West Australian cities are
ecologically distinctive urban developments within Australia. Within or around
Perth, each project complements the programme by exploring and advancing the
use of ecological information in urban planning addressing landuse, human-
nature relations, and improving city life amidst urbanisation, rapid growth, and
climate injustice. Thus a number of complementary projects are envisioned to
examine the challenges and opportunities for advancing the use of ecological
information.
PROJECT
This project addresses how, in an era of climate change and globalisation, artificial
lighting at night poses unsustainable financial and ecological costs for cities.
Hence local government plans and policy must consider mitigating carbon and
ecological costs in planning decisions and impact assessments.
Your project might address any combination of the following: urban design,
healthy nightscapes, technological opportunities and challenges of streetlighting,
best practice examples from overseas, lighting and building standards, landscape
design, public health, crime prevention through environmental design, energy
practices of households and institutions, public and planning policy, for example.
In preparing for this project, comparative analysis and methodological guidance,
students should read:
Longcore T & Rich C. (2006) Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting,
Washington, DC: Island Press.
Grose M & Mouat CM. (2011) Unsustainable streetlights: harbingers of future
directions for policy and practice. World Schools of Planning Congress. Perth,
Australia.
NOTE: This project is best suited to students interested in working in a
complementary team environment.
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Project: Representations of identity and belonging in the West Australian city:
exploring and advancing the just and inclusive Perth
For majors Geography, Urban and Regional Planning
including:
Supervisor: Clare Mouat, clare.mouat@uwa.edu.au, 6488 2652; Sarah Prout Quicke
sarah.prout@uwa.edu.au, 6488 3433
Description Planners have, for some time, grappled with questions of how to balance multiple
and/or competing agendas in relation to the built environment and how it reflects
what cultural groups have and do belong. We invite projects that explore the use
of public art, open space, heritage projection, land use and/or the built form to
authorise and authenticate particular versions of identity and belonging, and how
these may work to include or exclude particular cultural groups within the city.
Below are two possible projects within this remit.
Project 1: “The art of belonging in the post-colonial city: mapping the evolving
representation of cultural history and civic identity in Perth”
This project addresses how identity and belonging is exhibited in art, monuments,
memorials and statuary over the stages of Perth’s colonial and post-colonial
history. In preparing for this project, comparative analysis and methodological
guidance, students should read Malone (2007).
Malone G. (2007) Ways of Belonging: Reconciliation and Adelaide's Public Space
Indigenous Cultural Markers. Geographical Research 45(2): 158-166.
Project 2: “The park as post-colonial landscape of identity: exploring the
evolving aesthetics of Shenton Park”
This project examines competing agendas with regard to the redevelopment of a
neighbourhood park in one of Perth’s emergent exclusive western suburbs. It
explores how the aesthetics of public parks evolve in the stages over time, and
how the priorities of urban development of a city reflect local and global as well
as post-colonial elements of public open spaces. In particular, it will analyse the
differential needs and desires of differently empowered stakeholders, including
the local planning authorities, and the outcomes produced by these power
differentials and competing agendas. In preparing for this project, comparative
analysis and methodological guidance, students should read McBride (1999).
McBride BEN. (1999) The (Post)colonial Landscape of Cathedral Square: Urban
Redevelopment and Representation in the “Cathedral City”1. New Zealand
Geographer 55(1): 3-11.
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Project: Physical drivers of reef carbonate sediment budgets
For majors Physical Geography, Environmental Science, Marine Science, Geology
including:
Supervisors: Ryan Lowe (Ryan.Lowe@uwa.edu.au), 6488 2706 and Mike Cuttler
Description: Predicting future changes to coastlines fringed by coral reefs requires quantifying
sediment budgets in these environments. To do this we must understand the
physical parameters and biological composition of sediment deposits; the ecology
of the calcifying (production) community; and the dominant sediment transport
mechanisms. This study will examine previously collected datasets
(sedimentological, biological, hydrodynamic, and aerial photographs) from
obtained along the Ningaloo Reef coast. The student will utilize GIS tools to
examine both spatial and temporal trends in these data. These analyses will
provide critical data for understanding the link between the calcifying community
of a reef and its sediment reservoir, and in turn, the mechanisms by which
material is transported between regions of the reef. Understanding transport
mechanisms within reef environments will act as the foundation for an improved
understanding of carbonate sediment budgets in fringing coral reefs, which
remains a critical gap in our ability to forecast future resiliency of reef-protected
coastlines.
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project aims to evaluate the impact of storm events, and particularly the pace of
post-storm recovery, at beaches that have more energetic baseline conditions
(wave heights ~1-2 m), such as those adjacent to Perth. A field program will be
developed in which daily beach surveys will be conducted prior to, during, and
follow winter storm events. The recorded beach morphology changes will then be
related to the observed wave conditions to determine what factors control the
amount and timing of the morphology changes as well as regulate how fast the
beach recovers following the storm. This information will be valuable to those
tasked with protecting coastal resources as well as provide basic insights into the
processes that control beach evolution over short time scales.
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within a much larger basin and includes relict wave-cut shorelines that have been
associated with the “mega” Lake Woods extent under a past climate regime. This
project will use novel satellite data to build a water balance model of the current
Lake Woods and explore scenarios that can be used to infer the palaeoclimate
during the “mega” Lake Woods extent.
This project will require students to have good geospatial (GIS) skills and
knowledge of hydrological processes and modelling (e.g. ENVT2251 and
ENVT3362).
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Project: South West Western Australia Hydrogeology and Ecohydrology
For majors Hydrogeology, Geography, Environmental Science
including:
Supervisor: Ryan Vogwill ryan.vogwill@uwa.edu.au, 6488 2680
Description: South West Western Australia is an area of high population, critical groundwater
resources and amazing biodiversity with landuse change, climate change and
water resource utilization all threatening sustainability. Consequentially the area
has been recognized by WWF as a global biodiversity hotspot. Assessment of
available groundwater resources, environmental impacts and links between the
two is urgently needed at multiple sites. Multiple project opportunities exist to
partner with the Department of Water or the Department of Parks and Wildlife to
work across these critical issues.
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