Dr Kathryn Taffs BA(Hons)(Adel) PhD(Adel) 

Kathryn is a senior lecturer in the School of Environmental Science and Management. She
teaches at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and actively researches in the fields of
palaeoecology and conservation biology. 

Kathryn's research focuses on the study of changes in wetland biota and the
environment over time. Using palaeolimnological techniques wetland studies can be
extended with the further dimension of geologic time. Management of wetland environments
is dependent upon an understanding of how an ecosystem has responded to climate and human
induced changes in the past. With an understanding of past wetland dynamics, realistic
remediation targets for ecosystem rehabilitation can be established and incorporated into
management plans. 

Kathryn's research concentrates on the use of pollen and diatom microfossils in
addition to stable isotopes to reconstruct the environmental history of wetland
ecosystems and estuaries over time. Projects are underway on coastal environments of
eastern Australia and vary from coastal lakes and ICOLLS to large estuaries. Some
specific projects in progress are: 

* the history of eutrophication of ICOLLS in eastern Australia 

* the environmental history of eastern Australian estuaries with emphasis on
eutrophication 

* the establishment of a diatom based calibration set for coastal eastern Australia 

All projects investigate the history of wetland ecosystems and aim to improve the
ecosystem health and stability by setting realistic remediation targets that can be
incorporated into conservation strategies. Existing projects vary from the establishment
and description of estuarine algal communities to incorporation of this data in
palaeolimnological reconstructions. Other projects examine environmental degradation and
recovery in lake and estuaries of the east coast of Australia.

Journal articles

Palaeoecology: A tool to improve the management of Australian estuaries (with Krystyna M. Saunders), Journal of Environmental Management (2009)

Addressing environmental problems in estuaries is a worldwide problem. Establishing benchmarks and targets for management...

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A diatom-based Holocene record of human impact from a coastal environment: Tuckean Swamp, eastern Australia (with Luc J. Farago, Hendrick Heijnis, and Geraldine Jacobsen), Journal of Paleolimnology (2008)

Diatom-based paleolimnological studies are being increasingly used to track anthropogenic change in estuaries. Little is...

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Using palaeobotanical techniques to guide peatland restoration. A case study from Byron Bay, Australia (with Jeffrey F. Parr and Keith G. Bolton), Ecological Management and Restoration (2006)

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The distribution and abundance of marine debris on isolated beaches of northern New South Wales, Australia (with Murray C. Cullen), Australasian Journal of Environmental Management (2005)

Beach debris items were collected and categorized during surveys of five isolated beaches on the...

A microwave digestion technique for the extraction of fossil diatoms from coastal lake and swamp sediments (with Jeffrey F. Parr and Christopher M. Lane), Journal of Paleolimnology (2004)

This study provides an introduction to a microwave digestion technique for the extraction of fossil...

Books

Mapping the environment: a professional development manual (with William E. Boyd), School of Environmental Science and Management Papers (2004)

This book provides a basis for developing skills in the most fundamental techniques used, and...

Book chapters

Fires impact on an acidic peatland in northeastern NSW: implications for the interpretation of fire histories, pyrite formation and loss of organic carbon (with Jeffrey F. Parr, Geoffrey Kerr, and J Arthur), Interdisciplinary nuances in phytolith and other microfossil studies (2008)

The last 200 years: a European history of the CERRA properties, The natural history of the central eastern rainforests of Australia (2008)

Conference publications

Reconstructing fire histories: methods, interpretation and common on-ground across fire history research in Australia (with Jeffrey F. Parr, Geoffrey Kerr, J Arthur, Keith G. Bolton, and Geraldine Jacobson), Australasian Archaeometry Conference (2005)

Estuary, swamp, estuary: environmental history of Tuckean Swamp, ESCA Estuary Change (2004)

Mapping the environment: reflections on a self-guided geography teaching book and its interrelationships with internal and external delivery of a University course (with William E. Boyd and W Laird), Institute of Australian Geographers Conference (2004)

Chronology and palaeoecology of an acidic wetland peat in northeastern NSW (with Jeffrey F. Parr and Keith G. Bolton), ESA ecology 2003 conference (2003)

Fires and their implications for acidic peatlands, northeastern NSW (with Jeffrey F. Parr, Geoffrey Kerr, and J Arthur), ESA ecology 2003 conference : abstracts, University of New England, Armidale, N.S.W., Australia, 8-10 December (2003)