Understanding the relationship between sociality and cognition. The evolution of cognition is a fundamentally important yet poorly researched area. It has recently become clear that rather than measuring cognitive performance between species, understanding the causes of intraspecific variation in cognitive performance is vital to accurately measure the selective benefits of cognition. Recent groundbreaking research on Australian magpies has revealed individual differences in cognitive performanc ....Understanding the relationship between sociality and cognition. The evolution of cognition is a fundamentally important yet poorly researched area. It has recently become clear that rather than measuring cognitive performance between species, understanding the causes of intraspecific variation in cognitive performance is vital to accurately measure the selective benefits of cognition. Recent groundbreaking research on Australian magpies has revealed individual differences in cognitive performance are influenced by differences in sociality. This proposal will determine the causality of these results by examining the developmental and fitness consequences of individual differences in cognitive performance in relation to social interactions, thus directly addressing the sociality-cognition debate.Read moreRead less
Adaptation to life in the dark: genomic analyses of blind beetles. This project aims to utilise a unique Australian model system based on multiple, independently-evolved subterranean water beetles to explore the adaptive and regressive changes in the genome that occur when surface species colonise subterranean habitats. This project focuses on the evolution of Heat Shock protein (Hsp) genes that play critical roles in adaptation to environmental stress and the process of de-canalisation, the rel ....Adaptation to life in the dark: genomic analyses of blind beetles. This project aims to utilise a unique Australian model system based on multiple, independently-evolved subterranean water beetles to explore the adaptive and regressive changes in the genome that occur when surface species colonise subterranean habitats. This project focuses on the evolution of Heat Shock protein (Hsp) genes that play critical roles in adaptation to environmental stress and the process of de-canalisation, the release of cryptic genetic variation that can allow novel morphologies to evolve in new environments. The project expects to provide further understanding of how species may potentially adapt to environmental stresses in the future, including climate change.Read moreRead less
Ejaculate-mediated paternal effects on offspring fitness. This project aims to unravel the evolutionary importance of ejaculate-mediated paternal effects, through which paternal lifestyle factors, such as diet and exposure to toxicants, influence offspring growth and health independently of genes. By identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying these non-genetic sources of inheritance, their adaptive value, and their potential to fuel evolutionary change, the project expects to generate new k ....Ejaculate-mediated paternal effects on offspring fitness. This project aims to unravel the evolutionary importance of ejaculate-mediated paternal effects, through which paternal lifestyle factors, such as diet and exposure to toxicants, influence offspring growth and health independently of genes. By identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying these non-genetic sources of inheritance, their adaptive value, and their potential to fuel evolutionary change, the project expects to generate new knowledge that will be relevant across the biological, medical and agricultural sectors. Expected outcomes and benefits include building institutional and interdisciplinary collaborations and the development of tools to understand the evolutionary impacts of paternal lifestyle choices for offspring traits.Read moreRead less
Understanding the impact of heat stress on cognition in a changing world. Our research will determine how anthropogenic climate change effects the ability of animals to process information in their environment. This research is significant because it directly addresses the growing issue of wildlife adaptation to climate change. If heat stress, reported widely in wildlife both in Australia and globally, impairs an animal's ability to respond to stimuli in its surrounding environment, then this ma ....Understanding the impact of heat stress on cognition in a changing world. Our research will determine how anthropogenic climate change effects the ability of animals to process information in their environment. This research is significant because it directly addresses the growing issue of wildlife adaptation to climate change. If heat stress, reported widely in wildlife both in Australia and globally, impairs an animal's ability to respond to stimuli in its surrounding environment, then this may cause lower reproductive success (eg lower predator detection rates) and population declines. We aim to identify critical temperature points beyond which the cognitive responses of animals decline rapidly - a significant finding for effective wildlife management priorities in the face of rapid climate change. Read moreRead less
How plants open up: revealing the evolution of stomatal opening mechanisms. This project aims to identify novel and conserved mechanisms that drive the opening of stomata – plant pores that enable CO2 acquisition for photosynthesis. Stomatal movements strongly affect plant productivity and water use efficiency and have profoundly influenced the earth’s climate and terrestrial ecology. This project will address critical gaps in our understanding of how plants open stomata in response to their env ....How plants open up: revealing the evolution of stomatal opening mechanisms. This project aims to identify novel and conserved mechanisms that drive the opening of stomata – plant pores that enable CO2 acquisition for photosynthesis. Stomatal movements strongly affect plant productivity and water use efficiency and have profoundly influenced the earth’s climate and terrestrial ecology. This project will address critical gaps in our understanding of how plants open stomata in response to their environment and the evolutionary history of the genes controlling this fundamental process. A major expected outcome is knowledge of the diversity of stomatal opening pathways, which should ultimately lead to improved predictions of plant responses to environmental change and assist future targeted modification of plant growth.Read moreRead less
Physiology of oxygen transport in the mammalian kidney. This project aims to improve understanding of oxygen regulation in renal tissue and knowledge of the physiology of the kidney. The mammalian kidney receives more oxygen than it uses or needs, and yet renal tissue is commonly found to be hypoxic. This project proposes that oxygen transport to the renal tissue is limited by blood vessel surface area. The project expects to generate anatomical data currently missing from the renal physiology c ....Physiology of oxygen transport in the mammalian kidney. This project aims to improve understanding of oxygen regulation in renal tissue and knowledge of the physiology of the kidney. The mammalian kidney receives more oxygen than it uses or needs, and yet renal tissue is commonly found to be hypoxic. This project proposes that oxygen transport to the renal tissue is limited by blood vessel surface area. The project expects to generate anatomical data currently missing from the renal physiology community, and potentially change the accepted story of oxygen homeostasis in the kidney. This will provide significant benefits, such as the provision of the foundational physiological science behind a determinant of kidney health and its flow-on impact to quality of life.Read moreRead less
Correlative Imaging of Brain Lipids. This project aims to develop imaging tools and protocols for the detection of lipids in brain tissue and cells. This project expects to generate advanced methodologies to display specific lipid classes and their corresponding structures within tissues and cells, with the ability to be detected and correlated with multiple techniques, which represent a currently unavailable capacity. The expected outcomes of this project are improved opportunities to study lip ....Correlative Imaging of Brain Lipids. This project aims to develop imaging tools and protocols for the detection of lipids in brain tissue and cells. This project expects to generate advanced methodologies to display specific lipid classes and their corresponding structures within tissues and cells, with the ability to be detected and correlated with multiple techniques, which represent a currently unavailable capacity. The expected outcomes of this project are improved opportunities to study lipid biology at the cellular and sub-cellular level across a wide range of in vitro and in vivo models. The outcomes of this project should provide significant knowledge to tackle modern societal challenges in healthy ageing, brain pathologies and neurodegenerative diseases.Read moreRead less
How are visual gene pathways lost and restored during reptile evolution? This project aims to investigate how complex traits are lost during evolution, and once lost if they can be regained. The project will use the diverse visual systems of snakes and lizards to shed light on the process of gene loss in degenerative lineages, and discover the mechanisms that compensate for gene losses in taxa with secondarily evolved visual capabilities- providing a case of evolutionary re-innovation in complex ....How are visual gene pathways lost and restored during reptile evolution? This project aims to investigate how complex traits are lost during evolution, and once lost if they can be regained. The project will use the diverse visual systems of snakes and lizards to shed light on the process of gene loss in degenerative lineages, and discover the mechanisms that compensate for gene losses in taxa with secondarily evolved visual capabilities- providing a case of evolutionary re-innovation in complex traits.Read moreRead less
Polarization vision: insights from biological systems for imaging solutions. This project aims to discover how invertebrate and vertebrate model species see linearly polarised light by constructing a novel instrument to determine limits to sensitivities, as well as animals' ability to distinguish small differences in degree and angle of linear polarisation. The project aims to predict how this might be affected as environments change. A clear understanding of biological solutions to polarisation ....Polarization vision: insights from biological systems for imaging solutions. This project aims to discover how invertebrate and vertebrate model species see linearly polarised light by constructing a novel instrument to determine limits to sensitivities, as well as animals' ability to distinguish small differences in degree and angle of linear polarisation. The project aims to predict how this might be affected as environments change. A clear understanding of biological solutions to polarisation perception can inform the design and development of novel bio-inspired imaging sensors that will be particularly suited to small, autonomous robots.Read moreRead less
Fins to Limbs: Investigating the Evolution of complex Limb Musculature. This application aims to investigates the basis of the fin-to-limb transition, an event that set the stage for the entire tetrapod radiation. This project expects to generate new knowledge concerning the natural history of vertebrates using a multidisciplinary approach that combines paleontology and embryology of unique Australian fauna. While the skeletal changes associated with the move from water to land have been investi ....Fins to Limbs: Investigating the Evolution of complex Limb Musculature. This application aims to investigates the basis of the fin-to-limb transition, an event that set the stage for the entire tetrapod radiation. This project expects to generate new knowledge concerning the natural history of vertebrates using a multidisciplinary approach that combines paleontology and embryology of unique Australian fauna. While the skeletal changes associated with the move from water to land have been investigated, little is known about the origin of tetrapod limb muscles. This proposal has as an expected outcome, a determination of how limb muscles arose during evolution. This knowledge should provide significant benefits by transforming our understanding of the origins of the tetrapod body plan and our own natural history.Read moreRead less