Supervising Scientist services

Facilities

The Supervising Scientist Division's facilities are based in the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities building in Darwin, which SSD shares with Parks Australia, and in a fully-operational field station in Jabiru. The infrastructure and associated facilities have been developed to meet and serve the needs of staff in both locations involved in the environmental research and supervision of uranium mining.

Environmental research and supervision of uranium mining

Darwin

Facilities encompass state-of-the-art, purpose-built laboratories specialising in environmental radioactivity and chemistry, erosion and hydrology, biological monitoring, ecotoxicology and remote sensing and GIS. These are augmented by ancillary facilities including specialised field monitoring and laboratory analytical equipment, differential Global Positioning System (DGPS), cold and freezer rooms, sample and equipment storage rooms, and offices, meeting and conference rooms. In addition, the Supervising Scientist Division maintains an extensive range of vehicles for field work including four-wheel drives, quad bikes and water craft.

The Supervising Scientist Division library contains about 11,000 books and reports and currently subscribes to more than 50 journal titles. The collection has been developed to meet the needs of research staff of ERISS, and therefore the strengths of the collection reflect the subject areas most important to the Supervising Scientist’s research program. The material held in the library is of a highly technical nature and at a tertiary education reading level. The library is open to the Public by appointment only. Please contact the Librarian to arrange an appointment. As some of the material held in the Library is confidential, non-Supervising Scientist staff do not have access to the whole collection.

Supervising Scientist Division library

Additional support facilities include colour scanners, printers (to A0 paper) and photocopiers, a 35mm film scanner and printer, CD and DVD recorders, digital cameras (still and motion), a LitePro OHT projector and full videoconferencing equipment.

Jabiru Field Station

The Jabiru Field Station is located opposite the airport in Jabiru East, close to the Ranger Uranium Mine. The facility is staffed by six field officers and one administrative officer and comprises a wide range of operational and potentially operational offices, meeting rooms and laboratories with associated support facilities (ie. cold room, computers, printers, scanner, audiovisual equipment). Operational laboratories are equipped and used for the Ranger biological and chemical monitoring programs. The field station also houses a wide range of field vehicles, including various 4WD vehicles, quad bikes, boats and an Argo all-terrain vehicle. The Supervising Scientist Division also maintains separate accommodation in Jabiru for visiting Darwin staff and other scientists and visitors.