Tracking flood waters over Australia using space gravity data. This project aims to assess the utility of near-real-time data from the currently operating space gravity satellite mission to quantify and track flood waters in Australia. Through analysis of the satellite data and fusion of observed signals with rainfall, river flows and conventional hydrological modelling, it expects to create new knowledge of soil moisture and movement of flood waters. Expected outcomes include a capability to im ....Tracking flood waters over Australia using space gravity data. This project aims to assess the utility of near-real-time data from the currently operating space gravity satellite mission to quantify and track flood waters in Australia. Through analysis of the satellite data and fusion of observed signals with rainfall, river flows and conventional hydrological modelling, it expects to create new knowledge of soil moisture and movement of flood waters. Expected outcomes include a capability to improve hydrological models by including the information of water signals obtained from the near-real-time observations. This should provide significant benefits such as more accurate land saturation maps and better predictions of runoff and flood risk.Read moreRead less
Origins and distributions of intraplate earthquakes. This project aims to investigate the behaviour and origin of intraplate earthquakes in Australia by developing a multi-million-year record of earthquakes using geological, geochronological, geospatial, seismological, statistical and numerical modelling data. It will use maximum credible magnitudes, maximum shaking intensities of intraplate earthquakes and spatiotemporal relationships between large prehistoric and contemporary earthquakes to im ....Origins and distributions of intraplate earthquakes. This project aims to investigate the behaviour and origin of intraplate earthquakes in Australia by developing a multi-million-year record of earthquakes using geological, geochronological, geospatial, seismological, statistical and numerical modelling data. It will use maximum credible magnitudes, maximum shaking intensities of intraplate earthquakes and spatiotemporal relationships between large prehistoric and contemporary earthquakes to improve models of future seismic hazard in Australia and globally. This will lead to improved predictions of future earthquake impacts in urban and natural environments and development of new paleoseismic techniques.Read moreRead less
Nanorheology: Hydrodynamic Slip in Newtonian Fluids. Understanding fluid flow across a surface is essential to a great number of technologies. For over one hundred years it has been assumed that the layer of fluid adjacent to the solid moves with the solid, this is known as the no-slip boundary condition. Recently direct force balance measurements of aqueous Newtonian solutions have indicated the presence of boundary slip. Using a newly developed nanorheology technique we will systematically inv ....Nanorheology: Hydrodynamic Slip in Newtonian Fluids. Understanding fluid flow across a surface is essential to a great number of technologies. For over one hundred years it has been assumed that the layer of fluid adjacent to the solid moves with the solid, this is known as the no-slip boundary condition. Recently direct force balance measurements of aqueous Newtonian solutions have indicated the presence of boundary slip. Using a newly developed nanorheology technique we will systematically investigate the conditions that control boundary slip. This information will be used to quantify, model and control boundary slip, progressing the fields of microfluidics, particle deposition, and colloid stability.Read moreRead less
Reducing flood loss - A data-assimilation framework for improving forecasting capability in sparsely gauged regions. Floods are the biggest and severest natural disaster we face year after year. Furthermore, there has been little improvement in our capability to prevent flood damage over past decades. This research proposes a paradigm shift in the way flood forecasting, warning and evacuation proceeds, using 21st century technologies for collecting and incorporating flood related data into exist ....Reducing flood loss - A data-assimilation framework for improving forecasting capability in sparsely gauged regions. Floods are the biggest and severest natural disaster we face year after year. Furthermore, there has been little improvement in our capability to prevent flood damage over past decades. This research proposes a paradigm shift in the way flood forecasting, warning and evacuation proceeds, using 21st century technologies for collecting and incorporating flood related data into existing modelling platforms. It is argued that assimilating real-time satellite soil moisture data into flood models can increase accuracy manifold, even if the images are uncertain. The understanding gained in course of the proposed project has the potential to significantly reduce the damage caused year after year, especially in the data poor regions of the world.Read moreRead less
Improving water quality modelling by better understanding solute transport. Poor stream water quality is a critical problem in Australia and globally. Stream water quality depends directly on pathways and time taken for water to transport pollutants through catchments. Predicting these pathways is highly challenging and currently requires specialised data. This project aims to better model the movement of water from rainfall to streams, enable greatly improved use of water quality data routinely ....Improving water quality modelling by better understanding solute transport. Poor stream water quality is a critical problem in Australia and globally. Stream water quality depends directly on pathways and time taken for water to transport pollutants through catchments. Predicting these pathways is highly challenging and currently requires specialised data. This project aims to better model the movement of water from rainfall to streams, enable greatly improved use of water quality data routinely collected in Australia's catchments and thereby better predict water quality behaviour. Proposed field studies aim to support this development. The outcomes sought are improved planning and management of water quality in our rivers, lakes and estuaries, improved health of these water bodies and improved water supplies.Read moreRead less
Cellular signals controlling oocyte activation. This research will significantly advance our understanding of the basic biological processes that underpin the fertility rate of all mammals and are key to the immediate and future health and well-being of Australian landscape and society. Understanding the processes that maintain healthy quiescent oocytes over many years before activation and subsequent growth will enable development of methods of increasing productivity in domestic animals and en ....Cellular signals controlling oocyte activation. This research will significantly advance our understanding of the basic biological processes that underpin the fertility rate of all mammals and are key to the immediate and future health and well-being of Australian landscape and society. Understanding the processes that maintain healthy quiescent oocytes over many years before activation and subsequent growth will enable development of methods of increasing productivity in domestic animals and enhancing fertility in endangered species. Knowledge of these cellular mechanisms will underpin biotechnology platforms necessary for novel methods of feral animal population control thus contributing at multiple levels to an economically sustainable Australia.Read moreRead less
Deciphering ion specificity in complex electrolytes . This project aims to understand how ions influence the behaviour and properties of complex electrolytes (solutions containing either multiple ions, solvent mixtures, high electrolyte concentrations or a variety of interfaces, solutes or polymers). Complex electrolytes are ubiquitous in colloidal and particle technologies and underpin industrial and natural processes. Our team will combine experiment, simulation and theory to deliver a univers ....Deciphering ion specificity in complex electrolytes . This project aims to understand how ions influence the behaviour and properties of complex electrolytes (solutions containing either multiple ions, solvent mixtures, high electrolyte concentrations or a variety of interfaces, solutes or polymers). Complex electrolytes are ubiquitous in colloidal and particle technologies and underpin industrial and natural processes. Our team will combine experiment, simulation and theory to deliver a universal framework for understanding and predicting specific ion effects in complex electrolytes. The project outcomes are expected to deliver new understanding for researchers, robust rules of thumb for technologists and a public resource for data-driven solutions in applications utilising salt solutions. Read moreRead less
Unravelling the dominant drivers of ion specificity. This project aims to understand what governs the sensitivity of many technological and biological processes to the precise nature of the salt present in solution. The term ‘ion-specific’ encompasses all the circumstances in which the influence of a salt in solution depends on the precise chemical nature of the salt, not just the electrical charge on the ions that form the salt. As such, ion-specific effects abound and have important consequenc ....Unravelling the dominant drivers of ion specificity. This project aims to understand what governs the sensitivity of many technological and biological processes to the precise nature of the salt present in solution. The term ‘ion-specific’ encompasses all the circumstances in which the influence of a salt in solution depends on the precise chemical nature of the salt, not just the electrical charge on the ions that form the salt. As such, ion-specific effects abound and have important consequences in most situations involving solutions, including cellular functions and battery technology. This project will enable us to understand and control the influence of specific ions, building on our recently described fundamental ion-specific series with colloid science experiments and quantum simulations. This project should overcome current challenges in predicting ion-specific effects leading to progress in a wide variety of applications of colloid and interface science, from sensor interfaces to self-assembly.Read moreRead less
A unified model of amino acid homeostasis. This project aims to develop a unified model of amino acid homeostasis in mammalian cells and apply it to brain cells. The model will be underpinned by a mathematical algorithm that allows predicting amino acid levels in the cytosol based on fundamental parameters such as transport and metabolism. This project should provide the significant benefit of enabling the prediction of essential functions such as cell growth and survival.
Remodelling encapsulin nanocages to help enhance plant carbon fixation. Nature has evolved mechanisms in microbial systems to improve photosynthetic efficiency by saturating the enzyme Rubisco with carbon dioxide. These carbon concentrating mechanisms are genetically complex, precluding successful introduction into crops. Our simpler approach is to use encapsulins, a new source of robust bacterial pore-containing nanocages made from a single gene. This project will optimise the development of sy ....Remodelling encapsulin nanocages to help enhance plant carbon fixation. Nature has evolved mechanisms in microbial systems to improve photosynthetic efficiency by saturating the enzyme Rubisco with carbon dioxide. These carbon concentrating mechanisms are genetically complex, precluding successful introduction into crops. Our simpler approach is to use encapsulins, a new source of robust bacterial pore-containing nanocages made from a single gene. This project will optimise the development of synthetic encapsulin-Rubisco carbon-fixing nanoreactors and transform them into leaf chloroplasts to test their impact on plant photosynthesis and growth. Our genetically simpler solution will aid ongoing global efforts to deliver overdue step change improvements in agricultural productivity.Read moreRead less