Research Projects
Vector Control Technical Landscape Analysis of Papua New Guinea (Old ID 26282)
Tom Burkot
01 Jan 2019 - 28 Feb 2019
The project will analyse vector suveillance and control activities in Papua New Guinea in both the private and public sectors to identify gaps that might be addressed through novel control strategies under development at the Innovative Vector Control Consortia using funding from the Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Early detection of asset failure using Machine Learning (Old ID 26476)
Ian Atkinson
15 Apr 2019 - 13 Apr 2020
Develop an artificial intelligence (AI) model to anticipate the likelihood of catastrophic failure of civil assets (eg bridges). This includes validation of code to support the AI processing of real-time data measured from large civil infrastructure such as bridges and assessing the viability of using low-cost IoT sensors to monitor asset health in real-time.
Acti-meal dose-response for abalone. (Old ID 26882)
Leo Nankervis
17 Jun 2020 - 31 Dec 2020
Tarac international wish to evaluate their grape marc commercially marketed as ‘Acti-Meal’. This has shown positive effects on growth for greenlip abalone. Marketing this product needs further validation and examination of mode-of-action, which we hope to elaborate with this project. This research is expected to lead on to further contracts with Tarac, including abalone and prawn nutrition.
Microhabitat preferences and post-settlement demography for juvenile crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) (Old ID 23243)
Morgan Pratchett
13 Mar 2017 - 17 Apr 2018
We will document fine-scale (within reef) variation in the abundance of juvenile (0+ year old) CoTS and relate patterns of abundance to specific features of the local habitat (e.g., depth and aspect) and micro-habitat (eg., cover of different coralline algae and corals) to further refine where to find newly settled CoTS. In areas with high settlement of CoTS, we will also quantify early post-settlement growth and mortality for a single cohort of CoTS, by measuring the local abundance and size structure of juvenile CoTS at selected locations through the course of 1 year.
Real time monitoring of water quality and mechanisation of pond management to boost productivity and increase profit (Old ID 24891)
Dean Jerry
21 Mar 2018 - 30 Jun 2018
the cost of electricity to driver pond aerators is one of the major costs of barramundi production. This project looks at the use of oxygen sensors linked to controllers that switch on and off paddlewheels once oxygen levels reach 80o% saturation. The effects of the controllers on cost of electricity use, and the pond ecosystem including nutrient levels, algae composition and metals will be assessed. The project will deliver an understanding if electricity costs can be reduced using controllers without reducing production or adversely affecting the pond environment.
Reactive metal-organics embracing the rare earth and alkaline earth metals (Old ID 21968)
Peter Junk
05 Feb 2016 - 30 Jun 2019
With abundant, but until recently neglected, rare earth resources, Australia is positioned to become a major supplier of these strategic elements as the world faces a shortage created by a Chinese monopoly and much reduced exports. Advancing the chemistry of highly reactive rare earth metal-organic compounds including syntheses from the free metals and alloys will provide a knowledge base and breakthrough science to underpin future applications in chemical manufacture, catalysis, new materials and recycling. Steric and electronic manipulation of rare earth coordination behaviour will transform their syntheses and reactions.
Feral Pig Impact on Wetlands in Archer River Catchment (Old ID 22226)
Nathan Waltham
01 Jun 2015 - 30 Jun 2017
This project will assess and evaluate the health of wetlands and in channel waterholes within the Archer River catchment. This baseline assessment will provide data to compare future surveys following installation of feral pig exclusion fencing, and also proposed agricultural development in this region. The survey wiolo include assessment of fish, wetland plants, macroinvertebrates, water quality, and terrestrial vertebrate communities that occupy wetlands. The project will also include Traditional Owner education and training during this survey.
Grouper nutrition review (Old ID 26828)
Leo Nankervis
15 Apr 2020 - 29 Jan 2021
A new ACIAR Concept Note is in preparation for the continuation of ACIAR investment in hybrid grouper aquaculture in Vietnam (FIS/2020/106). In parallel with the development of the Concept Note that will include a high level approach to nutrition research, a desk-top review of existing research is needed to prepare a targeted and practical research focus for the grow-out nutrition component of the project. The frequency of publication of peer-reviewed articles in grouper nutrition is ever increasing and understanding the current status of research is critical in order to maximise ACIAR investment in this area. The review will inform the detail of the experimental approach in the next ACIAR project, which needs to be planned in advance of the project start to maximise outcomes (possible start in July 2021). In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented further scoping travel to Vietnam in the short-term which will necessitate careful remote planning with proposed research partners to identify the most appropriate research systems and resource requirements in Vietnam and Australia for this research component (to be considered in time for resource requirements to be included in the Concept Note submitted in June 2019).
Improving Australia’s health and biosecurity through a greater marriage of infectious diseases modelling and genomic surveillance (Old ID 26942)
Michael Meehan
04 Jan 2021 - 18 May 2025
Emerging infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance are among the greatest threats to the Australian health system, and current surveillance tools may fail to detect and mitigate infectious disease outbreaks in real time. This project will develop advanced phylodynamic methods (i.e. mathematical models of infectious disease transmission and pathogen evolution) to enable real-time surveillance of infectious disease outbreaks as they emerge and monitor levels of drug resistance.
Developing Bioinformatics Capability to Diagnose Infectious Diseases using Clinical Metagenomics (Old ID 27176)
Matt Field
01 Jan 2022 - 31 Dec 2026
Current pathogen identification techniques are limited in terms of their speed, accuracy and inability to detect exotic pathogens. Using an unbiased metagenomic sequencing approach offers an improvement over current practice however supporting bioinformatics workflows are needed to support clinical implementation. This work can have enormous global reach with half the world’s population living in the tropics by 2050, many with limited healthcare options.