Professor Stephen Livesley
My research focuses on quantifying the many benefits of urban forests, from climate, runoff, biodiversity habitat and pollution reduction.
Project topics:
- I research the impact of trees, green space and water upon the urban energy balance and microclimate cooling.
- I study new ways to integrate water-sensitive urban design with urban trees for canopy cover, runoff reduction and pollution benefits.
- I incorporate urban soil science into many of my projects as the soils and substrates in our cities are central to many ecosystem functions.
A/Prof Claire Farrell
Claire’s research focuses on how we can use plants in green infrastructure (green roofs, facades, rain gardens and woody meadows) to make cities more liveable. Urban greening can provide wide-ranging benefits for human health and well-being, biodiversity, stormwater mitigation and cooling. By understanding how plants function and selecting plants that can both tolerate and thrive in urban landscapes, we can create green and resilient cities.
Project topics:
- Plant selection for green infrastructure (plant traits and tolerances for green facades, raingardens and Woody Meadows).
- Plant selection for naturalistic plantings (plant traits and tolerances).
Dr Amy Hahs
Amy looks at the impacts of urban environments on plants, animals, and other organisms, the relationship this has with human health and wellbeing, and how we can develop collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches to create better cities for biodiversity and people.
Project topics:
- What are the responses of biodiversity to different types of greening interventions and management practices?
- Relationships between biodiversity, green spaces and human health and wellbeing.
- How can we improve the design and management of urban greening to better support and enhance urban biodiversity, and create better cities for people and nature?
Dr Marie Dade
Marie is an urban landscape ecologist who is interested in understanding the social, health and environmental benefits that urban greenery provides to people, and identifying how we can manage these spaces to increase benefits to people while also supporting biodiversity in cities.
Project topics:
- Quantifying the environmental and health benefits provided by different urban park designs.
- Developing indicators and metrics to measure and monitor urban greenspace benefits that can be used to inform urban sustainability targets.
- Exploring how small greenspaces contribute to the sustainability of cities (are small greenspaces providing different environmental, health and biodiversity benefits to large urban greenspaces?)
Dr Paul Cheung
Paul Cheung is a Research Fellow in Urban Microclimates. His research focuses on optimising the cooling benefits of blue-green infrastructure in public and private urban spaces through design and management interventions to improve human thermal comfort and the climate resilience of cities.
Project topics:
- Measuring and modelling the cooling benefits of irrigating urban green spaces, and understanding the cooling mechanisms of irrigation.
- Understanding the spatial extent and magnitude of park cool island effect.
- Quantifying the cooling and stormwater benefits of blue-green infrastructure in private residential spaces.
Dr Julian Brown
Julian studies the interactions between plants and animals across urban, agricultural, and fire-prone landscapes. He is particularly interested in the overlap between biodiversity conservation and the provision of ecosystem services, such as conserving native pollinators in food production areas.
Project topics:
- Reintroducing/translocating pollinators and other insects into urban or agricultural environments.
- Reintroducing/translocating pollinators and other insects into urban or agricultural environments.
- Managing native pollinators in urban agriculture.
Dr Dean Schrieke
Dean's research centres on sustainable urban ecosystems, with a focus on green infrastructure and urban ecology. They use experimental methods, data analysis, and modelling to improve plant selection and performance in urban settings.