Honours and masters research grants

As part of its Research Nurture Program, the Australian Climate Change Adaptation Research Network for Settlements and Infrastructure offers up to 8 Honours and Masters Research Grants annually to eligible students undertaking research relevant to the area of climate change adaptation for Settlements and Infrastructure.

Since 2010, ACCARNSI has supported 17 Honours and Masters research projects focussing on climate change adaptation issues for Settlements and Infrastructure.  Funds enabled students to explore their research topics in a more contextualised way by allowing them access to materials and opportunities they wouldn't have had otherwise. All grant holders were funded to attend national conferences with a climate change adaptation stream relevant to their research topic, and encouraged to submit papers and/or posters. 

In 2010, the broad scale of research topics reflected the diversity of the Settlements and Infrastructure narrative with completed projects in  'Geopolymer concrete to reduce the anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions associated with the concrete and construction industry', 'Climate Change Adaptation for the Solomon Islands', 'Climate Change Implications and Solutions for Water Supplies in Inland Australia’ and ‘Moving Boundaries - Managing Development in Regional Coastal Councils in South Australia; A discussion of the role of Local Government in Climate Change Adaptation'. 

2011 research projects focussed on road infrastructure, coasts and groundwater issues in Easter Island (as a joint project with the International Help Fund Australia - IHFA) with grant holders presenting at the NSW Coastal Conference in Tweed Heads, Coasts and Ports Conference in Perth, the New Urbanism and Smart Transport International Conference also in Perth and the EA Practical Responses to Climate Change Conference in Canberra.  All grant holders also submitted journal papers. 

Our final round in 2012 has identified a number of innovative projects to support with successful grant holders focussing on wetland restoration, the floating cities of Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia, wastewater disposal, greenfield developments in Weddell, Northern Territory, South Australian planning processes in response to predictions of sea level rise, the adaptive capacity of Local Government in South Australia and the Indigenous Narrative and Climate Change in Port Phillip Bay Victoria.  A number of holders have presented papers and/or posters at national and international conferences including the 2012 and upcoming NCCARF Climate Adaptation Conferences, the EA Practical Responses to Climate Change Conference, the EA Hydrology Water Resources Symposium, the national Coast to Coast Conference and the 10th Urban Planning and Environment International Symposium. 

Title Author Year
Geopolymer concrete to reduce the anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions associated with the concrete and construction industry Ali Amin 2010
Climate change adaptation for the Solomon Islands Stacey Atkinson 2010
Climate change implications and solutions for water supplies in inland Australia Paul Ingster 2010
Retreat as a management response to coastal risk: A case study from the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia Rhiannon Niven 2010 
Estimating design flood for gauged urban catchments under climate change conditions - Case study: Cooks River Priom Rahman 2010
Moving boundaries - Managing development in regional coastal councils in South Australia; A discussion of the role of local government in climate change adaptation Anne Weckert 2010 
Climate change adaptation decision framework for maintenance of road infrastructure: Using a systems approach for sustainable outcomes Ben Leonello 2011 
Climate change adaptation for Easter Islands Lincoln Quilliam 2011 
Climate change adaptation: Measuring individual community response in coastal Australia Alianne Rance 2011 
Interannual variability of storm surge Heather Stevens  2011 
Assessing the adaptive capacity of local governments in South Australia  Jane Doogue 2012 
A review of South Australian planning processes in response to predictions of sea level rise: A Kingston SE case study  Michelle English 2012 
Saltmarsh distribution and resilience in response to altered tidal dynamics and sea level rise  Lisa Ganqvist 2012 
Climate change adaptations of urban water management systems in Wet/Dry Tropics  Nicholas Saunders  2012 
Floating communities on Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia: Spatial patterns and adaption capacity Amelia Travers  2012 
Nitrous oxide emissions from marine wastewater disposal: A life cycle assessment study Brachy Wilson 2012