Numerous research-related activities ensured the Centre started 2026 strong, from the hosting of its annual knowledge-sharing event and the welcoming of several new researchers, to the completion of the UQ Summer Research Program.
Below are just a few highlights from the month.
2026 Annual Research Review
The Centre hosted its Annual Research Review on 20 February, with researchers sharing new knowledge and findings they have generated since the previous iteration of the event was held in late 2024.
The event is a staple of the Centre's calendar and is more than just an opportunity to share research - it aims to connect government and industry stakeholders with knowledge that could directly impact their work. This year's research showcase broadly focused on three areas: communities and social license; groundwater, geochemistry and production; and energy reliability and security. Research was shared in presentations and posters by a line-up of researchers, including several new faces, as well as through networking sessions.
This year's event also invited attendees to help inform future research by contributing to one of three ‘Pathways to 2030’ workshops:
- ‘Above the surface: fugitive methane emissions, policy & industry responses’ facilitated by Assoc Prof Phil Hayes and Dr Sebastian Hoerning
- ‘At the surface: social license, coexistence & policy’ facilitated by Assoc Prof Katherine Witt and Prof Andrew Garnett
- ‘Below the surface: production, geochemistry & water’ facilitated by Dr Julie Pearce and Assoc Prof Phil Hayes
You can learn more about the research and conversations at this year's event here.
Centre welcomes new team members
The Annual Research Review also showcased new talent that has joined our Centre over the past several months: Xiangyan Ren, Fahad Chowdhury, Michael Smith, and Martin Bevacqua.
Xiangyan joined the team as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and will be focusing on simulations for mid- and late-life CSG field production and abandonment, brine injection modelling, and supporting coupled flow-geomechanics and geothermal verification.
Fahad joined our growing fugitive methane emission team as a Research Assistant, and will be supporting the deployment and maintenance of our LiDAR-based quantification system as well as helping to develop and optimise autonomous measurement platforms.
Michael and Martin are both completing Master's projects. Martin’s project will assess the reliability of MODFLOW 6 for simulating low-enthalpy geothermal heat production from medium-depth reservoirs by developing benchmark cases that include realistic geological and thermal effects. Michael’s project is titled ‘AI powered estimation of fugitive methane emissions from river seeps’.
Postgraduate students complete research projects
In mid-February Jane Huynh and Muhamad Zakiyudin, two postgraduate students welcomed into our Centre as part of the 2026 UQ Summer Research Program, handed over the findings from their respective projects.
Jane and Muhamad are both studying in UQ’s internationally acclaimed Master of Sustainable Energy (Management) program, which is designed to equip students with the skills to address multidisciplinary problems and progress to leadership positions in the energy sector. Their diverging projects in our Centre demonstrated the multidisplinary nature of energy research:
- Jane worked under Dr Joe Lane on a project titled ‘Understanding future Australian energy demands’. The project characterised statistical relationships between peak and average daily demands for electricity and gas so they can be integrated into existing software for demand scenario development.
- Muhamad worked on the project ‘Across Boomtowns Spread Tracker’ under Assoc Prof Katherine Witt and Dr Debashish Dev. His work examined socio-economic indicators in a range of Queensland towns associated with coal seam gas (CSG) development and compared their progression over time, taking particular note of how soci-economic changes correlate with phases of CSG development.
The bittersweet end of the program was alleviated by the announcement that Jane would be extending her time with the Centre in order to complete her Master's thesis project with Dr Joe Lane.
This is just a glimpse of the work underway at the Gas & Energy Transition Research Centre. If you'd like to learn more about our research or our capabilities, contact us here.
