Understanding Australia's changing climate and the fragility of our ecosystems is critical if we are to enable industries to minimise their environmental impact and strengthen community resilience to natural disasters and extreme events.
CSIRO’s Environment Business Unit brings together our capabilities in marine, atmospheric, water and terrestrial environment disciplines, as well as significant social and economic research, to align and support the nation in creating a better and more sustainable future.
Our research examines the increasing pressures facing our natural and built environments from the combined effects of climate change, extreme events, non-sustainable use of natural resources and le gacy activities.
We collaborate with experts from across CSIRO in National Collections & Marine Infrastructure, Health & Biosecurity, Agriculture & Food , Data61, other Business Units and Enterprise Services across CSIRO to further underpin our research portfolio. We also work closely with other publicly funded research agencies, the universities , industry and communities to deliver impactful science.
Together, we are addressing Australia’s biggest environment challenges by translating complex science into decision ready information and tools essential for sustainable and equitable economic, social, and environmental management and development into the future.
Our research programs include
| Research program | Description |
|---|---|
| Climate Intelligence | Provide Australia and our neighbours with actionable ocean, atmosphere, and climate information and tools to ensure a sustainable and resilient future. This is part of the Climate Science Centre. |
| Climate, Atmosphere and Ocean Interactions | Australia's national capability in observing and modelling our atmosphere and oceans and developing our earth system models to address the challenge of climate change and emission reduction. This is part of the Climate Science Centre. |
| Sustainable Marine Futures | Undertake rapid, scalable and cost-effective data collection, develop streamlined processing methods, and deliver timely scientific knowledge to advise solutions that support sustainable development of Australia's coastal and marine resources (e.g. fisheries) without compromising the health of marine biodiversity. Our future-focused approach is supported by advanced ecosystem modelling and will ensure long-term sustainability solutions are available for marine resource management in our rapidly changing region. |
| Coastal and Oceanic Systems | Lead developments in remote sensing, bio-optics, genomics, and sensor technologies to observe the marine environment and provide intelligence on the challenges impacting our coasts and ocean. |
| Industry Environments | Innovate and mitigate our waste, to protect our environment and human health whilst developing new economic opportunities |
| Water Security | Co-production, design and delivery of water and related services, tools and technologies in Australia and internationally to inform operations, management, planning and policy choices from enterprise to basin scale that supports industry, communities and the environment. |
| Living Landscapes | Develop sustainable economies and increasing resilience to climate change and supporting indigenous stewardship of land, water, and sea through Indigenous-led approaches. |
| Sustainability Pathways | Provide Australia safe and trusted solutions to share and secure water for people, industry, and ecosystems. |
Meet the Environment Leadership Team
- Director – Dan Metcalfe
- Science Director – Brett Molony
- Deputy Director – Chris Chilcott
- Research Director, Climate Intelligence – Jaci Brown
- Research Director, Coastal & Oceans Systems – Mark Baird
- Research Director, Earth Systems – Melita Keywood
- Research Director, Industry Environments – Andy Whiteley
- Research Director, Living Landscapes – Libby Pinkard
- Research Director, Sustainable Marine Futures – Alistair Hobday
- Research Director, Sustainability Pathways – Stuart Whitten
- Research Director, Water Security – Carmel Pollino
- Science Leader Significant Projects – Paul Bertsch
- Research Operations Manager – Ben Rae
- Business Development & Growth Director – Sandra Fox
- Communications Manager – Ariane Rummery
- Finance Managers – Nga Do & David Rehe
- Strategic HR Partner - Julie Carroll
- HSE Manager - Anna Schwartz
- Operations Support - April Ederosas (ACT/VIC), Shayne Burgess (NSW/TAS), Jaryn Donaldson (QLD/NT) & Mark Wilson (WA)