Biogeoscience
Overview
The discipline comprises three major programs, concerning:
- Earth and Environmental Systems
- Soil, Air and Water Systems
- Biological Systems
Research within this discipline covers a wide range of topics from geomorphology to nanotechnology, all with the aim of achieving a healthy environment. Members of the group study terrestrial and aquatic populations, ecosystems, air quality, soil quality and integrated water systems.
Much of this discipline's research is carried out within the Institute for Sustainable Resources (ISR), led by Professor Peter Grace. Researchers within this discipline are also involved in the Cooperative Research Centre for National Plant Biosecurity which aims to protect our crops from plant pests and diseases.
Grants and projects
This is just a sample of our research activity in this area.
- Drug Delivery Systems
- Surveillance Systems Analysis
- National Plant Biosecurity Curriculum
- Grain Insect Ecology - Phase 1
- Russian Wheat Aphid Invasion Genetics
- Fruit Fly host use and population modelling
- CRC30084 Biosecurity Quarantine Model System
- Formalisation of systems approaches for market access - fruit fly
- Comparison of the International Pest Risk Assessment Schemes
- Better sampling strategies for the Australian Post Harvest Grains Industry
- CRC10117 Statistical Design of Terrestrial Plant and Vertebrate Surveillance
- Surveillance system evaluation and optimisation for emergency plant pests
- Native parasitic wasps: a new eradication toll against fruit fly incursion management
- Hierarchical Bayesian Models for Evaluating Emergency Plant Pest Surveillance
- Development of diagnostic markers for flies of the Bactrocera dorsalis complex
Student topics
We're looking for students to study these topics.
- Microstructure of coral skeletons
- Studies in coral reef systems
- Reef development in Moreton Bay
- 3D analysis of coral skeletons
- Temperature and the global carbon cycle
- Environmental Sensor Networks
- Integrated assessment of carbon management
- Are invasive plant species really special?
- Other potential areas for honours research in biogeosciences with supervisor Gary Huftile
- Does marsupial evolution get stuck easily?
- Generalised description of geoscience honours topics
- The landscape ecology of stored grain pests
- Tracing the evolution of tree kangaroos
- Other potential areas for honours research in biogeoscience with supervisor Malcolm Cox
- Pinpointing speciation events in marsupials
- Reviewing the origins of andesites
- Volcanology/igneous petrology and geochemistry
- Predicting the spread of fire ants in SE Qld
- Molecular systematics of Australian hydromyine water rats
- Isolation of enteric parasites from Antarctic wildlife
- Calcareous epiphyte in a subtropical marine environment
- Invasion genetics of the soybean aphid
- Investigating seed germination protocols for Queensland native plant species from threatened ecosystems
- Honours topics in biogeosciences with supervisor Maree Corkeron
- Sedimentology of the Dinosaur Stampede National Monument
- Measurement and description of possible new Asteraceae species of Rutidosis
- Further student research topics with supervisor David Murphy
- Potential honours topics in biogeoscience with supervisor Luke Nothdurft
- Bimodal Cainozoic volcanism in South East Queensland
- Geoarchaeology: Examination of palaeo-environments at key archeologically sites on the Gold coast
- The effects of disease interactions in wild rabbit management
- Comparing the effectiveness of different protocols for determining chromosome number in plants
- Predictive modelling of greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural soils
- Physiological response of Burkholderia pseudomallei to environmental stressors
- Methane consumption and the role of Australian soils in reducing climate change
- Molecular phylogenetic analysis of biogeochemical cycling bacterial communities
- Conservation genetics of the endangered water mouse (Xeromys myoides)
- Spatial distribution of insect pests in stored grain bulk
- Interactions between the soil C, N and water cycles on nitrogen emissions from soils
- Persistence and physiological response of the melioidosis pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei in soils
- Comparative performance of commercially available "Green Walls"
- An investigation into the halogen chemistry of mantle derived rocks
- Why do snakes and dragons share similar mitochondrial genomes?
- Are urban alien flora similar or different to urban native flora?
- Using U-series isotope systematics of recent lavas to investigate the nature of melting beneath Tristan da Cunha
- Pumice from the Shatsky Rise, northwest Pacific: a long term history of pumice rafting across the North West Pacific
- Evaluation of microbial biopesticides for control of stored grain pests
- Assessment of Enterococcus spp. isolates from the Antarctic marine environment
- Quantifying the impacts of agriculture in tropical/sub-tropical systems using an LCA approach
- Systematic evaluation of subspecies of the swamp rat, Rattus lutreolus
- Evaluation of artificial diets for mass rearing of diamondback moth
- What makes an insect invasive? Comparative invasion biology of Bactrocera tryoni and B. neohumeralis
- Predicting the impact of urbanisation on water quality of the Samford Valley
- Potential honours topics in biogeoscience with supervisor Robin Thwaites
- Investigating intraspecific variations in leaf ornamentation of invasive plants - implications for biological control of weeds.
- Carbon accumulation through the recovery of grassland diversity
- How do ecological niche shifts influence rates of morphological and molecular evolution?
- Conservation genetics of rare and endemic Fijian tree species
- Phylogeography of the endangered water mouse (Xeromys myoides)
- Genetic and morphological structure among isolated populations of the common rock-rat, Zyzomys argurus
- Estimating densities and disease status of wild rabbit populations in South East Queensland
- Conservation genetics of the endangered water mouse in Australia
- Predicting the invasion dynamics of the cane toad Rhinella spp (Bufo marinus)
- Investigating inter- and intraspecific variations in chromosome number of invasive and native grasses with implications for restoration of native grasslands
- Incorporating morphological data into a molecular systematic study of Olinae (Australian native olives) to resolve phylogenetic relationships.
- Bringing back the natives: comparing novel and traditional control methods for reducing the dominance of invasive species
- Enhancing DNA sequences for resolving the evolutionary relationships of mammals and birds.
- Temporospatial distribution of cyanotoxins from coastal algal bloom Lyngbya majuscula biomass
- Predicting the impacts of climate change on carbon stocks in savannahs - the interaction of fire, water and management with climate
- Integrating DNA sequences and the fossil record for inferring evolutionary patterns and processes
- Investigating the effect of burial depth on rates of seed germination of invasive and native grasses with implications for restoration of native grasslands
- Influence of soil carbon and crop residue management on GHG emissions from different cropping soils
- A genomics approach to identifying variation in anonymous gene loci that are correlated with individual growth performance in cultured stocks of Giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii)
- The evolutionary origins and implications of the marsupial/placental mammal dichotomy
- Potential for generation and dispersal of Lyngbya majuscula associated (bio)aerosols during bloom mitigation
- Investigating intraspecific variations in levels of polyploidy of invasive plants - implications for biological control
- A distant problem or a cause for concern? Investigating the systematic relationships between a potential biofuel crop and a noxious exotic weed
- Climate change and extreme marine inundation on the northeast coast of New South Wales and southeast coast of Queensland
- Resolving cryptic species complexes using multiple lines of evidence: The Queensland fruit fly complex as a case study
- Investigations into the seed biology of an invasive vine: implications for developing biocontrol strategies
- Stock structure of the Chevron Snakehead Fish in Cambodia and Vietnam
- Autecology of a new carnivorous marsupial species, the buff-footed Antechinus.
- Developing a soil database and GIS spatial surfaces for soil hydrology modelling at the SERF
- Genetic relationships among Australian Cricotopus (Diptera: Chironomidae) species: implications for biomonitoring
- Characteristics of sill and dike emplacement in volcanic rifted margins
- Lichens as Bioindicators of Urban Airborne Pollutants
- Quantifying adaptive genetic diversity in African mahogany for tree improvement
- Creating a soils and landforms dataset for South East Queensland using GIS, remote sensing and terrain modelling techniques
- Stratigraphy and character of Permian coal formations and relation between coal seams and sedimentary interbeds: Galilee Basin
- Investigating fine-scale stock structure in a declining fishery: microsatellite analysis of mulloway (Argyronomus japonicus) along the NSW coast
- Potential for Transmission of Antarctic Station Wastewater Derived Microorganisms to Indigenous Macrofauna
- Characterising and exploiting the Australian gene pool of Sorghum
- Generation and Dispersion Potential of Composted Toxigenic Lyngbya Majuscula
- Variation in the fish prolactin gene and its role in adaptation from marine to freshwater habitats
- Changes in exotic-native plant species dynamics in response to nutrients and rainfall
- Bioaerosol Dissemination from Industrial-Scale Composting and Biosolids Operations
- Species distribution patterns of carnivorous marsupials in the Genus Antechinus, in and around D’Aguilar National Park, north-west Brisbane
- Bioaerosol dissemination from industrial-scale composting and biosolids operations
Research degree enquiries
Science and Engineering research office
- Phone: 3138 4783
- Int. phone: +61 7 3138 4783
- Email: sef.research@qut.edu.au
Commercial research enquiries
Science and Engineering Faculty - Commercial Research and Corporate Education
- Phone: 3138 9948
- Int. phone: +61 7 3138 9948
- Email: sef.industryenquiry@qut.edu.au
Partnership enquiries
Science and Engineering - Partnerships
- Phone: 3138 7693
- Int. phone: +61 7 3138 7693
- Email: sef.industryenquiry@qut.edu.au
