Enhanced resilience of irrigated agricultural floodplain landscapes of the Murray-Darling Basin
Project overview
Project title
Enhanced resilience of irrigated agricultural floodplain landscapes of the Murray-Darling Basin.
Project description
This project investigates the functional response of floodplain vegetation to environmental drivers at multiple scales in the Murray-Darling Basin. The expected outcome includes a series of tools for prioritising the management of floodplain vegetation communities across the landscape of the Murray-Darling Basin at multiple scales and identifying thresholds for environmental watering. The potential benefits are spatial data and new knowledge that will guide future environmental flow management for the benefit of iconic floodplain vegetation communities and related ecosystem services, especially those important to irrigated agricultural, such as water quality.
Supervisory team
University
| Name of university supervisor | Martin Thoms |
| Name of university | University of New England |
| Email address | mthoms2@une.edu.au |
| Faculty | Earth Sciences |
CSIRO
| Name of CSIRO supervisor | Tanya Doody |
| Email address | tanya.doody@csiro.au |
| CSIRO Research Unit | Environment |
Industry
| Name of industry supervisor | Annabel Johnson |
| Name of business/organisation | NSW Farmers’ Association |
| Email address | johnsona@nswfarmers.org.au |
Further details
| Primary location of student | CSIRO Waite Campus, Waite Road, Urrbrae SA 5064, Australia |
| Industry engagement component location | NSW Farmers’ Association, Level 4, 154 Pacific Highway, St Leonards NSW 2065, Australia |
| Other locations | The University of New England, Elm Avenue, Armidale NSW 2350, Australia |
| Ideal student skillset | A master’s or bachelor’s degree in environmental science, ecology, hydrology, remote sensing, or a closely related relevant area by the time of appointment. Strong programming skills (e.g., R, Python, Google Earth Engine). Experience in analysis of large remote sensing data sets applied to arid/semi-arid ecosystem process studies. Statistical and visualization skills, and integration of multiple datasets. Strong oral and written communication skills including demonstrated academical writing capabilities to efficiently organize scientific findings for peer-reviewed publication and presentation. Please note: This project utilizes existing data and no field work is required to complete the research. |
| Application close date | 02/12/2025 |
| Apply | Contact Martin Thoms |