BUSHFIRE AND NATURAL HAZARDS RESEARCH
Top End researchers from the Research Institute of Environment and Livelihoods (RIEL) at Charles Darwin University are a key plank in Australia’s national research centre for natural hazards, conducting end-user valued research to reduce the social, economic and environmental costs of natural disasters.
The Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre is building on the findings of the Bushfire CRC and extending into other natural hazards, with an eight-year tenure and $47 million in funding from the Cooperative Research Centres Program.
In early 2013, after severe bushfires across south east Australia, the then Prime Minister of Australia announced the creation of the centre, which was up and running by 1 July 2013 with a full all-hazards research program.
A broad research program is now underway, with a multi-disciplinary approach to the major national issues across the natural hazards spectrum.
RIEL scientists are contributing important work on building community resilience to natural disasters, savanna burning, managing flammable high biomass grassy weeds and developing emergency service training products for remote communities.
In addition, three RIEL PhD students are funding by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC. Kate van Wezel is investigating the requirements to enable the Waanyi and Garawa people in the Gulf Country of the Northern Territory to manage fire in a culturally appropriate way over the long term. Grigorijs Goldbergs is developing a robust approach for measuring carbon stocks in savanna vegetation, while Steve Sutton is examining cultural aspects of community resilience to natural hazards by comparing the preparations and response of a local community on an Indonesian island to the 2004 tsunami to community resilience in Australia.
Along with CDU, the support behind the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC in the Northern Territory comes from the NT government, with the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service and Bushfires NT partners in the research. This is combined with all other Australian and New Zealand fire and land management agencies and emergency service agencies, along with 28 other universities, the Bureau of Meteorology and Geoscience Australia.
The research has three major themes, covering 12 clusters of research. These are not hazard specific, but span the priorities for those working in a multi-hazard environment. There is plenty on offer for Northern Territory emergency services, with research investigating diverse topics such as sustainable volunteering, retrofitting older homes to withstand strong winds, fire modelling and savanna fire management. Access more details at bnhcrc.com.au.
For the latest research information delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for the monthly enews at bnhcrc.com.au/news. You can also keep up to date by liking the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC on Facebook, and following on Twitter – just search for BNHCRC.
Nathan Maddock is the Communications Officer at the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC. This article first appeared in the Spring 2015 edition of Fire Australia.
