Green Infrastructure Research Group
Green infrastructure research is key to liveable cities for people and biodiversity.
We are an interdisciplinary team of Australia’s leading green infrastructure experts with a shared passion for using plants to make cities more liveable.
We create and embed knowledge and technologies in smart design, construction and maintenance of green spaces, trees, parks, rain gardens, and green roofs and green walls in built environments. We research urban horticulture and urban forests, people-plant interactions, the ecology and biodiversity of cities and the systems that sustain flourishing urban vegetation. We are part of the School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences and are based at the University’s historic Burnley campus.
Study
Study with us at the University’s Burnley campus to start your horticultural journey or build on existing expertise. We offer flexible learning options delivered by world-class researchers and industry experts. Gain work-ready skills and learn the latest in horticultural research and practice on a campus designed for botanical education and excellence.
Graduate studies and short courses
Graduate Diploma in Urban Horticulture
Graduate Certificate in Urban Horticulture
Discovering Horticulture (short course)
Graduate Certificate in Arboriculture
Urban Forest Masterclass (short course)
We acknowledge and pay respect to the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Burnley campus is located.
Meet the academics and researchers in the Green Infrastructure Research Group.
Academic staff
Dr Zahra Saraeian
Specialist staff
Dr Himali Balasooriya Balasooriya Lekamalage
Graduate researchers
Lu Cao
Urban Green Spaces and Health
Supervisor: Dr Amy Hahs
Zoë Davis
Urban Ecology and Biodiversity, Interactions with Nature, Children's Health
Supervisor: Dr Amy Hahs
Nicole Raine Dowling
Plant Selection for Future Cities, Urban Green Spaces
Supervisor: A/Prof Claire Farrell
Rebecca Du
Urban Trees and Urban Forestry
Supervisor: Prof Stephen Livesley
Jianfeng Gao
Urban Greenspaces
Supervisor: Prof Stephen Livesley
Katherine Horsfall
Urban Green Spaces, Plant Selection for Future Cities, Native Wildflower Meadow
Supervisor: Prof Nicholas Williams
Lavinia Hsiao-Hsuan Chu
Urban Green Spaces, Plant Selection for Future Cities, Woody Meadows
Supervisor: A/Prof Claire Farrell
Juan José Reyna Monrreal
Urban Green Spaces, Urban Ecology and Biodiversity, Garden Design
Supervisor: Dr Amy Hahs
Claire Kenefick
Urban Green Spaces, Plant Selection for Future Cities, Woody Meadows
Supervisor: A/Prof Claire Farrell
Evariste Rutebuka
Urban Biodiversity and Ecosystem Indicators: Linking Local and Global Reporting
Supervisor: Dr Amy Hahs
Theresa Wing Ling Lam
Blue-green infrastructure, Air pollution, Microplastics
Supervisor: Prof Stephen Livesley
We work in multidisciplinary research teams in collaboration with urban land managers, industry, designers and communities to develop effective and sustainable nature-based solutions for cities. Our local and international partnerships are centred around knowledge exchange and co-design to ensure programs are tailored for real-world application and direct research impact.
Research themes
Urban Green Spaces: Function, Benefits and Design
Creating green spaces for more liveable, resilient cities
Parks and reserves, street verges and private gardens are examples of urban green spaces that support diverse types of vegetation and contribute significantly to the liveability and resilience of cities. Our urban space research contributes to a comprehensive knowledge base on species, plant traits and landscape designs for existing and future scenarios.
We work with urban land managers and communities to investigate how these spaces function to support social and environmental benefits (ecosystem services) and how best to design and manage them for optimal outcomes.
Projects
The Woody Meadow Project
Urban Trees and Urban Forestry
Improving life in cities and beyond with trees
Our urban tree research is helping councils, property owners, the design community and construction industry maximise the multiple benefits of urban trees through appropriate species selection, site preparation, monitoring, maintenance and management. We work in global partnerships to research the design and management requirements for flourishing urban forests.
See also: Urban Forests for Resilient Communities, Climate and Environment (UrbanFORCCE)
Urban Ecology and Biodiversity
Helping people and nature thrive in built environments
We advance urban ecology knowledge through research into the diversity and distribution of organisms in cities, investigating how urbanisation affects their ecology and the ecosystem processes that sustain them. We develop smart solutions to help nature thrive alongside humans in different types of urban contexts and green infrastructure scenarios.
See also: Biodiverse Cities
Green Roofs
Creating vegetated landscapes on city rooftops around the world
Our long-term green roof research program is supported by three dedicated research and demonstration green roofs at our Burnley campus along with glasshouses, plant nursery and laboratories. We have developed an extensive body of research including:
- Evaluating plant species for Australian green roofs based on plant characteristics, habitat templates and performance
- Developing and testing novel green roof substrate mixes
- Quantifying hydrology and building energy benefits of green roofs
- Investigating psychological benefits and determining preferred green roof types
Publications
- Burnley Green Roof Plant Guide
- Maintenance Guidelines for Australian Green Roofs
- Roadmap for Australian Green Roofs, Walls and Facades
- Growing Green Guide
Links
Plants and Water in the Landscape
Integrating water sensitive urban design for flourishing vegetation and cool cities
We investigate plant-water relationships and Water Sensitive Urban Designs (WSUD), helping to build sustainability and resilience into urban greening projects for healthy vegetation and cool cities. We work with research partners to investigate and design more effective and efficient smart water solutions for urban planning and city landscapes. Our research partners include the Waterway Ecosystem Research Group.
Food Production for Urban Landscapes
We research diverse topics in urban agriculture in Australia and around the world and explore the role of urban agriculture in modern-day cities. We investigate plant growth and maintenance requirements, urban-specific production methods, social aspects of urban agriculture and mainstream and alternative crops (fruit and vegetables).
Find a supervisor
The following staff are available to supervise honours and masters research in the Green Infrastructure Research Group.
Professor Stephen Livesley
My research focuses on quantifying the many benefits of urban forests, from climate, runoff, biodiversity habitat and pollution reduction.
Project topics:
- I research the impact of trees, green space and water upon the urban energy balance and microclimate cooling.
- I study new ways to integrate water-sensitive urban design with urban trees for canopy cover, runoff reduction and pollution benefits.
- I incorporate urban soil science into many of my projects as the soils and substrates in our cities are central to many ecosystem functions.
A/Prof Claire Farrell
Claire’s research focuses on how we can use plants in green infrastructure (green roofs, facades, rain gardens and woody meadows) to make cities more liveable. Urban greening can provide wide-ranging benefits for human health and well-being, biodiversity, stormwater mitigation and cooling. By understanding how plants function and selecting plants that can both tolerate and thrive in urban landscapes, we can create green and resilient cities.
Project topics:
- Plant selection for green infrastructure (plant traits and tolerances for green facades, raingardens and Woody Meadows).
- Plant selection for naturalistic plantings (plant traits and tolerances).
Dr Amy Hahs
Amy looks at the impacts of urban environments on plants, animals, and other organisms, the relationship this has with human health and wellbeing, and how we can develop collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches to create better cities for biodiversity and people.
Project topics:
- What are the responses of biodiversity to different types of greening interventions and management practices?
- Relationships between biodiversity, green spaces and human health and wellbeing.
- How can we improve the design and management of urban greening to better support and enhance urban biodiversity, and create better cities for people and nature?
Dr Marie Dade
Marie is an urban landscape ecologist who is interested in understanding the social, health and environmental benefits that urban greenery provides to people, and identifying how we can manage these spaces to increase benefits to people while also supporting biodiversity in cities.
Project topics:
- Quantifying the environmental and health benefits provided by different urban park designs.
- Developing indicators and metrics to measure and monitor urban greenspace benefits that can be used to inform urban sustainability targets.
- Exploring how small greenspaces contribute to the sustainability of cities (are small greenspaces providing different environmental, health and biodiversity benefits to large urban greenspaces?)
Dr Paul Cheung
Paul Cheung is a Research Fellow in Urban Microclimates. His research focuses on optimising the cooling benefits of blue-green infrastructure in public and private urban spaces through design and management interventions to improve human thermal comfort and the climate resilience of cities.
Project topics:
- Measuring and modelling the cooling benefits of irrigating urban green spaces, and understanding the cooling mechanisms of irrigation.
- Understanding the spatial extent and magnitude of park cool island effect.
- Quantifying the cooling and stormwater benefits of blue-green infrastructure in private residential spaces.
Dr Julian Brown
Julian studies the interactions between plants and animals across urban, agricultural, and fire-prone landscapes. He is particularly interested in the overlap between biodiversity conservation and the provision of ecosystem services, such as conserving native pollinators in food production areas.
Project topics:
- Reintroducing/translocating pollinators and other insects into urban or agricultural environments.
- Reintroducing/translocating pollinators and other insects into urban or agricultural environments.
- Managing native pollinators in urban agriculture.
Dr Dean Schrieke
Dean's research centres on sustainable urban ecosystems, with a focus on green infrastructure and urban ecology. They use experimental methods, data analysis, and modelling to improve plant selection and performance in urban settings.