Theory for global biodiversity conservation. Australia's biological diversity underpins much of our economic wealth - for example the remarkable diversity of coral reefs fuels a multibillion dollar tourism industry. We will devise methods to make better decisions about where to invest conservation dollars amongst the biodiversity "hotspots" of the world and Australia to deliver environmental sustainability. We will solve the problem of how much of any environmental budget should be spent on mo ....Theory for global biodiversity conservation. Australia's biological diversity underpins much of our economic wealth - for example the remarkable diversity of coral reefs fuels a multibillion dollar tourism industry. We will devise methods to make better decisions about where to invest conservation dollars amongst the biodiversity "hotspots" of the world and Australia to deliver environmental sustainability. We will solve the problem of how much of any environmental budget should be spent on monitoring conservation actions to make better and more cost-effective decisions. We will create new theory and freely available tools for building systems of marine reserves that allow for threats like coral bleaching and hurricanes.Read moreRead less
Cambodia: Place, People and Politics; Environmental, Economic, Cultural, Political, and Regional History since Earliest Times. Understanding the region and the world is vital to safeguarding Australia. Cambodian-Australian relations are important to Australia's foreign policy, both in Southeast Asia and globally. Australia's substantial Cambodian communities remain very interested in developments in their home country. This project will heighten Australia's profile in Cambodia, stimulate regiona ....Cambodia: Place, People and Politics; Environmental, Economic, Cultural, Political, and Regional History since Earliest Times. Understanding the region and the world is vital to safeguarding Australia. Cambodian-Australian relations are important to Australia's foreign policy, both in Southeast Asia and globally. Australia's substantial Cambodian communities remain very interested in developments in their home country. This project will heighten Australia's profile in Cambodia, stimulate regional research among Khmer-Australians, and attract top students and Post-Doctoral Fellows from Cambodia and other countries. Cambodia's specific ecological conditions and the long and important documented history of its people and their role in the region, will result in this project having a significant impact on Australian, regional and global study of Southeast Asia.Read moreRead less
Biologically-Inspired Recognition and Processing in Colloidal Systems. The proposed research will enhance the understanding of forces and adsorption in biologically-inspired synthetic systems, and thereby create new strategies for improving selective adsorption, stabilization, coagulation, and separation. The expected outcomes are: increased understanding of chiral interactions at surfaces, a technique for rapid measurement of surface selectivity, new and better agents for chiral separation, a ....Biologically-Inspired Recognition and Processing in Colloidal Systems. The proposed research will enhance the understanding of forces and adsorption in biologically-inspired synthetic systems, and thereby create new strategies for improving selective adsorption, stabilization, coagulation, and separation. The expected outcomes are: increased understanding of chiral interactions at surfaces, a technique for rapid measurement of surface selectivity, new and better agents for chiral separation, a reduction in the use of organic pollutants, new methods for colloidal processing that will enable the preparation of new materials, and new surface coatings for increasing the useful life-time of medical implants.Read moreRead less