Sustainable Use of Coasts and Catchments

The group undertakes research to support the sustainable use and conservation of the living resources and environments of coasts and catchments, the preservation of their related social values, and the development of innovative techniques, management and conservation strategies.

The group has established research programmes involving staff, postgraduate and honours students, and research associates, with particular emphasis on marine conservation and sustainable use of fishery resources, indicators of estuarine health, coastal lagoon water quality and planktonic processes, impacts of floodgates on fish and invertebrates, riparian and rainforest vegetation ecology, the ecological impacts of ocean outfalls, and social sustainability. Research is also continuing, in collaboration with international donor agencies, in South Asia and the Middle East.

Research Partners

The group has developed partnerships for research and consultancies with all, state, national and international agencies, and community environmental organisations.

External research funding has been received from:

  • Natural Heritage Trust Coasts and Clean Seas Program;
  • Envirofund;
  • Central Coast Community Environment Network;
  • Gosford City Council;
  • Warringah Council;
  • Wyong Shire Council;
  • Lake Macquarie City Council;
  • City of Newcastle;
  • Port Stephens City Council;
  • Pacific Power;
  • NSW Environment Protection Authority;
  • NSW Fisheries;
  • NSW Land and Water Conservation;
  • NSW Public Works;
  • Brisbane Water and Gosford Lagoons Catchment Management Committee;
  • Tuggerah Lakes Catchment Management Committee;
  • Central Coast Waste Planning and Management Board;
  • PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors);
  • Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden; United Nations Development Programme.

Group Members & Interests

 Name  Interests
Dr William (Bill) Gladstone (Director) Rocky reef fishes; behavioural ecology; marine conservation biology; marine protected areas; reserve selection; resource management.
Dr Anita Chalmers Herbaceous plant species; disturbance ecology (soil disturbance, fire, nutrient enrichment); plant functional types; restoration/rehabilitation; germination ecology.
Dr Salim Momtaz Environmental and social assessment (developed and developing countries); social and economic aspects of resource management; environment, development and poverty in developing countries; applications of geographic information systems (GIS).
Dr Maria Schreider Ecology of seagrass habitats; ecology of faunal assemblages in mangroves; manipulative ecological experiments in shallow coastal habitats; detecting environmental impacts in marine and estuarine habitats; ecology of epifaunal grazers in seagrasses and algal beds.
Dr Ken Zimmerman Sea snake biology and ecology; sea snake venom and effects on prey species; underwater research equipment development; ocean outfall research / ecological implications; legal aspects of occupational research diving; diving injuries and fatalities.
Dr Troy Gaston Development of environmental monitoring programs addressing water quality, ecosystem health and ecosystem processes.  Understanding trophic interactions, tracking nutrient sources, elucidating food webs, quantifying human disturbance and stable isotope analysis in estuarine and coastal systems. Novel bycatch reduction methods in prawn trawl fisheries.
Dr Fred Bell Improved methods of estimating environmental flows for Australian rivers; hydrology and water quality of Ourimbah Creek; sustainable resource use and quality of life with current global economic trends.
Dr Anna Redden Phytoplankton, zooplankton and fish ecology; trophic relationships in aquatic systems; water quality; water column processes; estuarine ecology; aquaculture.
Dr Brian Sanderson Plankton modelling, coastal fluid mechanics, computational fluid mechanics