Projects

DIATOMA is involved in biomonitoring projects in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Northern Territory.

New South Wales

• We have identified and counted periphytic samples for Department of Land and Water Conservation as part of the impacted rivers project managed by Dr. Bruce Chessman. The catchments examined include the Burrungong, Castlereagh, Wollombi, Bega and Adelong as well as the Northern Rivers.
• We are currently examining a 5000 year diatom record from Tareena Billabong past Wentworth.
• We are currently working on a waterbird monitoring research program on Lake Cowal.

We have analysed diatom samples from the Hunter River for the NSW EPA and streams in the Woronora catchment for the Sydney Catchment Authority. 

Victoria 

• We have analysed diatom samples collected throughout Victoria for Dr. Peter Newall at the EPA as part of the “stream nutrient guidelines” work.
• We are also biomonitoring salt impacted wetlands in North-western Victoria for the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and Ogyris Pty.Ltd.
• We are currently working on the establishment a diatom transfer function tointerpret Holocene/European changes to the Snowy River floodplain.

We have also commenced work for WSL to analyse samples from the Kiewa and Goulburn Rivers 

Queensland

• We have commenced analysing samples collected by the Department of Natural Resources and Mines on the Condamine-Balonne, and Mary River, systems
• We work in collaboration with Griffith University to assess the Diatom as well as the Cyanophyta and Chlorophyta composition of the Mary River upper and lower Coomera and upper and lower Brisbane. 
• We are analysing diatom samples as part of the Cooper Creek Dryland Refugia Project.

South Australia

• DIATOMA has 2000 samples collected since 1995 under the MRHI and is gradually generating a large diatom-water quality data base.
• We have recently used diatoms to determine the impact of European land use practices on the hydrology of a wetland in the Upper South-east.
• We are currently writing up the results of our project of diatom biomonitoring of the Brukunga mine for ANSTO. 

Northern Territory

• DIATOMA is analysing samples from the Daly River for the Department of Infrastructue, Planning & Environment as part of their Environmental Flows Initiative project.
• We are also monitoring samples collected from the Mary River and urban Darwin and we are biomonitoring the impact of a copper mine on Settlement Creek near Borooloola again for DIPE.