North Stradbroke Island field trip 2010

To begin the first semester of their Master of Integrated Water Management program, 57 full- and part-time students spent three days on North Stradbroke Island, off the coast of South East Queensland, Australia.

The students stayed at the Moreton Bay Research Station and had lectures from representatives of Queensland Government Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM), the Moreton Bay Research Station, the Quandamooka traditional owners of the island, and the Stradbroke Island Water Action Group.

The students studied the use and management of groundwater on the island, as an introduction to the complexity of human-biophysical systems that are the focus of integrated water management.

North Stradbroke Island has a large source of underground freshwater which has many demands upon it – residential use, offtake for the mainland, tourism, sand mining – which must be carefully managed to avoid damage to the ecosystem.

At the end of the field trip students gave small group presentations of the main water issues of the island, using sand modelling on the beach for their displays.