Gillian McCloskey
Senior Catchment Modeller at Queensland Department of Resources
ving in Queensland, Australia
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Gillian is a geomorphologist and water quality modeller based in Cairns, north Queensland, Australia. She completed her undergraduate degree in Environmental Science at the University of Western Australia, and a PhD in geomorphology at Charles Darwin University.
For the past decade, Gillian has been working with other scientists to understand and model pollutant exports to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. She uses these models to simulate fine sediment and nutrient generation and transport processes across the landscape. These models can then be used to estimate the possible impacts of improved land management practices on water quality and report on progress towards the Great Barrier Reef water quality targets. Gillian takes a lead role in communications within her team having presented at a wide range of forums, co-authoring a number of reports and papers, as well as assisting in the development of products such as explainer videos and a podcast. Gillian’s main fields of interest are landscape erosion processes (especially gully erosion), riverine water quality, sustainable land management, extreme flood events, and how future climate variability will impact these processes.
Gillian is passionate about reducing her footprint on the planet, both as an individual and collectively. Outside of work, she likes to spend her time exploring outdoors, hiking, snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, camping, and travelling with family and friends. Gillian is also a backyard chicken enthusiast.
