Evolutionary origins of sexual parasitism in an Australian freshwater fish. Carp gudgeons are the most abundant, widespread and biodiverse freshwater fishes in southeastern Australia. The unacknowledged presence of many cryptic species and sexually-parasitic lineages severely taints all research on this cornerstone group. This project aims to provide unrivalled evolutionary, genomic, and taxonomic insights into this new instance of vertebrate sexual parasitism, which offers a unique mix of resea ....Evolutionary origins of sexual parasitism in an Australian freshwater fish. Carp gudgeons are the most abundant, widespread and biodiverse freshwater fishes in southeastern Australia. The unacknowledged presence of many cryptic species and sexually-parasitic lineages severely taints all research on this cornerstone group. This project aims to provide unrivalled evolutionary, genomic, and taxonomic insights into this new instance of vertebrate sexual parasitism, which offers a unique mix of research advantages not displayed by any other sexual/unisexual complex. The knowledge gained could impact many research fields, including evolutionary theory addressing the unexplainable prevalence of sex, native fish ecology, and environmental monitoring of the Murray-Darling Basin, an ecosystem of world significance.Read moreRead less
Improving water quality modelling by better understanding solute transport. Poor stream water quality is a critical problem in Australia and globally. Stream water quality depends directly on pathways and time taken for water to transport pollutants through catchments. Predicting these pathways is highly challenging and currently requires specialised data. This project aims to better model the movement of water from rainfall to streams, enable greatly improved use of water quality data routinely ....Improving water quality modelling by better understanding solute transport. Poor stream water quality is a critical problem in Australia and globally. Stream water quality depends directly on pathways and time taken for water to transport pollutants through catchments. Predicting these pathways is highly challenging and currently requires specialised data. This project aims to better model the movement of water from rainfall to streams, enable greatly improved use of water quality data routinely collected in Australia's catchments and thereby better predict water quality behaviour. Proposed field studies aim to support this development. The outcomes sought are improved planning and management of water quality in our rivers, lakes and estuaries, improved health of these water bodies and improved water supplies.Read moreRead less
Unlocking the secrets of the groundwater cycle using Si and Li isotopes. This project aims to determine how non-conventional lithium and silicon isotopes can be used to understand groundwater processes using an innovative source-to-target approach. The project aims to apply these isotope tracers to trace the water cycle within a well constrained system: an island aquifer with a dense borefield which has been analysed using traditional isotopic techniques. Supporting hydrochemical data will be us ....Unlocking the secrets of the groundwater cycle using Si and Li isotopes. This project aims to determine how non-conventional lithium and silicon isotopes can be used to understand groundwater processes using an innovative source-to-target approach. The project aims to apply these isotope tracers to trace the water cycle within a well constrained system: an island aquifer with a dense borefield which has been analysed using traditional isotopic techniques. Supporting hydrochemical data will be used to determine the relationship of the isotopes with environmental processes. The project impact will be the development of new methods to help understand our groundwater resource. The improved process understanding will be translated to groundwater management in general. The projects' focus on carbonate aquifer systems typical of coastal regions of southern, eastern and western Australia will have relevance to groundwater management in urban areas such as Perth and in rural areas for tourism and viticulture, and for management of natural resources in National Parks.Read moreRead less
Added depth: automated high level image interpretation. Humans are very good at understanding the world through imagery, but computers lack this fundamental capacity because they lack experience of what they might see. This project will provide this experience by combining the large volumes of imagery on the Internet with three dimensional information generated by humans for other purposes.
ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals. The aim of the Centre is to progress scientific knowledge to establish transformational improvement in minerals beneficiation, essential for meeting global demand for metals. The research aims to achieve more selective, faster, and efficient separations, combining major advances in separation technologies with increased functionality of new reagents. The Centre outcomes will also ensure the sustainability of the miner ....ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals. The aim of the Centre is to progress scientific knowledge to establish transformational improvement in minerals beneficiation, essential for meeting global demand for metals. The research aims to achieve more selective, faster, and efficient separations, combining major advances in separation technologies with increased functionality of new reagents. The Centre outcomes will also ensure the sustainability of the minerals industry in Australia, through a significant reduction in cost, environmental impact, and through lower energy and water usage. The Centre also seeks to establish a new generation of scientists and research leaders in minerals beneficiation to support the innovation needed into the future by this major Australian industry.Read moreRead less
ARC Research Network on Intelligent Sensors, Sensor Networks and Information Processing. Sensor networks, a collection of diverse sensors interconnected via an ad-hoc communication network, are identified as one of the key technologies that over the next two decades will change the way we live. This research network brings together an interdisciplinary team of outstanding Australian researchers representing all the key disciplines required to successfully deploy sensor networks and links this te ....ARC Research Network on Intelligent Sensors, Sensor Networks and Information Processing. Sensor networks, a collection of diverse sensors interconnected via an ad-hoc communication network, are identified as one of the key technologies that over the next two decades will change the way we live. This research network brings together an interdisciplinary team of outstanding Australian researchers representing all the key disciplines required to successfully deploy sensor networks and links this team with the foremost international authorities and leading industry players in the area of sensor networks. This research network will guide collaborative research that will ensure Australia to play a world leading role in sensor network development and implementation.
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Space-based space surveillance with robust computer vision algorithms. Space-based space surveillance with robust computer vision algorithms. This project aims to develop computer vision algorithms to detect man-made objects in space. These algorithms function on nanosatellite platforms, enabling space-based space surveillance. This technology is expected to provide always-on monitoring of the Earth's orbit to enhance existing defence infrastructure and protect vital space assets, including comm ....Space-based space surveillance with robust computer vision algorithms. Space-based space surveillance with robust computer vision algorithms. This project aims to develop computer vision algorithms to detect man-made objects in space. These algorithms function on nanosatellite platforms, enabling space-based space surveillance. This technology is expected to provide always-on monitoring of the Earth's orbit to enhance existing defence infrastructure and protect vital space assets, including communications and navigational satellites, in Earth’s orbit from collisions and covert sabotage. Increased space use by government and civilian agencies opens up opportunities for the space industry. This project is expected to develop Australia’s space surveillance capabilities, protect space assets and capture a growing market.Read moreRead less
Origins and distributions of intraplate earthquakes. This project aims to investigate the behaviour and origin of intraplate earthquakes in Australia by developing a multi-million-year record of earthquakes using geological, geochronological, geospatial, seismological, statistical and numerical modelling data. It will use maximum credible magnitudes, maximum shaking intensities of intraplate earthquakes and spatiotemporal relationships between large prehistoric and contemporary earthquakes to im ....Origins and distributions of intraplate earthquakes. This project aims to investigate the behaviour and origin of intraplate earthquakes in Australia by developing a multi-million-year record of earthquakes using geological, geochronological, geospatial, seismological, statistical and numerical modelling data. It will use maximum credible magnitudes, maximum shaking intensities of intraplate earthquakes and spatiotemporal relationships between large prehistoric and contemporary earthquakes to improve models of future seismic hazard in Australia and globally. This will lead to improved predictions of future earthquake impacts in urban and natural environments and development of new paleoseismic techniques.Read moreRead less
A global standard for the status of Wetlands of International Importance. The project will develop and test a new global standard for the assessment and reporting on ecological condition of internationally important wetlands, listed under the Ramsar Convention. It has four aims: establishment of a strategic adaptive management and governance framework, a meta-analysis of the 2,303 internationally listed wetlands, development of a protocol for assessment and prediction and delivering a digital re ....A global standard for the status of Wetlands of International Importance. The project will develop and test a new global standard for the assessment and reporting on ecological condition of internationally important wetlands, listed under the Ramsar Convention. It has four aims: establishment of a strategic adaptive management and governance framework, a meta-analysis of the 2,303 internationally listed wetlands, development of a protocol for assessment and prediction and delivering a digital reporting platform for effective management. The project is significant because it tackles the decline of freshwater ecosystems, by targeting the most prominent wetlands. It also assists state and national governments to meet their obligations under the Ramsar Convention and most importantly guides more effective management.Read moreRead less