Research stories

I learned so much while in Manchester, and was very impressed by their expansive research strategy, which supports researchers from the moment they on-board at the university, guides them through their career development and supports them in disseminating their research, building partnerships and maximising their research impact. I was very fortunate to spend some time with their Vice President of Research, Professor Colette Fagan, and her team, talking about how they developed their strategy and their plans for the future.

I also visited the University of Hull, where I met with researchers from their Faculty of Health Sciences and the National Flood Resilience Centre. In the Health space, I feel there’s real potential for collaboration around sports and exercise science, and mental health research.

We also have a lot to learn to from the National Flood Resilience Centre, where they’ve done amazing work with community to build resilience and develop expertise around specialist flood response with first responders.

Enjoy reading Research stories, and please email any of your research news to research.content@scu.edu.au so we can include it in future editions.

Professor Mary Spongberg
Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor

While methane – responsible for about one-third of global warming – has been studied extensively in wetlands,  the contribution of wetland trees has been less understood, and this knowledge gap complicates our ability to accurately predict future climate scenarios. Over the past decade, Dr Jeffrey’s team has led efforts to measure methane emissions from forested wetlands, with groundbreaking findings published in JGR: Biogeosciences. Their research shows Melaleuca quinquenervia trees can emit significant methane through their stems, particularly during floods – highlighting a critical component of the global methane cycle.

Innovative methods developed by the team allowed them to measure methane fluxes from tree stems and bark layers, uncovering that these emissions can increase by up to 500% during flooding. Additionally, their work (featured in New Phytologist), was the first to demonstrate rapid methane transport through the bark of these trees, a process that may help them survive in waterlogged environments.

This research has already begun influencing land-use management practices, particularly in subtropical regions where methane emissions are now a consideration in wetland conservation and restoration projects. A land-use manager in Queensland has noted, ’Dr Jeffrey's findings have transformed how we view wetland management, enabling us to make more informed decisions for carbon reduction'.

Supporting global climate action, particularly UN Sustainable Development Goal 13, this work provides critical insights that are refining global methane models. Dr Jeffrey’s ongoing research will expand to other wetland species and regions, furthering our understanding of methane emissions and enhancing the accuracy of climate predictions.

You can read more of Dr Jeffrey’s published work on this topic in Eos Science News.

The findings from this research are instrumental for the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP)’s three-year study into seafloor integrity and the Port Phillip Bay Environmental Management Plan 2017–2027. These initiatives are designed to support a healthy ecosystem, promote a thriving economy and enhance recreation, tourism and liveability for local communities.

Britte Van Haastregt’s contributions, alongside those of her colleagues, were essential to studying the biogeochemical processes on the seafloor, such as denitrification in sediments, which plays a key role in removing nitrogen. This process is critical in mitigating the impacts that human activities like wastewater discharge, catchment runoff and shipping have on the Bay's health.

The team's work extended beyond Port Phillip Bay to the Seafloor Integrity Project, led by Fathom Pacific for DELWP. This project aims to maintain the physical, chemical and biological integrity of the seafloor, ensuring preservation of the seabed’s structure and functions, and benthic ecosystems.

In April the team’s expertise was further applied in Cockburn Sound, Perth, as part of the $10M Westport Marine Science Program. Britte, Jacob and Professor Eyre, joined by research assistant Jake Eyre, conducted fieldwork that will contribute to the Cockburn Sound Integrated Ecosystem Model platform. This platform will inform future management decisions for Western Australia’s proposed container port, ensuring that environmental impact assessments are based on rigorous and independent scientific data.

SCU’s contribution to these projects is highly significant, and underscores the university’s pivotal role in advancing collaborative research to address critical environmental challenges. The team's ongoing work is not only advancing scientific understanding, but also shaping practical environmental management strategies across Australia's coasts.

We’re eagerly awaiting news of more groundbreaking research from Britte and the team in the future.

Understanding mangrove microbial communities is essential to the management and conservation of mangrove ecosystems – which protect shorelines from storms and cyclones, filter nutrients and sediments, and reduce coastal erosion – and this project will identify and characterise the diverse microbial communities that drive methane processes in mangrove soils.

Methane (CH₄) is a powerful greenhouse gas and, while recent studies have identified coastal wetlands as marine methane hotspots, methane fluxes are still poorly understood and the underlying processes and sources are largely unknown.

Metagenomic analysis used in this project, to be conducted through a new cross-disciplinary relationship between Monash University and SCU, will provide crucial insight into ‘who’ produces and consumes methane in mangrove ecosystems over spatial (natural vs impacted) and temporal (wet vs dry season) scales.

Less than one per cent of the ‘Big Scrub’ – once Australia's largest lowland subtropical rainforest – remains intact today, with the remaining fragmented patches under threat from invasive species and wildfires, and classified as an endangered ecological community. Restoration initiatives have been steadily increasing, with many projects focused on re-establishing native vegetation, controlling invasive species, and enhancing habitat connectivity across the fragmented landscape.

And as the Pouched Frog (Assa darlingtoni) – a threatened species found in rainforests in south-east Queensland, northern NSW, and specific ‘Big Scrub’ restoration sites – relies on unique microhabitats only present in healthy subtropical rainforest ecosystems, its presence is a reliable indicator of good ecosystem health.

Accurate early assessment of Pouched Frog populations within ‘Big Scrub’ sites will allow land managers to fine-tune their project approaches and methods in the future.

With the potential to unlock solutions that could allow Lismore and similar flood-affected communities to remain where they are following flooding events, rather than having to rebuild or relocate, this research has the potential to reduce the social and economic costs of flooding and boost community resilience.

After critically evaluating state-of-the-art developments in floating and amphibious structures, this project will design and model small-scale houses that rise from the ground with floodwaters and withstand the dynamic forces experienced during a flooding event.

The team will also conduct tests on the constructed models within the open channel water flume at Southern Cross University’s Fluid and Energy Dynamics Laboratory to assess their performance in flowing floodwater conditions.

It’s anticipated that the findings from this research may also be incorporated into the revision or future development of building codes and policies for flood-resilient construction and retrofitting.

In highlighting our complex relationships throughout history and advocating for a shared human heritage, the findings of this research promote tolerance and appreciation for our differences, as well as our similarities, as human beings.

Professor Joannes-Boyau’s team’s research revealed that, rather than being a single, uniform group, Neanderthals consisted of different lineages, much as how different cultures exist within a country today; and that a previously-unknown group of Neanderthals also existed.

Suggesting the history of Neanderthals is more complex than previously thought, this also challenges our understanding of their interaction with early humans, and encourages us to rethink existing knowledge of human evolution and our shared past.

In bridging the gaps between genetics, archaeology and anthropology, this study promotes a collaborative approach that enriches our understanding of human evolution and the intricate web of our ancestral history.