Forum and conference programs and proceedings

3:00 - 6:00pm

Registration

Aung San Suu Kyi Conference Centre, Union Complex Building 21C

Wednesday 28^th September

7:00 - 10:50am

Registration

8:45 - 10:20am

PLENARY SESSION

Abel Smith Lecture Theatre, Building 23

Chair: Dr Samantha Lloyd (Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium)

8:45am

Welcome to Country 

Shannon Ruska (Founder and Director of the Nunukul Yuggera Aboriginal Dance Troupe)

8:55am

Welcome and Opening

9:10am

Opening Address 

Professor Hugh Possingham (School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland)

9:30am

Keynote Presentation

A tale (mostly) of one city: toward a comprehensive understanding of bushfire risks, present and future.

Professor Ross Bradstock (Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfire, University of Wollongong)

10:20 - 10:50am

Morning Tea

Union Complex, Building 21C

Please note: it takes approximately 5mins to walk from the Union Complex to the Prentice Building (Bld 42) and the Physiology Lecture Theatre (Bld 63).

10:50am  - 1:00pm

THEME 1:

Fire and Risk

Bld 42 (Prentice Bld), Room 216

Chair: Andrew Sturgess (Qld Fire and Emergency Services)

THEME 2:

Cultural Burning and Traditional Custodian Fire Projects

Bld 23, Abel Smith Lecture Theatre

Chair: Oliver Costello (University of Technology, Sydney, NSW)

THEME 3:

Community Engagement: Building Partnerships and Facilitating Change

Bld 63, Physiology Lecture Theatre, Rm 348

Chair: Craig Welden (Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium)

Holistic bushfire management at a continental scale: Achieving consistency & improvements

Cuong Tran (Ten Rivers, Qld)

Cultural Pathways of Fire

Oliver Costello (Co-founder of the Firesticks Initiative and Visiting Fellow, University of Technology Sydney, NSW)

Connecting Community and Koala using Phoenix Rapid Fire

Phillip Patterson (Rural Fire Service, NSW)

Wye River Learnings and Recovery

Justin Leonard (CSIRO, Vic)

Fire Planning for the Katiti Petermann IPA : Family Fire Country

Jane Blackwood, Tracey Guest, Selina Kulitja Bernard Bell and Raymond James (Central Lands Council, NT)

Landholders linking through Landcare for landscape fire planning in the Queensland Murray Darling Basin for carbon, production & biodiversity

Rhonda Toms-Morgan, Col Paton, Peter Thompson, Lynda Hardwick, Roxane Blakley and Donna Hurley (Queensland Murray Darling Committee & EcoRich Grazing, Qld)

SABRE Fire - A Stochastic Simulation-based Fire Spread Decision Support System

Ben Twomey (Queensland Fire & Emergency Services, Qld)

Cultural fire landscapes on North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah)

Dave Kington, Darren Burns and Dr Paul Williams (Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation and Vegetation Management Science, Qld)

Capacity Building in the Surat Basin

Murray Abel (Powerlink, Qld)

Managing ecological risks in prescribed burning

Wayne Kington and Adrian Pyrke (Australian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council, Vic)

Winba = Fire: Developing a fire & seasons calendar for Wattleridge IPA

Michelle McKemey and Lesley Patterson (University of New England & Banbai Employment Development Aboriginal Corporation, NSW)

CFA Fire-Scape: Social factors in Community Fire Management

Mike McStephen (Wellington Shire Council, Vic)

Implementing a Risk Based Approach to Fire Management in Victoria

Frazer Wilson (Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Vic)

Minyumai Rangers use fire & burning to convert a long-grazed & weed dominated clearing back into coastal forested wetland vegetation

Daniel Gomes, Marcus Ferguson, Justin Gomes, Daniel Wilson, Belinda Gomes, Emma Wilson, Kesha Wilson and Lilly Wilson (Minyumai Land Holding Aboriginal Corporation, NSW and Ngunya Jargoon Indigenous Protected Area, Jali Local Aboriginal Land Council, NSW)

Can citizens accurately report on fuel hazard?

Dr Ernst Kemmerer and Mark Wisniewski (Cradle Coast NRM, Tas)

The application of economics in US wildfire management

Dr Tyron Venn*, David Calkin and Matt Thompson (University of the Sunshine Coast*, Qld and the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, USA)

Fusing ‘Tech’ and ‘TEK’: Queensland’s Cape, fire and forging partnerships

Janie White and Les Harrigan (Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Rinyirru Land Trust Corporation, Qld)

Building Partnerships and Facilitating Change for Improved Fire Management: The South East Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium Model

Craig Welden (Queensland Fire and Biodiversity)

Lunch

Union Complex, Building 21C

PLENARY SESSION

Abel Smith Lecture Theatre, Building 23

Chair: Chandra Wood (Brisbane City Council)

Keynote Presentation 

Managing Fire in the New Millennium

Dr Neil Burrows (Science and Conservation Division, Department of Parks and Wildlife, WA)

THEME 1 continued:

Fire and Risk

 Bld 42 (Prentice Bld), Room 216

Chair: Cuong Tran (Ten Rivers)

THEME 2 continued:

Cultural Burning and Traditional Custodian Fire Projects

Bld 23, Abel Smith Lecture Theatre

Chair: Oliver Costello (University of Technology Sydney, NSW)

THEME 4:

Fire Ecology

 Bld 63, Physiology Lecture Theatre, Rm 348

Chair: Dr Penny Watson (Office of Environment and Heritage)

QFES Predictive Services Team: Planning, preparedness, response & recovery

Andrew Sturgess (Queensland Fire & Emergency Services, Qld)

Fire management on the Western Cape: Tradition, science & building economic opportunity

Gavin Kendall, Eddie Kendall and Peter Barker (Pormpuraaw Aboriginal Shire Council & Queensland Indigenous Land & Sea Ranger Program, Qld)

Evidence for bark thickness as a fire resistance trait from desert to savanna in fire-prone inland Australia

Professor Mike Lawes and Dr Catherine Nano (Charles Darwin University and The Department of Land Resource Management, NT)

Investigating issues of implementing a strategic tenure-blind prescribed burning program in South Australia

Tim Groves (Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, SA)

People, fire and landscape in the Bunya Mountains

Mick Smith (Bunya Murri Rangers, Qld)

Tracking recovery and vital attributes f flora species after severe wildfire, Warrumbungle National Park, north-western NSW

Dr Penny Watson and Dr Elizabeth Tasker (Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW)

Mechanical Fuel Load Reduction Trials

Dr Fabiano Ximenes and John Samuel (Department of Primary Industry, NSW)

Cultural fire management on the Sunshine Coast for the first time since traditional times

Kerry Jones and Susie Chapman (Bunya Bunya Country Aboriginal Corporation and Healthy Waterways and Catchments, Qld)

Fire effects on pollinators and pollination

Julian Brown^S and Associate Professor Alan York (University of Melbourne, Vic)

Afternoon Tea

Union Complex, Building 21C 

THEME 1 continued:

Fire and Risk

 Bld 42 (Prentice Bld), Room 216

Chair: Cuong Tran (Ten Rivers)

THEME 2 continued:

Cultural Burning and Traditional Custodian Fire Projects

Bld 23, Abel Smith Lecture Theatre

Chair: Oliver Costello (University of Technology Sydney, NSW)

THEME 4 continued:

Fire Ecology

 Bld 63, Physiology Lecture Theatre, Rm 348

Chair: Dr Penny Watson (Office of Environment and Heritage)

Factors driving flammability in the mountainous forests of Victoria

Dr Jane Cawson, Dr Thomas Duff, Dr Trent Penman & Associate Professor Kevin Tolhurst (University of Melbourne, Vic)

Preliminary results from monitoring the responses of vertebrate groups to applying contemporary indigenous burning practices in northern NSW IPAs

David Milledge (Landmark Ecological Services, NSW)

Long-term effects of frequent fire on above-ground carbon stocks and vegetation structure in a wet sclerophyll forest in south-east Queensland

Dr Tom Lewis and Professor Chenrong Chen (Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and Griffith University, Qld)

Law for Resilience to Bushfire in peri-urban Australia: A Tasmanian Case Study

Joseph Wenta^S, Professor Jan McDonald & Dr Jeffrey McGee (University of Tasmania, Tas)

Ornithogenic fire – Birds as propagators of fire in the Australian savanna

Bob Gosford and Associate Professor Mark Bonta (Ethnoornithology Research Group and Penn State University, USA)

Fire ecology of Brisbane’s eucalypt forests

Dr Paul Williams, Dave Kington, Michelle Nash, Chandra Wood and Eleanor Collins (Vegetation Management Science, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Brisbane City Council, Qld)

Navigating asset protection and biodiversity conservation objectives associated with fire management in Dry Sclerophyll Forest, City of Gold Coast

Brooke Williams (S), Associate Professor Kerrie Wilson, Dr Luke Shoo and Dr Hawthorne Beyer (University of Queensland)

The Angel in the detail - diverse burning for cultural and environmental outcomes in Australia

Peta-Marie Standley (James Cook University/Cape York Natural Resource Management) and Lewis Musgrave (Awu Laya Kuku Thaypan Green Army, Qld)

Vegetation boundary dynamics and relationships between fire severity and recruitment in a fire-sensitive heathland in the Gibson Desert

Boyd Wright (Northern Territory Herbarium)

TRADE DISPLAY and POSTER SESSION:

Union Complex, Building 21C (Light refreshments provided)

Registration

Aung San Suu Kyi Conference Centre, Union Complex Building 21C 

PLENARY SESSION

Abel Smith Lecture Theatre, Building 23

Chair: Dr Samantha Lloyd (Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium)

Welcome and Opening

Opening Address 

Acting Deputy Commissioner Peter Jeffrey (Emergency Services Volunteers, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services)

Keynote Presentation

Fire, Landscape Pattern and Biodiversity

Associate Professor Alan York (School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, University of Melbourne)

Morning Tea

Union Complex, Building 21C

THEME 5:

Fire, Soil and Climate Change

Bld 42 (Prentice Bld), Room 216

Chair: Dr Tom Lewis (Department of Agriculture and Fisheries)

THEME 6:

Maps and Models: Intelligent Fire Planning

Bld 23, Abel Smith Lecture Theatre

Chair: Joshua Bull (Fireland Consultancy)

THEME 7:

Fire Management for Linear Infrastructure

Bld 63, Physiology Lecture Theatre, Rm 348

Chair: Steve Martin (Powerlink)

Comparing smoke pollution from prescribed and wildfires: do we have a problem?

Dr Owen Price, Bronwyn Horsey and Phil Purdam (University of Wollongong and the Bureau of Meteorology, NSW)

Can thermal imagery help inform landscape fire management and planning?

Shannon Mooney and Mik Petter (Healthy Waterways and Catchments - now Healthy Land and Water)

Lines Through the Bush - Infrastructure Corridors and Fire Management: An SEQ Case Study and Factors to Consider

Dr Mark Shuster & Paul Veivers (Meandu Mine, Qld)

Combating wetland burning – The ability of carbonate to supress combustion of organic soils

Valerie Densmore (Department of Parks and Wildlife, WA)

TERN: Data Infrastructure that enables fire management

Associate Professor Nikki Thurgate, Dr Siddeswara Guru and Professor Tim Clancy (Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network and the University of Queensland)

The Coordinated Agency Model for Improved Roadside Fire Management

Julian Selke and James Haig (Department of Transport and Main Roads and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, Qld)

Interactive relationships between fire frequency, insects and elemental cycling in Peachester State Forest

Orpheus Butler (S), Professor Chenrong Chen, Professor Brendan Mackey, Dr Tom Lewis and Professor James J. Elser (Griffith University and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Qld)

Science in practice: application of ecological metrics in strategic bushfire management planning

Imogen Fraser and Andrew Blackett (Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Vic)

Corridor fires: What’s different?

Dr Leasie Felderhof (Firescape Science, Qld)

Environmental determinants of grass and shrub cover across a transitional climate region: Implications of climate change on fuel dynamics

Dr Rebecca Gibson and Professor Ross Bradstock (Office of Environment and Heritage and the University of Wollongong, NSW)

Modelling optimal growth stage distributions for biodiversity observation and ecosystem resilience

Matthew Chick^S and Associate Professor Alan York (University of Melbourne, Vic)

Mahogany Glider movements near linear infrastructure

Ben Saal (Powerlink, Qld)

Estimating air emissions for natural fires in south east Queensland

Rhiannon Tooker and Robin Smit (Department of Science, Information Technology and innovation, Qld)

Fire is not fire – The next generation of TERN fire remote sensing datasets

Stefan Maier (Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network and the University of Queensland and Maitec, Qld)

Electrical impacts of bushfires on transmission lines

Tony Gillespie (Gillespie Power Consultancy, Qld)

Initial findings on the Bushfire Convective Plume Experiment: Examining Pyroconvection with Portable Radar

Nicolas McCarthy^S (University of Queensland, Qld)

Playing with fire: The disparities with observed and model predictions of fuel loads

Dr Diana Virkki (Ten Rivers, Qld)

The Tasmanian Bushfires of 2013 - An Environmental Response

Michael Emmett (Tasnetworks, Tas)

Lunch

Union Complex, Building 21C

PLENARY SESSION

Abel Smith Lecture Theatre, Building 23

Panel Discussion: Intelligent Fires - how can fire research and knowledge better connect with drip torches?

Chair: Dr Simon Heemstra (Rural Fire Service, NSW)

THEME 8:

Fire and Land Management

Bld 42 (Prentice Bld), Room 216

Chair: Michael Reif (Sunshine Coast Council)

THEME 9:

Fire, Threatened Species and Conservation

Bld 23, Abel Smith Lecture Theatre

Chair: Dr Geoff Lundie-Jenkins (Qld Parks and Wildlife Service)

THEME 10:

Fires in the Past: Essential Knowledge for Management

Bld 63, Physiology Lecture Theatre, Rm 348

Chair: Associate Professor Patrick Moss (University of Queensland)

Reflections on the NSW Bush Fire Environmental Assessment Code since 2006: Continuing to meet the need

Dr Simon Heemstra and Jennie Cramp (Rural Fire Service, NSW)

Fire management for conservation: Outcomes of AWC’s fire programs across northern Australia

Dr John Kanowski (Australian Wildlife Conservancy, Qld)

Late Quaternary fire regimes of Moon Point, Fraser Island

Philip Stewart^S and Associate Professor Patrick Moss (University of Queensland, Qld)

National Burning Project

Deborah Sparkes and Greg Esnouf (Australian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council, Vic)

How long is too long: The response of woody plants to inter-fire intervals in grassy forests of the Border Ranges, NSW

Dr Elizabeth Tasker and Dr Penny Watson (Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW)

Satellite imagery interpretation of current & past fire history information in the Upper Maranoa area of southern inland Queensland

Peter Thompson and Rhonda Toms-Morgan (Queensland Murray Darling Committee)

Using prescribed burns to achieve biodiversity outcomes through weed management

Dr Kirsten Abley and Anthony Abley (Department of Environment, Water & Natural resources, SA)

Planning, Implementing and evaluating fire management- Recurrent issues and responses in a range of environments

Murray Haseler (Bush Heritage Trust, Qld)

The influence of time since last fire on the soil seedbank and woody understorey of temperate eucalypt forests

Helen Vickers^S, Dr Craig Nitschke, Dr Thomas Duff and Dr Sabine Kasel (University of Melbourne, Vic)

Afternoon Tea

Union Complex, Building 21C

THEME 8 continued:

Fire and Land Management

Bld 42 (Prentice Bld), Room 216

Chair: Michael Reif (Sunshine Coast Council)

THEME 9 continued:

Fire, Threatened Species & Conservation

Bld 23, Abel Smith Lecture Theatre

Chair: Dr Geoff Lundie-Jenkins (Qld Parks and Wildlife Service)

THEME 10 continued:

Fire in the Past: Essential Knowledge for Management

Bld 63, Physiology Lecture Theatre, Rm 348

Chair: Associate Professor Patrick Moss (University of Queensland)

Ecological ignitions: Suggestions on how to ignite ecologically beneficial fire in subtropical and tropical eucalypt forests

Dr Paul Williams (Vegetation Management Science, Qld)

Managing fire to help prevent the extinction of the Coastal Emu: A successful collaboration between Hotspots and a more traditional NRM project

Mark Graham (Nature Conservation Council of NSW)

A late Quaternary fire history of the Kimberley region, northwest Australia: new records from the Northern Kimberley Bioregion

Emily Field^S, Associate Professor Patrick Moss and Professor Hamish McGowan (University of Queensland)

Red Hot Tips: Building capability & capacity of private landholders to conduct planned burning

Leanne Sherriff & Justin Cashion (Macquarie Franklin & Ground Proof Mapping, Tas)

Relative effects of fire on fauna in fragmented grazing landscapes

Dr Teresa Eyre (Queensland Herbarium)

Fires in the past: An overview of late Quaternary burning patterns for eastern Australia

Associate Professor Patrick Moss (University of Queensland)

Fire behaviour in buffel grass dominated mine site rehabilitation in central Queensland, Australia

Dr Phill McKenna & Dr Peter Erskine (University of Queensland)

Overcoming critical ecological thresholds in fire- excluded ecosystems: Restoration of an endangered heathland in rapid transition to forest

Andy Baker (Southern Cross University, NSW)

A 150-year fire history of mulga dominated vegetation in semiarid Queensland, Australia

Dr Bradd Witt, Dr Jennifer Silcock and Dr Rod Fensham (The University of Queensland and Queensland Herbarium)

The effect of fire and rainfall in gross primary productivity in northern Australian savannas

Barbara Bernal^S, Dr Andrew Edwards and Professor Lindsay Hutley (Charles Darwin University, NT)

Burning an endangered species: importance of understanding habitat dynamics for Northern Eastern Bristlebird conservation

Zoë Stone^S, Associate Professor Martine Maron and Dr Elizabeth Tasker (The University of Queensland and the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage)

Group Discussion

Fires in the Past: Essential Knowledge for Management

CLOSING SESSION

Abel Smith Lecture Theatre, Bld 23

Chairs: Dr Samantha Lloyd and Craig Welden (Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium)

6:00 - 6:15pm

Bar open to purchase pre dinner drinks

Bushfire 2016 Dinner

Union Complex, Building 21C

Field Trip 1: North Stradbroke Island

6:30am depart from University of Queensland and 5:00pm return to Brisbane; transport by bus and ferry (across Moreton Bay). Morning tea and afternoon tea will be provided. There will be an opportunity to purchase lunch from the shops on the island. You are also welcome to bring your own lunch if you wish.

Field Trip 2: Sunshine Coast

Beerwah, Maroochydore Botanical Gardens, Wild Horse Mountain Lookout (full day)
8:00 depart from University of Queensland and 4:00 pm return to Brisbane; transport by bus. Morning tea, afternoon tea and lunch provided.