Dr Rachael Nolan is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Technology, Sydney. Her research focuses on the interaction between vegetation and carbon and water cycles. Dr Nolan completed her PhD at the University of Melbourne, where she researched how bushfires in native eucalypt forests can affect water supply. This research is important for understanding water supply across much of south-eastern Australia, where water for urban, industrial and agricultural use is predominately sourced from forests that are vulnerable to bushfires. Dr Nolan has also undertaken research on improving models of fuel moisture, and identifying the critical fuel moisture thresholds that precede large bushfires.