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Improving the productivity of the Northern Australian livestock sector with the establishment of new legumes varieties (Old ID 23448)
Pasture legumes are quality feed and have benefits for livestock and the environment but few sown legumes are adapted to the vast clay soil regions of the north. JCU has 5 new varieties specifically developed for this region. The project aims is to: • Evaluate establishment techniques for these new legumes • Conduct grazing, pen, plot and soil trials evaluating new varieties • Demonstrate the benefits of legumes in terms of enhance livestock productivity • Undertake climate risk analysis • Engage students with a research focus on nutrition, soils and livestock productivity Uptake of legume technology will result in significant economic, environmental & social benefits
Australian ASEAN Food, Logistics and Technology Network (Old ID 24957)
The Australia ASEAN region is building trade and cultural relationships across many aspects of society and business. SME's are fundamental to both trade and cultural relationships. The Australia ASEAN Future Food, Logistics and Technology network will support SME's by driving the conversion of Australia and ASEAN's bioscience and technology. The aim is to develop a knowledge network of Australian and ASEAN universities, industry associations and businesses that enables research, cultural exchange and trade.
Independent evaluation of the Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative on Ebola conducted in Liberia and Sierra Leone (Old ID 26156)
In 2016, TDR conducted SORT iT courses in Sierra Leone and Liberia, with the aim of strengthening research capacity following the Ebola outbreak. Funding was provided by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The purpose of this evaluation is to (1) Evaluate the process of implementation, short and intermediate-term impact of SORT-iT work in Liberia and Sierra Leone. (2) To develop and pilot a framework for independent impact evaluations of SORT-iT. The findings will inform future rounds of SORT-iT in both countries. Furthermore the pilot framework will focus on low cost and easy-to-use tools to foster wider and continued application.
Mapping the future of Myanmar's human nutrition (Old ID 26719)
This project aims to utilise Geographical Information System (GIS) software to assist in the generation of maps to improve land use for nutritious food production (eg rice-fish systems (RFS)) in the Ayeyarwady Delta. Maps will be used to inform local governments of RFS suitability, supporting a broader understanding of different land use interactions in a multi-functional landscape setting. Additionally, outcomes will provide ecologically and socially tailored options for food production with an em0hasis on marginal land areas and groups. This will contribute to overarching policy goals of the government for poverty reduction, addressing under-nutrition and rural development.
Determining nitrogen removal from floodplain restoration with Melaleuca (Old ID 27462)
Tree swamps, such as those with Melaleuca, have the potential to remove nitrogen from agricultural runoff. This project aims to: (i) assess the effectiveness of a Melaleuca planting integrated within a Wet Tropics cane-dominated catchment to remove nitrogen from floodwaters before it flows to the Great Barrier Reef; and (ii) scope locations for future tree swamp integration across the Great Barrier Reef catchment.
IMR Integrated Reef Fish Monitoring Program (Old ID 27812)
While critical knowledge of the abundance, diversity, and assemblage composition of Great Barrier Reef (GBR) fishes has been delivered by comprehensive and systematic monitoring programs across various spatial and temporal scales to date, significant knowledge gaps remain. These are being addressed through an Integrated Inshore Reef Fish Monitoring Program, funded by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF) reef trust partnership and headed by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) This project is a major component of this program and aims to monitor fish communities and habitats on the fringing reefs of 8 inshore island groups in the GBR Marine Park. It will continue an existing monitoring program that has been monitoring 4 island groups since 1998, and will expand on this legacy monitoring program considerably by adding four additional island groups which have not been previously monitored. It is part of a large-scale collaborative program, the Integrated Monitoring and Reporting (IMR) Inshore Fish Monitoring Project, funded by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF) reef trust partnership and headed by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS).
Development of a T cell based vaccine against malaria from proteome-wide T cell screening (Old ID 27815)
This proposal is targeting the development of a malaria vaccine that induced robust and protective T cell responses against the liver stage of the Plasmodium parasite. From the complete P. falciparum pre-erythrocytic (sporozoite/liver) stage proteome, we will identify, characterize, and credential priority antigens discovered by proteome-based T cell screening; and will progress protective antigens through preclinical development to provide a vaccine candidate capable of inducing robust and sustained protective immunity against malaria.
Next generation training libraries to support Australia's coastal ecosystem monitoring systems (Old ID 27883)
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is seeking to develop the training data sets necessary to support the development of continuous ocean and coastal ecosystem extent mapping across the Australian continent. The mapping is expected to underpin the ongoing development of the National Ocean Accounts and other environmental-economic accounting activities. This project involves collecting training datasets to support models I have previously developed (Murray et al., 2022), so that these models can be employed by the Commonwealth for improved coastal mapping and monitoring.
Fresh and Secure Trade Alliance (FASTA) (Old ID 30029)
FASTA is a national research initiative designed to protect and grow Australia's horticultural exports. Within the overall consortium, JCU is developing smart sensor technologies for a variety of pre- and post-harvest applications. We will develop smart traps for real-time monitoring of insect pests in the field and near-infrared spectroscopy methods to identify the species of insects to contribute to management efforts. We will also develop optical scanning methods to remove infested produce from supply chains. Overall, this work contributes towards a large-scale national effort to improve market access, biosecurity and pest management for Australian horticulture.
BeefVantage: AI-Powered Beef Agriculture Solution Hub (Old ID 31108)
The project is to develop a language-based AI-powered tool that will rapidly guide beef producers to relevant solutions to solve their on-farm problems. The BeefVantage interface efficiently connects farmers and their advisors to relevant solutions, swiftly navigating them through on-farm challenges for enhanced productivity and sustainable outcomes. First, by analysing domain-specific data, we aim to create a dataset that is pre-processed. This dataset will be used to fine-tune a Large Language Model, so that farmers and their advisors can enter queries (such as problems or challenges that they are facing), and the system will recommend solutions (such as AgTech products or relevant knowledge) for their consideration. The AI MVP will create value by revealing insights from existing data that have previously been missed, and help facilitate conversations between extension agents and producers, and ultimately provide a platform for beef producers to rapidly find solutions that are relevant to their situation and needs. Additionally, this system will help provide consistency in information provided by different extension officers/bodies, as it can be confusing for farmers when they receive differing advice from different advisors.