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News and Media

Introducing the Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium

After 20 years of operation, as the result of a comprehensive strategic planning process, and with the support of our partners and Healthy Land and Water, the South East Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium has broadened its delivery to become the Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium (QFBC), thus reflecting an increased demand from landholders and stakeholders for the high-quality products and services provided by the QFBC.

Encouraging women into fire and biodiversity science

The 11th of February marks the 5th International Day of Women and Girls in Science and this year’s theme is Investment in Women and Girls in Science for Inclusive Green Growth.
International Day of Women and Girls in Science provides a platform that recognises the critical role women and girls play in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).
At the SE Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium, we work with a many intelligent, innovative and dedicated women. To celebrate, we asked a small portion of the Women SEQFBC work with about what has inspired them to pursue careers in STEM and what has been the most rewarding part of their careers.
Here is what they had to say.

Added 11 February 2020

Registrations NOW OPEN for the SEQFBC Fire Science Forum 2020 - Facing Fire in a Changing Climate

Please join us for our popular Annual Fire Science Forum with the theme "Facing Fire in a Changing Climate".

The SEQ Fire & Biodiversity Consortium are pleased to present our annual Fire Science Forum, at our new venue, the Queensland State Library, on Tuesday 17, March. We have a range of world-class speakers, including researchers from the Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfire (Wollongong University), Queensland University, CSIRO & the BOM; & expert fire operators from QFES, Powerlink & Ten Rivers. With the theme, “Facing Fire in a Changing Climate “, topics include prescribed burning, smoke, fire ecology, infrastructure risk, fire weather & an overview of Queensland’s 2019/20 Bushfire Emergency. We look forward to seeing you there!

Find out more on our events page: http://www.fireandbiodiversity.org.au/events.html

SEQFBC Research Student Scholarship Program 19/20 - Applications NOW OPEN

The SEQFBC are pleased to announce the SEQFBC Research Student Scholarship Program for the 2019/2020 financial year. The Scholarship Program aims to provide financial assistance and research support to an Honours, Masters or PhD student undertaking applied research into fire ecology and/or fire management (e.g. integrated fire and weed or fire and soil management) in the SEQ bioregion. The Scholarship Program will favour applied research that contributes to our understanding of fire ecology or best practice fire management. The scholarship/s are valued between $1000 and $3000. Applications will be judged on merit by a panel of three people from the SEQFBC partners.

For more information click here: http://www.fireandbiodiversity.org.au/research.html

Interested students are encouraged to contact Dr Sam Lloyd, /Manager of the SEQFBC via email: Samantha.L@hlw.org.au or mobile: 0438 008 668.

Applications close COB Friday 24th February 2020.

Added 17 December 2019 | Updated 29 Jan 2020

The SEQ Fire & Biodiversity Consortium: Celebrating 20 Years

On a perfect Brisbane winter day, over 200 people gathered together at the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens to celebrate 20 years of the SEQ Fire and Biodiversity Consortium. With the theme Fire, Research and Partnerships, this anniversary forum showcased applied fire ecology and onground fire management projects and programs that highlight the value of partnerships and longevity in applied fire ecology and onground management. As always, there was a focus on translating science into practice, with a session dedicated to local fire research and student projects. With an impressive line-up of engaging and skilled speakers, post-presentation question time was busy and there was much chatter and swapping of business cards and numbers during break time.

In a time of ever-increasing pressure on resources and people’s time, it is a remarkable achievement for the SEQ Fire and Biodiversity Consortium to have reached 20 years. It is illustrative of not only the dedication and expertise of partners, but also the importance of the outcomes to the people and organisations involved and the strength of the relationships supporting those outcomes.

With 17 presentations, delivered by 30 presenters from 21 different organisations the program was a living example of collaboration, partnerships and applied fire outcomes. It is not possible to do justice to all the great presentations, so instead we highlight key messages from each presenter....Read more:

Added 19 July 2019

Fire Ignites Ecology Conference

Dangerous bushfire weather is set to worsen with climate change according to climate scientists. This places landholders directly in the firing line, with the majority of bushland in Australia in private ownership and not managed by state or federal agencies.

In the last week of November, over 700 ecologists met in Brisbane for the annual conference of the Ecological Society of Australia (ESA), which showcases the best and most innovative ecological science in the nation. HLW’s long-term fire program, the South East Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium (SEQFBC) was invited by ESA to host a fire forum in conjunction with the conference. ESA aims to help close the gap between scientists and practitioners by supporting events that provide opportunity for collaboration, sharing of stories and networking. The ESA sponsored event provided SEQFBC partners and associates with subsidised attendance, which was very well received with over 160 SEQFBC registrations. Read more:

Added 25 January 2019

What about the other 70% of the landscape? Addressing fire management on peri-urban private land

The lack of fire, too frequent fire, lack of skills, lack of resources, lack of coordination are but some of the issues that are associated with the use of fire by private landholders across SE Queensland that have been identified by Susie Fifoot a PhD Candidate from the School of Earth and Environmental Science, The University of Queensland who is researching the private use of fire across the landscape in SE Queensland.
Susie recently presented her current research findings at the SEQFBC Fire Science Forum 2018, that was held on the 26th November 2018 as part of the ESA18 Conference in Brisbane. Below are some excerpts from that presentation.

added, 20 December 2018

SEQFBC Fire Science Forum 2018

Monday 26 November 2018 – Brisbane Showgrounds
The South East Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium (SEQFBC) are thrilled to be partnering with the Ecological Society of Australia (ESA) to offer this specialist forum at the ESA annual conference this year in Brisbane. The SEQFBC Fire Science Forum (the Forum) is squarely aimed at connecting fire scientists, ecologists and students with onground fire operators, land managers and other fire professionals. With a focus on local research, collaborative fire programs and the relationship between fire and private land conservation, the Forum will showcase applied fire ecology and management research and private land partnerships that translate science into practice for beneficial onground outcomes. Read more:
added 20 Sept 2018

The chemical signature of fire regime: implications for plant growth and nutrient demand

During his PhD studies, Orpheus Butler resolved to understand how fire regimes affect the levels of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, etc.) in soil, and how these effects in turn influence the growth, chemistry, nutrient demands of plants. Orpheus found that fire consistently increases the levels of phosphorus (P) relative to nitrogen (N) and carbon in topsoil and leaf litter . This effect was consistent across a range of ecosystems around the world but is of particular significance in Australia, where many soils have very low levels of P. Read more.

Does fire play a role in the Northern BristleBird Recovery?

Recent research by Zoe Stone of the University of Queensland has found that a loss of fire, particularly increased periods of individual fire absence strongly influenced habitat extent, and northern bristlebird persistence was more likely at sites with increased fire frequency. With reduced fire, this important grassy habitat is being lost to rainforest and weed encroachment. Read more.

added 20 September 2018

Fire a hot topic at the Private Land Conservation Conference

Richard Geddes, Bush Heritage’s National Fire Program Manager will lead a field trip to Queensland Trust for Nature’s 2000 ha, working cattle property called Aroona as part of this year’s Australian Land Conservation Alliance Conference, PLC18, being held in Brisbane between 24-26 October 2018. Read more.

added 20 Sept 2018

Record low level of transmission network fire events

August 2018. Powerlink’s record low levels of outages due to fires in recent times have been attributed to the close working relationships Powerlink Easement Officers have with landholders, state land management agencies such as Local Government and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services and Seqwater, and emergency services such as Rural Fire Service. This is also supported through its membership in the South East Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium (SEQFBC) and the educational and engagement programs undertaken by the SEQFBC activities across the region such as the Private Property Planning Workshops. Read more.

To Rake or not to Rake? – study into the effectiveness of prescribed burn preparation around trees

August 2018. As part of her honours project, Victoria Crepin of Griffith University, is investigating if the raking of leaf litter away from large trees protects them from increased temperatures and burning during controlled burns in dry sclerophyll forests in southeast Queensland. It is also investigating how different distances of raking effects the amount of heat the trunks are subject to during the burns. Read more

Fire Research in Australia’s fire-prone heathlands

July 2018. Mark Ooi (Senior Research Fellow from UNSW) is conducting research into post fire recovery of Australia’s heathlands and thanks to SEQ Fire and Biodiversity Consortium, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and HQ Plantations is extending his research into the heathlands of the South East Queensland. The overall project Mark and his team are involved with is aimed at improving conservation outcomes for planned burns. The study will help to improve understanding of post-fire recovery and recruitment of the vegetation in these areas, especially the threatened species Boronia keysii and rare B. rivularis. We are particularly interested in the effects of conducting burns in different seasons. Read more.

Newsletters

SEQFBC E-news

The South East Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium E-news is a regular compilation providing a general overview of international, national and regional media coverage and recent journal articles of fire and biodiversity-related issues.

To receive the SEQFBC please register on our Contact Page. View Past SEQFBC E-news

Consortium Newsletter

Our Consortium-wide newsletter provides a synopsis of the projects we are currently involved with, reviews of recent publications and interesting articles of fire and biodiversity related topics by various authors.

We hope that you enjoy reading the newsletter and we welcome any feedback.

Queensland's Fire Seasons Part 2 Seasonal Severity by Peter Leeson as highlighted in 2014 Issue is available free for down load below:

Queenslands fire weather Part 2 Seasonal Severity Peter Leeson 2014 (941 KB)

Fire Research Newsletter Ed 1 January 2014 The first edition of the SEQFBC Fire Research Newsletter. The newsletter provides a synopsis of fire related research currently being undertaken within SEQ and nine paper summaries.

Fire Research Newsletter Issue 1 (826 KB)

2013

SEQFBC Newsletter 2013 Issue 2 (1304 KB)

In Issue 2 we provide an excerpt from an article by Mr Peter Leeson, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service on Queensland's fire seasons. This is Part 1 of a series of articles by Peter on Queensland's Fire Weather. The full article can be found below.

Queensland's Fire Weather Part 1 Fire Seasons Oct 2013 (500 KB)

SEQFBC Newsletter 2013 Issue 1 (6031 KB)

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