Watch our science

The latest videos featuring CRC researchers, PhD students and end-users explaining our science and the benefits it will bring are now up on our Hazard Channel, along with YouTube. You can also watch these latest clips below.

Topics featured include increasing our ability to monitor and predict natural hazards, flood fatalities in Australia, fire coalescence and spotfires, decision-making tools for mitigation and incidents, economic modelling, child-centred risk reduction, fire modelling in Tasmania and coastal adaptation.

What have we learnt about how people are dying in floods, and how is the NSW SES using this important information to develop policy and education initiatives? Project Leader Dr Katharine Haynes (Risk Frontiers) and end-user Dr Elspeth Rae (NSW SES) outline the trends around gender, age, activity and reason for the 1,859 flood fatalities between 1900 and 2015.

Research is using maths, simulations and experiments to better understand how spotfires develop. Findings will help fire managers understand the potential for extreme bushfire development, as project leader A/Prof Jason Sharples from the University of NSW explains.

Dr Jeff Kepert from the Bureau of Meteorology explains the research in the monitoring and prediction cluster - the goals of the projects and how they will produce accurate information to improve predictions.

How can incident management teams function to the best of their ability in challenging and high stakes environments? Project leader Dr Chris Bearman (CQUniversity) explains some of the tools developed through research to help emergency managers make the right decisions. 

Why do we need to know the cost of mitigation options for natural hazards, and how can we test different options based on future scenarios to find out what will be the best use of money? Lead researcher Prof Holger Maier (University of Adelaide) and lead end-user Ed Pikusa (Deptartment of Environment, Water and Natural Resources SA) explain the economics and strategic decisions cluster of projects.

Prof Mehmet Ulubasoglu from Deakin University is leading our study on the impacts of natural hazards on our economy. A case study has been undertaken looking at the 2010-2011 Queensland floods to see how the floods changed peoples employment status and income. Outcomes of this research will inform policy makers.

Our kids are the future, and they can play a vitial role in helping all of us stay safe from natural hazards. Our research is evaluating school risk reduction programs to find out what works best, and developing a strategy to implement them at scale all around the country. Researcher Dr Briony Towers (RMIT University) and end-user Tony Jarrett (NSW Rural Fire Service) explain.

Tim Ramm's PhD study at the University of Tasmania is developing a method for identifying long-term coastal adaptation plans under conditions of uncertainty. This research will help decision makers understand our changing risks along the coast.

Fire models for Tasmania currently use Victorian data. With the different fuel types, the modelling is not as good as it could be. PhD student James Furlaud (University of Tasmania) is gathering the data required to improve bushfire modelling for Tasmania.