Dr Andrew Harford1, Dr Thomas Mooney1, Dr Lisa Chandler1, Dr Kate Montgomery1, Dr Cewien Pease1, Mr Jonathon Shaw2, Dr Christine Chivas2, Dr Gabriel Maicas1, Dr Josh Koh1, Professor Anthony Chariton2
1Department Of Climate Change, Energy, The Environment And Water, Darwin, Australia, 2Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Biography:
Dr Andrew Harford is a Principal Research Scientist and Team Leader of the Water and Sediment Quality Team within the Office of the Supervising Scientist, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, based in Darwin, Australia. He leads multidisciplinary programs that assess the health of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems associated with the Ranger uranium mine rehabilitation and the surrounding World Heritage-listed Kakadu region. His work spans environmental monitoring, ecotoxicology, ecological risk assessment, water and sediment quality guideline development, and the application of emerging molecular technologies to environmental management.
Over the past decade, Andrew has been involved in the development and application of environmental DNA (eDNA), metabarcoding, metagenomics and other omics-based approaches to improve ecosystem assessment and environmental regulation. His research focuses on translating genomic tools from research into operational monitoring programs, with particular interests in whole-of-ecosystem assessment, biodiversity monitoring, microbial ecology, ecosystem function, and the environmental dimensions of antimicrobial resistance. He is currently helping develop integrated genomic monitoring frameworks that combine traditional biomonitoring with molecular approaches to provide more comprehensive assessments of ecosystem condition and recovery.
Andrew collaborates widely with researchers, regulators, Indigenous partners and industry to improve the scientific basis for environmental decision-making. He is actively involved in national initiatives aimed at developing ecologically relevant microbial endpoints for environmental management and advancing the use of genomic technologies within regulatory frameworks. His broader goal is to establish robust, defensible monitoring systems that better link biodiversity, ecosystem function and environmental risk assessment in a rapidly changing world.
Abstract:
The closure and rehabilitation of the Ranger uranium mine presents a unique opportunity to modernise environmental monitoring and develop a whole-of-ecosystem assessment framework for tropical freshwater systems. For more than three decades, aquatic ecosystem condition downstream of Ranger has been assessed using conventional biomonitoring approaches. Advances in environmental DNA (eDNA) and genomics now provide a pathway to expand the scope, resolution and efficiency of these programs while maintaining the rigour required for government decision-making.
The Office of the Supervising Scientist is implementing an integrated suite of genomic tools targeting key components of aquatic biodiversity. Central to this strategy is the development of northern Australian DNA barcode reference libraries for freshwater vertebrates and macroinvertebrates, providing the taxonomic foundation for routine DNA-based assessment. These reference datasets underpin the transition from morphology-based macroinvertebrate surveys to DNA metabarcoding approaches and support the development of standardised eDNA protocols for monitoring fish assemblages in tropical rivers and billabongs. Collectively, these tools provide a scalable framework for assessing ecosystem condition across broad scales while improving taxonomic resolution, survey efficiency and field safety.
Current activities represent the first stage of a broader vision for ecosystem-scale genomic monitoring. Future potential options extending assessments to phytoplankton, zooplankton and microbial communities, incorporating functional indicators through multi-omics approaches, and using population genetics to assess connectivity, resilience and recovery. By transitioning these technologies from research into operational monitoring, this program aims to establish a defensible framework that supports environmental regulation, mine closure assessment and long-term stewardship of tropical freshwater ecosystems.