Non-urban water governance: rethinking compliance and enforcement. This project aims to critically evaluate the practices and strategies of non-urban water compliance and enforcement in Australia and internationally, to identify and develop innovations for water governance. New law and policy knowledge is expected from its fusion of empirical data and regulatory theory. The project expects to advance applied regulatory theory by identifying improvements in compliance and enforcement to help solv ....Non-urban water governance: rethinking compliance and enforcement. This project aims to critically evaluate the practices and strategies of non-urban water compliance and enforcement in Australia and internationally, to identify and develop innovations for water governance. New law and policy knowledge is expected from its fusion of empirical data and regulatory theory. The project expects to advance applied regulatory theory by identifying improvements in compliance and enforcement to help solve environmental issues. It will also lead to policy reforms for delivering more effective, efficient and politically-acceptable compliance outcomes for non-urban water management that will benefit water regulators and the sustainability and productivity of Australia's agricultural industry.Read moreRead less
Trade and investment in the face of declining international cooperation. This project aims to investigate the impact and policy implications of trade and investment policies in a world trade system facing increasing uncertainty. The project intends to gain an improved understanding of investment regulations like Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) agreements and their impact on trade and foreign direct investment. Expected outcomes include new theories for the breakdown of international agr ....Trade and investment in the face of declining international cooperation. This project aims to investigate the impact and policy implications of trade and investment policies in a world trade system facing increasing uncertainty. The project intends to gain an improved understanding of investment regulations like Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) agreements and their impact on trade and foreign direct investment. Expected outcomes include new theories for the breakdown of international agreements and their effects on third world countries as well as empirical methods that allow for a quantification of the welfare and employment effects of investment policies like ISDS. This project should provide benefits by informing government policy makers to improve Australia’s trade and investment policies.Read moreRead less
The Molecular Basis of Nanoparticle Resistance in Mixed-Species Biofilm. The project aims to understand how the globally significant mixed-species growth of pathogens develop resistance to silver nanoparticle, currently one of the most important alternative antimicrobials to antibiotics. The integrated research is to elucidate, for the first time, the nanoparticle multi-targeting toxicity on mixed-species bacterial community and how, in turn, the bacteria activate their cell-to-cell signalling f ....The Molecular Basis of Nanoparticle Resistance in Mixed-Species Biofilm. The project aims to understand how the globally significant mixed-species growth of pathogens develop resistance to silver nanoparticle, currently one of the most important alternative antimicrobials to antibiotics. The integrated research is to elucidate, for the first time, the nanoparticle multi-targeting toxicity on mixed-species bacterial community and how, in turn, the bacteria activate their cell-to-cell signalling for a synergistic defence to adapt to the nanoparticle toxicity. The pioneering knowledge is the foundation for technologies targeting the interspecies metabolite cross-talking to overcome the resistance phenomena, ensuring a long-term efficacy of the alternative antimicrobial on the difficult-to-control pathogenic growth.Read moreRead less
Counter-COVID public policies and the impacts on Australian children. This project aims to identify the causal effects of counter-COVID school closures, stay-at-home mandates and government support payments on the educational and developmental outcomes of Australian children. It will establish, for the first time, a comprehensive causal evidence base on the average and distributional impacts of these policies on children across the spectrum of schooling years from preschool to secondary school c ....Counter-COVID public policies and the impacts on Australian children. This project aims to identify the causal effects of counter-COVID school closures, stay-at-home mandates and government support payments on the educational and developmental outcomes of Australian children. It will establish, for the first time, a comprehensive causal evidence base on the average and distributional impacts of these policies on children across the spectrum of schooling years from preschool to secondary school completion. This project expects to advance our understanding of child skill accumulation and the relative importance of schools, parents, peers and government intervention. Anticipated benefits include providing policy recommendations to restore student learning outcomes and reduce educational inequality in Australia.Read moreRead less
Fungal Ribosomally Synthesised and Post-translationally Modified Peptides. Fungi produce an array of molecules called secondary metabolites (SMs) that impact on everyday life (e.g. penicillin). This project aims to investigate a new class of fungal peptide SMs called RiPPs which are structurally unique from existing molecules and offer the exciting prospect of harbouring new and novel biological activities. This project expects to discover the mechanisms of RiPP synthesis and their biological ro ....Fungal Ribosomally Synthesised and Post-translationally Modified Peptides. Fungi produce an array of molecules called secondary metabolites (SMs) that impact on everyday life (e.g. penicillin). This project aims to investigate a new class of fungal peptide SMs called RiPPs which are structurally unique from existing molecules and offer the exciting prospect of harbouring new and novel biological activities. This project expects to discover the mechanisms of RiPP synthesis and their biological roles in plant pathogenic fungi, and uncover and engineer novel RiPPs with desired bioactivities. The expected outcome from this project will be a seminal advance in fungal SM biology which should provide significant benefits through the generation of exciting new lead molecules for the agricultural and medical industries.Read moreRead less
Social, economic and health vulnerabilities in Indonesia. This project aims to study and provide ways to overcome vulnerability in Indonesia. Half the Indonesian population is still clustered around the poverty line, contributing to their vulnerability. This project will identify vulnerable groups and why they are vulnerable. Using a common framework of the life course in eight Indonesian field sites, this project will investigate whether social networks and welfare programs reduce vulnerability ....Social, economic and health vulnerabilities in Indonesia. This project aims to study and provide ways to overcome vulnerability in Indonesia. Half the Indonesian population is still clustered around the poverty line, contributing to their vulnerability. This project will identify vulnerable groups and why they are vulnerable. Using a common framework of the life course in eight Indonesian field sites, this project will investigate whether social networks and welfare programs reduce vulnerability, and pinpoint strategies for reducing vulnerabilities in the future. The project expects to show how vulnerable citizens in Indonesia can be made more secure, helping to build a more stable and prosperous region.Read moreRead less
Developing Ecosystem Services Economies for northern Australia. The project aims to advance economic opportunities for Indigenous communities across Northern Australia by developing culturally appropriate ecosystem services economies. The project will offer new alternatives for collectively addressing chronic Indigenous socio-economic issues and pressing environmental issues. Expected outcomes include a co-developed ecosystem services economies business model with a toolkit, involving Indigenous ....Developing Ecosystem Services Economies for northern Australia. The project aims to advance economic opportunities for Indigenous communities across Northern Australia by developing culturally appropriate ecosystem services economies. The project will offer new alternatives for collectively addressing chronic Indigenous socio-economic issues and pressing environmental issues. Expected outcomes include a co-developed ecosystem services economies business model with a toolkit, involving Indigenous and business stakeholders, for establishing innovative enterprises across northern Australia. Key benefits include new ecosystem services-based enterprises; sustainable land sector development; jobs in remote locations; improved well-being of Indigenous peoples; and better environmental management. Read moreRead less
Nature futures: mapping pathways to prosperity for people and nature. Population growth, consumption and trade are direct socio-economic drivers of land use change and climate change, which determine where species can persist. The UN Sustainable Development Goals and national policies acknowledge the dependence of people on nature and the impact of socio-economic drivers on nature. However, few analyses of impacts on nature explicitly incorporate socio-economic drivers. Utilising a novel modelli ....Nature futures: mapping pathways to prosperity for people and nature. Population growth, consumption and trade are direct socio-economic drivers of land use change and climate change, which determine where species can persist. The UN Sustainable Development Goals and national policies acknowledge the dependence of people on nature and the impact of socio-economic drivers on nature. However, few analyses of impacts on nature explicitly incorporate socio-economic drivers. Utilising a novel modelling framework and high-performance computing we will integrate economic, land use and biodiversity models to evaluate: (i) policies and incentives for increasing national vegetation cover for carbon sequestration and habitat, and (ii) global risks to nature posed by land use change under future geopolitical scenarios.Read moreRead less
Molecular mechanisms of signalling by plant immune receptors. This project aims to understand how resistance proteins function and to find new sources of these proteins. Plant diseases account for 15% loss of global crop production, representing a threat to food security. Fungicides, one key form of protection, represent environmental concerns. The other key form of protection corresponds to resistance gene breeding, which is limited by lengthy breeding processes, restricted choice of genes from ....Molecular mechanisms of signalling by plant immune receptors. This project aims to understand how resistance proteins function and to find new sources of these proteins. Plant diseases account for 15% loss of global crop production, representing a threat to food security. Fungicides, one key form of protection, represent environmental concerns. The other key form of protection corresponds to resistance gene breeding, which is limited by lengthy breeding processes, restricted choice of genes from sexually compatible species and short effective time spans in the field. Building on previous research, this project aims to characterise the molecular basis of the Toll/interleukin-1 receptor domain-mediated nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) cleavage and the structural architecture of plant NLR complexes. This knowledge will support the long-term objective of protecting crops from pathogens.Read moreRead less
Structural basis of plant immune receptor signaling. Plants detect invading pathogens and trigger immune responses in a process called “effector-triggered immunity”, in which pathogen effector (avirulence) proteins are recognized by plant resistance proteins, typically so-called “plant NLRs”. Ongoing work in the applicants’ laboratories has shown that oligomerization into “resistosomes” and NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) cleavage play central roles in the process. Building on these dat ....Structural basis of plant immune receptor signaling. Plants detect invading pathogens and trigger immune responses in a process called “effector-triggered immunity”, in which pathogen effector (avirulence) proteins are recognized by plant resistance proteins, typically so-called “plant NLRs”. Ongoing work in the applicants’ laboratories has shown that oligomerization into “resistosomes” and NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) cleavage play central roles in the process. Building on these data, the project aims to characterize the structures of the signaling molecules resulting from TIR (Toll/interleukin-1 receptor) domain-mediated NAD+ cleavage and the structural architecture of plant NLR resistosomes. This knowledge will support the long-term objective of protecting crops from pathogens.Read moreRead less