I study the effectiveness of engineered vegetated systems, like green roofs, street trees and raingardens in reducing the volume of polluted stormwater entering waterways in urban areas.
My background is in plant ecophysiology, studying nutrient uptake mechanisms and drought tolerance in vegetation far from the city: at restored mine-sites and eucalypt plantations.
Harsh urban environments provide a fantastic opportunity for plant ecophysiologists to contribute to the design of novel vegetated systems by finding species from a range of habitats which can cope with extremes in resource availability.
My most recent research is split between green roof and street tree projects.
- In our green roof projects, we run glasshouse experiments to identify species with the potential for high rates of water use, but which are also drought tolerant. We also run large-scale rainfall-runoff simulation experiments. I've most recently integrated the results from our glasshouse experiments into a green roof water balance model, using R. We hope to attract funding support to convert this model into a web-based application which architects and designers can use to select the best combination of substrate type, substrate depth and plant species to maximise stormwater capture and minimise the incidence of drought stress.
- Our street tree work is based in the City of Monash and looks to quantify the benefits of retrofitted infiltration trenches on stormwater runoff and tree water stress.
Find out more about Chris Szota's experience
Chris Szota's highlights
FEATURED Journal article
Green roof storage capacity can be more important than evapotranspiration for retention performance
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Projects
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Project Types
3
Research Contracts
Scholarly Works
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Credentials
Positions
Research Fellow (Stormwater Street Trees)
Ecosystem And Forest Sciences
Education
Doctor of Philosphy (Plant Biology)
The University of Western Australia
Doctor of Philosophy
The University of Western Australia
Bachelor of Science (Natural Resource Management)
The University of Western Australia