Garry Willgoose​

School of Engineering
The University of Newcastle​
Picture
Professor Willgoose is an international pioneer in the development of landform evolution modelling. In the early 1990’s he customised his SIBERIA landform evolution model for use as a design tool for assessing the sustainability of rehabilitated mines its, and this suite of tools (SIBERIA, EAMS-SIBERIA, TELLUSIM, QUEL) are used around the world for the assessment and design of rehabilitated waste rock dumps, tailings repositories and low-level nuclear waste containment structures. His tools are particularly useful for looking at design lifetimes beyond a few decades and where gully erosion is the dominant failure mechanism (e.g. penetration of caps over hazardous waste). His work in adapting science tools in environmental dynamics for sustainable mine rehabilitation continues with the recent focus on the long term stability and evolution of constructed soils and ecosystems on those soils. His other work outside the mine rehabilitation area includes (1) measurement, remote sensing and modelling of soil moisture dynamics, (2) fundamental theoretical and computational developments in landform, soilscape, and ecosystem evolution, and (3) hydrology, water infrastructure and methodologies for climate change adaptation.
Workshop Convenors
Wednesday:
Landform evolution modelling for mine rehabilitation EAMS-SIBERIA Workshop ​Friday:
Stream 1 - Best Practice Ecological Rehabilitation of Mined Lands Workshop Stream 2 - New practices to advance mine rehab in the Hunter Valley Workshop
Workshop Précis
​
Landform evolution modelling for mine rehabilitation EAMS-SIBERIA workshop.

The developers of the leading landform evolution model, EAMS-SIBERIA, used for the design and assessment of environmentally sustainable mine rehabilitation systems will be give a short course on the latest version (V5) of this software. The course will cover (at a level accessible to mine managers and planners, and government regulators):
  • The history of soil erosion and landscape evolution models and their strengths and weaknesses
  • The principles underpinning the SIBERIA landform evolution model
  • The principles of the EAMS mine rehabilitation tool built around the SIBERIA package
  • Comparison of EAMS-SIBERIA with other environmental mine rehabilitation tools
  • Examples of application of the EAMS-SIBERIA tool in mine rehabilitation practice in Australia and overseas.
  • Examples of some advanced applications involved cover design from the uranium mining and nuclear waste industry
There will be ample time for discussion and questions about both the (1) general topic of landform evolution modelling and its usefulness for the industry, and (2) EAMS-SIBERIA specifically.