North QLD symposium to help locals manage extreme weather impacts
Extreme weather events in North Queensland are playing havoc with roads, dams, rivers and infrastructure, prompting the need for ‘local’ solutions to address ‘local’ problems.
The Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) is holding its 2026 Regional Symposium at James Cook University in Townsville, North Queensland – helping local engineers manage extreme events like landslides and floods.
“Although landslides and floods can happen anywhere, they are not the same everywhere,” said the convener of the local branch of the AGS and the Symposium’s Co-Coordinator, JCU civil engineering academic Dr Peter To.
“The problems we see are often unique to Northern Australia – particularly North Queensland.
“We want to build local networks and share experience in how to address extreme weather impacts right across North Queensland.”
Founded in 1970, the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) is a not-for-profit organisation focussed on building knowledge, providing professional development and promoting engagement with industry in the application of engineering and geological principles to the behaviour of the ground and ground water.
A growing challenge for North Queensland engineers confronting the impacts of extreme weather events, is developing more resilient infrastructure and speeding up recovery and remediation.
The 3rd biennial regional symposium of the AGS QLD Chapter on the 24th of June will be a full-day event comprising technical presentations from industry, researchers, scientists, road network managers and dam safety experts on the theme ‘Resilience: Geotechnical engineering for extreme events’.
Talks at the symposium include Townsville City Council’s Principal Dam Safety and Operations engineer, Sallyanne Brooke Taylor, on managing the impacts of extreme weather on dam safety; and SMEC Senior Associate Engineer, Matt Cochrane, on the creation of landslide susceptibility maps using AI.
“These are important forums for sharing knowledge and expertise and they offer opportunities for young engineers to obtain professional development that contributes to their chartered engineer status,” said Dr To.
“It’s a chance for North Queenslanders to engage with industry professionals actively involved in managing and researching the impacts of extreme events.”
The impacts of extreme events are not isolated to the North Queensland road network - such as the closures and continuing access restrictions on the Mt Spec Road to Paluma - but also impact on the broader values of the Queensland Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.
In March 2026, JCU’s Daintree Rainforest Research Observatory (DRO) was directly impacted by Tropical Low 29U, bringing catastrophic flooding to the region, taking the Daintree River Ferry out of commission, and cutting the usual access route to one of Australia's most important rainforest research stations.
“The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area has been battered by two major extreme rainfall events since December 2023,” said Mr Johan Larson, Manager of the DRO.
“These events triggered thousands of landslides, severed road connections to remote communities, and caused widespread environmental damage that scientists are only beginning to fully understand.
“The Wet Tropics Management Authority’s 2024–25 State of the Wet Tropics report is clear - climate change is making these events more frequent and more intense.”
The 2026 AGS Symposium is an important forum for upskilling our engineers, scientists and managers who respond to these extreme events and help keep the community safe.
“As a community, we really need to raise our understanding and ability to manage these impacts in the future,” said Dr To.