Bringing green infrastructure projects to life
Green infrastructure research labs (GIRLS), founded and led by Dr Ruby Michael, aims to bring green infrastructure projects to life through design and research.
With attention to the foundations of soil and plant design guided by nature we pay particular attention to good design, construction, aftercare and maintenance, communication and delivery of innovative solutions supported by the latest living green asset management technologies.
Our Members
Dr Ruby Michael
Founder and Lead, GIRLS. Lecturer, School of Engineering and Built Environment
Dr Ruwan Fernando
Lecturer, Griffith School of Engineering and Built Environment
Dr Tony Matthews
Snr Lecturer, Griffith School of Engineering and Built Environment
Dr Jennifer Campbell
Lecturer, School of Engineering and Built Environment - Civil and Environmental Engineering
Dr Henry Skates
Snr Lecturer, Griffith School of Environment and Science
Dr Heather Shearer
Research Fellow, Cities Research Institute
Dr Aysin Dedekorkut-Howes
Snr Lecturer School of Environment & Science
Dr Edward Morgan
Research Fellow, Cities Research Institute
CRI Adjuncts:
- Dr. Kartik Venkatraman
- Paul Smith
- Richard Yeates
- Dr. Emad Kavehei
- Dr. Michael Forster
CRI PhD candidates:
- Tony Kim
- Sylvie Chell
- Nathalie Tomson
- Majed Abu Seif
- Vishal Rajendraprasad Chulliparambil
- Cassidy Winter
- Christopher Johnson
- Anna Petrova
Our researchers
We are united by a commitment to the reinstatement of soil and plant ecosystems back into our cities, rooftops, former industrial sites and wastelands.
We acknowledge that the challenges are vast, which is why we develop and employ leading-edge engineering, design, visualization, additive manufacturing, construction management and environmental planning practices to provide solutions with real world relevance for our industry partners and communities.
Our commitment to ‘bringing nature back’ is also our yardstick for success and brings with it an entrepreneurial spirit and a willingness to innovate, collaborate and partner with others who share this vision.
Why?
Soil and plant systems are the building blocks of our planet at a scale that we can viably design, construct and restore.
Re-establishment of life networks back into our landscapes provides essential services and benefits to our cities and regional communities:
- Water and air quality improvement
- Climate regulation and cooling
- Stormwater management and flood prevention
- Resilient local food production
- Safe waste containment
- Enhancement of regional character and sense of place
- Health and well-being
These multiple benefits serve both human and animal, insect and microbial communities to such an extent that their re-establishment is a global priority that underpins the achievement of many of the UN Sustainable Development goals.
How?
Our research facilities include soil and plant science, ecological and civil engineering, architecture, and environmental planning laboratories at Griffith University.
Together with our multi-disciplinary team of ecological engineering and built environment professionals, our state-of-the-art facilities enable us to bring projects through to fruition from concept to full-scale realisation for our clients.
We have established ‘living labs’ for long-cycle testing that support multi-year performance monitoring of a range of living green infrastructures.
Full-scale demonstration sites bridge the gap between the laboratory and the field essential for transforming the design, performance and specification of green infrastructure systems.
What?
Green Infrastructure Research Labs (GIRLS) works with the full range of living green infrastructures.
Green roofs, green walls and sky gardens may be the first thing that comes to mind, but we also work with the full range of ‘green assets’. Other green infrastructures of interest to our research group include street trees, bioretention systems, constructed wetlands, parks and gardens, fauna overpasses and movement corridors, landfill and mine waste phytocapping.
Working with these systems we engage principles of water sensitive urban design (WSUD), human centred design (HCD), universal design (UD), biodiversity sensitive design (BSD) and fauna sensitive road design (FSRD) to ensure each project achieves its highest net positive benefit and outcome.
We work with clients through the full-design life cycle to:
- Conceptualise and visualise new green infrastructure projects
- Design, test, prototype and build new green infrastructure projects
- Performance monitor, audit and improve existing green infrastructure projects
- Share research-informed standards and specifications that enable future green infrastructure projects
Our team members also offer a range of specialist consultancy services:
- Green Infrastructure Design and Visualization, Modelling for Visualisation and Virtual Reality, Community Participatory Design Facilitation.
- Phytocapping – Pre-feasibility Assessments, Feasibility Assessments, Soil Suitability Assessment, Plant Selection, Plant Community Design, Detailed Phytocap Design, Phytocap Construction Supervision and CQA, Vegetation and Aftercare Management Plans, Monitoring Plans.
- Environmental Design Audits, Environmental Heat Audits, Environmental and Green Infrastructure Audits
When?
As the adage goes, when was the best time to plant a tree? 100 years ago.
The next best time is now.
Contact us
Contact any of our researchers directly via their Griffith experts pages or via LinkedIn