Associate Professor Cara Beal

• PhD in Soil Science, The University of Queensland
• Bachelor of Science (Environmental Science), Griffith University

Cara’s research expertise includes:

• environmental health and WASH research in remote Indigenous communities
• community based water management in Pacific Island rural villages
• digital water network transformation and smart metering technology
• school’s water efficiency management (smart metering)
• community-based demand management
• remote and regional water-energy efficiency.

Cara has won over $3M in research funds, including ARC Linkage grants and a Queensland Government mid-career fellowship. Cara has a Scopus Index of 16, H-index 21, and over 1600 Scholar citations. She is a regular national and international invited speaker and has received peer and industry recognition for her innovative work using socio-technical approaches in the digital water space, including Women in Technology and Australian Water Association awards. She was a former Queensland Government Water Expert Panel member and is a recipient of the 2018 PVC Excellence in Research Group award for the Digital Water Transformation Group.

Journal articles

• Aldirawi, S,. Souter, R,. Beal C. (in prep) Barriers and opportunities for behavior change in managing high water demand in water scarce Indigenous communities: a Australian perspective. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Research. Submission date July 2019.
• Jackson, M., Stewart, R.A., Beal, C.D. (submitted) Barriers and enablers to community-based sustainable water management: a study of practice in remote Indigenous Australia, Environmental Science and Policy, submitted April 2019.
• Vieira, A.S., Stewart, R.A., Lamberts, R., Beal, C.D., (submitted) Development and Demonstration of a Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Investment Decision Analysis (REEEIDA) framework. Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Review, Submitted February 2019.
• Jackson, M., Stewart, R.A., Fielding, K.S., Cochrane, J., Beal, C.D. (2019) Collaborating for Sustainable Water and Energy Management: Assessment and Categorisation of Indigenous Involvement in Remote Australian Communities, Sustainability, 11 427-457.
• Stewart, R.A., Nguyen, K., Beal, C., Zhang, H., Sahin, O., Bertone, E., Vieira, A.S., Castelletti, A., Cominola, A., Giuliani, M., (2018). Integrated intelligent water-energy metering systems and informatics: Visioning a digital multi-utility service provider. Environ. Model. Software 105, 94-117.
• Sahin, O., Bertone, E., Beal, C.D., Stewart, R.A. (2018). Evaluating a novel tiered scarcity adjusted water budget and pricing structure using a holistic systems modelling approach. J. Environ. Manage. 215, 79-90.
• Beal, C.D., Jackson, M., Stewart, R.A., Miller, A., Rayment, C. (2018) Identifying and understanding the drivers of high water consumption in remote Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities, Journal of Cleaner Production 172, 2425-2434.
• Vieira, A.S., Stewart, R.A., Lamberts, R., Beal, C.D., (2018). Residential solar water heaters in Brisbane, Australia: Key performance parameters and indicators. Renewable Energy 116, 120-132.
• Sahin, O., Bertone, E., Beal, CD. (2017) A systems approach for assessing water conservation potential through demand-based water tariffs. Journal of Cleaner Production, 148: 773-784.
• Beal, C.D., Gurung, R.T., Stewart, R.A. (2016) Modelling the impacts of water efficient technologies on energy intensive water systems in remote and isolated communities. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 18(6), 1713-1723.
• Gurung, R.T, Stewart, R.A., Beal, C.D and Sharma, A. (2016) Smart meter enabled informatics for economically efficient diversified water supply infrastructure planning. Journal of Cleaner Production, 135: 1023-1033.
• Gurung, R.T, Stewart, R.A., Beal, C.D and Sharma, A. (2016) Investigating the financial implications and viability of diversified water supply systems in an urban water supply zone. Submitted to Water Resources Management, 30 (11): 4037 – 4051.
• Butt, T.E., Javadi, A.A, Beal, C.D., Jenkins, R.E., (2016) Development of a conceptual framework of holistic risk assessment. Science of the Total Environment, 569: 815 – 829.
• Beal, C.D., Gurung, R.T., Stewart, R.A. (2016) Demand-side management for supply-side efficiency: an exploration of tailored strategies for reducing peak residential water demand. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 6: 1-11.  10.1016/j.spc.2015.11.005.
• Vieira, A.S., Humphrys, S., Beal, C.D., Stewart, R.A. (2016) Optimising residential water heating system performance: tailoring systems to minimise water-energy penalties. Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems, 4 (2): 161-172.
• Vieira, A.S., Stewart, R.A., Beal, C.D. (2015) Air source heat pump water heaters in residential buildings in Australia: Identification of key performance parameters Energy and Buildings, 91:148-162. DOI:10.1016/j.enbuild.2015.01.041.
• Beal, C.D. and Flynn J. (2015) Toward the digital water age: Case studies of Australian water utility smart metering programs. Utilities Policy, 32: 29-37.
• Makki, A., Stewart, RA., Beal, C. D., Panuwatwanich, K., (2015) Novel bottom-up urban water demand forecasting model: revealing the determinants, drivers and predictors of residential indoor end-use consumption. Resources, Conservation and Recycling , 95: 15-37.
• Gurung, R.T, Stewart, R.A., Sharma, A. and Beal, C.D (2015) Smart meter enabled water end-use demand data: platform for the enhanced infrastructure planning of contemporary urban water supply networks. Journal of Cleaner Production, 87:642-654.
• Vieira, A.S., Beal, C.D., Stewart, R.A. (2014) Residential water heaters in Brisbane, Australia: Thinking beyond technology selection to enhance energy efficiency and level of service Energy and Buildings, 82:222-236.
• Beal, CD., and Stewart, RA. (2014) Identifying Residential Water End-Uses Underpinning Peak Day and Peak Hour Demand. J. Water Resources Planning and Management, 140(7): 04014008.
• Beal, C.D, Stewart, R.A. and Larsen, S. (2014) Exploring the residential water-energy nexus in remote regions: results from a Far North Queensland water end-use pilot study. Journal of the Australian Water Association, 41(3): 78-82.
• Gurung, R.T, Stewart, R.A., Sharma, A. and Beal, C.D (2014) Smart meters for enhanced water supply network modelling and infrastructure planning. Resource Conservation and Recycling, 90:34-50.
• Beal, CD, Makki, A and Stewart, RA. (2014) What does rebounding water use look like? An examination of post-drought and post-flood water end-use demand in Queensland, Australia. Water Science and Technology: Water Supply, 14 (4) 561-568. doi:10.2166/ws.2014.008.
• Vieira, A.S., Beal, C.D., Ghisi, E., Stewart, R.A. (2014) Energy intensity of rainwater harvesting systems: a review. Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 34:225-242.
• Beal. C.D, Stewart, RA., Fielding, K. (2013) A novel mixed method smart metering approach to reconciling differences between perceived and actual residential end use water consumption. Journal of Cleaner Production, 60 (1): 116-128.
• Makki, A., Stewart, RA., Panuwatwanich, K., Beal, C. (2013) Revealing the determinants of shower water end use consumption: enabling better targeted urban water conservation strategies. Journal of Cleaner Production, 60 (1): 129-146.
• Stewart, RA., Giurco, D., Beal, C.D. (2013) Age of intelligent metering and big data: Hydroinformatics challenges and opportunities. Journal of the International Association for Hydro-environment Engineering and Research, 2, 107-110. (2013).
• Beal CD, Stewart, RA, Gardner, J, Fielding, K., Spinks, A., McCrae. R. (2013) Mind or machine? Examining the drivers of residential water end-use efficiency. Journal of the Australian Water Association, April 2013.
• Bennett, C., Stewart, R. A., and Beal, C. D. (2012). “ANN-based residential water end-use demand forecasting model.” Expert Systems with Applications, 40(4): 1014-1023.
• Beal, C.D., Stewart, R.A., Bertone, E (2012) Evaluating the energy and carbon reductions resulting from resource-efficient household stock. Energy and Buildings, 55: 422-432.
• Beal CD, Gardner, T., Sharma, A., Chong, M. (2012) A desktop analysis of potable water savings from internally plumbed rainwater tanks in south-east Queensland, Australia. Water Resources Management, 26 (6), 1577-1590, doi.org/10.1007/s11269-011-9973-0..
• Carragher, BJ., Stewart, RA., Beal, CD.,(2012) Quantifying the influence of residential water appliance efficiency on average day diurnal demand patterns at an end use level: A precursor to optimised water service infrastructure planning. Resour Conserv Recy (2012), 62, 81-90.
• Beal CD, Stewart, RA, Spinks, A., Fielding, K., (2011) Using smart meters to identify social and technological impacts on residential water consumption.  Water Science and Technology: Water Supply, 11(5): 527-533.
• Talebpour, MR., Stewart, RA., Beal, C., Dowling, B., Sharma, A., Fane, S. (2011) Rainwater tank end usage and energy demand: a pilot study. Journal of the Australian Water Association, 38 (1), 85-89.
• Beal. C, Stewart, RA., Huang, TT., Rey, E. (2011) South East Queensland Residential End Use study. Journal of the Australian Water Association, 38 (1), 80-84.
• B Hood, E Gardner, R Barton, R Gardiner, C Beal, R Hyde, C Walton (2010) Decentralised development: the Ecovillage at Currumbin. Journal of the Australian Water Association, 37(6), 37-43.
• Hood B, Gardner T, Beal C (2009) Domestic urine separation captures plant macronutrients. Journal of the Australian Water Association 36 (1), 28-31.
• Beal, CD., Rassam, DW., Gardner, EA., Kirchhof, G., and Menzies, NW. (2008). Influence of hydraulic loading and effluent flux on surface surcharging in soil absorption systems. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering 13, 681-692.
• Beal CD, Gardner T, Ahmed W, Walton C, Hamlyn-Harris D (2008) Urine-separation and reuse trial. Journal of the Australian Water Association 35 (1), 46-49.
• Beal, CD., Gardner, T., Kirchhof, G., and Menzies, NW. (2006). Long term flow rates and biomat zone hydrology in soil columns receiving septic tank effluent. Water Research, 40, 2327-2338.
• Beal CD, Gardner T, Rassam, D, Vieritz AM, Menzies NW (2006) Effluent flux prediction in variably saturated soil zones within a septic tank – soil absorption trench. Australian Journal of Soil Research, 44, 677-686.
• Gardner T., Vieritz A., Beal C (2006) Are on-site systems environmentally sustainable? Journal of the Australian Water Association 33 (1), 28-33.
• A Vieritz, P Beavers, E Gardner, C Beal, J Doherty, J Baisden, T Turner (2006) Risk assessments for impacts from non-sewered subdivisions Journal of the Australian Water Association, 33(1), 28-30.
• Beal CD, Gardner EA, Menzies NW (2005) Process, performance and pollution potential: A review of septic tank – soil absorption systems. Australian Journal of Soil Research, 43, 781- 802.
• Beal CD, Gardner EA, Christiansen C, Beavers P (2005) A review of on-site wastewater management practices in south-east Queensland. Journal of the Australian Water Association, 32 (4), 69-72.
• Beal CD, Gardner EA, Menzies NW (2005) Septic absorption trenches: are they sustainable? Journal of the Australian Water Association, 32 (1), 22-26.

Referred book chapters

• Wakeford J., House C., Butt T.E., Paul P., Beal C.D. (2018) Flood Vulnerability and the Three Dimensions of Sustainability Philosophy: An Innovative Concept Design for Rapid Assessment. In: Leal Filho W. (eds) Handbook of Sustainability Science and Research, 773-782. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham ISBN: 978-3-319-63006-9.
• Beal, C.D., Chong, M., Fyfe, J., Turner, A., Gardner, T. (2015) Mains water savings from harvesting stormwater in detached homes. In: Rainwater Tank Systems for Urban Water Supply Design, Yield, Energy, Health Risks, Economics and Social Perceptions. Editor(s): Ashok K Sharma, Donald Begbie and Ted Gardner. IWA Publishing, UK, Publication Date: 15 Nov 2014, ISBN: 9781780405353, 300 pp.
• Beal, C.D., Stewart, RA., Giurco, D., Panuwatwanich, K., (2014). Intelligent Metering for Urban Water Planning and Management. In K. Adeyeye (Ed.), Water Efficiency in Buildings: Theory and Practice (pp. 129-145): John Wiley & Sons Ltd, UK.

Cara supervises PhD, Masters and Honours students.