Dr Angus Morrison-Saunders

Research Interests

I am particularly interested in supervising research students as well as conducting my own research in the areas of EIA follow-up, environmental auditing, effectiveness of EIA, environmental policy and environmental management performance evaluation. I also have interests in the evaluation of eco-tourism and environmental education programmes. Visit my publications page for results of my previous research projects.

Projects that may be of interest to prospective research students are outlined below.

Projects

1. Impact of competition policy on strategic environmental planning

This project would investigate the consequences of competition policy in Australia on natural resource management agencies that have been privatised under this policy initiative. The Water Corporation and Western Power would make 2 suitable case studies in Western Australia. The project would compare environmental planning initiatives in these agencies before and after privatisation and break down of management responsibilities into separate private entities.

2. Follow-up of environmental planning outcomes in Western Australia

Environmental planning procedures have been in operation in WA since 1996 and it is now timely to investigate their effectiveness in terms of environmental protection. In addition to their effectiveness, to what extent do the environmental planning procedures represent a strategic environmental assessment approach? This project would be particularly suitable for a PhD candidate.

3. Audit of tourism impacts on natural areas

Management plans are prepared for national parks in Western Australia. How do the management strategies proposed in these plans compare with the actual impacts of tourism that are evident? This research would involve an audit of selected national park management plans.

4. Evolution of environmental policy through impact assessment

This project would examine the treatment of a particular environmental issue (eg. wetland management) by the Environmental Protection Authority in Western Australia from the 1970's to the present. The aim of the project is to understand how EIA has influenced the development of policies and management practices for that particular issue over time.

5. Changes in projects between environmental decision-making and implementation

How representative are the accounts of projects in the report and recommendation documents prepared by the EPA compared to when the projects are implemented? Sometimes the Ministerial approval conditions are very different to the EPA recommendations. How often does this occur? Other projects change over time when proponents successfully bid to have approval conditions changed. This project will examine the extent to which projects differ from EPA recommendations.

6. Efficacy of environmental monitoring programmes

How capable are current environmental monitoring programmes established during EIA of actually recording environmental impacts? This project would require a candidate with a strong background and interest in statistical analysis.

7. Procedures for strategic environmental assessment in Western Australia

How best might strategic environmental assessment be undertaken in WA? The Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA) was amended in late 2003 to allow for strategic environmental assessment, but Administrative Procedures are yet to be produced. This project would investigate practical means for implementing strategic environmental assessment under the EPAct including both policy and proposal-based approaches.

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