Profile
Dr Luke Verstraten has a Bachelor of Environmental Science, with a university commendation for academic achievement, first class honours in Science and a PhD in Civil Engineering. Luke has a passion for research that offers practical and relevant benefits to industry, society and the environment.
Since graduation, Luke has worked on a diverse range of local, national and international collaborative research projects. Research collaborators include the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Federal and Qld), The Indian Ocean Commission, Association of Hydraulic Services Consultants Australia, North Burnett Regional Council, Sunshine Coast Council, SPEL environmental, University of the Sunshine Coast, Griffith University, La Trobe University and the University of Queensland.
Research topics that Luke has worked on include, soil carbon sequestration with land use changes, hydraulics of drainage systems, uncertainties in current and future design rainfall values, water pollution removal using Stormwater Quality Improvement Devices and Wetlands, an education needs analysis for climate change adaptation in small island developing states, resources for native pollinators in agricultural and natural environments, and, propagation of rare/endangered native plants to preserve population genetic diversity in Queensland using seed raising, cuttings and tissue culture techniques.
Potential Research Projects for HDR and Honours Students
- Roof drainage
- Stormwater pollution removal
- Stormwater drainage
- Soil carbon
Research areas
- Roof drainage
- Stormwater pollution removal
- Stormwater drainage
- Soil carbon
- Plant propagation
Teaching areas
- Statistics
- Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
Wehr, JB, Lewis, T, Dalal, RC, Menzies, NW, Verstraten, L, Swift, SA, Bryant, PH, Tindale, NW, & Smith, TE 2020, ‘Soil carbon and nitrogen pools, their depth distribution and stocks following plantation establishment in south east Queensland, Australia’ Forest Ecology and Management, vol. 457, doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117708
Verstraten, L, Wasko, C, Ashford, G, & Sharma, A 2019, ‘Sensitivity of Australian roof drainage structures to design rainfall variability and climatic change’ Building and Environment, vol. 161, doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.106230.
Lewis, T, Verstraten, L, Hogg, BW, Wehr, BJ, Swift, SA, Tindale, NW, Menzies, NW, Dalal, RC, Bryant, PH, & Francis, B 2019, ‘Reforestation of agricultural land in the tropics: The relative contribution of soil, living biomass and debris pools to carbon sequestration’ Science of the Total Environment, vol. 649, pp. 1502–1513, doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.351
Verstraten, L, Lucke, T, & O’Loughlin, G 2017, ‘Comparing empirical water depth observations of a box gutter roof drainage system to three different international design guidelines’ Journal of Building Engineering, vol. 12, pp. 178–187, doi: 10.1016/j.jobe.2017.06.004.
Dr Luke Verstraten's specialist areas of knowledge include: - soil carbon sequestration with land use changes - hydraulics of drainage systems - uncertainties in current and future design rainfall values - water pollution removal using Stormwater Quality Improvement Devices and Wetlands - an education needs analysis for climate change adaptation in small island developing states - resources for native pollinators in agricultural and natural environments - propagation of rare/endangered native plants to preserve population genetic diversity in Queensland using seed raising, cuttings and tissue culture techniques