Dr Kirsten Verburg studies ways to build catchment water quality diagnoses.

Dr Kirsten Verburg: diagnosing catchment water quality

Dr Kirsten Verburg leads research exploring ways to build catchment water quality diagnoses to identify sources of nutrients and sediments and their pathways to the waterways.

• 11 November 2009 | Updated 14 October 2011

• Current activities 
• Background
• Academic qualifications 
• Achievements  
• Professional activities
  

Current activities

Dr Kirsten Verburg leads a Commonwealth Environment Research Facility (CERF) Landscape Logic project that develops and evaluates methods to identify sources of nutrients and sediments within catchments and their pathways to the waterways.

Dr Verburg uses multiple lines of evidence to build up a catchment diagnosis. As with a medical diagnosis, the different types of information complement each other and the diagnosis is used to inform management as well to determine the best strategies for monitoring its impact.

This results in monitoring design principles for both investigative monitoring and impact monitoring.

Her other special research interests include:

• quantitative analysis of soil water and nutrient flows in agricultural systems using simulation modelling and their use to explore management strategies
• analysis of the impact of climatic variability using stochastic climate data
• identification of objective measures and design of smart monitoring that provides 'system feedback' to guide specification of land use and management options

Dr Verburg also occasionally teaches science at primary school, both as part of the Scientists in Schools program and as a parent volunteer.

Background

Dr Verburg joined CSIRO in 1994 as a Postdoctoral Fellow studying the effects of fertiliser and irrigation management on nitrate leaching under sugarcane.

Her work involved quantitative analysis of soil water and nutrient flows using simulation modelling.

Dr Verburg subsequently used similar research approaches in dryland agricultural systems to analyse accelerated soil acidification due to agricultural practices, tactical management of phase farming transitions using soil monitoring information, and management of fallow residue and weed management.

In recent years she has been broadening her work to quantify, understand and manage the catchment scale 'environmental footprint' of agricultural systems.

The work on tracking sources of nutrients and sediments within catchments is an attempt to link intervention or change at the farm scale with catchment response.

Academic qualifications

Dr Verburg has been awarded a:

• Doctorandus cum laude from the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1990
• Doctor of Philosophy from Cornell University, USA, 1994.

Achievements

Dr Verburg is the author of 14 journal articles, nine reports, three book chapters, and 24 conference papers.

She has won several awards including:

• Northeastern Branch American Society of Agronomy Graduate Student Award, 1993
• Travel grant from the Clay Minerals Society for travel to the 10th International Clay Conference, 1993
• Fielding Reed PPI Fellowship: a fellowship from the Potash and Phosphate Institute, 1991.

Professional activities

Dr Verburg is a member of the:

• American Soil Science Society
• American Agronomy Society
• Australian Soil Science Society.

Find out more about CSIRO Land and Water.