Academic Advisor in RMES

Senior Lecturer
Soil and land management
Phone: +61 (0)2 6125 3822
Fax: + 61 (0)2 6125 0746
E-mail: Richard.Greene@anu.edu.au

I grew up in Perth, Western Australia, with an architect father, and was a keen member of the army reserve and swimmer at Perth's beaches during my university studies. After completing a BSc (with honours in Physical and Inorganic Chemistry) in 1970 from the University of Western Australia, I undertook a PhD in Soil Science from 1971-1975, also at the University of Western Australia. In 1975 I joined the Victorian Department of Agriculture, and worked as a soils research officer at the Irrigation Research Institute, Tatura. Then from 1985 to 1993, I worked as a Senior Research Scientist in the CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology, firstly at Deniliquin, NSW, and later in Canberra, ACT. In 1993 I joined the Australian National University, and am currently a Senior Lecturer in Soil and Land Management in the Fenner School of Environment and Society.

Professional Activities

Current research and professional activities include the following: (i) Minesite rehabilitation, especially where mining operations are in close proximity to sensitive wetlands, e.g. investigations are underway into the stabilisation of bund structures at Barrick Australia's Cowal Gold Project which is adjacent to the L.Cowal wetlands. (ii) The role of aeolian dust in environmental management and mineral exploration. These investigations are being carried out with other staff from the CRC for Landscape Environments and Mineral Exploration. Investigations are underway into the sources of dust and its role in salt transport. This work is being undertaken both in Australia and the mid-west of USA. The characterization of the dust component in transported catchment sediments that overlay mineral deposits is also being carried out. (iii) Nutrient Flows and Catchment Processes. The current work involves a study of processes of nutrient movement (especially P) from agricultural areas into waterways and the role of riparian zones in intercepting these nutrient flows. (iv) Rehabilitation of degraded agricultural lands in areas ranging from semi-arid rangelands through to alpine and sub-alpine areas. (v) Carbon sequestration especially the effects that land management practices such as cultivation and land degradation processes such as salinisation have on carbon sequestration.

Selected Publications

Greene, R.S.B., and Hairsine, P. 2004. Elementary processes of soil-water interaction and thresholds in soil surface dynamics: a review. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms Special Issue. Soil Surface Characteristics: dynamics and impact on soil erosion (Eds Auzet A.-V., Poesen J., Valentin C), 29, 1077-1091.

Little, S.A., Hocking, P.J., and Greene, R.S.B. 2004. A preliminary study of the role of cover crops in improving soil fertility and yield for potato production. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Nutrition. 35, 471-494.

Greene, R.S.B., Eggleton, R.A. and Rengasamy, P 2002. Relationships between clay mineralogy and hardsetting properties of soils in the Carnarvon Horticultural District of Western Australia. Applied Clay Science , 20, 211-223.

Greene, R.S.B., Valentin, C. and Esteves, M. 2001. Runoff and erosion processes. In Banded Vegetation Patterning in Arid and Semi-arid Environment-Ecological Processes and Consequences for Management. (Eds. C. Valentin, D. Tongway, J. Seghieri and J.M. d'Herbes), Springer-Verlag. Ecological Studies 149. (pp. 52-76).

Susan E. Tate, SE, Greene, RSB, Scott, KM and McQueen,KG 2007. Recognition and characterisation of the aeolian component in soils in the Girilambone Region, north western New South Wales, Australia.