The TC Beirne School of Law’s Dr Justine Bell-James will be engaged in two new research projects that have attracted more than $600,000 in Australian Research Council funding.
Dr Bell-James has secured an ARC Discovery Project grant worth $117,582 to design a legal framework that recognises, manages and protects Australia’s valuable mangrove ecosystems.
According to Dr Bell-James, global rates of mangrove loss are of great concern because of the significant ecosystem services they provide in coastal environments, including storing carbon dioxide, absorbing wave energy, and helping to protect coastlines from storm impacts and erosion.
The legal framework developed by Dr Bell-James in this project will also be adaptable to other fragile ecosystems in Australia.
Dr Bell-James is a co-investigator on another project – administered by the University of Technology Sydney – that has secured a $515,000 ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) grant.
Comprised of researchers from universities across the country, the research team will create an online Australian environmental and planning law library that provides comprehensive and free access to legal research resources.
The library will help researchers in the field conduct the highest quality research relating to the protection of natural resources, pollution prevention, and urban development and infrastructure planning. It will also support the development of improved public policy and better outcomes for the natural and built environments.
Across UQ’s Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, researchers were awarded seven Discovery Project grants and one LIEF grant, totalling $2.15 million in Australian Government funding.
BEL Faculty Associate Dean (Research) Professor Victor Callan said this funding would empower BEL researchers to strive for greater global impact with their work.
“Winning these highly competitive grants to fund these research projects illustrates the high quality of the researchers across our three schools,” he said.
“By collaborating with co-investigators in their own schools, across faculties and partner institutions, our researchers will be able to bring together different perspectives and apply their findings to help solve complex global challenges.
“Congratulations to our ARC grant recipients on their success.”
Read more about the 67 UQ projects to receive ARC Discovery Project grants.
Find out more about UQ's LIEF grants.
Contact: BEL Communications, media@bel.uq.edu.au, (07) 3346 9349.
