News from the Environment Institute

Tropical fish are invading Australian ocean water

A University of Adelaide study of shallow-water fish communities on rocky reefs in south-eastern Australia has found climate change is helping tropical fish species invade temperate Australian waters. “The fish are travelling into these Australian ecosystems as larvae caught in the Eastern Australian Current, which is strengthening due to the warming climate,” said the University …

Strengthening Australia and Vietnam partnerships: Advancing research and understanding on designing and operating high integrity blue carbon market

Vietnam, with its long coastline, is vulnerable to climate change impacts. Coastal forests, thought of as a ‘protection forest’, make up just 3.5% of the total national forest area but they play a substantial role in generating local livelihood incomes, mitigating the impacts of storm surges and coastal erosion, and supporting carbon sequestration and biodiversity …

Early career marine ecologist wins Southwood Prize

Congratulations to Environment Institute Future Making Fellow, Dr Dominic McAfee, on winning the 2023 Journal of Applied Ecology Southwood Prize for the best paper by an early career researcher. Earlier this month the British Ecological Society (BES) announced its winners of journal prizes for research published in 2023, including the Southwood Prize. The Southwood Prize …

SciStarter Australia is a new home for citizen science

Citizen science platform SciStarter Australia has officially launched on the final day of Global Citizen Science month, creating a one-stop location for citizen science projects seeking volunteers in Australia. SciStarter Australia  will serve as a hub for citizen scientists, collating a list of vetted scientific projects and promoting citizen science best practices, building on a tested …

Murray-Darling Basin water theft laws suck more than river irrigation pumps

Water is one of Australia’s most valuable commodities, worth almost A$100 billion in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). But some of that water is being stolen (no-one knows how much) and the thieves usually get away with it. The federal Labor government came to power promising to improve water use compliance and theft deterrence, while the …

Defining the potential for mangrove-based agribusiness transformation in the coastal Mekong Delta, Vietnam

The Mekong Delta region in Vietnam is facing several development challenges but the Government of Vietnam (GoV) is committed overcoming these and support the growth of the agricultural sector in the region. The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) recently awarded Environment Institute’s Future Making Fellow, Dr Pham Thu Thuy, $471,200 for a project …