Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration and its components. This project aims to demonstrate how temperate evergreen forests could buffer against climate change. Soil respiration returns around half the carbon taken up by forests to the atmosphere. This project will characterise and quantify how microbes and roots in soils depend on temperature and substrate supply, and so predict how rising temperatures and drought will affect forests as natural carbon sequestration sinks. This project will ....Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration and its components. This project aims to demonstrate how temperate evergreen forests could buffer against climate change. Soil respiration returns around half the carbon taken up by forests to the atmosphere. This project will characterise and quantify how microbes and roots in soils depend on temperature and substrate supply, and so predict how rising temperatures and drought will affect forests as natural carbon sequestration sinks. This project will resolve the roles of environmental drivers of soil respiration across forests; integrate mechanistic understanding of differing plant and microbial responses to temperature within a common modelling framework; and evaluate the implications of this knowledge in predictions of climatic impacts on terrestrial carbon cycling.Read moreRead less
Has Twentieth Century warming changed southeastern Australia's fire regimes? This project will reconstruct extreme fire seasons and fire events for the past 500 years in three temperate regions of southeastern Australia. This baseline information will extend our historic records of fire, quantify the controls on fire in our landscapes and place recent catastrophic fire events in historical context.
Constrained and Stable Solutions of Nonlinear and Semismooth Equations. In this project, comprehensive models for designing safe power system parameters will be proposed, efficient algorthms for solving these models will be constructed. The new models and algorithms in this project will provide efficient tools to prevent catastrophic events in power systems, which is related with national security. This project will also strengthen collaboration of Australian applied
mathematians with inter ....Constrained and Stable Solutions of Nonlinear and Semismooth Equations. In this project, comprehensive models for designing safe power system parameters will be proposed, efficient algorthms for solving these models will be constructed. The new models and algorithms in this project will provide efficient tools to prevent catastrophic events in power systems, which is related with national security. This project will also strengthen collaboration of Australian applied
mathematians with international researchers and engineering scientists. This is important for the advance of science and technology in
Australia.Read moreRead less
Diet influences the selective advantage of mitochondrial DNA mutations. This project aims to examine critical mechanisms that affect mitochondrial DNA variation within species. It aims to test the hypothesis that mitochondrial DNA haplotypes have the potential to be under nutritionally induced balancing selection as a consequence of cellular signalling and/or Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production by mitochondria. Diet can vary both seasonally and geographically and is a key environmental param ....Diet influences the selective advantage of mitochondrial DNA mutations. This project aims to examine critical mechanisms that affect mitochondrial DNA variation within species. It aims to test the hypothesis that mitochondrial DNA haplotypes have the potential to be under nutritionally induced balancing selection as a consequence of cellular signalling and/or Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production by mitochondria. Diet can vary both seasonally and geographically and is a key environmental parameter that influences the ability of a species to colonise new habitats. The project plans to characterise the functional links between specific mitochondrial DNA haplotypes, mitochondrial functions and organismal traits. The expected outcome is a more precise grasp of the processes influencing genetic variation within and among species, which would inform current issues in ecology and genetics.Read moreRead less
Multi-Group Stochastic Modelling of Population Balance for Gas-Liquid Flows. Multiphase flow systems are encountered in many process industries such as chemical, petroleum, mining, nuclear, energy, food and pharmaceutical, which are fundamental to the Australian economy. Commercially available computer codes for simulating such systems are currently widely used in many Australian industrial sectors. This research project will address the prevalent deficiency in many of these computer codes and ....Multi-Group Stochastic Modelling of Population Balance for Gas-Liquid Flows. Multiphase flow systems are encountered in many process industries such as chemical, petroleum, mining, nuclear, energy, food and pharmaceutical, which are fundamental to the Australian economy. Commercially available computer codes for simulating such systems are currently widely used in many Australian industrial sectors. This research project will address the prevalent deficiency in many of these computer codes and develop new models capable of predicting a wide range of industrial bubbly flow problems. The resultant improved computer codes will provide industries with significant benefits and, in particular, reduce times and costs in their design and production. Read moreRead less
Towards 2050 - managing recovery of Australia's coral reefs. The coral reefs of Australia contribute over $6 bn each year to the economy. However, the reefs of Australia, in addition to those worldwide, are threatened by coral bleaching driven by anthropogenic climate change. If we are to preserve the economic, social and ecosystem value of these environments, it is essential that we are able to better manage the recovery of reefs from bleaching events. This project will utilise a variety of mul ....Towards 2050 - managing recovery of Australia's coral reefs. The coral reefs of Australia contribute over $6 bn each year to the economy. However, the reefs of Australia, in addition to those worldwide, are threatened by coral bleaching driven by anthropogenic climate change. If we are to preserve the economic, social and ecosystem value of these environments, it is essential that we are able to better manage the recovery of reefs from bleaching events. This project will utilise a variety of multi-disciplinary approaches, ranging from future climate models, historical satellite data to in-field experimentation to fill fundamental knowledge gaps in our understanding of coral bleaching recovery and delivery a variety of management and stakeholder relevant outputs.Read moreRead less
Revealing the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of avian influenza virus. This project aims to understand how avian influenza virus (AIV) emerges, evolves and spreads in wild birds. AIV has the potential to devastate the poultry industry and cause human pandemics, but the factors that shape the genetic diversity of AIV in its wild bird reservoir are poorly understood. The project plans to combine genomic, ecological and phylogenetic approaches to reveal key aspects of AIV evolution, as well a ....Revealing the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of avian influenza virus. This project aims to understand how avian influenza virus (AIV) emerges, evolves and spreads in wild birds. AIV has the potential to devastate the poultry industry and cause human pandemics, but the factors that shape the genetic diversity of AIV in its wild bird reservoir are poorly understood. The project plans to combine genomic, ecological and phylogenetic approaches to reveal key aspects of AIV evolution, as well as the risk for future viral emergence. Using sampling sites in Australia and Antarctica, it plans to investigate AIV diversity, the evolutionary dynamics of AIV in wild birds and poultry, and the role played by environmental transmission in AIV ecology.Read moreRead less
Investigating Innovative Waste Economies: redrawing the circular economy . Australia is facing a waste crisis and government and industry are promoting the Circular Economy as a solution. This project investigates innovative cultural and economic practices in three waste streams: single use plastics, organics and bulky household waste, to understand how they realise or redraw the circle. The project develops empirical evidence to advance thinking about how novel waste economies are organised and ....Investigating Innovative Waste Economies: redrawing the circular economy . Australia is facing a waste crisis and government and industry are promoting the Circular Economy as a solution. This project investigates innovative cultural and economic practices in three waste streams: single use plastics, organics and bulky household waste, to understand how they realise or redraw the circle. The project develops empirical evidence to advance thinking about how novel waste economies are organised and the cultural and social innovations they generate. Outcomes include national and international case studies of innovative waste economies, social learning events with industry stakeholders and academic publications. Key benefits provide evidence of how different waste practices enable more sustainable ways of living. Read moreRead less
The role of vegetated foreshores in stabilising Australia's shorelines. This project aims to improve Australia's capacity to predict shoreline position with sea level rise, identify the role of vegetation in foreshore stabilisation and determine thresholds for shoreline retreat by quantifying the links between biological, geomorphological and sedimentary processes and shoreline position. Sea level rise and potential increases in storminess are predicted to lead to severe impacts and there is an ....The role of vegetated foreshores in stabilising Australia's shorelines. This project aims to improve Australia's capacity to predict shoreline position with sea level rise, identify the role of vegetation in foreshore stabilisation and determine thresholds for shoreline retreat by quantifying the links between biological, geomorphological and sedimentary processes and shoreline position. Sea level rise and potential increases in storminess are predicted to lead to severe impacts and there is an immediate and critical need to understand and accurately predict the functioning, dynamics, and distribution of Australia's coastal zones. Expected outcomes of this interdisciplinary project include an integrated modelling framework crucial for planning and management of sea level rise responses in Australia.Read moreRead less
A systemic environmental impact metric for companies and investors. Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG) metrics are marketed as measures of environmental performance, but they often track exposure to environmental risk rather than generation of environmental impacts. This project aims to develop and test a science-based, systemic environmental impact score for corporate activities. Expected outcomes include new knowledge of cross-scale interactions in the Earth system and tools to assess a bus ....A systemic environmental impact metric for companies and investors. Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG) metrics are marketed as measures of environmental performance, but they often track exposure to environmental risk rather than generation of environmental impacts. This project aims to develop and test a science-based, systemic environmental impact score for corporate activities. Expected outcomes include new knowledge of cross-scale interactions in the Earth system and tools to assess a business or investment’s systemic environmental impacts from activities including water extraction, deforestation and carbon emissions. These outcomes should provide benefits including improved business decision-making on impact mitigation, environmental quality, productivity and corporate environmental reputation.Read moreRead less