University students win prestigious coastal management research award

SOUTHERN Cross University students Chris Klaas and Muhammad Islami were joint winners of a prestigious research award recognising work that will shape the future of coastal management.

The pair received the Emeritus Professor Bruce Thom AM Student Research Award at the NSW Coastal Management Awards in Ballina.

It highlights academic research with the potential to make a significant contribution to the management and protection of coastal and estuarine environments.

Professor Thom founded the Australian Coastal Society and congratulated the PhD candidates.

He said Klaas is a pioneer for his work with the native leaf oyster, (isognomon ephippium).

“Chris is working his way through the whole reproductive system and learning about how things are cultured because we know so little about the leaf oyster,” Thom said.

“The work started from his honours project and it’s developing into very sophisticated PhD project.

“Chris is looking at optimal sites which could have conservation interests or restoration interests. It’s going to be a lifetime’s work.”

Professor Thom was also full of praise for Islami’s research.

 

He is investigating the role of macroinvertebrates in estuarine systems to assist in the monitoring of waterway health, particularly in the post-recovery phases after a flood.

“Muhammad is developing more efficient ways of collecting and analysing data that will help us understand better where the recovery rates, in terms of the ecological systems, are occurring faster than others, and where we need to look at more seriously the problems of depletion and damage,” Thom said.

The pair were nominated for the award by their supervisor Professor Kirsten Benkendorff from the university’s Catchments, Coast and Communities research cluster.

“This is amazing recognition for the innovative research that Chris and Muhammad are doing. They are both extremely hard-working students and totally deserving recipients of this award,” she said.

“It is also fantastic to hear Emeritus Professor Bruce Thom’s appreciation for the importance of traditional taxonomy and life history research, which these PhD students are coupling with modern technology, such as environmental DNA and real-time water quality monitoring, in sophisticated field experiments.

“Muhammad and Chris both benefit from co-supervisors in the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, which helps ensure their research has relevance for coastal management.”