About us

Our vision

The research institute is at the forefront of climate change research and has an international reputation for excellence.

Our mission

We undertake multidisciplinary research to mitigate carbon emissions and develop adaptive strategies to respond to the anticipated impacts of climate change.

Our values

Open participation
We encourage participation to foster greater ownership and understanding of the imperatives of climate change and sustainable development.

Shared responsibility
We share responsibility for living sustainably.

Integration
We integrate economic, social and environmental considerations in our research and decision-making processes.

Innovation and creativity
We embrace a commitment to learning, use of sound scientific information and a willingness to explore new and alternative options.

Integrity
Our research informs a better understanding of the capacity and vulnerability of natural and human systems.

Our objectives

We will:

• Capitalise on our research strengths and build capacity in emerging areas to build a reputation in climate change and sustainability research
• Bring together traditionally separate academic disciplines to work in multidisciplinary research teams
• Build on existing partnerships and broker new partnerships to explore and develop new research opportunities worldwide
• Communicate the findings of our research more widely to government, business and the community to influence government policy and industry development

Our strategies

We capitalise on our research strengths and build capacity by:

• Developing and attracting research leaders
• Pursuing alternative revenue streams 
• Working in partnership with industry

We bring together traditionally separate academic disciplines to work in multidisciplinary research teams by:

• Promoting and building a culture of research collaboration amongst our researchers
• Establishing and consolidating interdisciplinary research teams and clusters that address national research priorities and industry needs
• Emphasising a strong quantitative, predictive and adaptive approach to climate change research

We build on existing partnerships and broker new partnerships by:

• Exploring the feasibility of developing research collaborations with key institutions and research networks
• Working with industry stakeholders to address applied problems in mitigation and adaptation

We promote our research achievements and the relevance of these to the broader community by:

• Developing a communication strategy for both internal and external stakeholders

For more information, please see the RIsCCS Strategic Plan for 2008 - 2010: Full version (pdf 165kB) or the 2-page summary (pdf 25kB).

Our Management Committee

• Professor Barry Brook
  Chair
• Dr Peng Bi
  Population health and social impacts
• Associate Professor Justin Brookes
  Water resources
• Associate Professor Corey Bradshaw
  Marine Impacts
• Professor Andrew Lowe
  Adaptive responses for sustainable environments
• Professor Gus Nathan
  Energy, emissions and offsets
• Professor Randy Stringer
  Agricultural productivity
• Dr Jackie Venning
  Research development

Our Advisory Board

• Professor Bob Hill
  Executive Dean, Faculty of Sciences, University of Adelaide
• Professor Barry Brook
  Director, Research Institute for Climate Change and Sustainability
• Tim O'Loughlin
  Executive Director, Sustainability and Workforce Division
  Department of Premier and Cabinet
• The Very Rev'd Dr Steven Ogden
  The Dean, St Peters Anglican Cathedral 

For more information about all of the above, including the Institute's achievements in its first year of operation, please see the 2007 Annual Report (pdf 4MB).