Dealing with complexity in environmental impact assessment

Speaker:  Dr Cameron Huddlestone-Holmes, Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO

Abstract:  The global demand for earth resources continues to grow and the ambition to move away from fossil fuels will only add to that demand. At the same time, scrutiny over the impacts of resource development on the environment is increasing. Our appreciation of the complexity of natural systems is also expanding and cumulative impacts of overlapping human activities are becoming more apparent. In this presentation the challenge of balancing the need to develop resources and minimise harm to the environment will be discussed to set the context. This will be followed by a presentation of a novel approach to conducting impact assessments of multiple activities that allows the interaction of the stressors they place on the environment to be considered. The method allows for multidisciplinary collaboration while maintaining internal consistency.

Bio:  Dr Cameron Huddlestone-Holmes is a Principal Research Scientist in CSIRO Energy working on environmental, geological and geotechnical problems in the earth resources industry, primarily in the unconventional gas, coal and geothermal sectors. His specialty is in integrating multi-disciplinary capabilities in geoscience and resource engineering and applying them to solving problems in industry. The majority of Cameron's current work is conducted with the Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance (GISERA) on social and environmental topics related to the onshore gas industry. He led the Beetaloo Sub-basin component of the $35.4 million Geological and Bioregional Assessments program. The impact of the research that Cameron is involved in is primarily through assisting the sustainable development of Australia's energy related earth resources. The efficient and sustainable development of earth resources requires an understanding of the geology of these resources, the engineering methods that are required to utilise these resources and how these factors influence the costs, productivity, safety and social and environmental impacts of resource development.