Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220101409
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$432,447.00
Summary
Quantifying trophic niches to measure the resilience of marine predators. This project aims to pair global movement with feeding ecology datasets to characterise relationships between space use and diet breadth, and tests the effects of marine industries on functional roles of marine predators. This expects to generate knowledge about population and individual specalisation using innovative biochemical approaches and shark’s unique dental anatomy. Expected outcomes include a biochemical database ....Quantifying trophic niches to measure the resilience of marine predators. This project aims to pair global movement with feeding ecology datasets to characterise relationships between space use and diet breadth, and tests the effects of marine industries on functional roles of marine predators. This expects to generate knowledge about population and individual specalisation using innovative biochemical approaches and shark’s unique dental anatomy. Expected outcomes include a biochemical database facilitating global collaborations, and a vulnerability scale to rank resilience to impacts based on relative specalisation. This should benefit managers by accounting for previously unknown effects of marine industries on specialists at elevated extinction risk, with limited resilience to local impacts and global change.Read moreRead less
Establishing a global framework to trace the provenance of seafood. The global importance and demand for seafood is higher than ever; yet, sustainable seafood production is threatened by seafood fraud. This research will develop a new technology that will trace the geographic origins of seafood from catch to table and empower authorities to combat fraud. In doing so, this research will use natural chemical variation in biominerals to build maps of ocean chemistry and create universal markers of ....Establishing a global framework to trace the provenance of seafood. The global importance and demand for seafood is higher than ever; yet, sustainable seafood production is threatened by seafood fraud. This research will develop a new technology that will trace the geographic origins of seafood from catch to table and empower authorities to combat fraud. In doing so, this research will use natural chemical variation in biominerals to build maps of ocean chemistry and create universal markers of seafood provenance. These markers will be intrinsically tamper-proof: enabling the chemical geolocation of seafood across international trade routes. The outcome of this research will address a global environmental challenge and, in doing so, deliver benefits to the Australian economy, consumer and environment. Read moreRead less
Safeguarding coral reef fisheries for future food security. This Fellowship aims to address the vulnerability of coral reef fisheries in Australia and the Indo-Pacific by identifying fishery targets that benefit human nutrition and will persist despite declining coral habitats and rising water temperature. This project will advance knowledge on coral and fish responses to increasingly frequent marine heatwaves, using novel methodologies rooted in ecological modelling, experimental marine biology ....Safeguarding coral reef fisheries for future food security. This Fellowship aims to address the vulnerability of coral reef fisheries in Australia and the Indo-Pacific by identifying fishery targets that benefit human nutrition and will persist despite declining coral habitats and rising water temperature. This project will advance knowledge on coral and fish responses to increasingly frequent marine heatwaves, using novel methodologies rooted in ecological modelling, experimental marine biology and climate forecasting. Expected outcomes include (i) a comprehensive toolbox for improved management of coral reefs and associated fisheries in Australia and beyond, and (ii) an integrated socio-ecological model for predicting coral reef fishery responses under environmental change.Read moreRead less
Do root microbiomes control seagrass response to environmental stress? The project aims to determine the role root microbes play in controlling seagrass responses to environmental stress. By integrating marine and microbial ecology, environmental genomics and ecosystem function (e.g., biogeochemical cycling), this project is significant as it will create new knowledge of the processes that confer seagrass resilience to global environmental issues. An expected outcome is an increased understandin ....Do root microbiomes control seagrass response to environmental stress? The project aims to determine the role root microbes play in controlling seagrass responses to environmental stress. By integrating marine and microbial ecology, environmental genomics and ecosystem function (e.g., biogeochemical cycling), this project is significant as it will create new knowledge of the processes that confer seagrass resilience to global environmental issues. An expected outcome is an increased understanding of how microbes control seagrass health and an enhanced capacity to develop effective restoration strategies for Australia's valuable seagrass ecosystems. Benefits include improving the extensive environmental, economic, social/cultural services Australian communities derive from seagrass ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Saving seagrass from climate change. This research aims to test whether seagrass ecosystems can be safeguarded from climate change impacts by enhancing genetic connectivity in range edge populations using novel genetic rescue approaches. We will use the range edge seagrass meadows of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Shark Bay as our model, which was significantly impacted by a marine heat wave in 2010/2011. The project will generate new knowledge on how seagrasses can adapt and survive in situ. ....Saving seagrass from climate change. This research aims to test whether seagrass ecosystems can be safeguarded from climate change impacts by enhancing genetic connectivity in range edge populations using novel genetic rescue approaches. We will use the range edge seagrass meadows of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Shark Bay as our model, which was significantly impacted by a marine heat wave in 2010/2011. The project will generate new knowledge on how seagrasses can adapt and survive in situ. Expected outcomes are improved conservation, management and restoration practices for seagrass meadows. This should provide significant benefits for long-term resilience of this economically and culturally significant ecosystem.Read moreRead less
Early Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IE230100464
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$467,577.00
Summary
A genomic toolkit to future-proof the seaweed industry. This project will combine genomics, artificial intelligence and experimental ecology to develop guidelines and technologies that maximise the growth and resilience of key seaweed species for aquaculture. Industrial seaweed production is growing rapidly and is expected to supply 1000s of jobs to regional Australia and 10% to the nation’s emissions reduction target by 2040. Expected outcomes of this project include a genomics-based regulatory ....A genomic toolkit to future-proof the seaweed industry. This project will combine genomics, artificial intelligence and experimental ecology to develop guidelines and technologies that maximise the growth and resilience of key seaweed species for aquaculture. Industrial seaweed production is growing rapidly and is expected to supply 1000s of jobs to regional Australia and 10% to the nation’s emissions reduction target by 2040. Expected outcomes of this project include a genomics-based regulatory framework and hatchery tools that support rapid industry growth and minimise biosecurity and climate change risks. This will benefit government, aquaculture, and ecosystem management by improving design, assessment and implementation options for sustainable and productive use of Australian seaweeds.Read moreRead less
Unravelling vanadium biogeochemistry in modern marine sediments. This project aims to unravel the biogeochemistry of vanadium in modern marine sediments for use as a tracer of ancient oxygen concentrations in the oceans of the early Earth. This project will generate fundamental knowledge on the behaviour of vanadium in modern marine sediments by applying advanced analytical tools for imaging its concentration and chemical form at ultra-high resolution. This information is critical for accurate i ....Unravelling vanadium biogeochemistry in modern marine sediments. This project aims to unravel the biogeochemistry of vanadium in modern marine sediments for use as a tracer of ancient oxygen concentrations in the oceans of the early Earth. This project will generate fundamental knowledge on the behaviour of vanadium in modern marine sediments by applying advanced analytical tools for imaging its concentration and chemical form at ultra-high resolution. This information is critical for accurate interpretation of the geological record to infer the oxygen concentration of the oceans at various points in Earth's history. This interdisciplinary project will facilitate strong collaboration between Australian and Danish researchers in the field of marine geochemistry and paleoceanography.Read moreRead less
Conducting coatings for control and eradication of unwanted marine biofilms. Biofilms grow on all surfaces and environments posing environmental threats and economic issues globally, costing billions each year to those attempting to eradicate them. To date, biofilm's detailed response to variations in electrochemically generated redox stress and shear is unknown in marine environments. The project aims at (i) developing novel electrically conducting carbon based paints that are stable in marine ....Conducting coatings for control and eradication of unwanted marine biofilms. Biofilms grow on all surfaces and environments posing environmental threats and economic issues globally, costing billions each year to those attempting to eradicate them. To date, biofilm's detailed response to variations in electrochemically generated redox stress and shear is unknown in marine environments. The project aims at (i) developing novel electrically conducting carbon based paints that are stable in marine environments and (ii) investigating how marine biofilms respond to these coatings. The expected outcome of this project is the development of a green alternative antifouling technology that can be used on demand in marine applications. This provides a new solution for controlling the biofouling of surfaces immersed in oceans.Read moreRead less