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RIEL News
![First Nations ranger trainees from across the Top End are working to become certified rangers through the ‘Ranger Ready’ program.](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2023-03/230323_Kakadu-16.jpg?h=58c8a5e7&itok=sjrRzR4-)
Rangers gain vital skills to care for Country
Ranger trainees from across the Top End are working to become certified through the 'Ranger Ready' program, combining traditional knowledge with conservation training.
![New Charles Darwin University (CDU) research into false killer whales in Northern Australia reveals that they are unique from their deep-water cousins.](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2023-03/False%20Killer%20Whales-min.jpg?h=3c431e3f&itok=j7jRznlY)
Study shows links between Australia’s false killer whales and endangered groups from Hawaii
False killer whales off the Northern Australia coast need their conservation status reviewed because of similarities they share with groups from Hawaii listed as Endangered in the USA, a Charles Darwin University (CDU) researcher says.
![Rohan Fisher develops web app to study fire edges.](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2023-02/Rohan%20Fisher%20Fire%20Simulation9a-min.jpg?h=ce35deff&itok=ZNBsxTIH)
New fire-edge maps helping to understand how landscapes stop fires
A land’s topography and landscape features have an influence on how fires behave, which is why local knowledge is vital in fire management.
![About 30% of Litchfield National Park could be infested with gabba grass in 10 years.](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2023-02/Gabba%20Grass.jpeg?h=572eea6f&itok=vmfYJLJY)
Major investment urgently needed to protect Litchfield National Park from gamba grass
New research has warned that almost 30% of Litchfield National Park could be infested with the invasive weed gamba grass within a decade.
![New international study dispels myth that increasing farm productivity helps to protect natural vegetation, but indigenous management does.](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2023-02/CDU_2013_Stephen_Garnett_Lres_9228.jpg?h=1284dd39&itok=eU9OEnbD)
Does increasing farm productivity relieve pressure on remaining natural areas? A new study suggests no, except where Indigenous people manage the land
Increasing farming intensity increases pressure to clear remnant native vegetation, a new study has shown. It is the opposite of what was expected.
![According to a Charles Darwin University (CDU) study, the cost of water buffalo control can be more than offset by the value of the carbon that would have been released to the atmosphere.](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2023-02/iStock-1333492916.jpg?h=39b07655&itok=0q_3aGpO)
Feral animal control has the potential to make money from lowering methane emissions, study finds
New modelling from Charles Darwin University researchers has found the control of feral buffaloes could be worth millions in carbon offsets, changing the economics of control programs.
![Two people standing on the bank of a water body with trees in the background](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2022-12/Tegan-Dedman-1097x785.jpg?h=29c3b198&itok=NiHn18RB)
Rising tides: wetland simulations for a climate-affected future
In an aquaculture laboratory nestled in a distant corner of Charles Darwin University’s Casuarina campus, a PhD student is nurturing hundreds of tiny, simulated wetlands that she hopes will tell her how one of the Northern Territory’s most celebrated environments will fare with the effects of climate change.
![A Charles Darwin University (CDU) researcher will reignite the spark of conversation about the 2019-2020 Black Summer wildfires, and their impacts on biodiversity, at a major ecological conference this week.](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2022-11/John%20Woinarski%20RIEL3.jpg?h=58c8a5e7&itok=K8rYOU-q)
CDU expert delivers warning about dystopian future after Black Summer bushfires
A Charles Darwin University (CDU) researcher will reignite the spark of conversation about the impact of the 2019-2020 Black Summer wildfires at a major ecological conference this week.
![Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods scientists at CDU plan to start a citizen science project that is one of the largest groundwater studies in the world.](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2022-11/221107_WaterTestingResearch-5.jpg?h=ee4044c4&itok=emn8cO94)
CDU plans for largest citizen science groundwater study in the world
Resource limitations for research into Northern Australia’s groundwater has meant not a lot is known about systems, but a new Charles Darwin University (CDU) study will take a giant leap in our understand through citizen science.