Archives

  • Researcher in park
    Online presentation: A New Grassland for Royal Park, March 7
    PhD candidate Katherine Horsfall will be discussing her research into creating native wildflower meadows in urban landscapes in an online presentation organised by the Grassy Plains Network (GPN). Katherine is investigating how species from critically endangered temperate grasslands and grassy eucalypt woodlands can create urban wildflower meadows that can improve urban biodiversity and people’s exposure…
  • New Urban Horticulture Hub @ Burnley: Creating urban greening opportunities for students
    A new student resource, the Urban Horticulture Hub @ Burnley, aims to create a more vibrant, engaged and work-ready student community at the University of Melbourne’s Burnley Campus. Working with students, academic staff, alumni and partnering with industry associations, the hub will deliver activities that strengthen students’ connections to peers, create new opportunities for knowledge…
  • New Maintenance Guidelines for Australian Green Roofs
    Assoc/Prof John Rayner has brought together researchers and green roof industry experts to develop maintenance guidelines for more sustainable, flourishing green roofs. Tailored specifically for Australian conditions, the Maintenance Guidelines for Australian Green Roofs detail the tasks required to maintain green roof elements including plants, hard landscaping, drainage and fall protection. Case studies and sample…
  • Greening Cities event
    Bringing together urban greening professionals and researchers to transform urban landscapes Wed 20th & Thu 21st April 2022, Burnley Campus, University of Melbourne Register The Green Infrastructure Research Group and Nursery and Garden Industry Victoria are bringing Greening Cities to the beautiful Burnley campus this month. This is a great opportunity for industry professionals in…
  • International Women's Day: Celebrating women in science
    Senior Lecturer, Dr Claire Farrell, and PhD students from the School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences were featured as part of the University of Melbourne's International Women's Day celebrations, recognising the important role of women in science. Lubaina Sonil (from left to right) and Bihan Guo are researching plant performance and species resilience on green…
  • News July 4
    NEW PUBLICATIONS A Green Factor Tool for Enhanced Greening in Melbourne’s Urban Areas. As cities increase in size and density, the ecosystem services supplied by urban greenery and green infrastructure are increasingly vital for sustainable, liveable urban areas. However, retaining and maximising urban greenery in densifying cities is challenging. Judy Bush assisted in the development…
  • Latest Publications
    While some of us are still working remotely we continue to collaborate in research partnerships, engage with industry and foster student projects. Read about some of our current research in these recent publications. See all publications Relating the climate envelopes of urban tree species to their drought and thermal tolerance Hanley PA, Arndt SK, Livesley…
  • Hands touching tree
    NATURE CONNECTIONS for WELLBEING
    An immersive short course to better understand and create nature experiences for health and wellbeing. POSTPONED - New date to be advised Burnley Campus, University of Melbourne About People living in cities face increasing disconnection from the natural world and in this year, perhaps more than any other, we have become more aware of the…
  • CURT conference logo
    Global Knowledge Exchange in Urban Ecology
    GIRG recently joined German colleagues and students for the inaugural Comparative Urban ecology Research Training (CURT) conference (18-19th May). Dr Amy Hahs, Prof Nick Williams and PhD candidate Julia Schiller delivered the online event with colleagues at the Technical University Berlin (Dr Tanja Straka, Chente Ortiz) and Free University Berlin (Prof Jonathan Jeschke, PhD student…
  • Green it Up: Revitalising Australia's CBDs in a pandemic
    Claire Farrell was interviewed as part of a study commissioned by the Property Council of Australia looking at how to re-engergise central business districts (CBDs) across the country. Since COVID, the number of workers and visitors in CBDs has fallen with resulting economic, cultural and social impacts. From interviews with ‘big thinkers’, surveys of 600…
  • New solutions for cooling urban landscapes
    PhD candidate Pui Kwan (Paul) Cheung and A/Prof Stephen Livesley are working on a novel project looking at the use of misting to cool urban landscapes. Working with South East Water and the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, their research is looking at how misting in built up environments can help tackle the urban heat…
  • Online workshop: Green Roof Maintenance
    Find link to recording here In this free online1.5-hour workshop, research experts and practitioners in green roof design and maintenance outlined the key maintenance requirements for a range of Australian green roofs. Maintenance is critical for functional, flourishing green roofs - ensuring they deliver the long-term benefits for which they were designed - including rainwater…
  • Royal Park Direct Seeding Project
    In late April, almost a million seeds of native meadow species were sown across a 1,300m2 area under eucalypts in Royal Park. The Royal Park Direct Seeding Project is a collaboration between the City of Melbourne and the University of Melbourne’s Nick Williams, Steve Livesley and John Delpratt. PhD student Katherine Horsfall joins the team…
  • Moving on to new biodiversity ventures
    Caragh Threlfall is leaving GIRG for University of Sydney, having received a Commonwealth Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (ARC DECRA) for the project Success and the city: biodiversity responses in urban environments. Through developing and testing a framework linking urban expansion and biodiversity change, her project aims to identify favourable conditions that support biodiversity in…
  • Researcher in park
    PhD News
    JULY 2020 Image: PhD candidate Katherine Horsfall at her grassland research plots in Royal Park Road verges provide ecosystem benefits plus new projects in urban grasslands, how misting can cool cities and stormwater for urban trees. Congratulations to Adrian Marshall for completing his candidature in which he researched ways to maximise the ecosystem and social…
  • Collaborative ecology in public spaces - shared learnings
    Collaborative research projects in urban ecology and biodiversity were the focus of a March workshop led by GIRG’s Nick Williams with Prof Alexander Felson (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning) and visiting scholar Prof Diane Pataki (University of Utah). Open space managers and maintenance professionals joined researchers at the Melbourne workshop to share learnings and…
  • Recent Publications
    JULY 2020 Biochar source material matters Joerg Werdin and colleagues tested the wood of 18 eucalyptus species and found that biochar made from lower density wood was better at storing water and making it available for plants, with implications for the use of biochar as a substrate additive. Werdin J, Fletcher T, Rayner J, Williams…
  • Bringing nature back to cities: Streetscape Biodiversity Case Study
    The City of Melbourne has released a comprehensive case study of their biodiversity streetscape research project. The project has illustrated how diversifying streetscape plants can have measurable biodiversity benefits by providing resources such as habitat, food and nesting materials. Researchers Nick Williams, Caragh Threllfall, John Rayner and Jess Bauman have been working with City of…
  • Green Roof At Skypart
    Roadmap for Greener Cities
    GIRG researchers Nicholas Williams, Kate Lee, John Rayner and Rachael Bathgate have worked with our industry, government and research partners to develop the Roadmap for Green Roofs, Walls and Facades in Australia’s Urban Landscapes 2020-2030. The roadmap sets out the actions for achieving a flourishing green infrastructure industry and more liveable future green cities, and…
  • Putting Melbourne's Green Plans into Practice
    Dr Claire Farrell took part in a lively panel discussion on urban greening as part of an MPavilion event “Living Melbourne: A Practitioner’s Toolkit to Improve Urban Biodiversity” (Feb 2020). Claire’s co-presenters were Dr Nick Somes (Ecodynamics) and Emma Pryse (Greening the Pipeline). Claire spoke about how the Woody Meadow project could improve urban greening…
  • Global Exchanges - Sweden and China
    Amy Hahs joins the China-Australia Young Scientist Exchange Program Dr Amy Hahs recently visited China as one of 16 Australian Scientists selected to participate in the 2019 Australia-China Young Scientist Exchange Program (YSEP). The Program is funded by the Australian Department of Industry, Innovation, and Science and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. The…
  • Professor Terry Hartig: Nature Experience, Psychological Restoration and Health
    Prof. Kathryn Williams and Assoc. Prof. Katherine Johnson received funding from the University of Melbourne Brotherton fellowship to host a visit from Professor Terry Hartig (Uppsala University, Sweden), a leader in research on nature and health. Terry has previously collaborated with many of us in GIRG and is also working with Hort Innovation funded researchers…
  • New Publications
    Read about our latest research on stormwater for urban trees, citizen greening, biochar and more. See full list of GIRG publications Benefits of trees in stormwater control measures PhD candidate Jasmine Thom and colleagues installed infiltration trenches alongside established street trees to capture and direct stormwater and found trees used a significant proportion of this…
  • Project news: Grants, awards and collaborations
    Our researchers and students are collaborating with urban managers and communities to make cities greener and cooler Green Our Rooftop A number of GIRG students and academics have been successful in obtaining research grants and postgraduate scholarships as part of the Green Our Rooftop Demonstration Green Roof project. This funding has been made available by…
  • Your Perceptions of Green Roofs
    We invite you to participate in 10 min online survey about what people think about different types of green roofs. The survey will ask questions about a series of green roof images, as well as some questions about you. Access the survey here. For more information contact: Dr Kate Lee University of Melbourne Ph: (03)…
  • Scoping current challenges and best-practice examples of cities' biodiversity strategies
    Dr Amy Hahs is collaborating on a new project to scope current challenges and best-practice examples related to the effective delivery of biodiverse and multi-functional green spaces in cities. Amy will investigate and develop actions toward redressing the unequal distribution of urban green spaces in some of Australia’s most populous cities, and how this may…
  • Title slide from slide summary
    Green Roof, Walls and Facades Summits
    Our green infrastructure researchers recently ran two highly successful industry summits in Sydney and Melbourne to create a vision, and identify pathways, for greater greening in cities throughout Australia. The Green Roof, Walls and Facades Summits brought together researchers and over 60 practitioners from green infrastructure industries. The summits were led by Dr Kate Lee,…
  • Launch of landmark demonstration green roof site
    A/Prof Nick Williams, Dr Kate Lee and Dr Rachael Bathgate recently attended the Demonstration Green Roof Project launch, on behalf of the project team. Researchers joined representatives from the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Melbourne Water, City of Melbourne, Aspect Studios, The Hon. Lily D’Ambrosio – Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate…

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