ScienceNetwork WA

STANDING still on the tidal mudflats of Roebuck Bay is an amazing experience—the soft, squishy mud under your feet is likely to be crawling with invertebrates that are either hunting for food or escaping the bills of hungry shorebirds.

THE WA Environmental Protection Agency have pulled together major players from science and industry to initiate a program, run by the WA Marine Science Institution (WAMSI), that will help manage the effects of dredging.

A NOVEL approach to the biological recovery of phosphorus from wastewater has been developed by the CSIRO Land and Water in Floreat which may yield significant economic and environmental benefits.

RESEARCHERS have been studying traditional Indigenous knowledge of ecology and weather with the Mirriwoong people of the Ord Valley and Keep River, in order to better manage the effects of climate change.

IN HIS new role as Minister for Science, Premier Colin Barnett took time to brief ScienceNetwork on his vision for science in WA.

A UWA ecologist says most benthic macro-invertebrate populations in Roebuck Bay’s intertidal zone have decreased significantly after blooms of the toxic blue-green algae Lyngbya majuscule.

WA’s ChemCentre has begun a research initiative to further understand and curb Acid Mine Drainage (AMD), one of the leading environmental concerns produced by mining and development sites.

STUDENTS at the University of Western Australia are using digital photography software to capture ancient indigenous artwork which has been painted over to help determine how art influenced early Kimberley society.

AN article by Western Australian and American environmental scientists is putting forward a new way of looking at the native versus non-native species debate and proposes species origin is no longer the best judgement tool in the ever-changing environment.

UWA scientists are spearheading lab research on behalf of the Livestock Methane Research Cluster into ways to measure and reduce methane emissions from livestock in northern Australia.

AN INTERNATIONAL research project involving a local scientist has presented the results of a study which used the first non-destructive, three dimensional method of documenting binding attachments in fossil vertebrates.

ECOLOGISTS are studying the influence of cattle on the ability of flora and fauna in northern tropical floodplain waterholes to regenerate after drought.

SCIENTISTS researching light stress indicators in seagrass have gathered and analysed international research in the field to narrow-down 119 variables to 19 robust bioindicators of light stress that can be incorporated into monitoring programs. 

UNIVERSITIES have welcomed Premier Colin Barnett’s move to raise the profile of science within government by taking ministerial responsibility for science policy.

THE WA Government has listed an ecological community on Broome’s outskirts as Priority 1 PEC (Priority Ecological Community).

TWELVE years after a catastrophic mass bleaching, WA’s Scott Reef has made a remarkable recovery.

FILTER feeding manta rays provided astounding performances off Broome’s coast over Easter, with the more commonly occurring white manta performing continuous backward, mid-water somersaults close to the coast as the tide peaked.

TRADITIONAL owners are using a unique software program that collects environmental and cultural data to contribute to the land management and conservation of the desert rangelands areas in WA.

A Murdoch University marine scientist has just commenced an aerial survey of the western Kimberley coast.

THE RECENTLY announced marine park to be established at Horizontal Falls along with Kimberley marine parks at Camden Sound and Eighty Mile Beach, will involve joint management between the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) and Indigenous rangers.