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
Unraveling ocean mixing and air-sea forcing along the Indo-Pacific exchange. This project aims to collect unprecedented observations and develop high resolution model simulations to examine changes in the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) north of Australia. This project expects to develop new knowledge of ocean-atmosphere interactions along the path of the ITF from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean, which are the powerhouse that drives changes in winds and rainfall around Australia and the entire Indo ....Unraveling ocean mixing and air-sea forcing along the Indo-Pacific exchange. This project aims to collect unprecedented observations and develop high resolution model simulations to examine changes in the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) north of Australia. This project expects to develop new knowledge of ocean-atmosphere interactions along the path of the ITF from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean, which are the powerhouse that drives changes in winds and rainfall around Australia and the entire Indo-Pacific region. Expected outcomes include a 1000-fold increase in the observations of mixing in the Indonesian seas and new understanding of the ocean-atmosphere processes that control water property change along the ITF. This should lead to strong improvement in the skill of climate forecast models in the Australian region.Read moreRead less
Artificial Intelligence, Robots, and Agriculture: Social and ethical issues. This project aims to investigate the social and ethical issues raised by the use of artificial intelligence and robotics in agriculture. By combining social science research methods and philosophical analysis, the project aims to generate new knowledge in bioethics and applied ethics. Expected outcomes of this project include an account of the social and ethical issues farmers, rural communities, and consumers anticipat ....Artificial Intelligence, Robots, and Agriculture: Social and ethical issues. This project aims to investigate the social and ethical issues raised by the use of artificial intelligence and robotics in agriculture. By combining social science research methods and philosophical analysis, the project aims to generate new knowledge in bioethics and applied ethics. Expected outcomes of this project include an account of the social and ethical issues farmers, rural communities, and consumers anticipate arising from these technologies, improved understanding of these issues, and an account of how these groups would like to see these issues addressed. This should help Australia benefit from the responsible use of artificial intelligence and robotics in agriculture.Read moreRead less
Development of an immunology toolbox to combat emerging marsupial diseases. Disease is increasingly a driver of wildlife population declines in Australia. However, basic immunology tools for >99% of vertebrate species are scarce, limiting our ability to prevent and respond to emerging and endemic diseases, such as devil facial tumour disease and wobbly possum disease. The overarching goal of this project is to improve wildlife health and fill the marsupial immunology gap by developing a long-ove ....Development of an immunology toolbox to combat emerging marsupial diseases. Disease is increasingly a driver of wildlife population declines in Australia. However, basic immunology tools for >99% of vertebrate species are scarce, limiting our ability to prevent and respond to emerging and endemic diseases, such as devil facial tumour disease and wobbly possum disease. The overarching goal of this project is to improve wildlife health and fill the marsupial immunology gap by developing a long-overdue multispecies marsupial immunology toolbox. The toolbox is needed to accelerate devil facial tumour disease vaccine progress and conservation immunology research. It will expand our knowledge of wobbly possum disease virus that is increasingly reported in Tasmania and the risk posed by the virus to other possum species.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
The Southern Ocean's response to abrupt climate change. This project aims to determine how the Southern Ocean responds to abrupt climate change, through geochemical analysis of marine sediment cores. Rapid warming events of the last ice age provide an analogue to human-caused warming. Experiments using ocean climate models will evaluate the drivers and consequences of the biogeochemical response of different sectors and zones of the Southern Ocean. The intended outcome is a better understanding ....The Southern Ocean's response to abrupt climate change. This project aims to determine how the Southern Ocean responds to abrupt climate change, through geochemical analysis of marine sediment cores. Rapid warming events of the last ice age provide an analogue to human-caused warming. Experiments using ocean climate models will evaluate the drivers and consequences of the biogeochemical response of different sectors and zones of the Southern Ocean. The intended outcome is a better understanding of how and why climate change impacts ocean productivity in the ecologically significant Southern Ocean. This will lead to better representations of carbon feedbacks in climate models and more robust projections of future climate change.Read moreRead less
Understanding the mechanisms underpinning complex sociality. This project aims to investigate the mechanisms underlying the formation of complex social systems in vertebrates. Our understanding of these mechanisms is strongly biased towards a few model systems. We have identified a novel Australian model system with a wide range of sociality for this purpose. This project expects to generate new knowledge on how the social environment interacts with the brain during social organisation. Expected ....Understanding the mechanisms underpinning complex sociality. This project aims to investigate the mechanisms underlying the formation of complex social systems in vertebrates. Our understanding of these mechanisms is strongly biased towards a few model systems. We have identified a novel Australian model system with a wide range of sociality for this purpose. This project expects to generate new knowledge on how the social environment interacts with the brain during social organisation. Expected outcomes include the refinement of social theory and capacity building via international collaboration and postgraduate training. This work will provide significant benefits by increasing our understanding of how the brain and social environment interact to moderate aggression and enhance social associations.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
Microfluidic models of the CNS: Understanding cells, circuits & synapses. Aims: We aim to develop new cell culture platforms to form defined networks of brain cells. These platforms will be used to determine the critical mechanisms underpinning central nervous system function.
Significance: The devices developed will enable an unprecedented capacity to monitor changes throughout a network, with analysis at the level of the synapse, cell and circuit.
Expected outcomes: We will advance knowledge ....Microfluidic models of the CNS: Understanding cells, circuits & synapses. Aims: We aim to develop new cell culture platforms to form defined networks of brain cells. These platforms will be used to determine the critical mechanisms underpinning central nervous system function.
Significance: The devices developed will enable an unprecedented capacity to monitor changes throughout a network, with analysis at the level of the synapse, cell and circuit.
Expected outcomes: We will advance knowledge regarding the function of the CNS and deliver complex human cellular systems, that have both discovery and commercial applications.
Benefit: These platforms will have subsequent application revealing the mechanisms underlying numerous neurological diseases, with capacity to upscale for rapid drug screening.
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Protecting Australia’s food future: shared responsibility for biosecurity. This project aims to investigate whether Australia’s ‘shared responsibility’ approach to biosecurity is capable of facing the growing threat from exotic pests and diseases. Through the analysis of policy documents and the use of semi-structured interviews, this project intends to contribute to a deeper understanding of the inter- and intra-organisational characteristics that influence implementation of biosecurity. Expect ....Protecting Australia’s food future: shared responsibility for biosecurity. This project aims to investigate whether Australia’s ‘shared responsibility’ approach to biosecurity is capable of facing the growing threat from exotic pests and diseases. Through the analysis of policy documents and the use of semi-structured interviews, this project intends to contribute to a deeper understanding of the inter- and intra-organisational characteristics that influence implementation of biosecurity. Expected outcomes include crucial insights into the capacity of a shared responsibility approach to protect agri-food production against biological threats, and the forms of institutional change that may be needed to enhance responsiveness to those threats. This in turn will benefit Australia's biosecurity system.Read moreRead less