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Dr Rebecca Bartley

Research Scientist and Group Leader

https://people.csiro.au/b/r/rebecca-bartley

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Biography

Dr Rebecca Bartley is a Research Scientist with CSIRO Environment.

Dr Rebecca Bartley has expertise in the fields of fluvial geomorphology and catchment hydrology and has spent more than 20 years applying a range of approaches to improve our understanding of the dominant source of erosion and land degradation in catchments draining to the Great Barrier Reef. This work has been conducted alongside research evaluating approaches to improve land condition and water quality, including a ~20-year field monitoring campaign evaluating the outcomes of changed grazing land management in the Burdekin Rangelands.

Dr Bartley is experienced in leading teams of researchers that have applied a diverse range of field-based measurement techniques including real-time hydrological and sediment monitoring, bomb fallout and cosmogenic radio-nuclide sediment tracing, sediment dating, vegetation and soil mapping and monitoring, paddock and catchment scale sediment and hydrological modelling and more recently the application of lidar and radar technology. This ‘multiple lines of evidence’ approach has been used to improve our understanding of landscape processes and identify areas and approaches suitable for landscape repair. Her work has included long term measurement-based research in grazing, sugar cane and rainforest catchments in North Queensland. She has also worked on stream and catchment management projects in Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, and on and land suitability assessments in northwest Queensland.

Dr Bartley is passionate about translating complex scientific information into information for policy. She is regularly called on by Government and other stakeholders to provide advice and help identify areas for on-ground investment in landscape repair using scientifically robust approaches.

Selected Publications (full publication list available below):

Bartley, R., Abbott, B.N, Ghahramani, A., Ali, A. Kerr, R., Roth, C.H, Kinsey-Henderson, A. 2022. Do regenerative grazing management practices improve vegetation and soil health in grazed rangelands? Preliminary insights from a space-for-time study in the Great Barrier Reef catchments, Australia. The Rangeland Journal 44(4): 221-246.

Bartley, R., Poesen, J., Wilkinson, S., Vanmaercke, M., 2020. A review of the magnitude and response times for sediment yield reductions following the rehabilitation of gullied landscapes. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 45, 3250-3279.

Bartley, R., Croke, J., Bainbridge, Z.T., Austin, J.M. and Kuhnert, P.M., 2015. Combining contemporary and long-term erosion rates to target erosion hot-spots in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Anthropocene, 10(1-2), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2015.08.002.

Bartley, R., Bainbridge, Z.T., Lewis, S.E., Kroon, F.J., Wilkinson, S.N., Brodie, J.E. and Silburn, D.M., 2014. Relating sediment impacts on coral reefs to watershed sources, processes and management: A review. Science of the Total Environment, 468–469C: 1138-1153, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.09.030.

Bartley, R., Corfield, J.P., Hawdon, A.A., Kinsey-Henderson, A.E., Abbott, B.N., Wilkinson, S.N. and Keen, R.J., 2014. Can changes to pasture management reduce runoff and sediment loss to the Great Barrier Reef? The results of a 10-year study in the Burdekin catchment, Australia. The Rangeland Journal, 36(1): 67-84, http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/RJ13013.

Other Interests

Professional Invitations, contribution and affiliations:
• Reef 2050 Plan, Independent Expert Panel (IEP), 2022
• Editorial Board, Journal of Soils and Sediments, Springer-Nature, 2022 - present
• Australian Institute of Company Directors, Graduate, 2021
• Board Member for the International Association for Sediment Water Sciences (IASWS), 2017-present
• Peter Cullen Trust Fellow (Science to Policy Leadership Program), 2017
• Lead Chapter author for the Great Barrier Reef Scientific Consensus Statement, 2016/17 and 2022.
• Member of the Queensland Ministerial Great Barrier Reef Water Science Taskforce, 2015
• Technical advisory panels for Reef Trust, 2014 and the Burdekin Dry Tropics (WQIP), 2015
• Sediment Metric Think Tank member invited by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, 2014
• Invited presenter Northern Australia Beef Research Council Meeting, Cairns, 2013
• Invited Speaker Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) meeting, Brisbane, 2013
• Invited speaker International Rangelands Congress, Argentina, 2011
• Science Meets Parliament, Canberra, 2011

Academic Qualifications

  • 1996

    BSc (Hons, 1st class)
    Sydney University

  • 2001

    PhD
    Monash University

Achievements and Awards

  • 2020-

    Impact from Science Award
    CSIRO Land and Water

  • 2017-

    Science to Policy Leadership Program
    Peter Cullen Trust

  • 2014-2017

    OCE Julius Award
    CSIRO

  • 2012-

    CLW Journal Paper of the Year
    CSIRO

  • 2009-

    OCE Payne-Scott Award
    CSIRO

  • 2001-

    Young Water Scientist of the Year
    Australian Water Association (AWA)

  • 2001-

    Best PhD presentation CRC Conference
    CRC Committee

We have publications by Dr Rebecca Bartley