A novel platform for the biosynthesis of commercially valuable saxitoxins. Saxitoxins are potent microbial toxins, which pose a significant threat to food and water quality. Highly pure saxitoxins are required for environmental monitoring and studies of cell physiology. Certain analogues have also shown promise as long-lasting and non-addictive pain blockers. However, the procurement of these compounds from natural sources is convoluted and unsustainable. This project aims to use the latest synt ....A novel platform for the biosynthesis of commercially valuable saxitoxins. Saxitoxins are potent microbial toxins, which pose a significant threat to food and water quality. Highly pure saxitoxins are required for environmental monitoring and studies of cell physiology. Certain analogues have also shown promise as long-lasting and non-addictive pain blockers. However, the procurement of these compounds from natural sources is convoluted and unsustainable. This project aims to use the latest synthetic biology techniques to characterise, modify and express saxitoxin biosynthesis pathways, thereby providing a sustainable source of toxin analogues of value to industry and research. This novel 'green technology' will benefit the environment, human health and the Australian economy.Read moreRead less
An Australian storm wave damage and beach erosion early warning system. This project aims to develop a new coastal hazard early-warning system capability for Australia, to alert coastal communities, emergency managers and coastal engineers to impending storm wave damage and coastal erosion. Emergency preparedness informed by early warning is expected to significantly benefit vulnerable communities and infrastructure along Australia’s coasts.
Mid-Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IM230100154
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,049,904.00
Summary
Fungi Power: Designer Fungal Cell Factories for Advanced Biomanufacturing. This project aims to build an advanced biomanufacturing platform based on filamentous fungi in collaboration with industry. Using synthetic biology, the project expects to engineer superior fungal host strains customisable to the needs of the industry and to address their technological gaps. The expected outcomes include the development of cost-efficient and sustainable fungal-based bioprocesses for the companies to produ ....Fungi Power: Designer Fungal Cell Factories for Advanced Biomanufacturing. This project aims to build an advanced biomanufacturing platform based on filamentous fungi in collaboration with industry. Using synthetic biology, the project expects to engineer superior fungal host strains customisable to the needs of the industry and to address their technological gaps. The expected outcomes include the development of cost-efficient and sustainable fungal-based bioprocesses for the companies to produce products, such as fine chemicals, pharmaceutical actives and food ingredients. The project would provide significant benefits by enabling existing and emerging companies' commercial successes and competitiveness in global markets, creating new jobs and resulting in the growth of the bio-economy in Australia.Read moreRead less
Fish Jenga: metapopulation management for coastal river fish. This project aims to address the escalating threats to coastal freshwater fish from drought, fire, and other disturbances. The project expects to generate new knowledge on contemporary distributions of NSW coastal freshwater fishes, and will develop models of population dynamics to explore the consequences of alternative water management and disturbance scenarios. The expected outcome of the project is to revolutionise management by r ....Fish Jenga: metapopulation management for coastal river fish. This project aims to address the escalating threats to coastal freshwater fish from drought, fire, and other disturbances. The project expects to generate new knowledge on contemporary distributions of NSW coastal freshwater fishes, and will develop models of population dynamics to explore the consequences of alternative water management and disturbance scenarios. The expected outcome of the project is to revolutionise management by replacing the current practice of managing river basins separately, with a framework that accounts for among-basin linkages that are essential for the long-term persistence of fish populations. Significant benefits include more efficient use of water resources and improved conservation outcomes for native fish.Read moreRead less
Shaping a sunburnt country: fire, climate and the Australian landscape. Fire shapes Australia’s landscape, biodiversity and resources. This project aims to quantify the recent history of fire intensity and severity using several novel proxies in the fire-prone landscapes of south-eastern Australia. Calibration of these new proxies to recent wildfires will be used for a better characterisation of fire regimes. This research will be applied to sedimentary archives to investigate how fire regimes h ....Shaping a sunburnt country: fire, climate and the Australian landscape. Fire shapes Australia’s landscape, biodiversity and resources. This project aims to quantify the recent history of fire intensity and severity using several novel proxies in the fire-prone landscapes of south-eastern Australia. Calibration of these new proxies to recent wildfires will be used for a better characterisation of fire regimes. This research will be applied to sedimentary archives to investigate how fire regimes have evolved over the past 100 years. The outcomes will inform debates about the relationship between climatic variability and fire severity, and this will contribute to increase the preparedness of natural resource management to potential future climate and land-use scenarios.Read moreRead less
A legal framework for resilient electricity infrastructure in Australia. This project aims to develop a legal and governance framework to enhance the resilience of Australia's electricity infrastructure in a changing climate. Building resilience reduces the total cost of disasters in Australia, a major share of which will come from replacing damaged critical infrastructure, without accounting for climate change impacts. This project aims to develop the legal and governance framework by addressin ....A legal framework for resilient electricity infrastructure in Australia. This project aims to develop a legal and governance framework to enhance the resilience of Australia's electricity infrastructure in a changing climate. Building resilience reduces the total cost of disasters in Australia, a major share of which will come from replacing damaged critical infrastructure, without accounting for climate change impacts. This project aims to develop the legal and governance framework by addressing both the integration of smart technologies and disaster risk reduction measures in the electricity system. This is expected to provide significant economic, social and environmental benefits to Australia.Read moreRead less
Snails to the rescue! Conservation of Australia’s island invertebrates. This project aims to deliver an exemplar industry network model for conservation on Australia’s islands which are hotspots both of biodiversity and of extinctions. Protecting species on islands is therefore key to securing Australia’s biodiversity. We will secure Norfolk Island's 60 species of land snails via in situ and ex situ conservation with six key industry partners. The project expects to unite conservation actions ac ....Snails to the rescue! Conservation of Australia’s island invertebrates. This project aims to deliver an exemplar industry network model for conservation on Australia’s islands which are hotspots both of biodiversity and of extinctions. Protecting species on islands is therefore key to securing Australia’s biodiversity. We will secure Norfolk Island's 60 species of land snails via in situ and ex situ conservation with six key industry partners. The project expects to unite conservation actions across research, governments, and industry. Expected outcomes of this project include Norfolk Island emerging as a leader in global conservation. This should provide significant benefits such as a model for conservation that is applicable to thousands of isolated, range-restricted invertebrate species across Australia.Read moreRead less
Transforming decision making for rockfall hazard assessment. The aim is to transform conventional approaches to rockfall hazard prediction and mitigation. The management of risks posed by rockfall in Australia currently comes at significant cost and is suboptimal; predicted environmental changes are likely to worsen these hazards. Rockfall mechanics, remote sensing, and data-driven modelling will be combined with advanced visual technologies to deliver a novel, rapid, and reliable augmented real ....Transforming decision making for rockfall hazard assessment. The aim is to transform conventional approaches to rockfall hazard prediction and mitigation. The management of risks posed by rockfall in Australia currently comes at significant cost and is suboptimal; predicted environmental changes are likely to worsen these hazards. Rockfall mechanics, remote sensing, and data-driven modelling will be combined with advanced visual technologies to deliver a novel, rapid, and reliable augmented reality based rockfall hazard assessment tool. The outcomes are expected to streamline prediction, assessment, and mitigation – supporting practitioners and governments to proactively assess triggering conditions, evaluate risk, and apply robust solutions to improve safety, with substantial economic savings.Read moreRead less
Mid-Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IM230100371
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,043,792.00
Summary
The plight of the bogong moth: a model for conservation in Australia. This project aims to direct conservation actions for the bogong moth, an endangered species of profound cultural, ecological, and economic importance to Australians. Although iconic and famous for their epic migration to the Australian Alps, the bogong moth's distribution and flyways are unknown making conservation actions impossible. This project expects to forge the key partnerships and harness public enthusiasm to generate ....The plight of the bogong moth: a model for conservation in Australia. This project aims to direct conservation actions for the bogong moth, an endangered species of profound cultural, ecological, and economic importance to Australians. Although iconic and famous for their epic migration to the Australian Alps, the bogong moth's distribution and flyways are unknown making conservation actions impossible. This project expects to forge the key partnerships and harness public enthusiasm to generate the data needed for conservation actions via a National Bogong Moth Observatory. The expected outcomes of this project are enhanced capacity to identify and mitigate threats to bogong moths. This should provide significant benefits such as a highly transferable model for continent-wide conservation in Australia.Read moreRead less
Reverse chemical proteomics: harnessing yeast display for drug discovery. This project aims to develop a technique that can rapidly identify the cellular protein targets of biologically active natural products. This project expects to provide fundamental biological and chemical insights into Australia's unique biodiversity that will facilitate the development of new therapeutic agents and agrochemicals based on leads provided by Nature. Expected outcomes of this project include an optimised and ....Reverse chemical proteomics: harnessing yeast display for drug discovery. This project aims to develop a technique that can rapidly identify the cellular protein targets of biologically active natural products. This project expects to provide fundamental biological and chemical insights into Australia's unique biodiversity that will facilitate the development of new therapeutic agents and agrochemicals based on leads provided by Nature. Expected outcomes of this project include an optimised and validated platform technology for accelerating drug discovery and development. This should substantially reduce the costs associated with fighting human and animal diseases, leading to improved health, productivity and quality of life.Read moreRead less