The vision we rely on every day to read and recognise faces depends upon the health of the central portion of our retina, the macula. Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in Australia and the western world. Researchers at the Australian National University are collaborating to bring a new test for AMD severity to the market within 3 years. The objective is to provide doctors with a rapid, cost-effective tool to help them manage treatment.
Regulating the Climate Finance Revolution. This project aims to identify how financial market regulators might best incentivise financial institutions to shift from high to low carbon investments, thereby mitigating climate change. It expects to generate new knowledge identifying regulatory excellence in previously uncharted territory and to enable best practice policymaking. Its expected outcomes will be to identify the central roles that the design and implementation of regulation can play in ....Regulating the Climate Finance Revolution. This project aims to identify how financial market regulators might best incentivise financial institutions to shift from high to low carbon investments, thereby mitigating climate change. It expects to generate new knowledge identifying regulatory excellence in previously uncharted territory and to enable best practice policymaking. Its expected outcomes will be to identify the central roles that the design and implementation of regulation can play in fast tracking finance for climate action. Its benefits should include advancing climate change mitigation, facilitating the development of Australia as a competitive sustainable finance market and contributing to Australia’s research on achieving a desirable energy future. Read moreRead less
Sustaining Australia's Marine Fisheries: Modelling and Managing Highly Migratory Fish Stocks of the Indian and Western and Central Pacific Oceans. The research program will enable Australia to sustainably use key marine resources by modelling and developing management strategies for tuna and billfish of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The interdisciplinary research program will (1) develop a set of hypotheses about the critical variables and positive and negative feedbacks of highly migratory fis ....Sustaining Australia's Marine Fisheries: Modelling and Managing Highly Migratory Fish Stocks of the Indian and Western and Central Pacific Oceans. The research program will enable Australia to sustainably use key marine resources by modelling and developing management strategies for tuna and billfish of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The interdisciplinary research program will (1) develop a set of hypotheses about the critical variables and positive and negative feedbacks of highly migratory fish stocks, (2) model the ecological and economic systems of tuna and billfish in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and (3), link the models to a framework to adaptively manage the resources in a multilateral context while ensuring their long-term sustainability.Read moreRead less
Smart materials for atmospheric water management and water harvesting. Fresh water is a scarce resource in many parts of the globe but uncomfortably over-supplied in other regions. Dehumidifying machines, such as air conditioners, are extensively used in humid climates to enhance human comfort, but with great energy costs. Likewise, the production of potable water in remote dry regions is energy intensive. We propose novel hyper-absorbent desiccating polymers combined into sorption-powered engin ....Smart materials for atmospheric water management and water harvesting. Fresh water is a scarce resource in many parts of the globe but uncomfortably over-supplied in other regions. Dehumidifying machines, such as air conditioners, are extensively used in humid climates to enhance human comfort, but with great energy costs. Likewise, the production of potable water in remote dry regions is energy intensive. We propose novel hyper-absorbent desiccating polymers combined into sorption-powered engines inspired by nastic movements in plants to develop extremely efficient dehumidifiers and water harvesting machines. These polymer actuators can help address the auto-acceleration of climate change caused by the increasing use of air conditioners and provide cheap, clean water for remote communities.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100996
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,000.00
Summary
Social learning: the diffusion of residential rooftop photovoltaic panels in Australia. Residential photovoltaic (PV) panels provide a sustainable solution to energy supply helping to address the climate change challenge. This project develops novel methodologies to study the diffusion mechanisms of PV panels. The outcomes will be useful for energy industries and the government for the effective formulation of their business strategies and policies.
Assessing reservoir performance for carbon storage in saline aquifers. This project aims to develop a multiscale framework of site characterisation for carbon storage in deep saline aquifers and calculate measures of injectivity, storage capacity and containment. Carbon capture and storage could reduce carbon emissions within two decades. Carbon dioxide emissions are the most important drivers of climate change, with detrimental effects on humans and their environment, including water security, ....Assessing reservoir performance for carbon storage in saline aquifers. This project aims to develop a multiscale framework of site characterisation for carbon storage in deep saline aquifers and calculate measures of injectivity, storage capacity and containment. Carbon capture and storage could reduce carbon emissions within two decades. Carbon dioxide emissions are the most important drivers of climate change, with detrimental effects on humans and their environment, including water security, agriculture, coastal communities, and infrastructure. This project will improve assessment of reservoir performance for carbon storage in saline aquifers, and help reduce carbon emissions.Read moreRead less
Are proposed land-based sinks for greenhouse gases resilient to climate change and natural variability? One strategy to reduce the scale of future climate change is to enhance the storage of carbon in vegetation and soils. Evidence suggests carbon stored in vegetation and soils is itself vulnerable to climate change, placing this stored carbon at risk; this project will assess this risk to advise on the reliability of using terrestrial systems as carbon sinks.
The political ecology of forest carbon: mainland Southeast Asia's new commodity frontier? Spurred by international climate change policies, forest carbon markets are being promoted in mainland Southeast Asia to protect its forests against persisting rates of deforestation. This research examines the implications of this new commodity market for local livelihoods and cross-border forest product trade in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
Black titanium dioxide-graphene nanoleaves drive solid-gas selective carbon dioxide to solar fuels. This project aims to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as part of a reaction to produce a carbon-neutral solar fuel. People are currently still over reliant on fossil fuels for energy production, which leads to increased greenhouse gases and their detrimental climate effect. This project will develop novel wireless sustainable nano-reactors, which can be scaled to a system working in an am ....Black titanium dioxide-graphene nanoleaves drive solid-gas selective carbon dioxide to solar fuels. This project aims to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as part of a reaction to produce a carbon-neutral solar fuel. People are currently still over reliant on fossil fuels for energy production, which leads to increased greenhouse gases and their detrimental climate effect. This project will develop novel wireless sustainable nano-reactors, which can be scaled to a system working in an ambient environment for high-yield production. The expected outcomes are to synthesise nano-flowers composed of 2D functional nano-leaves, which will be fabricated into a flexible large-area carbon dioxide-to-solar fuel system. This project will also expand knowledge in heterojunctions, surface chemistry and nano-manufacturing of 2D materials. The technology to be developed will only rely on natural solar, atmospheric, and earth-abundant eco-friendly resources, and intends to promote Australia as a key regional solar fuels production and export nation.Read moreRead less
A socio-ecological comparison of nations making a transition to renewable energy. This project aims to use ethnography to investigate how legitimacy for renewable energy can be won or lost. The project will focus on Germany, India and Australia, regions that are undergoing ‘energy transition.’ It, conducts in-depth studies of changing socio-ecological relations, theorising through comparative analysis, and creating new data on the socio-cultural forces for emission reduction. The project will an ....A socio-ecological comparison of nations making a transition to renewable energy. This project aims to use ethnography to investigate how legitimacy for renewable energy can be won or lost. The project will focus on Germany, India and Australia, regions that are undergoing ‘energy transition.’ It, conducts in-depth studies of changing socio-ecological relations, theorising through comparative analysis, and creating new data on the socio-cultural forces for emission reduction. The project will analyse what can be done to enhance the transition to renewable energy. The expected outcomes are grounded in the comparative study of regions that are making a transition to renewable power.Read moreRead less