Overview

Our research addresses national priorities relating to biodiversity, ecosystem services and community development in tropical and arid zones. Most of our work is conducted in landscapes that are relatively unmodified and unpopulated, in comparison to the cleared landscapes of southern Australia. Our scientists have expertise in a wide range of northern and central locations, from Queensland’s Wet Tropics, northern savannas, catchments of the Great Barrier Reef and pastoral rangelands, to the tropical and arid zones of the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

We aim to provide evidence-based solutions and knowledge that meet community needs and informs government policy. The national challenges that we work on include:

• climate variability, climate change and adaptation
• greenhouse gas emissions and carbon storage
• sustaining biodiversity 
• sustainable agricultural, pastoral and reserve landscapes
• water resource management, including water quality and Indigenous rights
• Indigenous livelihoods, including well-being and economic development

Research Groups

Our Research Groups are organised by site rather than science discipline. With the exception of Darwin, all of our Research Groups are based outside capital cities, in the more remote parts of northern and central Australia. This allows us to deliver our science in many areas that other scientists are unable to. It also allows us to build up strong relationships with our stakeholders, and to develop a deep local knowledge of the systems we work in.