Annual Report 2016 1 About CEED
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Annual Report 1 Contents About CEED 2 Director’s Report 4 2016 Highlights 6 Strategy and Future Directions 8 Our Research 9 Planning for Better Environmental Outcomes 12 Informing Policy with Science 20 Supporting Management and Practice 25 Recognition of Research Excellence 33 CEED Alumni 37 Workshops and Training 40 Stakeholder Engagement 43 Our People — Our Legacy 47 Communication and Outreach 54 Publications 58 Governance and Management 66 Our People 70 Performance Measures 76 Abbreviations 80 ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions Room 532, Goddard Building 8 The University of Queensland St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia P (+61 7) 3365 6907 F (+61 7) 3365 1692 www.ceed.edu.au ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions Annual Report 2016 1 About CEED About CEED Annual environmental budgets are in the billions of dollars, but remain insufficient to fully protect the environment from adverse impacts. There is a critical need for To be the world’s leading research centre for solving research and training that enables more efficient and effective environmental decisions. OUR VISION environmental management problems and for evaluating the outcomes of environmental actions. The Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED) started in 2011 with funding from the Australian Research Council We will benefit environmental science, policy and management across Australia and around the world (ARC). The ARC Centres of Excellence OUR are world-class, internationally MISSION by solving complex problems of environmental competitive research teams who management and monitoring in a rapidly changing and investigate and find solutions to, uncertain world. challenging and important Australian and international problems. Since 2011, CEED has pushed the frontiers of environmental decision science. Our aim is to benefit environmental science, policy and management across Australia and around the world by solving complex problems How much time do you spend trying to detect difficult to find species? CEED has made of environmental management and several major contributions to the fields of detectability and optimal monitoring. monitoring in a rapidly changing and (Photo: Georgia Garrard) uncertain world. Our complement of Our researchers are global leaders The work of CEED is carried out in fundamental environmental over 170 researchers through a partnership between five science, and we put a high priority collaborate extensively collaborating organisations — The on the career development of the across node and University of Queensland (UQ), next generation of conservation disciplines. We see this The University of Melbourne (UM), researchers. Our complement of The Australian National University over 170 researchers includes Chief collaborative culture as (ANU), RMIT University (RMIT), The Investigators, Partner Investigators, the key to our success. University of Western Australia (UWA) Post-Doctoral Fellows and senior — and five partner organisations — researchers, and PhD students, the Commonwealth Scientific and who collaborate extensively across Industrial Research Organisation nodes and disciplines. We see this (CSIRO), Trinity College Dublin (TCD), collaborative culture as the key to Imperial College London (ICL), our success. Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) and the US Geological Survey (USGS). The operations of CEED are managed from the University of Queensland, in Brisbane. 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions Annual Report 2016 3 Directors’ Report Director’s Report Prof Hugh Possingham When I first came back to Australia Finally, I note the increasing through the Save Our Species and started attending Ecological prevalence of social science and program, regional spatial planning as Society of Australia meetings (back in economics thinking in the work a preferred mechanism for delivering 1990) two things were clear. that CEED does. This was always win-win conservation-development our aspiration and the stories and outcomes and rigorous, transparent First, while statistical ecology in publications in this annual report and quantitative biodiversity Australia was strong, there were few attest to that increasing emphasis. offsetting. All of these research modellers and virtually no use of endeavours have been discussed in decision-science thinking in Australian As our centre matures, there are previous CEED annual reports, some conservation. Remarkably, these early some obvious trends. First, both the go back to the beginning of CEED, 90s meetings were characterised by quality and quantity of our research and now they have significantly a mistrust of models and the notion continue to grow, as can be seen from informed the policy of one of the that applied research was the work the number of publications and the most biodiverse regions in the world carried out by people not sufficiently quality of the journals in which they — trust me, I was there. talented to do pure ecological are published. Second, our global research. How things have changed. impact continues to grow — CEED This annual report is also filled with CEED is both a product and a driver of has become a mecca for applied stories about another of CEED’s In November of last year I became Kerrie, recipient of last year’s Frank that change. ecologists and we will capitalise on legacies — the talented early-career the Chief Scientist of The Nature Fenner Prize for Life Scientist of the “I am struck by the this with the new Environmental researchers we have helped to Conservancy (TNC), the world’s largest Year (one of the Prime Minister’s As another historical aside, I am struck Decisions Alliance led by Eve nurture. Early-career researchers environmental non-government Prizes for Science), has hit the ground number of topics by the number of topics covered McDonald-Madden. (ECRs) are the engine room of CEED’s organisation. In making that transition running and has developed an exciting covered in this annual in this annual report that were not innovation. They are involved in the I relinquished the honour and plan to guide CEED through its final typically discussed two decades ago: It is also critical to highlight that report that were not vast majority of our research, and privilege of being CEED Director, but few years delivering outcomes and restoration, monitoring and multi- CEED’s legacy is far more than our typically discussed two they are already making their mark the opportunity to lead conservation impact at scale. I can already see disciplinarity. Restoration ecology in world class research. The impact of on the international scene. Further, science in 70 countries, working with the impact of Kerrie’s organisational decades ago: restoration, Australia, championed by our own basic research on policy is often hard while mentoring and facilitating the 4000 staff, was too good to refuse. My skill and energy and have complete monitoring and multi- Chief Investigator Richard Hobbs, has to track, especially since laws and careers of CEED ECRS has been one hope is that while working with TNC confidence in her ability to capitalise moved from strength to strength with policies implemented by government disciplinarity.” of our core functions, sometimes we I will be able to significantly increase on our success to date (ably assisted stories in this report focussing on rarely cite the evidence or influences Prof Hugh Possingham overlook the distinct needs of our the scale of CEED’s impact. by Deputy Director Professor landscape restoration planning plus that underpin their development. As mid-career researchers. While I am Michael McCarthy and CEED’s Chief the cost and feasibility of restoration. a member of the expert review panel I would like to finish this, my final never entirely sure what mid-career Investigators). New ideas already for the NSW biodiversity legislation Director’s statement in a CEED Monitoring and data collection has means (I know they are younger abound and I look forward to seeing reform, a process that has taken Annual Report, by expressing my always seemed like a slightly dull than me) I am impressed by the how CEED evolves in the years ahead. well over a year, I can attest to the gratitude to Professor Kerrie Wilson activity but CEED has added a new rapid progress of our mid-career many and varied ways in which CEED for taking over the helm of CEED. The sparkle — how much information researchers in achieving Future Prof Hugh Possingham research is influencing state and job can be time consuming and, at do we really need to make good Fellowships, being promoted to full CEED Director federal policy in Australia. The NSW times, quite challenging. environmental decisions and Professorships and having impact reforms include the fingerprints of what else could we do with those through workshop and conference CEED in at least three major ways: resources? invitations on the international stage. the prioritisation of species projects 4 ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions Annual Report 2016 5 2016 Highlights 80 PhD Scholars 58 Postdoctoral 96 Fellows National 2016 Highlights Presentations 159 106 Peer-Reviewed 139 Government, Journal International Industry and Publications Collaborating Community 63 Briefings Institutions International 15 Presentations 38 Training Programs International Visitors 78 National The key achievements from Collaborating CEED research are clearly Institutions 75 32 demonstrated with standard Memberships Countries Involved on National and in Collaborations performance