Charles Sturt University

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is a multi-campus University located in rural New South Wales at Bathurst, Wagga Wagga and Albury. This places CSU in a strategic position in relation to the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia’s major region of primary production but also major areas of environmental challenges. The University’s Strategic Plan identifies four key pillars, two of which are the importance of regional engagement and the alignment of research direction to that engagement. The University therefore has a major focus on environmental sustainability of these production-based landscapes and has designated research centres which address key agendas.

  • The Johnstone Centre for Research in Natural Resources and Society
  • The Farrer Centre for Conservation Farming
  • The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre (a joint venture between CSU, NSW Agriculture and the NSW Wine Industry)
  • The Centre for Rural Social Research
  • The Complex Systems Research Group
  • The important aspect to note is the multidisciplinary basis involving production, environmental and social scientists.

CSIRO Australia

CSIRO is Australia's national science agency, employing over 6300 staff at 60 sites. CSIRO Land and Water seeks to develop innovative solutions to Australia’s land and water management challenges and to deliver innovative solutions and options to policy makers and land managers that are economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sustainable. Two key challenges are to develop efficient and equitable methods for allocating scarce water resources to irrigation, industry, urban and environmental uses; and to create, in partnership with Australian rural communities, new land use options that are profitable and sustainable. Ten Research Directorates provide integrated teams of scientists and policy analysis to tackle these challenges. Those most relevant to this position are:

  • Rivers and Estuaries
  • Sustainable Irrigation Systems
  • Water Security and Sustainable Communities
  • Future Farming Systems for Australian Landscapes
  • Salinity
  • Landscape Systems
  • Integrated Catchment Management
  • Policy and Economic Research Unit
  • Australian Research Centre for Water in Society

CSU and CSIRO Land and Water are members of the following national Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs):

  • CRC for Sustainable Rice Production (CSU and CLW)
  • CRC for Viticulture (CSU and CLW)
  • CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity (CSU and CLW)
  • CRC for Irrigation Futures (CSU and CLW)
  • CRC for Spatial Information Systems (CSU)
  • CRC for Catchment Hydrology (CLW)
  • CRC for Freshwater Ecology (CLW)

CLW is also a member of the Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre and the National Rivers Consortium of Land and Water Australia.