News from the Environment Institute

Changes in marine ecosystems going undetected

Existing ways of calculating biodiversity dynamics are not very effective in detecting wholesale species community change due to the effects of ocean acidification. University of Adelaide research shows that in cases where biodiversity metrics show no change or little change, there may still be reorganisation of ecological communities in our oceans. “The belief that climate …

Study finds famous Australian caves are up to 500,000 years older than we thought – and it could help explain a megafauna mystery

South Australia’s Naracoorte Caves is one of the world’s best fossil sites, containing a record spanning more than half a million years. Among the remains preserved in layers of sand are the bones of many iconic Australian megafauna species that became extinct between 48,000 and 37,000 years ago. The reasons for the demise of these …

We helped fill a major climate change knowledge gap, thanks to 130,000-year-old sediment in Sydney lakes

Plants capture around half the carbon we emit by burning fossil fuels, making them a crucial part of mitigating climate change. But carbon is often released back into the atmosphere when plants die, decompose and eventually turn into dirt. Carbon is only permanently removed from the atmosphere if it’s stored in sediments that accumulate at the bottom …

Invasion Science & Wildlife Ecology Group accolades at the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions ‘Balanced Research Program’.

Congratulations to Dr Pablo Garcia Diaz, Adam Toomes and Katherine Hill who were acknowledged at last Friday’s Centre for Invasive Species Solutions ‘Balanced Research Program’ celebrations in the Australian Academy of Science’s Shine Dome in Canberra. Dr Pablo Garcia Diaz was awarded the inaugural Distinguished Alumni Award for 2022. Adam Toomes and Katherine Hill, PhD …

3MT People’s Choice and Student’s Choice Winner!

Congratulations to Isobel Hume, who was both the People’s Choice and also Student’s Choice awards winner in the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) final! The 3MT competition involves explaining years of research, or their 100,000 word thesis, in three minutes, using only one PowerPoint slide. The ability to effectively communicate research impact is a skill that all researchers must …

Future Fellowship annoucement

Congratulations to Environment Institute’s Associate Professor Alec Zuo, who was awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship for his project ‘Quantifying the economic and social impacts of drought in rural Australia’ in the recently announced round. Project Title: Quantifying the economic and social impacts of drought in rural Australia Funding awarded: $1,035,279 Project: Climate-change research …