Blog icon

Understanding Australia's changing climate and the fragility of our ecosystems is critical if we are to enable industries to minimise their environmental impact and strengthen community resilience to natural disasters and extreme events.

CSIRO’s Environment Business Unit brings together our capabilities in marine, atmospheric, water and terrestrial environment disciplines, as well as significant social and economic research, to align and support the nation in creating a better and more sustainable future.

Our research examines the increasing pressures facing our natural and built environments from the combined effects of climate change, extreme events, non-sustainable use of natural resources and le gacy activities.

We collaborate with experts from across CSIRO  in National Collections & Marine Infrastructure, Health & Biosecurity, Agriculture & Food , Data61, other Business Units and Enterprise Services across CSIRO to further underpin our research portfolio. We also work closely with other publicly funded research agencies, the universities , industry and communities to deliver impactful science.

Together, we are addressing Australia’s biggest environment challenges by translating complex science into decision ready information and tools essential for sustainable and equitable economic, social, and environmental management and development into the future.

Our research programs include

Research program Description
Climate Intelligence Provide Australia and our neighbours with actionable ocean, atmosphere, and climate information and tools to ensure a sustainable and resilient future. This is part of the Climate Science Centre.
Climate, Atmosphere and Ocean Interactions Australia's national capability in observing and modelling our atmosphere and oceans and developing our earth system models to address the challenge of climate change and emission reduction. This is part of the Climate Science Centre.
Sustainable Marine Futures Undertake rapid, scalable and cost-effective data collection, develop streamlined processing methods, and deliver timely scientific knowledge to advise solutions that support sustainable development of Australia's coastal and marine resources (e.g. fisheries) without compromising the health of marine biodiversity. Our future-focused approach is supported by advanced ecosystem modelling and will ensure long-term sustainability solutions are available for marine resource management in our rapidly changing region.
Coastal and Oceanic Systems Lead developments in remote sensing, bio-optics, genomics, and sensor technologies to observe the marine environment and provide intelligence on the challenges impacting our coasts and ocean.
Industry Environments Innovate and mitigate our waste, to protect our environment and human health whilst developing new economic opportunities
Water Security Co-production, design and delivery of water and related services, tools and technologies in Australia and internationally to inform operations, management, planning and policy choices from enterprise to basin scale that supports industry, communities and the environment.
Living Landscapes Develop sustainable economies and increasing resilience to climate change and supporting indigenous stewardship of land, water, and sea through Indigenous-led approaches.
Sustainability Pathways Provide Australia safe and trusted solutions to share and secure water for people, industry, and ecosystems.

Meet the Environment Leadership Team

  • Director – Dan Metcalfe
  • Science Director – Brett Molony
  • Deputy Director – Chris Chilcott
  • A/Research Director, Climate Intelligence - Matt Stenson
  • Research Director, Coastal and Oceanic Systems – Mark Baird
  • Research Director, Climate, Atmosphere and Ocean Interactions – Mark Hemer
  • Research Director, Industry Environments – Andy Whiteley
  • Research Director, Living Landscapes – Libby Pinkard
  • Research Director, Sustainable Marine Futures – Alistair Hobday
  • Research Director, Sustainability Pathways – Stuart Whitten
  • Research Director, Water Security – Carmel Pollino
  • Research Operations Manager – Ben Rae
  • Director, Customer – Sandra Fox
  • Communications Manager – Chris Gerbing
  • Finance Manager – Angelis Widjaja
  • Strategic HR Partner - Julie Carroll 
  • HSE Manager - Anna Schwartz

Understanding Australia's changing climate and the fragility of our ecosystems is critical if we are to enable industries to minimise their environmental impact and strengthen community resilience to natural disasters and extreme events.

CSIRO’s Environment Business Unit brings together our capabilities in marine, atmospheric, water and terrestrial environment disciplines, as well as significant social and economic research, to align and support the nation in creating a better and more sustainable future.

Our research examines the increasing pressures facing our natural and built environments from the combined effects of climate change, extreme events, non-sustainable use of natural resources and le gacy activities.

We collaborate with experts from across CSIRO  in National Collections & Marine Infrastructure, Health & Biosecurity, Agriculture & Food , Data61, other Business Units and Enterprise Services across CSIRO to further underpin our research portfolio. We also work closely with other publicly funded research agencies, the universities , industry and communities to deliver impactful science.

Together, we are addressing Australia’s biggest environment challenges by translating complex science into decision ready information and tools essential for sustainable and equitable economic, social, and environmental management and development into the future.

Our research programs include

Research program Description
Climate Intelligence Provide Australia and our neighbours with actionable ocean, atmosphere, and climate information and tools to ensure a sustainable and resilient future. This is part of the Climate Science Centre.
Climate, Atmosphere and Ocean Interactions Australia's national capability in observing and modelling our atmosphere and oceans and developing our earth system models to address the challenge of climate change and emission reduction. This is part of the Climate Science Centre.
Sustainable Marine Futures Undertake rapid, scalable and cost-effective data collection, develop streamlined processing methods, and deliver timely scientific knowledge to advise solutions that support sustainable development of Australia's coastal and marine resources (e.g. fisheries) without compromising the health of marine biodiversity. Our future-focused approach is supported by advanced ecosystem modelling and will ensure long-term sustainability solutions are available for marine resource management in our rapidly changing region.
Coastal and Oceanic Systems Lead developments in remote sensing, bio-optics, genomics, and sensor technologies to observe the marine environment and provide intelligence on the challenges impacting our coasts and ocean.
Industry Environments Innovate and mitigate our waste, to protect our environment and human health whilst developing new economic opportunities
Water Security Co-production, design and delivery of water and related services, tools and technologies in Australia and internationally to inform operations, management, planning and policy choices from enterprise to basin scale that supports industry, communities and the environment.
Living Landscapes Develop sustainable economies and increasing resilience to climate change and supporting indigenous stewardship of land, water, and sea through Indigenous-led approaches.
Sustainability Pathways Provide Australia safe and trusted solutions to share and secure water for people, industry, and ecosystems.

Meet the Environment Leadership Team

  • Director – Dan Metcalfe
  • Science Director – Brett Molony
  • Deputy Director – Chris Chilcott
  • A/Research Director, Climate Intelligence - Matt Stenson
  • Research Director, Coastal and Oceanic Systems – Mark Baird
  • Research Director, Climate, Atmosphere and Ocean Interactions – Mark Hemer
  • Research Director, Industry Environments – Andy Whiteley
  • Research Director, Living Landscapes – Libby Pinkard
  • Research Director, Sustainable Marine Futures – Alistair Hobday
  • Research Director, Sustainability Pathways – Stuart Whitten
  • Research Director, Water Security – Carmel Pollino
  • Research Operations Manager – Ben Rae
  • Director, Customer – Sandra Fox
  • Communications Manager – Chris Gerbing
  • Finance Manager – Angelis Widjaja
  • Strategic HR Partner - Julie Carroll 
  • HSE Manager - Anna Schwartz

Do business with us to help your organisation thrive

We partner with small and large companies, government and industry in Australia and around the world.

Contact us now to start doing business

Contact us

Find out how we can help you and your business. Get in touch using the form below and our experts will get in contact soon!

CSIRO will handle your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and our Privacy Policy.


This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

First name must be filled in

Surname must be filled in

I am representing *

Please choose an option

Please provide a subject for the enquriy

0 / 100

We'll need to know what you want to contact us about so we can give you an answer

0 / 1900

You shouldn't be able to see this field. Please try again and leave the field blank.