Plant traits (their morphological and physiological properties) determine how plants compete for resources (light, water, soil nutrients), where and how fast they can grow and, ultimately, how plants influence ecosystem properties such as rates of nutrient cycling, water use and carbon dioxide uptake. A major bottleneck to modelling the effects of climate change at ecosystem […] … learn more→

Sole parents and married mums are working more, leading to more time in childcare for their kids and decreases in the parents overall life and job satisfaction, according to news stats from the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research. The figures come as part of the sixth volume of the Institute’s Household, Income […] … learn more→

The Australian Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) announced a project by Macquarie University researchers as one the successful applicants to share in $4.2 million of funding. Awarded in the category of Terrestrial Biodiversity, the project will determine future invasive plant threats under climate change. […] … learn more→

The University of Auckland and NIWA have joined forces to establish a Joint Graduate School in Coastal and Marine Science. The school will offer postgraduate degrees in coastal and marine science co-supervised by researchers at the University and NIWA. “One of the aims is to increase the number of students educated in coastal and marine […] … learn more→

Australia is going digital and as the final analogue television switch off approaches, the number of abandoned television sets sitting on neighborhood footpaths is a clear indicator that most will likely wind up at the local landfill rather than being destined for a more environmentally-responsible end. How to properly dispose of analogue television equipment has […] … learn more→

Five Chilean students studying at Challenger Institute of Technology in Beaconsfield have formed the vanguard of a five-year plan that will see more students from this South American country studying in Australia and, more particularly, Challenger. The first cohort of five scholarship students are studying ACEPT, Maritime and Horticulture courses. Helmut Arrue is completing a […] … learn more→

For students at Challenger Institute of Technology’s oil and gas training facility, 3D computer animation is coming to a screen very near them. In a training first for Western Australia, animated modelling is allowing students to take the lid off oil and gas processing plants and gain a unique insight into the workings of complex […] … learn more→

A listing of the top-ranked institutions in Australia and New Zealand just published on the UK site Times Higher Education placed Macquarie University in the top spot for environmental sciences and ecology research. The list, which was put together using the Essential Science Indicators database of Thomson Reuters, ranked institutions based on the citation impact […] … learn more→

Autumn edition of National Centre for Sustainability … learn more→

Lizards living in their natural habitats cope better with the effects of climate change than those living in human-modified habitats, researchers from James Cook University have found. Dr David Pike, from JCU’s School of Marine and Tropical Biology said that 10 years ago, lizards born in human-modified habitats were larger, grew faster, and survived better […] … learn more→