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Environmental Futures

Twitter: UOW Environmental Futures

Environmental Futures is a Research Entity focused on understanding the environment by describing the past, interpreting the present and projecting into the future. Environmental Futures brings together expert interdisciplinary researchers to enhance well-being and environmental sustainability. We undertake world-leading fundamental and applied research, bridging knowledge gaps and tackling real-world challenges spanning sustainability, climate change and human impacts. Working collectively enhances our predictive and explanatory capacity, allowing us to confront challenges holistically. 

Vision

Impactful environmental research that informs and advises decision-makers, communities, and futures generations.

Purpose

Produce environmental knowledge through ethical partnerships and purposeful collaborations, by integrating our collective pursuit of enquiry with our diverse expertise, worldclass research facilities and inspired training.

The research activities of Environmental Futures are underpinned by core values that advance science and deliver on our vision and mission. Environmental Futures Research is: 

  • Impactful: Our research aims to inform and advise decision-makers, communities, and future generations. 
  • Evidence-based: Rigorous science and defensible knowledge will form the evidence supporting our research and its impact. 
  • Ambitious: Our research is ambitious, advancing knowledge and understanding. 
  • Diverse: Our membership reflects the diverse skills and expertise, career stages, and personal characteristics needed to advance environmental research. 
  • Ethical: We operate with honesty and integrity when undertaking research, including seeking accuracy and precision, transparency and accountability, knowledge sharing and attribution, and adhering to societal moral obligations regarding human and animal rights. We advocate for and follow principles of equitable access to resources. 
  • Inclusive: We welcome new members and foster partnerships and collaborations that align with the vision, mission, and values of Environmental Futures.

Goal 4: Quality Education Goal 5: Gender Equality Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth Goal 10: Reduced inequalities Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Primary members 

Associate members

Adjunct members 

Strategic direction and thematic research

Research undertaken by members of Environmental Futures seeks to align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and contribute to the UN Decade of Action by focussing on triple planetary crisis of:

  • climate change,
  • nature, heritage and biodiversity loss, and
  • pollution and waste.

With a strong foundation in evidence-based science, Environmental Futures seeks to work with our research partners and industry to provide data and knowledge to inform policy decisions that address these crises at global and local scales. 

Environmental Futures thematic research program builds foundational capacity, directly address climate stability and resilience, and enables transition to a culturally, environmentally, and economically sustainable planet. Research spans for interconnected and cross-cutting enabling themes that are led by a group of research leaders. 

Environmental Futures seeks to understand threats and hazards, and mitigate risks for people and the environment. Our research spans threats and hazards arising from climate change, including impacts of and adaptations to increasing temperature, ozone depletion, sea-level rise, flooding, bushfires, cyclones and storms; and geological hazards including landslides, subsidence and earthquakes. This research is placed in the context of landscape and seascape evolution, and the response of humans to this evolution, to ensure that the past landscape responses inform projections of future impacts and adaptation. Climate change, coupled with invasive species and disease, urban expansion, increasing industrialisation has had a profound impact on biodiversity and geodiversity. These threats are also jeopardising ecosystems and human health, causing air, soil and water pollution and exposing ecosystems and people to harmful chemicals. Our research in this theme specifically seeks to address the global environmental challenges arising from the three planetary crises of climate change, nature and heritage loss and pollution and waste. This research theme cuts across all of Earth’s interconnected spheres. 

Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. Goal 13: Climate action Goal 14: Life Below Water Goal 15: Life on Land  

Environmental Futures focuses on studying the evolution of our planet over time. The solid Earth, its atmosphere, and life have co-evolved over geological times. Studying Earth and its environments through time provides a contextual framework for understanding and predicting future change. The evolution of the solid Earth has created resources in minerals, metals, hydrogen and geothermal energy that will be essential for a low carbon economy. It has also resulted in changes in climate and in the evolution of life, both by creating ecological niches and through mass extinctions linked to geological events. Studying the evolution of Earth’s environments is important to developing innovative solutions for sustainable water, soil and land resources, and identify solutions for carbon sequestration that leverage the carbon storing capacity of the natural environment. 

Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. Goal 13: Climate action Goal 14: Life Below Water Goal 15: Life on Land  

Environmental Futures seeks to understand interactions between organisms, humans, and the environment across a range of spatial and temporal scales. This theme integrates strengths in conservation biology and ecology (including genetics; evolutionary, behavioural, and physiological ecology) with geoscience expertise (including spatial science, physical geography and remote sensing). Drawing on these strengths we are focussed on understanding biological resilience (from species to ecosystems) and evolution in the face of changing environments and developing innovative solutions to safeguard organismal, landscape and seascape adaptive capacity and biodiversity. Spanning coastal, marine and terrestrial domains, and ranging from deep time (e.g., palaeoecological research) to management timescales (e.g. conservation planning) and anticipated futures (e.g. spatial and ecophysiological modelling), this theme address the growing biodiversity crisis and the pressing need to understand, protect and preserve life and ecological and evolutionary processes. 

Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation Goal 13: Climate action Goal 14: Life Below Water Goal 15: Life on Land  

Environmental Futures focusses on understanding the relationship between people, culture and the environment over the human history of this planet. From our evolutionary origins to the recent past, this theme explores human-landscape history as cultural heritage that testifies the resilience and adaptability of people over varying timescales. This includes the investigation of innovation and transformation of technology, cultural practices and societal development in response to environmental changes. This research highlights the enduring connection and interaction between people and places under changing environmental and climatic conditions. Through partnership with Indigenous and stakeholder communities, our research seeks to elevate cultural awareness and research standards of all scientists working on Country and beyond to integrate community consultation and collaboration into all projects. This research theme underscores the integral role of culture and people in addressing sustainable environmental goals.  

  Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Enhancing Environmental Research is a cross-cutting theme that develops innovative technological solutions to support research that addresses the triple planetary crisis. This includes innovation and application of cutting-edge environmental and remote sensors, data-loggers, samplers and geospatial equipment; and development of new laboratory and field based analytical approaches. This theme also focusses on developing novel statistical analysis approaches, artificial intelligence, big data handling and modelling to address the challenges posed by the triple planetary crisis. 

Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. Goal 13: Climate action Goal 14: Life Below Water Goal 15: Life on Land Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals  

Organisation and leadership

Translation of our Vision, Purpose, and Values into organisational pillars, led by deputy directors and integrated by the director, ensures functions and programs are delivered that expand impact. 

Organisational pillars include:

  • Outreach and Engagement: ensuring the impact and influence of our research is translated and shared with stakeholders. Functions include public outreach events, social media presence, and knowledge broking between stakeholders and researchers.
  • Research Culture and Cultural Awareness: nurturing research excellence and enquiry among all staff and students and promoting Traditional Knowledges. Functions include management of a vibrant seminar series, unique and targeted grants program, research excellence awards, culture training, and expert grant review panel.
  • Research Capacity: facilitating equitable access to research facilities, scientific training, and resource leveraging to enhance our research capacity. Functions include managing life-cycling and strategic infrastructure purchases supported by a Research Infrastructure Grants program.
  • Partnerships and Collaborations: leveraging our diverse expertise, existing networks, and new connections to undertake novel interdisciplinary research. A Strategic Grant program provides a unique opportunity for members to pursue strategic activities that expand research impact.

View Master Plan

Capabilities & facilities

Browse our facilities

Research highlights

Environment and Energy, Science and Technology

World-first database unlocks the secrets of Antarctica’s many species

Global team of researchers compile comprehensive picture of the species found in world’s most remote continent

Environment and Energy

As blue carbon dynamos, mangroves can elevate soil to adjust to rising sea levels

Study highlights the vital role of coastal wetlands in building land with rising seas, protecting their substantial carbon stores
Environment and Energy

UOW expert commentary: LA fires

Research community concerned similar fires could occur in Australia

Research Centres

Centre for Archaeological Science

Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry

Centre for Sustainable Ecosystems Solutions

Geoquest Research Centre

Contact us

Contact the Environmental Futures team

environmental-futures@uow.edu.au