Associate Professor Gavin Birch, MSc, PhD, Grad.Dip.Ind.Admin

Senior Lecturer

Madsen Building (F09), Rm462
Phone: +61 2 9351 2921
Fax: +61 2 9351 3644
Email:

In 1991 Gavin moved from the petroleum industry to the University of Sydney to undertake research in Environmental Science. He has five major, ongoing research projects.

• Assessing the ability of natural processes to effectively disperse contaminants on high-energy continental margins.
• Studying the role of stormwater in contamination of estuarine environments and the inability of conventional devices to effectively remediate stormwater.
• Research on the effects of sedimentary toxicants on benthic animals.
• The results of a decade of research into estuarine processes are being used to construct a contaminant model of complex estuarine systems.
• Developing a new biological-effects based assessment scheme to categorise estuaries in New South Wales.

Gavin has published one book and 80 refereed papers and chapters of books. To date, $1.26m of competitive research funding and $1.048m of professional consultancies and commissioned research have been achieved.

Gavin has supervised 65 postgraduate students in twelve years: 31 Honours students, 21 Masters of Applied Science students, 9 MSc and 5 PhD students. He is currently supervising 8 postgraduate students. Two of Gavin’s Honours students are University Medallists, six received first class passes, three have received School environmental scholarships, and one has been awarded the prestigious Shell International Scholarship.
All environmental students have been successful in attaining quality employment in industry and academia, locally and overseas.

Click here for current research opportunities with Gavin.

• Birch, G. F., 2000. Marine pollution in Australia, with special emphasis on central New South Wales estuaries and adjacent continental margin. International Journal of Environmental Pollution, 13, 1-6, 411-423.
• Birch, G. F. and Taylor, S. E., 2000. The distribution and possible sources of organochlorine residues in sediments of a large urban estuary, Port Jackson, Sydney. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 47, 749-756.
• Birch, G. F. and Taylor, S. E., 2000. The use of size-normalisation procedures in the analysis of organic contaminants in estuarine environments. Hydrobiologia, 431, 129-133.
• Matthai, C. and Birch, G. F., 2000. Trace metals and organochlorines in sediments near a major ocean outfall on a high energy continental margin (Sydney, Australia), Environmental Pollution, 110, 411-423
• McCready, S., Slee, D., Birch, G. F. and Taylor, S. E., 2000. The distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surficial sediments of Sydney Harbour, Australia. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 40/11, 999-1006
• Matthai, C. and Birch, G. F., 2000. Dispersion of dredge spoil dumped on a high energy continental margin (southeastern Australia). Journal of Marine Environmental Engineering, 6, 1-32
• Clark, M. W., Davis-McConchie, F., McConchie, D. and Birch, G. F., 2000. Selective chemical extraction and grain size normalisation for environmental assessment of anoxic sediments: validation of an integrated procedure. Science of the Total Environment, 258, 14-170.
• Matthai, C. and Birch, G. F., 2000. Effects of coastal cities on surficial sediments mantling an adjacent high energy continental margin – Central New South Wales, Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research, 51, 565-576
• Matthai, C., Birch, G. F., Jenkins, A. and Heijnis, H., 2000. Physical resuspension and vertical mixing of sediments on a high energy continental margin (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 52, 67-89
• Barry, S. C., Taylor, S. E. and Birch, G. F., 2001. Heavy metal supply to the Port Jackson Estuary, Australia by stormwater. Australian Journal of Water Resources, 4/2, 147-154
• Birch, G. F., Siaka, M and Owens, C., 2001. The source of anthropogenic heavy metals in fluvial sediments of a rural catchment: Coxs River, Australia. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 126, 13-35
• Birch, G. F., Taylor, S. E. and Matthai, C., 2001. The role of geology in environmental science: an example of pollution assessment of the estuarine and marine environment in central New South Wales. In: Gondwana to Greenhouse. Ed. V. Gostin. Australian Environmental Geoscience. Publ. Geological Society of Australia Special Publication, No. 21. Chapter 21, 243-254
• Birch, G. F., Taylor, S. E. and Matthai, C., 2001. Small-scale spatial and temporal variance in the concentration of heavy metals in aquatic sediments: A review and some new concepts. Environmental Pollution, 113, 357-372
• Hatje, V., Rae, K. and Birch, G. F., 2001. Trace metal and total suspended solids concentrations in freshwater: The importance of small-scale temporal variation. Journal of Environmental Monitoring, 3, 251-258
• Hatje, V., Birch, G. F. and Hill, D. M., 2001. Spatial and temporal variability of particulate trace metals in Port Jackson estuary, Australia. Estuarine and Coastal Shelf Science. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 53, 63-77.
• Matthai, C. and Birch, G. F., 2001. Detection of anthropogenic Cu, Pb and Zn in continental shelf sediments off Sydney, Australia – A new approach using normalization with cobalt. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 42/11, 1055-1063.
• Birch, G. F. and Taylor, S. E., 2002. Possible biological significance of contaminated sediments in Port Jackson, Sydney, Australia. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 77, 179-190.
• Matthai, C., Birch, G. F. and Bickford, G., 2002. Anthropogenic trace metals in sediment and settling particulate matter on a high energy continental margin Sydney, Australia). Marine Environmental Research. Marine Environmental Research, 54, 99-127.
• Simpson, S., Rochford, L. and Birch, G. F., 2002. Geochemical influences on metal partitioning in contaminated estuarine sediments. Marine and Freshwater Research, 53, 9-17.
• Birch, G. F. and Taylor, S. E., 2002. Application of sediment quality guidelines in the assessment of contaminated surficial sediments in Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), Australia. Environmental Management, 29/6, 860-870
• Birch, G. F. and Taylor, S. E., 2002. Assessment of possible sediment toxicity of contaminated sediments in Port Jackson estuary, Sydney, Australia. Hydrobiologia, 472, 19-27.

• GEOS 3009/3909 - Coastal Environments and Processes
• GEOS 3102/3802 - Global Energy and Resources
• ENVI 5708 - Introduction to Environmental Chemistry