Engineers are developing new innovative computer and other models to provide methods of assessment of environmental impacts and management of disturbed ecosystems.

Environment engineering research is further divided into two areas of interest: environmental and hydrological processes, and echohydrology, ecogeomorphology and morphodynamical processes.

Environmental and Hydrological Processes

Technical solutions are required to many environmental problems. Our primary focus is on those processes that interact with the water cycle. This requires the development of an understanding of the environmental and hydrological processes, tools based on that understanding, methodologies to predict future behaviour, and assessment of the uncertainty of those predictions. Research areas include the impact of climate variability on hydrology, soil moisture-soils interactions, rehabilitation of mine and low-level nuclear waste sites, storage of soil carbon, and water impacts of coal seam gas extraction.

For more information on this area of research, or to express your interest with a potential research supervisor, please contact;

Ecohydrology, Ecogeomorphology and Morphodynamical Processes

The main focus on this area is on interactions and feedbacks between hydrology, ecology, and landforms and morphodynamical processes in rivers. There is growing concern over ecosystem resilience to climate and land use perturbations, and that could affect hydrologic processes and result in irreversible degradation. This requires not only the knowledge of the ecological, soil and hydrologic processes but also an understanding of the spatial and temporal scales at which they interact. Research topics include the impact of climate variability and human pressure on ecological interactions with hydrology, in-stream and estuarine ecology, sediment transport and erosion, rehabilitation of wetlands, and ecogeomorphologic rehabilitation of mine sites.

For more information on this area of research, or to express your interest with a potential research supervisor, please contact;