The 2026 Sydney Environment Institute Honours projects cover topics including investigating biodiversity in informal green spaces; the effectiveness of early warning systems for extreme weather events; governance, access, and usage of ephemeral beaches; and restoration and recognition of Indigenous knowledges within formal education related to environmental conservation. Read more about each project below.
Meet the 2026 Honours Research Fellows
Shani Patel, Faculty of Science (School of Geoscience)
Racialised and Gendered Access to Public Swimming Space in Sydney
Shani will investigate how access to public swimming spaces in Sydney is shaped by race, gender, class, and geography. Her project will argue that although swimming is often framed as an inclusive and healthy public activity, swimming spaces are unevenly distributed and embedded within histories of infrastructural, racial, and settler‑colonial violence.
The project aims to highlight how popular swimming locations are concentrated in affluent, eastern suburbs and are often inaccessible to residents of Greater Western Sydney, particularly marginalised communities already vulnerable to urban heat. Drawing on concepts such as infrastructural violence, permeability of public space, and climate adaptation, the research asks who is effectively able to access swimming as a climate coping strategy. Using interviews, Shani will examine how marginalised people experience inclusion or exclusion in swimming spaces and how these spaces reflect broader urban inequalities. The research contributes to debates on climate justice, public space, and urban adaptation in a warming city.
Eliza Crossley, Sydney Law School
Facing an Existential Threat: Investigating the consequences of the ICJ’s rejection of lex specialis in its application to international climate law
Eliza’s project will examine the significance of the International Court of Justice’s 2025 Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change and its rejection of treating international climate treaties as a self‑contained lex specialis regime. The project will analyse how earlier climate frameworks, including the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement, have been fragmented, largely voluntary, and insufficient to address the scale of the climate crisis. By affirming the relevance of customary international law, human rights law, and general principles such as the duty to prevent transboundary harm, the ICJ has strengthened states’ legal obligations and expanded the scope of state responsibility. Eliza will consider the legal context preceding the Opinion, trace the Court’s interpretive approach through earlier jurisprudence, and assess the broader implications for international law. Ultimately, the project positions the Advisory Opinion as a transformative moment that reshapes international climate law and enhances its capacity to respond meaningfully to the climate emergency.
Thomas McManus, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (School of Humanities)
Agency and Bioinvasion in the Anthropocene: The Proliferation of Red Imported Fire Ants
Thomas’ Honours project examines the cultural, political, and infrastructural conditions that shape bioinvasion, using the spread of fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) in south‑eastern Queensland as a case study. Rather than treating bioinvasion as a purely ecological problem, the project explores how human and nonhuman agencies interact within systems of trade, governance, infrastructure, and globalisation to enable species movement and establishment. Drawing on environmental humanities alongside insights from entomology and life sciences, the research asks how agency operates across human/nonhuman, biotic/abiotic, and individual/collective scales. It also addresses the political contestation surrounding fire ant management, including tensions between eradication efforts, community responses, and biodiversity protection. By situating fire ant invasion within broader histories of colonialism, capitalism, and multispecies ethics, the project contributes to debates in biodiversity, conservation, and environmental justice.
Avery How, Faculty of Science (School of Life and Environmental Science)
Are Acacia Seedbanks All They Are Cracked Up to Be? The Regeneration Potential of Acacia pendula Seedbanks in an Agricultural Setting
Avery will investigate the regeneration potential of Acacia pendula seedbanks within an agricultural landscape at the University of Sydney’s Nowley Farm. Acacia pendula is listed as a critically endangered ecological community in NSW, yet remnant patches persist on farmland where they are exposed to disturbance, land‑use pressures, and competition from introduced species. The project will compare seedbanks from a younger disturbed patch and an older, undisturbed legacy patch, using heat and smoke treatments to simulate fire conditions known to trigger Acacia germination. By examining germination success and competition with weed species, the research aims to assess whether these seedbanks can support effective regeneration. The project addresses a key gap in conservation research by focusing on agricultural contexts, where most remaining patches occur. Findings will inform restoration strategies, highlight the biodiversity value of remnant vegetation on farms, and contribute to changing farming practices toward more ecologically sustainable land management.
Header image: Photo by Stephen Mabbs on Unsplash