Think tank and university form partnership

The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA)  has partnered up with the University of Queensland to support research into environmental issues.

"With increasing public concern about issues such as climate change and water scarcity, this is the ideal time for us to expand our support for serious environmental scholarship," IPA executive director John Roskam said.

"We are pleased to have found a partner for this important work as highly esteemed as the University of Queensland and look forward to a long and productive working relationship."

Under the terms of the agreement, the IPA will have a dual role in the research program, funding research by three PHD students into key environmental challenges and acting as a conduit for public discourse on the research findings.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Prof David Siddle thanked the philanthropist who provided the funding through the IPA.

"This research will add to UQ's already wide-ranging work on the environment and sustainability, which includes numerous researchers exploring various aspects of carbon sequestration, environmental law, vegetation management and the impacts of agricultural chemicals. The projects provide further opportunities for widespread academic and public discussion of these significant issues," Siddle said.

The three areas of research currently being supported by the IPA through the partnership are:

• Agricultural practices and chemical usage — a project to critically assess the scientific evidence for environmental impacts of pesticides on coastal ecosystems and how these impacts can be controlled.
• Carbon sequestration in an Australian context — will focus on the biological aspects of carbon sequestration and its integration into the overall national and state carbon policies, which are directed at mitigating climate change.
• Evaluating environmental legal frameworks and protection policies — will evaluate the current legal frameworks for vegetation management in Australia, with particular reference to the Queensland Vegetation Management Act.

The partnership is believed to be the first of its kind in Australia between a think tank and a university and was made possible by a donation from a Perth-based philanthropist.