STAFF PROFILE
Associate Professor Matthew Currell
Position:
Associate Professor
College / Portfolio:
School of Engineering Cluster
School / Department:
Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Phone:
99250402
Email:
matthew.currell@rmit.edu.au
Campus:
Melbourne City Campus
Contact me about:
Research supervision
Matthew Currell is an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering, within the Chemical & Environmental Engineering discipline.
Matthew is Program Manager for the undergraduate Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental Engineering)(Hons) degree and an active researcher in the field of hydrogeology and geochemistry. He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed journal articles and has served on the editorial board of the Hydrogeology Journal. He supervises PhD and Masters projects in hydrogeology, working with partners in the water industry and environmental regulators. He has conducted extensive work as an independent expert witness in the field of hydrogeology (paid and pro-bono), including for government inquiries into unconventional gas mining and in legal proceedings regarding impacts of resource extraction on groundwater.
Primary areas of expertise
- Hydrogeology & Groundwater geochemistry
- Groundwater sustainability and other environmental management issues particularly in China, Australia and other arid and semi-arid regions.
- Environmental tracers in hydrogeology, including stable and radiogenic isotope geochemistry & source, fate and transport of groundwater contaminants;
- Determining links between climate, land-use (including mining) and groundwater quality & quantity.
2017-Current: Program Manager, Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental Engineering)(Hons)
Co-ordinator for CIVE1184 Hydrogeology, CIVE1122 Advanced Hydrogeology and OENG1113 China's Environmental Challenges Units
By appointment (contact by e-mail)
- PhD (Geosciences) Monash University
- BSc (Hons I, Environmental Earth Sciences) University of Melbourne
- BA (Chinese Language) University of Melbourne
Languages other than english
- Mandarin Chinese (HSK level 7)
Collaborations
- Melbourne Water Corporation
- EPA Victoria
- City of Casey
- City West Water
- Federation University (Honorary Research Fellow)
- La Trobe University
- Monash University
- China Academy of Sciences
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
- Australian Contaminated Land Consultants Associations
- CRC CARE.
Affiliations, professional memberships and editorial positions
- Associate Editor, Hydrogeology Journal 2014-17
- Committee member, International Association of Hydrogeologists Victoria
- Steering Committee, IAH Early Career Hydrogeologists' Network (International) 2013-2016
Community advisory and advocacy work (voluntary)
- Port Philip & Westernport Groundwater Atlas Project steering committee (Southern Rural Water)
- Lower Barwon Wetlands Community Consultative committee
- Expert witness for Environment Defender's Office NSW
- Author of educational materials incorporated into national secondary school curriculum
- Cartwright, I.,Currell, M.,Cendon, D.,Meredith, K. (2020). A review of the use of radiocarbon to estimate groundwater residence times in semi-arid and arid areas In: Journal of Hydrology, 580, 1 - 12
- Hall, B.,Currell, M.,Webb, J. (2020). Using multiple lines of evidence to map groundwater recharge in a rapidly urbanising catchment: Implications for future land and water management In: Journal of Hydrology, 580, 1 - 14
- Thomann, J.,Werner, A.,Irvine, D.,Currell, M. (2020). Adaptive management in groundwater planning and development: A review of theory and applications In: Journal of Hydrology, 586, 1 - 12
- Currell, M.,Irvine, D.,Werner, A.,McGrath, C. (2020). (In Press) Science sidelined in approval of Australia�s largest coal mine In: Nature Sustainability, , 1 - 4
- McCance, W.,Jones, O.,Cendon, D.,Edwards, M.,Surapaneni, A.,Chadalavada, S.,Wang, S.,Currell, M. (2020). Combining environmental isotopes with Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) to characterise wastewater derived impacts on groundwater quality In: Water Research, 182, 1 - 15
- Hepburn, E.,Madden, C.,Szabo, D.,Coggan, T.,Clarke, B.,Currell, M. (2019). Contamination of groundwater with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from legacy landfills in an urban re-development precinct In: Environmental Pollution, 248, 101 - 113
- Hepburn, E.,Northway, A.,Bekele, D.,Currell, M. (2019). Incorporating perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAA) into a geochemical index for improved delineation of legacy landfill impacts on groundwater In: Science of the Total Environment, 666, 1198 - 1208
- Wang, S.,Wei, S.,Liang, H.,Zheng, W.,Li, X.,Hu, C.,Currell, M.,Zhou, F.,Min, L. (2019). Nitrogen stock and leaching rates in a thick vadose zone below areas of long-term nitrogen fertilizer application in the North China Plain: A futuregroundwater quality threat In: Journal of Hydrology, 576, 28 - 40
- Hepburn, E.,Northway, A.,Bekele, D.,Currell, M. (2019). A framework and simple decision support tool for groundwater contamination assessment in an urban redevelopment precinct In: Hydrogeology Journal, 27, 1911 - 1928
- Hepburn, E.,Cendon, D.,Bekele, D.,Currell, M. (2019). Environmental isotopes as indicators of groundwater recharge, residence times and salinity in a coastal urban redevelopment precinct in Australia In: Hydrogeology Journal, 28, 503 - 520
- Novel bioremediation tools for nitrogen contaminated groundwater. Funded by: CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment from (2017 to 2020)
- Novel tracers to delineate groundwater contamination from wastewater treatment plants. Project No. 2.3.02-16/17. Funded by: CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment from (2017 to 2020)
- Determining concentrations of PFAS in Victorian groundwater systems. Funded by: Australian Contaminated Land Consultants Association Contract from (2017 to 2017)
- Groundwater age dating to constrain rates of contaminant movement in an urban re-development precinct. Funded by: Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) Research Grant 2016 from (2016 to 2016)
- Aquifer storage and recovery of recycled water: identifying emerging contaminants in source water and examining their fate and transport. Funded by: National Ground Water Research and Educational Foundation Grant pre-2014 from (2013 to 2014)
Note: Supervision projects since 2004
3 PhD Completions and 2 Masters by Research Completions4 PhD Current Supervisions and 1 Masters by Research Current Supervisions
Hydrogeology, Groundwater, Geochemistry, Isotope hydrology, Environmental engineering, Land contamination.