Physics-aware machine learning for data-driven fire risk prediction. The 2019/20 Australian fire season was unprecedented in its extent, impact, and the response of fire agencies. In this project, we aim to answer the question: was the scale of these fires driven by known drivers of fire (drought, weather, fuels and ignitions), or were fundamentally new undescribed processes and phenomena involved? We will accomplish this by developing an innovative, physics-aware machine learning model of fire ....Physics-aware machine learning for data-driven fire risk prediction. The 2019/20 Australian fire season was unprecedented in its extent, impact, and the response of fire agencies. In this project, we aim to answer the question: was the scale of these fires driven by known drivers of fire (drought, weather, fuels and ignitions), or were fundamentally new undescribed processes and phenomena involved? We will accomplish this by developing an innovative, physics-aware machine learning model of fire risk and spread, trained and validated on a two-decade satellite fire record. The predictive ability of the model will be tested on the 2019/20 fire season to determine if novel drivers of fire can be identified, and the model itself will be operationalised into a novel short-to-mid term fire risk prediction tool. Read moreRead less
Is there a climatic tipping point for Antarctic Bottom Water formation? Antarctic Bottom Water plays an important role in global ocean circulation and climate and yet its formation is also highly sensitive to climate change. This project will analyse new seafloor, core and water samples from the understudied Cape Darnley, East Antarctica, collected on a voyage in early 2022. This new data will be used in combination with an improved high resolution regional ocean model, to understand modern and ....Is there a climatic tipping point for Antarctic Bottom Water formation? Antarctic Bottom Water plays an important role in global ocean circulation and climate and yet its formation is also highly sensitive to climate change. This project will analyse new seafloor, core and water samples from the understudied Cape Darnley, East Antarctica, collected on a voyage in early 2022. This new data will be used in combination with an improved high resolution regional ocean model, to understand modern and past Antarctic Bottom Water formation under different climate states (warmer and colder than present), to determine if there are climate tipping points for the shut down of Antarctic Bottom Water formation. The anticipated benefits include a better understanding of future climate change on this important water mass.Read moreRead less
Transitions between modes of sex-determination in a changing world. Sex-determination controls the largest variation within animals—the division into males and females. While the different systems of sex-determination—involving genetic or environmental control—are fairly well understood, transitions between these systems remain enigmatic in evolutionary biology. This project aims to address this gap by revealing the molecular change required to transition between systems, using one of only two k ....Transitions between modes of sex-determination in a changing world. Sex-determination controls the largest variation within animals—the division into males and females. While the different systems of sex-determination—involving genetic or environmental control—are fairly well understood, transitions between these systems remain enigmatic in evolutionary biology. This project aims to address this gap by revealing the molecular change required to transition between systems, using one of only two known lizard species exhibiting both genetic and temperature control of sex. This knowledge will have important implications for species conservation, facilitating predictions of highly biased sex ratios under climate change, plus potential commercial applications for species where production of one sex is favoured.Read moreRead less
Placental nutrient transport shows how complex traits evolve. This project aims to use amino acid transport in the vertebrate placenta as a model to demonstrate how genes are recruited and modified to produce a major organ. Using an innovative combination of a new technology, selected reaction monitoring, and transcriptomic and molecular approaches, plus carefully selected Australian species pairs, this project will study the evolution of a complex trait (placental amino acid transport). The pr ....Placental nutrient transport shows how complex traits evolve. This project aims to use amino acid transport in the vertebrate placenta as a model to demonstrate how genes are recruited and modified to produce a major organ. Using an innovative combination of a new technology, selected reaction monitoring, and transcriptomic and molecular approaches, plus carefully selected Australian species pairs, this project will study the evolution of a complex trait (placental amino acid transport). The project will provide fundamental advances in our knowledge of the nutrient transport during pregnancy that is required to produce a healthy baby.Read moreRead less
Religious freedom, LGBT+ employees, and the right to discriminate. This research aims to identify constructive strategies to manage religious freedom and LGBT+ rights in religiously affiliated workplaces in education, health care, and social welfare. The project will carefully describe workplace experiences, religious beliefs, and current legislation associated with religious freedom and LGBT+ rights. It will evaluate different policies and managerial practices in terms of their impact on religi ....Religious freedom, LGBT+ employees, and the right to discriminate. This research aims to identify constructive strategies to manage religious freedom and LGBT+ rights in religiously affiliated workplaces in education, health care, and social welfare. The project will carefully describe workplace experiences, religious beliefs, and current legislation associated with religious freedom and LGBT+ rights. It will evaluate different policies and managerial practices in terms of their impact on religious practitioners and LGBT+ workers. The research combines systematic empirical research with legal and philosophical analysis. It will produce findings that policy makers and religiously affiliated social service providers can immediately use to guide their responses to religious freedom and LGBT+ rights.Read moreRead less
Macrophage control of mammalian growth and development. The immediate postnatal period in mammals is crucial for survival, long term health and productivity. This project is an international collaboration that aims to investigate how cells of the innate immune system called macrophages control somatic growth and development of mature organ function in the early postnatal period. The project aims to build upon investment in new animals models and a novel discovery to generate significant new know ....Macrophage control of mammalian growth and development. The immediate postnatal period in mammals is crucial for survival, long term health and productivity. This project is an international collaboration that aims to investigate how cells of the innate immune system called macrophages control somatic growth and development of mature organ function in the early postnatal period. The project aims to build upon investment in new animals models and a novel discovery to generate significant new knowledge that will challenge current concepts of mammalian growth control. The outcomes will enhance Australia's international reputation in the fields of physiology, immunology and developmental biology. Read moreRead less
Old brain cells perform new tricks to allow life-long learning. In the brain, nerve cells transmit electrical signals more quickly and reliably when they are insulated. The insulating cells undergo small adaptive changes that speed up information transfer during learning, and the faster the electrical signal, the better the learning outcomes. This project aims to understand the signals that direct insulating cells to adapt and support life-long learning. In the longer term, this knowledge may be ....Old brain cells perform new tricks to allow life-long learning. In the brain, nerve cells transmit electrical signals more quickly and reliably when they are insulated. The insulating cells undergo small adaptive changes that speed up information transfer during learning, and the faster the electrical signal, the better the learning outcomes. This project aims to understand the signals that direct insulating cells to adapt and support life-long learning. In the longer term, this knowledge may be used to: develop interventions that improve learning and educational outcomes; counteract age-related memory decline and enable longer work force participation; develop strategies to circumvent the memory loss caused by brain diseases, or improve the design of computer hardware.Read moreRead less
Judges' work, place and psychological health - a national view. This project aims to address the human, juridical and financial costs of judicial officers’ work-related psychological harm. This harm is implicated in early retirement, sick leave and suicide. It threatens appropriate courtroom conduct, procedural fairness and impartial adjudication. The project seeks to generate new knowledge of the stress judicial officers experience and the individual and institutional mechanisms for managing st ....Judges' work, place and psychological health - a national view. This project aims to address the human, juridical and financial costs of judicial officers’ work-related psychological harm. This harm is implicated in early retirement, sick leave and suicide. It threatens appropriate courtroom conduct, procedural fairness and impartial adjudication. The project seeks to generate new knowledge of the stress judicial officers experience and the individual and institutional mechanisms for managing stressors, combining socio-legal and psychological approaches. Expected outcomes include evidence-based understandings to inform recruitment and retention strategies specific to this highly specialized workforce. This should provide significant benefits for judges’ work capacities and courts' delivery of justice.Read moreRead less
Multi-Country Study on Health Effects of Bushfire Air Pollution. Catastrophic bushfires are a major natural disaster, causing serious air pollution. However, aligning bushfire air pollution and public health policies becomes a significant challenge, because limited studies are available on relationships between bushfire air pollution and human health, particularly for the prolonged exposure. We will characterize the nature of the relationships between bushfire air pollution and mortality/morbidi ....Multi-Country Study on Health Effects of Bushfire Air Pollution. Catastrophic bushfires are a major natural disaster, causing serious air pollution. However, aligning bushfire air pollution and public health policies becomes a significant challenge, because limited studies are available on relationships between bushfire air pollution and human health, particularly for the prolonged exposure. We will characterize the nature of the relationships between bushfire air pollution and mortality/morbidity by developing a multi-country study; and estimate the burden of diseases attributed to bushfire air pollution. This project will provide essential scientific evidence to policy-makers and stakeholders in the development, prioritization and implementation of health protection strategies and policies.
Read moreRead less
A cultural history of food safety from Singapore. This project aims to trace how ordinary people’s thinking about food safety has changed over time; from this, we can investigate food safety techniques and practices by government and industry. In studying Singapore, which has always imported nearly all food, the project expects to generate new lessons from Singapore's history that may widely apply in an era of globalisation and contemporary food system complexity. Benefits of the project include ....A cultural history of food safety from Singapore. This project aims to trace how ordinary people’s thinking about food safety has changed over time; from this, we can investigate food safety techniques and practices by government and industry. In studying Singapore, which has always imported nearly all food, the project expects to generate new lessons from Singapore's history that may widely apply in an era of globalisation and contemporary food system complexity. Benefits of the project include assisting food exporters and other food safety stakeholders in Australia to better understand the origins and complexity of food safety thinking.Read moreRead less