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Science In Public

Science writers, communicators, media, training, and public relations

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You saw sawfish!

Hundreds of citizen science sightings reveal opportunities to protect Australia’s four iconic sawfish species

Green Sawfish (P. zijsron) – Weipa, QLD 2019
  • New hotspots for green sawfish in Weipa and Karratha.
  • A sawfish nursery in the Brisbane River until about 1950.
  • Evidence that sawfish have not completely disappeared from NSW waters, with a Newcastle sighting.
  • Juvenile sawfish reported down the WA coast.
  • More action needed in Queensland as only one species reported south of Cooktown.
  • A new call to action to step up conservation and assess the impact of net-free zones in Weipa and Queensland’s east coast.
  • And keep reporting your sightings. Together we can save sawfish.
[Read more…] about You saw sawfish!

Making light work more cheaply

Dr Girish Lakhwani, chief investigator for the Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science.

Australian researchers unlock the key to cheaper high-tech telecom and medical diagnostic devices.

Scientists and engineers will soon have a much cheaper way of stabilising, blocking and steering light – potentially lowering the costs of high-tech equipment used in telecommunications, medical diagnostics and consumer electronics.

Researchers led by Dr Girish Lakhwani, a chief investigator for the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science (ACEx), have found a way to manipulate light produced by lasers at a fraction of the cost of existing methods.

[Read more…] about Making light work more cheaply

Innovative projects to help Australians celebrate science

Media release from The Hon Karen Andrews MP, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology

Forensic science, ocean sustainability and pop-up health lab projects are among those being funded by the Morrison Government’s 2020 National Science Week Grants.

Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said 33 projects across Australia will share in $500,000 of funding to support creative and engaging events during National Science Week in August.

[Read more…] about Innovative projects to help Australians celebrate science

Brain temperature can now be measured using light

Nanotech technique could revolutionise neurological treatments.

Light could replace invasive techniques to measure brain temperature– eliminating the need to place a thermometer in the brain when treating a range of neurological disorders.

Researchers from Victoria’ Swinburne University have teamed up with Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Spain and Stanford University in the US to develop a technique for measuring sub-degree brain temperature changes using near-infrared light. 

[Read more…] about Brain temperature can now be measured using light

Tea trees crave water during hot and dry summer days

The iconic Australian tea tree (Melaleuca decora) is more vulnerable than native eucalypt species to extreme temperature and moisture stress, Western Sydney University researcher Anne Griebel has discovered. 

To make the finding, Anne and colleagues fitted instruments that measure the exchange of carbon, water and heat at 10 times a second to an extendable mast on a trailer deployed in a critically endangered woodland in Western Sydney.

[Read more…] about Tea trees crave water during hot and dry summer days

New clues for allergy prevention by breast milk

Written by Akila Rekima and the University of Western Australia. For the full UWA press release, click here.

A research team at UWA is investigating the complex interactions of breast milk with allergens and baby’s gut immune system.

They’ve found that food-derived but also airborne allergens are present in breast milk. Some do give protection and reduce allergies later in life.

[Read more…] about New clues for allergy prevention by breast milk

Goannas return to mine site

Animals play critical roles in ecosystems, but they are broadly overlooked in assessments of mine site restoration success says Sophie Cross, an ecologist at Curtin University.

She tracked Australia’s largest lizard species, the perentie, using VHF radio and GPS tracking, and walked hundreds of kilometres through unmined and restoration bushland on a mine site in the mid-west region of Western Australia for her study published in the Australian Journal of Zoology.

[Read more…] about Goannas return to mine site

Australia Day Honours

AC

Margaret Elaine GARDNER

VIC

For eminent service to tertiary education through leadership and innovation in teaching and learning, research and financial sustainability.

Bruce Gregory ROBINSON

NSW

For eminent service to medical research, and to national healthcare, through policy development and reform, and to tertiary education.

Anthony William THOMAS

SA

For eminent service to scientific education and research, particularly in the field of nuclear and particle physics, through academic leadership roles

AO

Larissa BEHRENDT

NSW

For distinguished service to Indigenous education and research, to the law, and to the visual and performing arts.

Shaun Patrick BRENNECKE

VIC

For distinguished service to medical education and research in the fields of obstetrics and gynaecology, and to professional societies.

Rachelle BUCHBINDER

VIC

For distinguished service to medical education and research, particularly to ageing and age-related diseases.

Charles Roderick CURWEN

VIC

For distinguished service to the Crown, and to public administration in Victoria, to medical research, and to Australia-China business relations.

Ian Ross DONGES

NSW

For distinguished service to medical education in the fields of epidemiology and rheumatology, and to professional associations.

John Kinley DEWAR

VIC

For distinguished service to education through leadership roles in the universities sector, and to professional organisations.

Gillian Margaret GROOM

TAS

For distinguished service to the community through healthcare, medical research, and social welfare organisations, and to the law.

Jules Mitchell GUSS

NSW

For distinguished service to education and scientific research in the field of molecular bioscience, and to professional organisations.

John Reginald PIGGOTT

NSW

For distinguished service to education, to population ageing research, and to public finance policy development.

Alison Joan RITTER

NSW

For distinguished service to education, to drug and alcohol research and social policy, and to professional medical societies.

Roy Michael ROBINS-BROWNE

VIC

For distinguished service to medical education and research in the field of microbiology and immunology, and to professional groups.

Matthew Roy SANDERS

QLD

For distinguished service to education and research in clinical psychology, and to child, parent and family wellbeing.

Robert (John) SIMES

NSW

For distinguished service to education, and to medicine, in the field of cancer research and clinical trials.

Raymond Louis SPECHT

QLD

For distinguished service to science, and to education, in the fields of botany, plant ecology and conservation.

Geoffrey Wayne STEVENS

VIC

For distinguished service to education, to chemical engineering and environmental remediation, and as a mentor.

Brian Harrison WALKER

ACT

For distinguished service to science, particularly to ecosystem ecology and research, and to professional scientific bodies.

Rachel Lindsey WEBSTER

VIC

For distinguished service to education in the field of astrophysics, to astronomical research, and to young women scientists.

Jeffrey David ZAJAC

VIC

For distinguished service to medical research and education, particularly in the field of endocrinology, and to professional societies.

Robyn WILLIAMS

NSW

For distinguished service to science as a journalist, radio presenter and author, and to education

AM

Bruce Richard BROWN

WA

For significant service to the pearling industry, and to marine research.

Lyndon Mayfield BROWN

WA

For significant service to the pearling industry, and to marine research.

Geoffrey Michael CURRIE

NSW

For significant service to nuclear medicine and medical radiation science.

Stephen Vincent COLES

VIC

For significant service to veterinary science, and to professional bodies.

Christopher John CLEMENTS

VIC

For significant service to international public health through immunisation programs.

Karen Patricia DAY

VIC

For significant service to science education, and to global public health.

Robert John EDGAR

VIC

For significant service to the banking and finance sectors, and to medical research organisations.

Graham John FAICHNEY

NSW

For significant service to science in the fields of animal nutrition and physiology.

Peter Charles FLINN

VIC

For significant service to agricultural research through the promotion of near-infrared spectroscopy.

Anthony John GUTTMANN

VIC

For significant service to the mathematical sciences, and to education

Janice Leona HILLS

NT

For significant service to veterinary science, and to the community.

Geoffrey Ian HUSTON

ACT

For significant service to science, and through pioneering roles with the internet.

Gael JENNINGS

VIC

For significant service to science, and to the broadcast media.

Peter James PLUMMER

QLD

For significant service to higher education, to health research, and to public administration.

Steven Russell RAINE

QLD

For significant service to soil science and agriculture, and to education.

Peter William RIDDLES

QLD

For significant service to science, to biotechnology, and to innovation.

Robert Keith SHEPHERD

VIC

For significant service to biomedical research, and to education.

Richard Ashton WARNER

TAS

For significant service to agricultural research and development.

Roderick Tucker WELLS

SA

For significant service to education, and to the biological sciences.

Ann Felicity WESTMORE

VIC

For significant service to medical history, and to science communication.

Justin John YERBURY

NSW

For significant service to education and research in the field of biological sciences.

Alyson Marie AULIFF

QLD

For exceptional service to the Australian Defence Force in malaria research

OAM

Shane Thomas HUNTINGTON

VIC

For service to science as a communicator

Maria PARAPPILLY

SA

For service to science education, and to women.

Cecily Jane FREEMANTLE

VIC

For service to medical research, particularly to population health.

Christopher John QUINN

QLD

For service to research science in the field of plant systemics.

Michael John WILSON

NSW

For service to community health, particularly to diabetes research.

Public Service Medal (PSM)

Nguyen Thi Thanh AN

For outstanding public service in fostering the Australia-Vietnam bilateral relationship in agricultural research.

Stephen Moile CORDNER

VIC

For outstanding public service to forensic medical and scientific services, training and research in Victoria.

Robert John EDGAR

VIC

For significant service to the banking and finance sectors, and to medical research organisations.

Victor Hutton ODDY

NSW

For outstanding public service to the primary industry sector, and to science, in New South Wales.

James Richard PEARSON

VIC

For outstanding public service to forensic science, particularly to chemistry, in Victoria

Sharp increase in Ningaloo whale shark injuries might be due to boat encounters

Scarring and major lacerations due to vessel collisions becoming more common, study finds.

The tail of a whale shark (Rhincodon typus), showing massive scarring. Image: Jess Hadden.

Almost one-fifth of the whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) in Western Australia’s Ningaloo Reef Marine Park show major scarring or fin amputations, with the number of injured animals increasing in recent years, new research reveals.

Distinctive scar patterns strongly suggest many of the injuries are caused by boat collisions, says whale shark scientist Emily Lester from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS).

[Read more…] about Sharp increase in Ningaloo whale shark injuries might be due to boat encounters

Canberra astronomer becomes first Australian to win major US science award in 133 years

Lisa Kewley has transformed our understanding of the early years of the Universe, the development of galaxies, and what happens when they collide.  

2020 James Craig Watson medal winner Professor Lisa Kewley in her office. Credit: ASTRO 3D

For her pioneering investigations across theory, modelling and observation, she will receive the US National Academy of Science’s biennial James Craig Watson Medal in Washington DC.

“At school I thought physics would be too hard.  But I had a wonderful physics teacher whose love for astronomy was contagious!” says Lisa.

[Read more…] about Canberra astronomer becomes first Australian to win major US science award in 133 years