Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL170100086
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,924,858.00
Summary
Methane bioconversion to liquid chemicals. This project aims to develop a suite of leading-edge biotechnology solutions to enable the cost-effective production of liquid chemicals from biogas. This will create a much stronger economic driver for biogas production from organic wastes, by significantly increasing the value of biogas compared to its current use for power generation. With a multi-disciplinary approach, the project will substantially advance the fundamental science in the exciting an ....Methane bioconversion to liquid chemicals. This project aims to develop a suite of leading-edge biotechnology solutions to enable the cost-effective production of liquid chemicals from biogas. This will create a much stronger economic driver for biogas production from organic wastes, by significantly increasing the value of biogas compared to its current use for power generation. With a multi-disciplinary approach, the project will substantially advance the fundamental science in the exciting and highly valuable area of anaerobic microbial conversion of methane, the least understood process in the global carbon cycle. This transformational research has a strong potential to create a new biotechnology sector producing high-value chemicals from methane, and will propel Australia to the forefront of sustainable resources research.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR180100040
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$381,468.00
Summary
Efficient PFAS removal from urban wastewater using a novel two-step approach. This project aims to enhance the removal of per- and poly-fluroalkyl substances (PFAS) compounds from municipal wastewater by making two simple amendments to standard wastewater treatment plants. Magnetite nanoparticles will be added to the treatment process, which adsorb PFAS compounds and reduce them to acceptable environmental levels. The resulting sludge will be dried and ashed in a simple and novel self-sustaining ....Efficient PFAS removal from urban wastewater using a novel two-step approach. This project aims to enhance the removal of per- and poly-fluroalkyl substances (PFAS) compounds from municipal wastewater by making two simple amendments to standard wastewater treatment plants. Magnetite nanoparticles will be added to the treatment process, which adsorb PFAS compounds and reduce them to acceptable environmental levels. The resulting sludge will be dried and ashed in a simple and novel self-sustaining smoldering process which will render the captured PFAS to small ash, condensate and gaseous streams suitable for established destruction technologies. The project is expected to provide support to water utilities in achieving sustainable water treatment and result in environmental and social benefits to the community.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120100161
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Accumulation and half-lives of brominated flame retardants. This project seeks to determine, in vivo, previously unknown half-lives for brominated flame retardants, chemicals used in numerous, everyday products. This is vital for predicting the duration of human contamination with these persistent, toxic, bioaccumulative chemicals and assessing effectiveness of legislation to reduce human exposure.
New nanocomposites of porous materials and visible light sensitive TiO2 for efficient wastewater purification. The innovative newly proposed materials can trap and efficiently decompose dissolved organics in the same process, without generating any waste for disposal. No UV is required and the solar radiation can be efficiently used. The proposed research will be a significant breakthrough in the field of water treatment that reduces energy consumption, uses low cost materials and provides a rea ....New nanocomposites of porous materials and visible light sensitive TiO2 for efficient wastewater purification. The innovative newly proposed materials can trap and efficiently decompose dissolved organics in the same process, without generating any waste for disposal. No UV is required and the solar radiation can be efficiently used. The proposed research will be a significant breakthrough in the field of water treatment that reduces energy consumption, uses low cost materials and provides a real solution. The research findings will be useful to a wide spectrum of manufacturing industries which are currently generating slightly contaminated wastewater, and will be beneficial to the community in general. At the same time, the industries will be a step forward toward sustainable manufacturing.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE210100137
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$881,758.00
Summary
Australian Environmental Specimen Bank: advancing specimen bank capability. The aim of this LIEF is to advance Australia’s specimen banking capabilities through a new, enhanced national facility, the Australian Environmental Specimen Bank (AESB). The AESB would be founded on a unique current archive of human and environmental samples established by the partners to the LIEF. Importantly, the AESB would be managed as a nationally available (to all public sector researchers), operationally self-fun ....Australian Environmental Specimen Bank: advancing specimen bank capability. The aim of this LIEF is to advance Australia’s specimen banking capabilities through a new, enhanced national facility, the Australian Environmental Specimen Bank (AESB). The AESB would be founded on a unique current archive of human and environmental samples established by the partners to the LIEF. Importantly, the AESB would be managed as a nationally available (to all public sector researchers), operationally self-funded resource for integrated exposure research into the future. The archive is expected to support longitudinal and cross-sectional studies to assess trends in exposure to chemical and biological hazards in the Australian population, identify emerging hazards, and provide a scientific basis for policy and regulatory actions.Read moreRead less
Sources of phosphorus promoting cyanobacteria in subtropical reservoirs. Water managers around Australia are currently considering various strategies to deal with water shortages. Many of these management actions have potential to impact water quality, through altering the nutrient balance within reservoirs and hence affecting nutrients available for cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria blooms pose an increasing threat to water supplies, with economic, social and environmental costs of $150M pa in Aus ....Sources of phosphorus promoting cyanobacteria in subtropical reservoirs. Water managers around Australia are currently considering various strategies to deal with water shortages. Many of these management actions have potential to impact water quality, through altering the nutrient balance within reservoirs and hence affecting nutrients available for cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria blooms pose an increasing threat to water supplies, with economic, social and environmental costs of $150M pa in Australia. The project will provide tools to water quality managers to assess how changes to subtropical reservoirs, such as water recycling, catchment land-use changes and increased drawdown are likely to affect nutrient budgets and cyanobacteria blooms.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100190
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$379,729.00
Summary
The effectiveness of impact investing for biodiversity conservation. This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of impact investing for biodiversity conservation. Over $150 billion of private capital is invested worldwide to deliver social and environmental “impact” alongside a financial return. Impact investing promises “win-win-wins” for investors, governments and biodiversity alike, but also risks exacerbating accountability failures, transaction costs and conflicts of interest within hi ....The effectiveness of impact investing for biodiversity conservation. This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of impact investing for biodiversity conservation. Over $150 billion of private capital is invested worldwide to deliver social and environmental “impact” alongside a financial return. Impact investing promises “win-win-wins” for investors, governments and biodiversity alike, but also risks exacerbating accountability failures, transaction costs and conflicts of interest within highly complex governance networks. This project seeks to discover factors that enable or inhibit the effectiveness of impact investing using a governance perspective. Project outcomes are expected to inform how impact investing may be harnessed to improve biodiversity conservation while minimising perverse outcomes.Read moreRead less
Revolutionising protection against air pollution. This interdisciplinary project aims to develop a personalised air pollution exposure monitoring system, leveraging the ubiquitousness and advancements in mobile phone technology and state of the art miniaturisation of monitoring sensors, data transmission and analysis. Airborne pollution is one of the top contemporary risks faced by humans; however, at present individuals have no way to recognise that they are at risk or need to protect themselve ....Revolutionising protection against air pollution. This interdisciplinary project aims to develop a personalised air pollution exposure monitoring system, leveraging the ubiquitousness and advancements in mobile phone technology and state of the art miniaturisation of monitoring sensors, data transmission and analysis. Airborne pollution is one of the top contemporary risks faced by humans; however, at present individuals have no way to recognise that they are at risk or need to protect themselves. It is expected that the outcome will empower individuals to control and minimise their own exposures. This is expected to lead to significant national socioeconomic benefits and bring global advancement in acquiring and utilising environmental information.Read moreRead less
Energy Neutral Anthropogenic Nitrogen Management. This project aims to develop an innovative energy-neutral biological ammonium management strategy based on a novel anaerobic ammonia oxidation pathway. Ammonium-rich waste streams from urban and agricultural settings are a major cause of eutrophication and impose severe environmental burdens to human and ecological health. This project is expected to fundamentally change how we manage ammonium pollution, and will have immediate applicability to e ....Energy Neutral Anthropogenic Nitrogen Management. This project aims to develop an innovative energy-neutral biological ammonium management strategy based on a novel anaerobic ammonia oxidation pathway. Ammonium-rich waste streams from urban and agricultural settings are a major cause of eutrophication and impose severe environmental burdens to human and ecological health. This project is expected to fundamentally change how we manage ammonium pollution, and will have immediate applicability to engineered bioreactors systems. This will provide significant benefits in supporting a wide range of industries that struggle with finding affordable and net-zero ways to manage ammonium wastes, providing an important step to reach global net-zero carbon emissions.Read moreRead less
Environmental drivers for production of the toxin, cylindrospermopsin, by the cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii. Water authorities spend significant resources to monitor and control algal blooms. A significant part of this is monitoring freshwater toxic algal blooms that can impact on drinking water and recreational uses. One of the difficulties in monitoring blooms is that the toxin content of individual species can vary considerably. It is unclear whether this is caused by changes ....Environmental drivers for production of the toxin, cylindrospermopsin, by the cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii. Water authorities spend significant resources to monitor and control algal blooms. A significant part of this is monitoring freshwater toxic algal blooms that can impact on drinking water and recreational uses. One of the difficulties in monitoring blooms is that the toxin content of individual species can vary considerably. It is unclear whether this is caused by changes in environmental conditions, i.e. nutrient, light, temperature. This project would provide the link between environmental conditions and toxin production to improve the ability to predict and monitor toxin production.Read moreRead less