Coal Minesite Rehabilitation Trust Fund 2021 Postgraduate Scholarships

Two postgraduate scholarships are on offer in 2021 for innovative research into ways to improve land rehabilitation measures for Queensland coal mines.

Applications may be aligned to one or more of the following research priorities:

• Native ecosystem rehabilitation esp. listed communities and success criteria;
• Rehabilitation of agricultural land esp. subsidence impacts;
• Measurement of rehabilitation success esp. new and emerging technologies;
• Landform design, drainage and stability;
• Water management impacts – surface and groundwater quantity and quality;
• Mine closure and transition esp. working with communities to identify rehabilitation outcomes, meeting regional planning expectations, and evaluation of residual risk.
• Other relevant areas of environmental management for coal mining may be considered such as carbon sequestration from rehabilitated land and cumulative impacts.

To give further context to these research priorities, please see the ACARP research priorities newsletter here.

• Microbial Communities in an Ephemeral Stream System and the Implications of Saline Mine Discharge – University of Queensland;
• Water quality management of Queensland coal mining activities: Developing a framework for monitoring long-term environmental effects – Central Queensland University;
• Soil Organic matter and carbon sequestration in rehabilitated mine soils – University of Queensland; and
• Toolbox for assessing fish habitat & health re coal & gas land practices in Fitzroy Basin – Central Queensland University.