Next generation offshore blue water aquaculture. The project aims to develop innovative technologies for the next generation of blue water aquaculture, focusing on developing novel floating concrete platforms, cages and anti-biofouling systems. Increasing global demand for high quality protein means offshore marine aquaculture is the only realistic environmentally sustainable alternative to conventional livestock farming and depleted wild fisheries. This project will provide significant benefits ....Next generation offshore blue water aquaculture. The project aims to develop innovative technologies for the next generation of blue water aquaculture, focusing on developing novel floating concrete platforms, cages and anti-biofouling systems. Increasing global demand for high quality protein means offshore marine aquaculture is the only realistic environmentally sustainable alternative to conventional livestock farming and depleted wild fisheries. This project will provide significant benefits by addressing significant community objections to nearshore fish farms, including severe environmental pollution, disease and pathogens, over use of antibiotics and economic impacts on tourism.Read moreRead less
Engineering screw piles to secure offshore wind energy turbines. This project aims to tackle the scientific challenges of using screw piles as foundations for deep water offshore wind turbines. Current foundations for offshore infrastructure developments have reached their limits, and conventional screw piles are designed for land use. This project will use innovative geotechnical methods to develop verified designs, guidelines and numerical tools for predicting the forces required to install sc ....Engineering screw piles to secure offshore wind energy turbines. This project aims to tackle the scientific challenges of using screw piles as foundations for deep water offshore wind turbines. Current foundations for offshore infrastructure developments have reached their limits, and conventional screw piles are designed for land use. This project will use innovative geotechnical methods to develop verified designs, guidelines and numerical tools for predicting the forces required to install screw piles into the seabed and their capacity to resist extreme wind and wave forces relevant to these structures. As foundations cost up to 35% of construction, screw piles will provide significant economic and environmental benefits in reducing costs and unlocking substantial renewable energy from our oceans.Read moreRead less
Understanding marine migratory connectivity for more sustainable oceans. Ocean basin-scale migrations of iconic sea turtles, marine mammals, seabirds, and fish expose them to multiple stressors and governance regimes, leading to gaps in management and population declines. The project aims to deliver the methods and evidence base of cross-taxa migratory connectivity that is essential to support the
conservation of these species. Expected outcomes include comprehensive and integrated models of mig ....Understanding marine migratory connectivity for more sustainable oceans. Ocean basin-scale migrations of iconic sea turtles, marine mammals, seabirds, and fish expose them to multiple stressors and governance regimes, leading to gaps in management and population declines. The project aims to deliver the methods and evidence base of cross-taxa migratory connectivity that is essential to support the
conservation of these species. Expected outcomes include comprehensive and integrated models of migratory connectivity, conservation theory development, and new methods that allow incorporation of migratory connectivity in conservation planning. Benefits include: a cross-taxa baseline that will enable Australia to measure environmental change in marine migratory connectivity for the first time.Read moreRead less
Improving the effectiveness of marine habitat restoration. Habitat restoration is a global priority to halt and reverse declines in biodiversity, but many of these efforts fail to achieve these goals. This project aims to improve the outcomes of marine habitat restoration through greater consideration of animal behaviour. Insights into how animals evaluate restored habitats and which components of habitats are most important to animals are essential but missing ingredients in modern restoration ....Improving the effectiveness of marine habitat restoration. Habitat restoration is a global priority to halt and reverse declines in biodiversity, but many of these efforts fail to achieve these goals. This project aims to improve the outcomes of marine habitat restoration through greater consideration of animal behaviour. Insights into how animals evaluate restored habitats and which components of habitats are most important to animals are essential but missing ingredients in modern restoration methodology. By applying novel experimental and modelling approaches to current marine habitat restoration programs, this project will generate new knowledge to underpin a fundamental change in how natural resource managers restore marine habitats, with significantly improved outcomes for biodiversity.Read moreRead less
Blue carbon potential of the Great Southern Reef. As one of Australia’s largest vegetated coastal ecosystems, kelp forests provide substantial climate mitigation opportunities. Although kelp carbon is ubiquitous in the deep ocean, the mechanism of transport and amount of kelp carbon reaching deep sinks remains largely unknown, significantly hampering their inclusion in ocean carbon budgets and mitigation action. We will use Australia-wide field data on kelp export, cross-shelf measurements of tr ....Blue carbon potential of the Great Southern Reef. As one of Australia’s largest vegetated coastal ecosystems, kelp forests provide substantial climate mitigation opportunities. Although kelp carbon is ubiquitous in the deep ocean, the mechanism of transport and amount of kelp carbon reaching deep sinks remains largely unknown, significantly hampering their inclusion in ocean carbon budgets and mitigation action. We will use Australia-wide field data on kelp export, cross-shelf measurements of transport and decay, coastal ocean circulation and future distribution models to vastly improve estimates of kelp carbon transfer to deep ocean sinks. Our comprehensive data-driven assessment of kelp carbon sequestration aims to uncover the carbon sink capacity of seaweed forests now and in the futureRead moreRead less
Enhancing marine bathymetry using new generation satellite sensors. Highly accurate marine bathymetry are currently lacking in 72% of the global ocean including around Australia, particularly in shallow seas and near-shore coastal zones, contributing to various navigation and marine safety accidents. Ship surveys of the seafloor are time-consuming and expensive. Satellite altimetry data provide an alternative solution. This project will improve Australia’s marine bathymetry by using spatially co ....Enhancing marine bathymetry using new generation satellite sensors. Highly accurate marine bathymetry are currently lacking in 72% of the global ocean including around Australia, particularly in shallow seas and near-shore coastal zones, contributing to various navigation and marine safety accidents. Ship surveys of the seafloor are time-consuming and expensive. Satellite altimetry data provide an alternative solution. This project will improve Australia’s marine bathymetry by using spatially comprehensive and unprecedented data from new radar and laser satellite sensors. We aim to develop techniques for integration of the new data with other independent data sources, producing the most precise marine bathymetry for coastal terrain mapping, marine transport and safety management.Read moreRead less
Dynamic assessment of threats to marine megafauna in face of global change. This project aims to develop a global approach to synthesise global tracking datasets and deliver near real-time diagnostics on risks for marine megafauna at a global scale pushing forward a new frontier in dynamic marine spatial management to improve conservation. This project expects to increase our understanding of how marine megafauna movements vary with environmental changes and how much they overlap with threatenin ....Dynamic assessment of threats to marine megafauna in face of global change. This project aims to develop a global approach to synthesise global tracking datasets and deliver near real-time diagnostics on risks for marine megafauna at a global scale pushing forward a new frontier in dynamic marine spatial management to improve conservation. This project expects to increase our understanding of how marine megafauna movements vary with environmental changes and how much they overlap with threatening global human activities. Expected outcomes will demonstrate how big data in marine telemetry can be synthesised and translated into ecologically significant behaviours. This should provide significant benefits to address global scientific and societal problems highlighted in the Australian science and research priorities.Read moreRead less
Understanding algal bloom microbiome function to improve seafood safety. Current phytoplankton ecological theory is derived primarily from lab cultures, but in nature phytoplankton have unique microbiomes that support their growth and ongoing ocean primary production. This project aims to establish the structure and function of these natural microbiomes, and how they contribute to seafood poisoning caused by bacteria and algal biotoxins. Using advanced flow cytometry with single-cell microbial ....Understanding algal bloom microbiome function to improve seafood safety. Current phytoplankton ecological theory is derived primarily from lab cultures, but in nature phytoplankton have unique microbiomes that support their growth and ongoing ocean primary production. This project aims to establish the structure and function of these natural microbiomes, and how they contribute to seafood poisoning caused by bacteria and algal biotoxins. Using advanced flow cytometry with single-cell microbial profiling, we will sample nano-scale plankton microbiomes and synthetic microbiome phylogenomics to the link between microbiomes and seafood poisoning outbreaks. The outcomes will underpin enhanced predictive modelling of seafood risk to ensure the safety and export security of Australia's $2 billion seafood industry.Read moreRead less
Tracking origins and spread of Crown-of-Thorns Seastars on the Great Barrier Reef. This proposal aims to uncover the source reefs for Crown-of-Thorns Seastars (CoTS) outbreaks and the main routes of spread through the Great Barrier Reef. Coral eating CoTS pose a significant threat to the Great Barrier Reef. Using population genomics, invasive species genetics, and epidemiology and drawing upon extensive collections of adults and larvae dating from the 1980’s onwards, this project will test promi ....Tracking origins and spread of Crown-of-Thorns Seastars on the Great Barrier Reef. This proposal aims to uncover the source reefs for Crown-of-Thorns Seastars (CoTS) outbreaks and the main routes of spread through the Great Barrier Reef. Coral eating CoTS pose a significant threat to the Great Barrier Reef. Using population genomics, invasive species genetics, and epidemiology and drawing upon extensive collections of adults and larvae dating from the 1980’s onwards, this project will test prominent hypotheses about outbreak origins and subsequent spatial spread of CoTS via larval dispersal. The project expects to clarify the locations and timing of long distance dispersal pathways and to test whether larval detection near reefs can provide an early warning for local outbreaks on these same reefs.Read moreRead less
Harnessing seaweed genes to mitigate methane emissions from livestock . Novel climate solutions are crucial as agriculture is responsible for 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This project aims to understand the molecular components for the production of bioactive natural products in a seaweed that, when fed to cattle and sheep, cuts out methane emissions. The project will apply genomic techniques to determine the key genes involved and the ecological factors that influence their expressio ....Harnessing seaweed genes to mitigate methane emissions from livestock . Novel climate solutions are crucial as agriculture is responsible for 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This project aims to understand the molecular components for the production of bioactive natural products in a seaweed that, when fed to cattle and sheep, cuts out methane emissions. The project will apply genomic techniques to determine the key genes involved and the ecological factors that influence their expression across the seaweed life cycle. The findings will provide a platform to harness the full potential of seaweed as a natural additive in livestock feeds. This multidisciplinary project will enhance research capacity and strengthen international collaborations.Read moreRead less