Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100624
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,058.00
Summary
The role of epigenetic modifications in tiger snake adaptation. This project aims to investigate mechanisms underlying animal adaptation to future environmental change by examining the molecular basis for phenotypic plasticity in snakes. This project will specifically examine variation in genetic/epigenetic profiles and compare against important fitness traits, such as variable head size, bite force and swallowing performance to identify relationships between molecular change and physiology. Suc ....The role of epigenetic modifications in tiger snake adaptation. This project aims to investigate mechanisms underlying animal adaptation to future environmental change by examining the molecular basis for phenotypic plasticity in snakes. This project will specifically examine variation in genetic/epigenetic profiles and compare against important fitness traits, such as variable head size, bite force and swallowing performance to identify relationships between molecular change and physiology. Such research is a critical first step in improving our knowledge of the mechanisms whereby animal populations may adapt to environmental change, allowing us to facilitate such processes or concentrate conservation effort where species are unable to adapt via epigenetic modification.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230100014
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$432,469.00
Summary
Comparative genomics to improve conservation planning in Australian deserts. This project aims to locate hotspots of diversity in Australia’s vast, flat deserts and to quantify how well these areas are captured under the National Reserve System. I will establish a network of international and national collaborators and improve knowledge on how animals responded to past environmental change. The anticipated outcome of this project is to improve our ability to understand, measure and preserve our ....Comparative genomics to improve conservation planning in Australian deserts. This project aims to locate hotspots of diversity in Australia’s vast, flat deserts and to quantify how well these areas are captured under the National Reserve System. I will establish a network of international and national collaborators and improve knowledge on how animals responded to past environmental change. The anticipated outcome of this project is to improve our ability to understand, measure and preserve our unique desert biodiversity and the evolutionary processes that sustain it, using our remarkably diverse reptile fauna as a model system. In the face of current, rapid environmental change, this has never been more important, and will provide a tool for biodiversity survival.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101163
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$351,948.00
Summary
Fire and Transformation: Building capacity to manage Australian Bushfires. The scale and intensity of bushfires in Australia has reached alarming levels, and this is only expected to get worse in the coming years. This project aims to support a more robust, integrated and resilient approach to fire management, which focuses on the role of governance. Using a new approach to analysing the present and planning for the future, the project brings together multiple stakeholders and perspectives. Key ....Fire and Transformation: Building capacity to manage Australian Bushfires. The scale and intensity of bushfires in Australia has reached alarming levels, and this is only expected to get worse in the coming years. This project aims to support a more robust, integrated and resilient approach to fire management, which focuses on the role of governance. Using a new approach to analysing the present and planning for the future, the project brings together multiple stakeholders and perspectives. Key outcomes will include practical options to reform governance and policy and an innovative way of exploring tensions and trade-offs in bushfire management. This should bring significant benefits by improving the ability to anticipate and adapt to change, while addressing risk to communities and ecosystems. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101235
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$424,500.00
Summary
Encounters with hominins: the history of human arrival in Sahul. This project aims to provide a detailed understanding on the remarkably complex encounters between archaic and modern human populations in Island Southeast Asia, New Guinea and Australia during the Pleistocene. The project plans to provide the largest collection of human genetic diversity from this vast geographical region and significantly advance current knowledge on one of the most intriguing questions in human evolution. These ....Encounters with hominins: the history of human arrival in Sahul. This project aims to provide a detailed understanding on the remarkably complex encounters between archaic and modern human populations in Island Southeast Asia, New Guinea and Australia during the Pleistocene. The project plans to provide the largest collection of human genetic diversity from this vast geographical region and significantly advance current knowledge on one of the most intriguing questions in human evolution. These insights are expected to bring important social and cultural benefits for Australia by unveiling the singularly deep genetic history of Aboriginal Australians, including their ancient connection to indigenous communities from Indonesia and New Guinea that extends back to when people first arrived in Australia.
Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101263
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Assessing the impact of global environmental change on the nutritional ecology of marsupial and insect folivores of Eucalyptus. Higher atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are predicted to alter plant nutrient and toxin content, while higher ambient temperatures may compromise the abilities of animals to metabolise plant toxins. This project will assess how climate change scenarios are likely to impact native marsupials and insects that rely on eucalypt leaves for food.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100184
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$425,000.00
Summary
Pioneering alpine epigenomics to discover adaptive genetic elements. The genetic code of native plants are yet to be explored for DNA elements that promote resilience to climate change. These elements are now ripe for discovery due to recent advances in epigenomics allowing for rapid identification. This proposal aims to discover heat-associated elements in waxy bluebells, which inhabit Australia’s vulnerable high country. Expected outcomes include new insights on gene regulatory mechanisms in n ....Pioneering alpine epigenomics to discover adaptive genetic elements. The genetic code of native plants are yet to be explored for DNA elements that promote resilience to climate change. These elements are now ripe for discovery due to recent advances in epigenomics allowing for rapid identification. This proposal aims to discover heat-associated elements in waxy bluebells, which inhabit Australia’s vulnerable high country. Expected outcomes include new insights on gene regulatory mechanisms in native plants; the generation of resources for genetic conservation, and catalysing further molecular research into Australian flora. This should provide significant benefits by revealing genome regulation in native plants, thereby improving the ability to predict the impacts of climate change.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190101069
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$390,000.00
Summary
Adaptation and diversification of the first peoples of Sahul. This project aims to further advance work on the genetic history of Indigenous Australians and Papuans that has revealed that Aboriginal Australians have inhabited a variety of diverse and challenging environments for approximately 50,000 years. Using novel techniques for extraction of human DNA from soil and the use of cutting-edge graph-based methods, hundreds of Indigenous Australian and Papuan genomes will be analysed. This projec ....Adaptation and diversification of the first peoples of Sahul. This project aims to further advance work on the genetic history of Indigenous Australians and Papuans that has revealed that Aboriginal Australians have inhabited a variety of diverse and challenging environments for approximately 50,000 years. Using novel techniques for extraction of human DNA from soil and the use of cutting-edge graph-based methods, hundreds of Indigenous Australian and Papuan genomes will be analysed. This project expects to generate new knowledge by filling in the gaps in the Australian genetic record via ancient human DNA from sediments. Expected outcomes from this project are producing a detailed picture of genomic adaptation in Indigenous Australians and Papuans and creating a comprehensive genetic history of the First Peoples of Sahul.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100301
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$440,000.00
Summary
Reducing uncertainty in prediction of leaf respiration in a changing world. This project aims to advance our understanding of responses of carbon dioxide (CO2) release by leaf (leaf respiration) to sustained changes in CO2 and temperature. Leaf respiration in terrestrial forests releases yearly CO2 that is two to four times higher than CO2 emitted by human activities, but its response to climate change is not well understood. The project expects to generate new knowledge on mechanisms underlying ....Reducing uncertainty in prediction of leaf respiration in a changing world. This project aims to advance our understanding of responses of carbon dioxide (CO2) release by leaf (leaf respiration) to sustained changes in CO2 and temperature. Leaf respiration in terrestrial forests releases yearly CO2 that is two to four times higher than CO2 emitted by human activities, but its response to climate change is not well understood. The project expects to generate new knowledge on mechanisms underlying responses of leaf respiration to these climate change variables, separately and combined. Expected outcome is to deliver criteria that enable dynamic changes in leaf respiration to be predicted in climate models. Results should benefit improved forecast of feedback between Australian forests' carbon cycling and climate.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101675
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$395,220.00
Summary
Integrating Evolutionary History into Ecological Modeling. Ecological niche models are used across evolution, ecology and conservation to estimate species' environmental tolerances. However, these methods suffer from a near-universal assumption that may be flawed; that the species is the appropriate evolutionary grouping for study. This project will develop methods for using evolutionary information to improve estimates of species' environmental tolerances, and will demonstrate those methods in ....Integrating Evolutionary History into Ecological Modeling. Ecological niche models are used across evolution, ecology and conservation to estimate species' environmental tolerances. However, these methods suffer from a near-universal assumption that may be flawed; that the species is the appropriate evolutionary grouping for study. This project will develop methods for using evolutionary information to improve estimates of species' environmental tolerances, and will demonstrate those methods in simulation and empirical studies. This will significantly improve our understanding of evolutionary ecology and will also result in improved conservation outcomes, addressing the national priority of an environmentally sustainable Australia and the goal of responding to environmental change and variability.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100685
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,000.00
Summary
Historical pest genomes inform debate about how rapid evolution proceeds. This project plans to compare the genomes of archived and contemporary specimens to discover how two key Australian pest moths have adapted to insecticides, aiding prediction of how they may respond in the future. Agricultural pest species are often capable of rapid adaptation to insecticides, resulting in widespread genetic resistance. Does this resistance build on existing genetic variation, or are fresh mutations used t ....Historical pest genomes inform debate about how rapid evolution proceeds. This project plans to compare the genomes of archived and contemporary specimens to discover how two key Australian pest moths have adapted to insecticides, aiding prediction of how they may respond in the future. Agricultural pest species are often capable of rapid adaptation to insecticides, resulting in widespread genetic resistance. Does this resistance build on existing genetic variation, or are fresh mutations used to produce a fast adaptive response? How do adaptive strategies differ among key Australian pests? This project aims to answer these questions and advance understanding of mechanisms that underpin rapid evolution to improve approaches toward pest management and agricultural protection.Read moreRead less