Risks Team

Andrew was a research scientist with the Victorian Department of Primary Industries (DPI) for around 11 years. Most of this research with the DPI was in the fields of entomology, especially sampling theory and practice, and wastewater reuse for horticultural irrigation. In 2005 Andrew and his colleagues were awarded the Daniel McAlpine Outstanding Achievement Award in recognition of their work on applied aspects of sampling, and in particular, the development of sampling plans for diamondback moth, a significant pest of brassicaceous crops. In 2005 Andrew joined Deakin University to work on an ARC-funded project on mathematical risk assessment modelling for irrigation of horticultural crops with reclaimed water. He was primarily interested in risks to human health, but also modelled environmental and agricultural sustainability risks. Andrew completed a PhD on the ecology of waterbirds at the Werribee sewage farm. In short, he loves sewage! In 2007 Andrew joined the University of Melbourne, School of Resource Management, as a lecturer. He lectures in sustainable horticultural management (particularly irrigation and integrated pest management) and continues research on sampling protocols for horticultural pests, wastewater irrigation and waterbird conservation. Andrew aspires to be a polymath but someone needs to tell him he's dreaming!!

Ecosystem ecology and animal roles in carbon, nutrient, and metal cycling in wetlands and biofilters

Lisa Levin is Director of CMBC and Distinguished Professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California. Before moving to Scripps in 1992 she was Assoc. Professor in the Dept. of Marine Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Dr. Levin is a marine ecologist who studies benthic ecosystems in the deep sea and shallow water. Together with her students Dr. Levin has worked with a broad range of taxa, from microbes and microalgae to invertebrates and fishes. Her recent research has emphasized 3 major themes: (1) the structure, function and vulnerability of continental margin ecosystems, particularly those subject to oxygen and sulfide stress; (2) wetland biotic interactions as they mediate marsh function, invasion and restoration; and (3) larval ecology of coastal marine populations with emphasis on connectivity and response to ocean acidification and deoxygenation. The deep ocean covers over half of the planet but most of it is less well known than the surface of the moon. Dr. Levin’s research has been conducted over the past 3 decades on the margins of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans using ships, submersibles and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to sample and conduct experiments. She has participated in over 30 oceanographic expeditions around the world and served as Chief Scientist on 12 of these. She is the author or co-author of more than 160 scientific publications. Dr. Levin has served as North American editor of the journal Marine Ecology, as founding editorial board member of the Annual Reviews of Marine Science, as past contributing editor for Limnology and Oceanography and Marine Ecology Progress Series, and has edited 5 special volumes on aspects of deep-sea biodiversity.

My research focuses on the sources, cycling and fate of carbon nitrogen and phosphorus in aquatic environments, and in particular their role in eutrophication in coastal environments. To understand how these elements move and cycle through the environment I combine a range of approaches including standard wet chemical methods, the eddy correlation technique, planar optodes, flumes, stable isotopes and modelling.

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Dr. Jiang’s research group focuses on applied and environmental microbiology. Research projects in her lab include investigation of seawater desalination biofouling, deep subsurface sludge disposal and energy regeneration, microbial water quality and microbial ecology of harmful algal blooms. Please see Jiang’s laboratory webpage for additional information.