ProfessorJan McDonald

Project Total: $0; This project will investigate the efficacy, safety and monitoring of ship-based Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) in Bass Strait. Most countries, including Australia, have committed to the COP15 Paris Agreement to keep future warming to between 1.5-2oC. To meet this goal, the IPCC is clear: A combination of emission reductions at source and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) are required. OAE shows promise as a method to durably store large amounts of atmospheric CO2 in the ocean without exacerbating ocean acidification, but as a first step in development it needs to be rigorously tested with field trials. Doing so in Bass Strait will position Australia at the vanguard of a possibly trillion dollar, morally-imperative, emerging CDR industry. This is a multi-year application, following the approach of successful overseas projects. During the first 18-day voyage in 2027 we will use inert particle tracers to simulate the physical dispersal of alkalinity without influencing biology or chemistry. Simultaneously, we will use deck-board incubation experiments to evaluate the efficiency (e.g. biotic/abiotic precipitation), additionality (e.g. reduced dissolution of calcium carbonate) and ecological impacts (e.g. trace metal toxicity; species shifts) of OAE in this region. If results from the first voyage show no significant adverse ecological effects, and if the regulatory and societal environment is conducive, we will conduct a co-located small-scale in-situ alkalinity addition experiment in 2028 using dispersal and monitoring methods optimised during the first voyage. This project has been co-conceived with end users, including modellers and non-profits developing verification protocols, the Climate Change Authority which provides advice to the government about carbon removal schemes, the Integrated Marine Observing System, which needs to understand Australias observing needs in the area of marine CDR, and social scientists and legal scholars who will investigate the broader legal and social risk and responsibility dimensions of OAE. All end users have stressed the need for Australian field trials. The expected outcomes of this work include an initial assessment of the effectiveness and safety of OAE in the Australian context; development of a methodology that can be adapted and implemented in other Australian marine environments; up-skilling of the workforce in an area of expected growth; and an assessment of the regional public risk and responsibility concerns of OAE. The outcomes of this research are essential to help Australia develop a plan to achieve its commitment to net zero emissions by 2050. Funded by: CSIRO-Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation - Grant-Marine National Facility; University of Tasmania ($59,526).

Project Total: $431,402; This project develops the legal framework needed to harness the oceans potential to combat climate change. Removal of atmospheric carbon dioxide is essential to advance Australia's net zero climate policy and achieve Paris Agreement climate goals. Marine carbon removal technologies could greatly enhance the oceans sequestration role. Our vast ocean estate positions us for leadership, but only if the gaps, complexity and fragmentation of our legal framework are addressed. This project will devise reform recommendations for adaptive, anticipatory laws, spanning local to international scales, multiple sectors, public and private actors, to create an enabling environment for marine carbon removal that also protects marine and coastal values. Funded by: Australian Research Council - Grant-Discovery Projects ($431,402); University of Tasmania ($15,000).

Project Total: $35,000,000; The overarching research question for the CoE for The Weather of the 21st Century (W21C) will be: How is Australia's weather going to change with climate change?? This very simple sounding question is, perhaps surprisingly, one of the frontiers of climate science. Funded by: Australian Research Council - Grant-ARC Centres of Excellence; University of Melbourne; Australian National University; University of New South Wales; Monash University; University of Hawaii; Swiss Federal Institute of Technology; US National Center for Atmospheric Research; University of Tasmania ($1,189,408).

Project Total: $10,000,000; This grant will establish a collaborative, multidisciplinary network that builds national research capacity and capability in human health and environmental change. Funded by: National Health & Medical Research CouncilNational Health & Medical Research Council - Grant-Special Initiative Human Health & Env Change; Australian National University; University of Canberra; University of Tasmania ($516,693).

Project Total: $38,000,000; The Climate Systems Hub provides the opportunity to further develop Australia's climate science capability while working directly with adaptation practitioners . Having science and adaptation entwined together with other NESP Hubs is critical. Our vision involves scientists, practitioners, data-users and decision-makers participating in a two-way feedback loop with the Hub in shaping a national resilience building climate research program with practical on-ground results. Funded by: Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment - Grant-National Environmental Science Prgm (NESP); University of Melbourne; Australian National University; University of New South Wales; Tasmanian State Government; Monash University; Bureau of Meteorology; CSIRO-Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation; University of Tasmania ($600,000).

Project Total: $31,664; EASMO will produce i) recent and future (1996-2055) climate information at high spatio-temporal resolution integrating interannual-to-long-term atmosphericoceanic variability, ii) an unprecedented compilation of ETP fish biodiversity data and state-of-the-art species distribution models that predict future assemblages and key characteristics of potential reef catches (e.g. nutritional value, revenue), iii) a quantitative assessment of societal responses differentiated by social, economic and demographic characteristics, and iv) a clear pathway for making governance arrangements more flexible and adaptive to climate-driven redistributions, carved by an exceptional constellation of legal expertise. Funded by: BiodivERsA - Grant-Biodiversity and Climate Change; Stockholm Resilience Centre; University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $246,805; This project will expand Australia's climate response options by developing a governance framework for research, development and deployment of solar radiation management. These emerging technologies seek to reflect part of the sun's energy from the earth to reduce climate change impacts. Through case studies of key proposals, marine cloud brightening and stratospheric aerosol injection, the project aims to develop national laws and research policies to responsibly govern research, development and deployment in Australia. This will deliver benefits for Australian governments, civil society, communities and researchers by managing risks and building public confidence in these technologies and provide a best practice model for other countries. Funded by: Australian Research Council - Grant-Discovery Projects ($246,805); University of Tasmania ($18,000).

Project Total: $9,488; This project aims to understand what the potential security implications of geoengineering are at an international and national level, and whether Australian domestic law frameworks are equipped to respond to these security implications. Funded by: University of Tasmania; University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $6,275; This project will map Australias legal, policy and institutional frameworks for bushfire governance and analyse whether existing scholarship supports the emergence of a new sub-discipline that could be described as bushfire law. This analysis is important because, if bushfire law can be identified as a separate body of law, then urgent work is needed to clarify the relevant institutional frameworks, the scope of decision-making authority and responsibilities, and appropriate principles to guide legal and policy implementation. Funded by: University of Tasmania; University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $80,000; This project will examine the feasibility, scalability, efficacy, costs, and possible risks of negative emissions technologies and their relevance for Australian climate policy. Funded by: Department of Environment and Energy (Cwth) - Grant; Australian National University; University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $515,000; This application from 12 Universities (UNSW, UTS, Melbourne, Sydney, ANU, UQ, UWA, UTAS, Griffith, UNE, La Trobe, Flinders) proposes that the Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII), a free access research facility jointly operated by UNSW and UTS Faculties of Law, will develop a new research facility based on a Library of databases consolidating and enhancing access to legal and quasi-legal resources relating to Australian Environmental and Planning Law. Funded by: Australian Research Council - Grant-Linkage Infrastructure; University of Tasmania ($10,000).

Project Total: $4,500; A workshop will bring together scholars from the Asia Pacific and aims to provide wide-ranging analysis of the legal responses to impacts of climate change on Oceans and Coasts; including ocean acidification, marine geoengineering, human displacement, IMO ship emission measures, RFMO management of species distribution and sea level rise. Funded by: University of Tasmania - Grant-MAM Research Theme; University of Tasmania ($4,500).

Project Total: $7,793; This project scopes research designs for investigating what integrated, multiscale legal and/or governance regime for geoengineering technologies are required for Australia and how this governance regime will interact with transnational and international governance of geoengineering. Funded by: University of Tasmania - Grant-CAL Hothouse Research Enhancement Program; University of Tasmania ($7,793).

Project Total: $20,000; This is funding awarded as a prize, The Thinkable Peer Prize for Women 2017, and given to UTAS as a donation. It will be spent on research related to the prize nomination topic - interdisciplinary investigations of climate-driven species redistribution. Funded by: Donation via University of Tasmania Foundation - Donation ($20,000); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $11,250; Funded by: University of Tasmania - Grant- Research Enhancement Program; University of Tasmania ($11,250).

Project Total: $14,881; The overarching objective of this study is to evaluate the extent to which science undertaken in the Ningaloo region has built social capital among local community, and to understand how this has influenced the behaviours of the local community. Funded by: Western Australian Marine Science Institution ($14,881); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $34,661; The overarching objective of this project is to assess the extent to which new and evolving knowledge generated through the Ningaloo Research Program (NRP) has been integrated into decision-making processes, opportunities for immediate uptake, and identify options to improve its uptake in the future, including the identification of decision-support tools. Funded by: Western Australian Marine Science Institution ($34,661); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $2,870; This project will identify the barriers, enablers and context for the plan for Port Phillip Bay regional coastal adaptation framework. Funded by: Municipal Association of Victoria ($2,870); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $70,000; Funded by: Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency - Grant-NCCARF Synthesis and Integrative Research ($70,000); University of Tasmania.

Project Total: $292,784; Funded by: Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency - Grant-NCCARF Settlements & Infrastructure ($292,784); University of Tasmania ($10,000).

Project Total: $500,000; Funded by: Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency - Grant-Coastal Adaptation Decision Pathways Project; University of Tasmania.