Sea level around Australia: fingerprints of melting ice sheets. The project aims to derive regional information on sea-level changes around the Australian coastline. The project plans to use a new technique to combine tide gauge and satellite observations of sea level with information on the spatially varying contributions of melting polar ice sheets, thermal expansion of the oceans and exchanges of water between continents and oceans. It also plans to create new software to enable time-varying ....Sea level around Australia: fingerprints of melting ice sheets. The project aims to derive regional information on sea-level changes around the Australian coastline. The project plans to use a new technique to combine tide gauge and satellite observations of sea level with information on the spatially varying contributions of melting polar ice sheets, thermal expansion of the oceans and exchanges of water between continents and oceans. It also plans to create new software to enable time-varying estimates of the contributions of these sources, from which the changes in sea level over the past century can be reconstructed at any location, including in places where no local observations have been made. This would provide Australian communities with the best possible information regarding sea-level changes in their own region.Read moreRead less
Predicting genetic exchange between species under climate change. This project aims to resolve the factors that lead to the mixing of species’ gene pools, with a focus on whether climate change will increase such mixing, possibly leading to extinction by genetic swamping.
The significance is that the project would improve our understanding of speciation and species’ vulnerability to rapid climate change through genetic mixing; a largely overlooked process.
Key outcomes would be to generate new k ....Predicting genetic exchange between species under climate change. This project aims to resolve the factors that lead to the mixing of species’ gene pools, with a focus on whether climate change will increase such mixing, possibly leading to extinction by genetic swamping.
The significance is that the project would improve our understanding of speciation and species’ vulnerability to rapid climate change through genetic mixing; a largely overlooked process.
Key outcomes would be to generate new knowledge of a fundamental evolutionary process and extend the toolbox of biodiversity managers facing rapid environmental change.
The project would benefit Australia by highlighting our unique biodiversity and scientific capability, and by training early career researchers in advanced evolutionary biology.Read moreRead less
Space gravity: squeezing the last drop of hydrological information out of current and future missions. Australia needs space gravity measurements in order to estimate regional-scale total water storage changes on our continent. This project will deliver the analysis capability required to exploit all the measurements of the current Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission and to place Australia in a state of readiness for the 2017 GRACE Follow On mission.
The Epigenetics of Sex in the Dragon. Genetic codes do not directly translate to phenotypes -- environment acts through epigenetics to modify development. We use advanced molecular techniques to examine how epigenetics responds to temperature to reverse sex in our novel animal model, the dragon lizard. How does the cell sense temperature? Once the extrinsic signal is captured, how does it influence chromatin modification to release or suppress key genes in the sex differentiation pathway? Which ....The Epigenetics of Sex in the Dragon. Genetic codes do not directly translate to phenotypes -- environment acts through epigenetics to modify development. We use advanced molecular techniques to examine how epigenetics responds to temperature to reverse sex in our novel animal model, the dragon lizard. How does the cell sense temperature? Once the extrinsic signal is captured, how does it influence chromatin modification to release or suppress key genes in the sex differentiation pathway? Which sex genes are targets? Epigenetic enzymes are astonishingly conserved, providing exciting opportunities to draw from human systems to unravel novel signatures of temperature-induced sex switching in reptiles. This project will advance knowledge of developmental programming generally.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE210100028
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,000,000.00
Summary
Australian Membership of the International Ocean Discovery Program. This proposal is for an 18-month membership of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), the world’s largest collaborative research program in Earth and Ocean sciences. The Program studies the history and current activity of the Earth by conducting seagoing coring expeditions and monitoring of instrumented boreholes, using globally unique infrastructure that Australians would otherwise have no access to. Program outcomes ....Australian Membership of the International Ocean Discovery Program. This proposal is for an 18-month membership of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), the world’s largest collaborative research program in Earth and Ocean sciences. The Program studies the history and current activity of the Earth by conducting seagoing coring expeditions and monitoring of instrumented boreholes, using globally unique infrastructure that Australians would otherwise have no access to. Program outcomes include understanding past global environmental change on multiple time scales, the deep biosphere, plate tectonics, formation and distribution of resources, and generation of hazards. These outcomes are paramount to Australia’s national science and research priorities, and societal and economic prosperity.Read moreRead less
U/Th dating of coral mortality and recovery rates in the Great Barrier Reef. This project aims to use high-efficiency U-Th geochronology and palaeoecology to identify past coral mortality events and community changes in the inshore Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and quantify subsequent recovery rates across a water quality gradient. These records will then be linked to natural and human impacts, especially since European settlement. The project outcomes will improve understanding of past disturbances ....U/Th dating of coral mortality and recovery rates in the Great Barrier Reef. This project aims to use high-efficiency U-Th geochronology and palaeoecology to identify past coral mortality events and community changes in the inshore Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and quantify subsequent recovery rates across a water quality gradient. These records will then be linked to natural and human impacts, especially since European settlement. The project outcomes will improve understanding of past disturbances and recovery rates in the GBR ecosystem and help focus management in the face of increased human pressure and environmental changes.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE160100067
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000,000.00
Summary
Australian Membership of the International Ocean Discovery Program. Australian membership of the International Ocean Discovery Program:
This project is for a 5-year membership of the International Ocean Discovery Program, the world’s largest collaborative research program in earth and ocean sciences addressing international priorities. The program conducts seagoing coring expeditions and monitoring of instrumented boreholes to study the history and current activity of the Earth, recorded in sed ....Australian Membership of the International Ocean Discovery Program. Australian membership of the International Ocean Discovery Program:
This project is for a 5-year membership of the International Ocean Discovery Program, the world’s largest collaborative research program in earth and ocean sciences addressing international priorities. The program conducts seagoing coring expeditions and monitoring of instrumented boreholes to study the history and current activity of the Earth, recorded in sediments and rocks below the seafloor. The program’s aims include understanding past global environments on multiple time scales, the deep biosphere, plate tectonics, occurrence and distribution of resources, and generation of hazards. Several multinational expeditions are scheduled and planned in our marine jurisdiction and within the Australasian region. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101773
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$369,536.00
Summary
Bayesian Hierarchical Model for Biogeography. Species Distribution Models (SDMs) are crucial tools for conservation and planning, but they assume that environmental variables (e.g. temperature) are the only controls on distributions, when historical factors, like dispersal limitation and phylogenetic niche conservatism, are also important. A Bayesian Hierarchical Model (BHM) will be constructed to jointly estimate dispersal history, niche evolution, and present-day SDMs for each species in a cla ....Bayesian Hierarchical Model for Biogeography. Species Distribution Models (SDMs) are crucial tools for conservation and planning, but they assume that environmental variables (e.g. temperature) are the only controls on distributions, when historical factors, like dispersal limitation and phylogenetic niche conservatism, are also important. A Bayesian Hierarchical Model (BHM) will be constructed to jointly estimate dispersal history, niche evolution, and present-day SDMs for each species in a clade. BHMs will be tested against traditional SDMs using Australian clades (e.g. frogs) and simulations. BHMs will advance scientific understanding of how species and biogeography coevolve and provide practical improvements in predictions for species that are rare, data-poor, or in changed climates.Read moreRead less
Back to the Future: Interglacial Warming and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet . The Antarctic is highly-sensitive to abrupt changes caused by the passing of tipping points within the climate system. Crucially, the instrumental record is too short to resolve major uncertainties surrounding future warming. The Last Interglacial (125,000 yrs ago) was 2°C warmer than today and experienced 6-11 m higher global sea levels. The role of Antarctica is vital for constraining sea-level projections. This Austra ....Back to the Future: Interglacial Warming and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet . The Antarctic is highly-sensitive to abrupt changes caused by the passing of tipping points within the climate system. Crucially, the instrumental record is too short to resolve major uncertainties surrounding future warming. The Last Interglacial (125,000 yrs ago) was 2°C warmer than today and experienced 6-11 m higher global sea levels. The role of Antarctica is vital for constraining sea-level projections. This Australian-led international project aims to determine the mechanisms and impacts of past interglacial Antarctic warming up to 2°C (relative to pre-industrial). Innovative techniques integrating horizontal ice cores and high resolution marine records will help identify polar tipping points and better plan for impacts in Australia.Read moreRead less
Robotic investigation of water optical properties in the Southern Ocean. The project aims to improve our understanding of light–matter interactions in the waters of the Southern Ocean (SO), in particular the role of phytoplankton and associated material of biological origin. Phytoplankton are the energy source for the food web and a critical component of carbon cycling in the SO. However, their dynamics in the SO cannot be quantified using satellite observations because bio-optical data processi ....Robotic investigation of water optical properties in the Southern Ocean. The project aims to improve our understanding of light–matter interactions in the waters of the Southern Ocean (SO), in particular the role of phytoplankton and associated material of biological origin. Phytoplankton are the energy source for the food web and a critical component of carbon cycling in the SO. However, their dynamics in the SO cannot be quantified using satellite observations because bio-optical data processing algorithms perform poorly due to a lack of field data. This project seeks to remedy this by improving understanding of SO bio-optics, and by providing novel algorithms of known uncertainty, based on in situ data.Read moreRead less