Laser cleaning processes for Roads and Maritime Services bridges. This project aims to develop innovative laser cleaning processes to conserve the structural integrity and iconic status of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. New laser technologies offer the opportunity to remove lead-based paint and clean the bridge’s metal structures and granite pylons offering advantages unavailable with current techniques. The expected outcomes will be new best-practice laser conservation techniques usable for both ha ....Laser cleaning processes for Roads and Maritime Services bridges. This project aims to develop innovative laser cleaning processes to conserve the structural integrity and iconic status of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. New laser technologies offer the opportunity to remove lead-based paint and clean the bridge’s metal structures and granite pylons offering advantages unavailable with current techniques. The expected outcomes will be new best-practice laser conservation techniques usable for both hand-held and automated systems to preserve one of the most iconic bridges in the world. This will reduce maintenance frequency and cost, restore the beauty of the bridge, retain its engineering significance and provide a baseline process for cleaning of other historical large scale metal and stone heritage objects.Read moreRead less
Enhancing passive cooling using flexible baffles. The project aims to develop a novel passive strategy using fluid-structure-thermal interactions to enhance passive cooling by natural convection and improve the energy efficiency of engineering systems. Comparing to the existing strategies, the new strategy does not require driving fan or pump and is quiet, reliable, self-adaptive and economical. The Multiphysics embodied in the proposal is at the leading edge of the field. Expected outcomes incl ....Enhancing passive cooling using flexible baffles. The project aims to develop a novel passive strategy using fluid-structure-thermal interactions to enhance passive cooling by natural convection and improve the energy efficiency of engineering systems. Comparing to the existing strategies, the new strategy does not require driving fan or pump and is quiet, reliable, self-adaptive and economical. The Multiphysics embodied in the proposal is at the leading edge of the field. Expected outcomes include advanced understanding of the complex Multiphysics and design rules for enhancing passive cooling by natural convection using flexible baffles. The research is expected to bring direct economic benefit to relevant industry and significant environmental and social benefit to the general public.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
Large Scale Natural Convection Boundary Layers with Non-Boussinesq Effects. This proposal aims to understand and predict heat transfer by turbulent natural convection in two scenarios, firstly at very large environmental scales, such as occur on melting Antarctic ice sheets, and secondly convection involving very large temperature differences such as occur in solar thermal power plants and industrial processes. These natural convection flow regimes are incredibly difficult to investigate directl ....Large Scale Natural Convection Boundary Layers with Non-Boussinesq Effects. This proposal aims to understand and predict heat transfer by turbulent natural convection in two scenarios, firstly at very large environmental scales, such as occur on melting Antarctic ice sheets, and secondly convection involving very large temperature differences such as occur in solar thermal power plants and industrial processes. These natural convection flow regimes are incredibly difficult to investigate directly but by focusing on the fundamental dynamics of the turbulent flows using large scale numerical simulations and innovative experiments, the project is expected to develop better analytical and computational models which will underpin improvements in
global ocean models and improve energy efficiency.Read moreRead less
Reducing the energy consumed by lighting with gaze-dependent illumination. Lighting consumes approximately 18% of electricity, but only a fraction of the light emitted into buildings actually supports occupants’ vision – the rest is wasted. This research aims to reduce the energy consumed by lighting by developing strategies for illuminating only the portions of architectural environments that are visible to occupants, thereby reducing unnecessary light. The impacts of gaze-dependent lighting on ....Reducing the energy consumed by lighting with gaze-dependent illumination. Lighting consumes approximately 18% of electricity, but only a fraction of the light emitted into buildings actually supports occupants’ vision – the rest is wasted. This research aims to reduce the energy consumed by lighting by developing strategies for illuminating only the portions of architectural environments that are visible to occupants, thereby reducing unnecessary light. The impacts of gaze-dependent lighting on energy consumption and the visual environment will be characterized and design guidelines will be generated to facilitate the development of innovative lighting systems that consume less energy by producing less light, without negatively impacting the visual experiences of building occupants.Read moreRead less
Experimental translocations to understand and combat eastern quoll declines. The project aims to understand the causes of observed declines of the eastern quoll in Tasmania, and develop tools to safeguard this species in their last wild stronghold. The project will test the innovative approach of undertaking a series of experimental translocations at an early stage of a population decline. This approach will provide reliable information on the causes of observed declines, while simultaneously te ....Experimental translocations to understand and combat eastern quoll declines. The project aims to understand the causes of observed declines of the eastern quoll in Tasmania, and develop tools to safeguard this species in their last wild stronghold. The project will test the innovative approach of undertaking a series of experimental translocations at an early stage of a population decline. This approach will provide reliable information on the causes of observed declines, while simultaneously testing the effectiveness of translocations of captive-bred animals as a management tool for the species. It will also develop evidence-based protocols for undertaking captive-bred translocations, to improve the outcomes of eastern quoll recovery efforts as well as promoting early intervention for other declining species. Read moreRead less
Detecting and deciphering extinction dynamics under environmental change. This project aims to improve knowledge of extinction processes and impacts. It will use high-performance computing and museum collections to disentangle the ecological mechanisms that were integral in the initial decline and later extinction of Australia's unique mammals. Its significance is that it will establish the historical ranges and past population trajectories of Australian threatened mammals, pinpointing the combi ....Detecting and deciphering extinction dynamics under environmental change. This project aims to improve knowledge of extinction processes and impacts. It will use high-performance computing and museum collections to disentangle the ecological mechanisms that were integral in the initial decline and later extinction of Australia's unique mammals. Its significance is that it will establish the historical ranges and past population trajectories of Australian threatened mammals, pinpointing the combinations of ecological characteristics and threats that most affect risk of extinction from environmental change. Expected outcomes and benefits are new data and verified models to enrich conservation research and inform evidence-based solutions to better protect and recover some of Australia’s most threatened species.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
Early Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IE230100420
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$475,169.00
Summary
Spatial planning for urban biodiversity conservation. This project will reduce the complexity of planning for biodiversity during urban development by enabling industry and government to visualise and measure the potential performance of different urban designs. This project expects to create a new open-access online tool to allow spatial planning of urban biodiversity conservation actions. Expected outcomes of this project include enhanced capacity for developers, environmental consultants and ....Spatial planning for urban biodiversity conservation. This project will reduce the complexity of planning for biodiversity during urban development by enabling industry and government to visualise and measure the potential performance of different urban designs. This project expects to create a new open-access online tool to allow spatial planning of urban biodiversity conservation actions. Expected outcomes of this project include enhanced capacity for developers, environmental consultants and local governments to measure potential urban biodiversity outcomes at a range of scales. This should provide significant benefits to human well-being by increasing the efficiency of urban nature conservation and restoration in cities.Read moreRead less
More than a reserve? Measuring the benefits of private protected areas. This project aims to develop a framework for understanding the full suite of benefits derived from privately protected areas in Australia. It will develop and test a new interdisciplinary approach to measure the ecological, socio-cultural, and economic benefits of protected areas to both human and non-human beneficiaries. Outcomes will include a systematic process to effectively gather data, analyse, and report on the full s ....More than a reserve? Measuring the benefits of private protected areas. This project aims to develop a framework for understanding the full suite of benefits derived from privately protected areas in Australia. It will develop and test a new interdisciplinary approach to measure the ecological, socio-cultural, and economic benefits of protected areas to both human and non-human beneficiaries. Outcomes will include a systematic process to effectively gather data, analyse, and report on the full suite of benefits derived from protected areas. The framework will provide a robust evidence base for the range of benefits provided by private protected areas. This will be vital to manage and grow Australia’s protected area network to reduce biodiversity and environmental declines, and meet international commitments.Read moreRead less