Dynamic evolution of mutation rates: causes and impacts on genomic analysis. This project aims to illuminate the role of variation in mutation rate in driving evolutionary change. Mutation rate is a core parameter in evolutionary analyses in essential applications including epidemiology, conservation and medicine, yet remains a “black box” given arbitrary universal values. This project will take a whole-of-biodiversity approach to understanding the forces shaping mutation rate, impact on evoluti ....Dynamic evolution of mutation rates: causes and impacts on genomic analysis. This project aims to illuminate the role of variation in mutation rate in driving evolutionary change. Mutation rate is a core parameter in evolutionary analyses in essential applications including epidemiology, conservation and medicine, yet remains a “black box” given arbitrary universal values. This project will take a whole-of-biodiversity approach to understanding the forces shaping mutation rate, impact on evolution of biodiversity and effect on accuracy and precision of phylogenetic analyses. Using Australian case studies, the expected outcome of this project will be a greater understanding variation in mutation rate between species, providing significant benefits in developing more sophisticated and reliable phylogenetic analyses.Read moreRead less
Earth's Dynamic Topography Through Space and Time. A key component of Earth’s topography remains enigmatic. This so-called dynamic topography is transient, varying in response to convection within Earth’s mantle. This project aims to use a data-driven computational approach to: (i) reconstruct the evolution of dynamic topography over the recent geological history of our planet (Cenozoic Era, 0-66 million years ago); and (ii) uncover the mechanisms controlling its spatial and temporal evolution. ....Earth's Dynamic Topography Through Space and Time. A key component of Earth’s topography remains enigmatic. This so-called dynamic topography is transient, varying in response to convection within Earth’s mantle. This project aims to use a data-driven computational approach to: (i) reconstruct the evolution of dynamic topography over the recent geological history of our planet (Cenozoic Era, 0-66 million years ago); and (ii) uncover the mechanisms controlling its spatial and temporal evolution. This transformational new understanding will connect the evolution of our planet's surface environments to its deep interior, revealing the impact of dynamic topography on sea level change, flooding, river networks, groundwater systems, habitat development and the distribution of economic resources. Read moreRead less
Evolution and mechanisms of interactions in biofilm communities. This project aims to study the long-term experimental evolution of a mixed species bacterial biofilm community. This project expects to gain understanding of the genetic and physiological basis of community evolution. Expected outcomes of this project will be an understanding of how synthetic communities evolve. This will significantly benefit the use of synthetic communities relevant to fields such as antibiotic design, biotechnol ....Evolution and mechanisms of interactions in biofilm communities. This project aims to study the long-term experimental evolution of a mixed species bacterial biofilm community. This project expects to gain understanding of the genetic and physiological basis of community evolution. Expected outcomes of this project will be an understanding of how synthetic communities evolve. This will significantly benefit the use of synthetic communities relevant to fields such as antibiotic design, biotechnology, bioremediation, and synthetic biology where evolution can be inhibited or exploited, respectively.Read moreRead less
How are visual gene pathways lost and restored during reptile evolution? This project aims to investigate how complex traits are lost during evolution, and once lost if they can be regained. The project will use the diverse visual systems of snakes and lizards to shed light on the process of gene loss in degenerative lineages, and discover the mechanisms that compensate for gene losses in taxa with secondarily evolved visual capabilities- providing a case of evolutionary re-innovation in complex ....How are visual gene pathways lost and restored during reptile evolution? This project aims to investigate how complex traits are lost during evolution, and once lost if they can be regained. The project will use the diverse visual systems of snakes and lizards to shed light on the process of gene loss in degenerative lineages, and discover the mechanisms that compensate for gene losses in taxa with secondarily evolved visual capabilities- providing a case of evolutionary re-innovation in complex traits.Read moreRead less
Evolving rates: foundations for the next generation of molecular clocks. This project aims to investigate the causes and consequences of variation in rate of DNA sequence evolution across three kingdoms of life. Dates estimated from DNA sequences have a wide range of applications, including evolutionary biology, conservation prioritisation and epidemiology. These methods rely on accurate rate estimates, but current models lack information about the biological drivers of rates of genomic change. ....Evolving rates: foundations for the next generation of molecular clocks. This project aims to investigate the causes and consequences of variation in rate of DNA sequence evolution across three kingdoms of life. Dates estimated from DNA sequences have a wide range of applications, including evolutionary biology, conservation prioritisation and epidemiology. These methods rely on accurate rate estimates, but current models lack information about the biological drivers of rates of genomic change. This project will test reliability of current methods, identify potentially misleading estimates of disease origin or conservation priorities, and develop new approaches with empirically-informed models of rate change.Read moreRead less
Global climate change and coastal landscape evolution in southern Australia. This project aims to reconstruct environmental changes that occurred in southern Australia during a geologically recent time interval termed the Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition (1.2 million to 700 thousand years ago) and an interglacial period some 400,000 years ago. Using innovative geochronological, geochemical and modelling techniques, the environmental changes that shaped modern Australian coastal landscapes, in ....Global climate change and coastal landscape evolution in southern Australia. This project aims to reconstruct environmental changes that occurred in southern Australia during a geologically recent time interval termed the Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition (1.2 million to 700 thousand years ago) and an interglacial period some 400,000 years ago. Using innovative geochronological, geochemical and modelling techniques, the environmental changes that shaped modern Australian coastal landscapes, including the intensification of aridity and their timing will be examined. The project will yield new knowledge about the sensitivity of landscapes to current and ongoing environmental changes and derive explanatory models of the rates and characteristics of landscape response to assist future coastal environmental management.Read moreRead less
The Epigenetics of Sex in the Dragon. Genetic codes do not directly translate to phenotypes -- environment acts through epigenetics to modify development. We use advanced molecular techniques to examine how epigenetics responds to temperature to reverse sex in our novel animal model, the dragon lizard. How does the cell sense temperature? Once the extrinsic signal is captured, how does it influence chromatin modification to release or suppress key genes in the sex differentiation pathway? Which ....The Epigenetics of Sex in the Dragon. Genetic codes do not directly translate to phenotypes -- environment acts through epigenetics to modify development. We use advanced molecular techniques to examine how epigenetics responds to temperature to reverse sex in our novel animal model, the dragon lizard. How does the cell sense temperature? Once the extrinsic signal is captured, how does it influence chromatin modification to release or suppress key genes in the sex differentiation pathway? Which sex genes are targets? Epigenetic enzymes are astonishingly conserved, providing exciting opportunities to draw from human systems to unravel novel signatures of temperature-induced sex switching in reptiles. This project will advance knowledge of developmental programming generally.Read moreRead less
Rivers of Gold: The Legacy of Historical Gold Mining for Victoria's Rivers. By considering rivers as cultural artefacts, this project aims to evaluate how historical gold mining has shaped river systems in Victoria. Victoria’s historic mining industry led to extensive and long-lasting change to waterways across the state. The project plans to integrate approaches from landscape archaeology, physical geography, geomorphology and environmental chemistry to identify and map the extent of changes, i ....Rivers of Gold: The Legacy of Historical Gold Mining for Victoria's Rivers. By considering rivers as cultural artefacts, this project aims to evaluate how historical gold mining has shaped river systems in Victoria. Victoria’s historic mining industry led to extensive and long-lasting change to waterways across the state. The project plans to integrate approaches from landscape archaeology, physical geography, geomorphology and environmental chemistry to identify and map the extent of changes, including increased sedimentation, erosion, and chemical contamination. The project plans to demonstrate how historical mining continues to influence chemical and physical processes in Victorian streams and to develop understanding of the landscapes experienced by Victorians at the height of the mining boom. Project outcomes may provide improved context for catchment and reservoir management and counter prevailing impressions about causes of observed damage to rivers.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
Mangrove sustainability on the Australian coast. This project aims to model the response of mangroves and adjoining communities to sea-level rise. Australia’s coastline supports some of the most extensive and diverse mangrove forests globally, and mangrove response models are urgently needed to plan for Australia’s coastal future and global sea-level rise adaptation. Bringing together world-leading specialists in geomorphology and spatial analysis, we will project the response of Australia’s man ....Mangrove sustainability on the Australian coast. This project aims to model the response of mangroves and adjoining communities to sea-level rise. Australia’s coastline supports some of the most extensive and diverse mangrove forests globally, and mangrove response models are urgently needed to plan for Australia’s coastal future and global sea-level rise adaptation. Bringing together world-leading specialists in geomorphology and spatial analysis, we will project the response of Australia’s mangrove shorelines to sea-level rise, indicating the implications for blue carbon stocks, adjoining communities, infrastructure and assets. Significant benefits will be provided to sustainable coastal management and national carbon accounting efforts.Read moreRead less