Groundwater Research & Training - November 2015
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The NCGRT team will be in Canberra for the Australian Groundwater Conference next week. We are therefore bringing to you our November edition of the Research and Training news a little early! Stay tuned for our Conference highlights newsletter in a few weeks.

 
 

Senator the Hon Anne Ruston to open the AGC 2015

We are excited to announce the Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Senator the Hon Anne Ruston will open the Australian Groundwater Conference on Tuesday 3rd November. With over 300 groundwater scientists, policy makers and managers in attendance, the conference is the largest gathering of groundwater specialists in recent times. For more information on the conference, see below.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

What are the researchers up to?

Check out the Australian Groundwater Conference program and pencil in presentations from the NCGRT affiliated researchers who will be presenting at next week's conference.  This is a fantastic opportunity to understand what the current Australian National Research agenda looks like, and to meet our inspiring researchers. 

To find out what sessions they are presenting, visit the program below.

 

Guess who the 2016 NCGRT/IAH Distinguished Lecturer will be?

NCGRT and IAH are joining forces to deliver the 2016 Distinguished Lecturer series which will be announced at the Australian Groundwater Conference - Thursday morning 5th November!

Stay tuned on twitter #AGC2015 to follow the announcement or if you are attending the conference, make sure you are in the Shine Dome in the morning.

 
 

UNSW CSG groundwater investigations in the Condamine Catchment, QLD

Research led by Associate Professor Bryce Kelly has undertaken one of the most extensive air and groundwater quality surveys around coal seam gas developments in South East Qld. The team involved 9 researchers from UNSW, ANSTO and Royal Holloway, University of London.

The goal was to baseline conditions in the region and to assess the extent of hydraulic connectivity between underwater aquifers and coals measures being targeted for coal seam gas production. In South East Qld there is concern about the impact of Australia’s largest coal seam gas developments immediately west of one of Australia’s most productive agricultural regions in the Condamine.

This important research has proven that throughout the Cecil Plains portion of the Condamine Alluvium, the concentration of methane in the groundwater is low. An important finding was that at four sites the chemical signature of the methane indicated that it was probably sourced from the Walloon Coal Measures. These four sites were isolated from each other. The combination of this spatial information and the low concentration of methane measured throughout the Condamine Alluvium indicate that the extent of natural connectivity between the Walloon Coal Measures and the Condamine Alluvium is low. But this finding does highlight the need for monitoring and additional research to assess the multi-decadal impacts of coal seam gas production.

Comprehensive details on the research will shortly be published in Iverach et al. (2015) Scientific Reports 5:15996 | DOI: 10.1038/srep15996. A summary of the research is provided at the link below.

Find out more on the excellent research work at UNSW Connected Waters Initiative by visiting their webpage here.

A number of UNSW staff and students will be presenting at the Australian Groundwater Conference in Canberra next week.

If you are attending the conference, UNSW will also be present with a trade display.

 

Researcher Spotlight: Mark Hocking

Mark Hocking is unique amongst NCGRT PhD candidates because he is also running his own successful consulting company.

He is now in his 3rd year of part-time PhD research studies at UNSW Australia. His PhD studies are aided by 20 years of experience as a hydrogeologist working on a variety of groundwater management issues throughout much of Australia including: salinity investigations, groundwater resource modelling, mine groundwater impact assessments, and groundwater flow system (GFS) classification.

 

Free webinar by Professor Okke Batelaan and Dr. Etienne Bresciani – Flinders University

Improving Adelaide’s Groundwater Management for Managers & Decision Makers - This webinar will focus on the used multi-methodology approach, in particular the regional groundwater modelling and scenario analysis.

Wednesday 2nd December 2015
3.30pm - 4.30 pm (Adelaide timezone)

 
 
 

Groundwater Jobs

The NCGRT is happy to help advertise Australian and International groundwater job opportunities as a free service to the groundwater community. Current jobs are listed below.

If you have a job you would like posted, send the NCGRT the details and we can advertise it for you.

 
 
 

ISMAR Conference

There is just a few weeks left to submit your abstract to ISMAR9 (combined with BSMAR15) which will be a brilliant conference.  Please submit your < 1 page abstract by 16 November. The template for abstract submission is on www.ismar9.org  

Deadline for submission November 16, 2015

 
 

Groundwater Hub of Southern Victoria - new website

This website brings groundwater information to the community in an engaging way to encourage your interest, awareness and conversation.

It combines theory, interactive maps, licensing information, operational advice and useful links to meet your needs.

 
 
 

What’s new in FEFLOW?

MIKE 2016 release preview: What's new in groundwater & porous media?

Later this year, the 2016 version of the MIKE Powered by DHI software suite will be launched – and with that, a new version of FEFLOW. A webinar session is also available to help you learn more about the news and improvements in the upcoming release

Webinar - What's new in FEFLOW?
17-19 November 2016