GMCNE seed projects

Livestock farming is a major contributor to New Zealand’s rural economy. But it also has a significant impact on the environment.

In particular, the methane gas (a greenhouse gas) produced by our cattle and sheep equates to almost a third of all New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions.

With seed funding from the George Mason Centre, Dr Ivanhoe Leung at the School of Chemical Sciences is leading a project to help combat the problem. His team have successfully identified several chemical agents that may regulate the growth of methanogens, the methane-producing microorganism that lives inside the rumen of cattle and sheep.

This research will in the long term enable sustainable livestock farming in New Zealand that balances economic output along with environmental impact and animal health.

About the researcher

Dr Ivanhoe Leung
School of Chemical Sciences

Large woody debris (LWD) is a significant problem for many New Zealand waterways. LWD (also known as driftwood), comes from a variety of sources such as waste, bank erosion, forestry and other land-use activities. During flood events, such debris can create log jams, blocking culverts and bridges having a significant impact on river systems, property and road crossings.

To help understand the processes that cause this, PhD Engineering student, Gabriel Spreitzer is using new state-of-the-art smart sensor technology to track the way sediment and LWD move through our waterways.

Using the controlled environment of the laboratory, Gabriel can simulate natural scenarios. The scenarios are modelled and scaled using either wooden dowels or real (small size) debris, with sensors implanted in the dowels. The observed processes are then upsized to a prototype scale.

“Using smart sensors allows us to precisely assess the timing and distribution of impact forces, from collisions between the wooden dowels and river-crossing infrastructure,” explains Gabriel’s co-supervisor, Dr Jon Tunnicliffe.

This is part of a series of projects being carried out in the University’s Water Engineering Laboratory, under the leadership of Heide Friedrich. The team hope that knowledge gained from the research will inform New Zealand’s freshwater and forestry management systems and make our environmental infrastructure more resilient.

About the researchers

Dr Heide Friedrich
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Dr Jon Tunnicliffe
School of Environment

Gabriel Spreitzer (PhD student)
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering