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Soil Extension through the Regional Soils Coordinator, TNQ Hub (Old ID 27529)
The funding will assist the TNQ Hub to carry out extension activities in line with National Landcare Program: Smart Farms Soil Extension Activities and support the National Soil Monitoring and Incentives Pilot Program to deliver a National Community of Practice to improve soil health and management. The Regional Soils Coordinator will support the Building Landcare Community and Capacity program to provide more effective, targeted, and integrated soil services that support land managers with practical tools and information to make better evidence-based management decisions for future growing seasons, including an increased uptake of soil testing and interpretation of results that lead to improved sustainable soil management practices. These projects outcomes contribute to the Australian Government National Soils Strategy, $214.9 million over 4 years.
Progressing health equity through strengthening the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce (Old ID 27906)
This collaborative TAAHC project aims to build on QH led Health Equity Strategies and plans within each of the partner HHSs in nQ through co-designed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce plans to strengthen recruitment, retention and career pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff (clinical and non-clinical) within HHSs, and also strengthening the capacity of non-Indigenous staff to work respectfully with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleagues.
Causes of multiple scelerosis: A functional genomics approach (Old ID 21267)
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease that damages the brain and spinal cord and can cause numbness, muscle weakness, difficulties with coordination and balance, problems with speech and swallowing, visual problems, fatigue and bladder and bowel difficulties. After a worldwide effort, a large number of multiple sclerosis genes have been localised in the human genome. This project examines two of these genes in more detail with the aim of identifying exactly how they contribute to the risk of developing MS.
Sequence identification of a new virus impacting the crayfish industry for RNAi intervention. (Old ID 22431)
The crayfish industry is set to bloom as hatchery technology has started to sustainably produce craylings to stock farms. Both hatchery and table demand for crayfish are completely unmet with farm gate prices consistently at $34/kg with a huge potential market. The crayfish industry has a pressing issue of chronic, stress-related mortality events. We have identified a positive sense, single stranded RNA virus (+ve ssRNA) from partial sequences taken from these crayfish. Crayfish cannot be vaccinated against this virus due to a lack of B-cell lineage (antibody producing cells). However, we can use RNA interference (RNAi) to knock down the load of the virus to a minimum, manageable load. To do this, we need to know the sequence of the virus. Positive ssRNA viruses make up about 1/3 of the virosphere, so we cannot assume what virus are likely to have in our crayfish based on our preliminary viral sequence.
Resolving the genetics of adaptation and speciation (Old ID 22899)
The project will greatly assist my career development by increasing my skills and impact in genomic research. Genomic data is currently produced in a process (via next generation sequencing) that results in unordered markers. However the majority can only be resolved with ordered markers (i.e. genes arranged along chromosomes). This project will provide a way to determine the genetic structure that underlies SNPs and other types of genomic data for non-model organisms in order to product ordered markers.
Abrasive Blasting - Are There Any Environmental Concerns (Old ID 23046)
The re-surfacing and re-use of existing high voltage towers instead of removing and replacing with new structures has the potential to alter the way that power transmission infrastructure is used in the long term in Queensland. This project will look at using abrasive blasting in the high value and sensitive landscape of the rainforests of the Wet Tropics and will develop the science narrative around how the process interacts with the local environment.
Mitigation of Losses in Qld from Extreme Wind Events (Old ID 24934)
The objective of the project is to investigate and inform on aspects of building doles/standards and implementation to mitigate losses from extreme win events including Cyclones.
Machine Learning for Structural Health Monitoring (Old ID 26289)
Structural health monitoring (SHM) is a developing technology but is still considered expensive by asset owners. However, SHM is on the verge of a massive technology disruption. Through the emergence of low-cost, high-performance sensors, the development of Internet of Things (IoT) communications and now deep-learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI) the SHM monitoring of buildings, bridges and other civil assets can now be realised. This project will attempt to build a prototype loT/ML based SHM system.
Extending the success of REDMAP Australia to Queensland (Old ID 26308)
REDMAP (Range Extension Database & Mapping project) is a citizen science initiative inviting fishers, divers and boaters to submit photographs of unusual fish sightings to an interactive website (www.redmap.org.au). The project seeks to inform, engage and educate fishers, divers and boaters about fish that are shifting southwards in accordance with warming waters. This project will roll out this initiative across Queensland through public talks at fishing and diving clubs in conjunction with the distribution of brochures, dive plans and stickers highlighting the fish species for citizen scientists to keep a look out for while they are on or in the waters.
Crown-of-thorns starfish control innovation program – Feasibility and Design Phase (Phase 1) (Old ID 27217)
Recognising that manual control of COTS during outbreaks is not, on its own, an ideal long-term solution, new efforts were launched in 2016 to develop an Integrated Pest Management approach for COTS (as part of the National Environmental Science Program), led by CSIRO and involving numerous partners. This approach relies on understanding COTS distribution, movement and population dynamics, targeting critical locations and exploring new and more effective control methods. This involves both improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the current methods while also focusing efforts to better understand and manage the pre-conditioning and initiation of outbreaks. A Feasibility and Design Phase (Phase 1) is focused on assessing the feasibility (technical, social and regulatory) and modelling the benefit (impact) at scale of a broad range of possible improvements and interventions. Applying a transparent and consistent scientific framework, this Phase will lead to recommendations on priority areas that should be further investigated and developed