Our projects
Projects and Collaborations
Space is Australia's fastest growing industry. Satellite capabilities already underpin modern tele-communications, defence, and weather forecasting, and satellite monitoring is revolutionising natural hazard monitoring, exploration, land subsidence, soil science, environmental monitoring, agriculture, coastal dynamics, ice sheet dynamics, and natural resource and water management.
The next decade will see an explosion of space-based Earth observation data - but access to that data, and the tools and training to use it - are restricted to a very few. Our goal is to bridge that gap, by providing training pathways, data workflows, and dedicated student projects for our industry partners.
Our members and institutional partners have access to a wide range of current mission data-streams and simulation tools. Potential areas for collaborations are listed in the gallery below.
If you’d like more information about a capability, please contact a centre member, or email fse.planet-admin@mq.edu.au.
Gallery
For more information about our current projects, capabilities, and collaborations, contact our centre members or craig.oneill@mq.edu.au.
Collaborative areas
Potential areas for collaborations include, but are not limited to:
- Surface and groundwater monitoring at regional and basin scales using satellite gravity
- Monitoring vegetation changes using time-series LIDAR and image spectroscopy
- Monitoring surface deformation, and accessing risk, around dewatering and mining operations,
- Surface monitoring and slope stability analysis and in regional high-relief terrains
- Night-side monitoring of trade networks in the thermal infrared.
- Tracking real-time volcanic plumes for air safety
- Accessing bushfire scale and recovery by monitoring land change
- Assessing coastal dynamics and erosion risk
- eDNA and remote sensing for biodiversity
- Agricultural productivity and health assessment
This list is not comprehensive - contact us to discuss potential research projects.
For students:
Undergraduate study
The PRC supports multidisciplinary degree structures, with the possibility of majors or double majors in Geology, Geophysics, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Engineering, and Environmental Sciences. Our degrees combine the possibility of doing a major with a strong industry focus, and research in fundamental planetary science.
Centre Staff co-teach a number of planetary-science units, including ASTR178: Other Worlds: Planets and Planetary Systems, and GEOS204: Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Take a look at some of the science courses at Macquarie University.
Master of Research degrees at Macquarie University
The PRC is committed to supporting integrated, multi-disciplinary Master of Research research projects, particularly those drawing on expertise across multiple departments. Interested in astrophysics and geophysics? Combine them. Want to integrate electronic engineering and detection of exoplanets? Let’s do it. Like to integrate traditional field geology, and satellite-derived remote sensing datasets? Come talk to us.
We offer logistical and project support to Master of Research projects within the PRC. If you’d like to know more about our projects and research opportunities, speak to one of our research centre members. Find out more about the Master of Research course at Macquarie University.
PhD
We have many PhD opportunities with field of planetary science. If you’d like to know more about our projects and research opportunities, speak to one of our research centre members.
Find more information about applying for a PhD at Macquarie University.