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ANNUAL REPORT 2016

ANNUAL REPORT 2016 - University of Technology Sydney · 2 ANNUAL REPORT 2016 C3 CLIMATE CHANGE CLUSTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016 C3 CLIMATE CHANGE ... Alicia Lloyd Simone Low Eduardo Maedo

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ANNUAL REPORT 2016

As we head into 2017, a wrap up of 2016 shows just how successfully the Climate Change Cluster (C3) has built on its eight year foundations to be a thriving, internationally recognised research institute with almost 100 scientists, professional staff and Higher Degree Research students. C3 is proud to be driving UTS Science growth with ambitious plans to continue to broaden its income base and produce research outcomes that will benefit society, industry and also shape policy.

C3’s unique research structure and culture is producing real leadership that generates globally relevant connections, allowing teams to address complex problems. C3 will continue to examine the impacts of climate change on plant and microbe based ecosystems while moving towards dual global agendas of food and fuel security. I look forward to keeping you up to date about our new industry focused teams for Algal Bioproducts, Phyco-Chemicals and Process Engineering and hope you enjoy catching up on C3 highlights from 2016 in our first quarterly newsletter.

I’d like to thank C3 team members, Faculty and UTS community for their dedication, enthusiasm, good humour and support in 2016.

Cheers,

Professor Peter Ralph

Director, UTS Climate Change Cluster

WELCOME TO THE 2016

C3 ANNUAL R

EPORT

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CONTENTSDirector’s Report

Staff

Publications

Seminars

Grants

Visitors

Conference

Awards

Engagement

In the Media

The Climate Change Cluster (C3) undertakes integrated and interdisciplinary research at the intersection of the Physical and Life Sciences. The institute’s goal is to deliver meaningful, impactful research to inform solutions to mitigate climate change impacts on our plant-microbe ecosystems, which are critical for the well-being of the animals, plants and our communities that rely on them. C3’s research therefore, is making contributions to address the biggest environmental and societal issues facing Australia and other countries in a changing climate: food and energy security; sustainability and ecological resilience; and global health.

2 3ANNUAL REPORT 2016 C3 CLIMATE CHANGE CLUSTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016 C3 CLIMATE CHANGE CLUSTER

Director

Peter Ralph

Professor

Alfredo Huete

Associate Professor

Martina Doblin

ARC Future Fellow and Associate Professor

Shauna MurrayJustin SeymourDavid Suggett

ARC DECRA/UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Penelope Ajani Justin AshworthManoj KumarJean-Baptiste RainaBojan Tamburic

Research Fellow/Postdoctoral Research Fellow/Research Associate

Emma CampAudrey CommaultJoseph CrosswellRakhesh DevadasChristian EvenhuisMichele FabrisTim KahlkeUnnikrishnan KuzhiumparambilLeen LabeeuwBonnie LaverockXuanlong MaAllison McInnesMathieu PerniceNahshon SiboniMilan SzaboDeepa Varkey

Senior Scientific Officer

Leonardo Hardtke

Research Engagement Manager

Brenton Hamdorf

Grants Editor

Sabina Belli

Research Officer

John Moore

Institute Officer

Melissa Oey

Institute Manager

Carolyn CarterCatriona Reid

Professional Officer Technical

Paul BrooksKun Xiao

Honours Students

Jack Adriaans Harvey Bates Trent Haydon Whitney Heiniger Annalisa Humphreys Oliver Kelly Alexander Lincoln-Dodgson James O’BrienRitu Soni An Tran

Adjunct Professor

Michael BorowtizkaAnthony Larkum

Visiting Professor

Michael KhulJohn Raven

Visiting Fellow

Pimchnok Buapet Zhijian JiangMalwenn Lassudrie-DuchesneDaniel NielsenMaria Schmitz FontesShalin SeebahElisabeth DeschaseauxRoss JeffreeMatthew NitschkeDennis NurnbergAnna-Heape PoulosRoberta RicciTomas ZavrelWengi ZhangXunhe Zhang

Visiting Scholar

Varunan BalarajuAlicia LloydSimone LowEduardo MaedoMaria Seguro Requejo

Distinguished Visitors

Roman StockerShady AminIrene Wagner-DoblerDavid GreenSuhelen EganChristopher Bolch

Assistant Technical Officer

Lochlan de BeyerTaisiia LapshinaGraeme Polweski

Technical Assistant

Abani SurendranPavlina Naydenova

Associate of C3

Hazel FarrellGurjeet Kohli

HDR Students

Kirralee BakerVanunan BalarajuRichard CarneyMahrita HarahapMatthew HingeeJohanna HowesDavid HughesJeffrey KellewayAnna KretzschmarLeonardo LaioloMichaela LarssonBoajana ManojlovicHina NaazDale RadfordFabo de Oliveira RamosCharlotte RobinsonRendy RobinsonCristin SheehanJessica ToutStacey Trevathan-TackettArjun VermaDaniel WangpraseurtChristopher WatsonZunyi Xie

STAFFCurrently, C3 consists of 90 members: seven teams (two level E leaders; four level D leaders), 22 research fellows/associates (Level A/B/C), eight professional staff; 50 PhD students; two distinguished visitor appointments.

4 5ANNUAL REPORT 2016 C3 CLIMATE CHANGE CLUSTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016 C3 CLIMATE CHANGE CLUSTER

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PUBLICATIONSMembers of C3 regularly publish in high impact, discipline- and multi-discipline specific journals, including Science, Nature, and PNAS. C3’s research has appeared on journal covers and has been the subject of invited reviews in top journals.

Ajani PA, Armbrecht L, Oli-ver K, Kohli G, Murray S Diatom Research Diversity, temporal distribution and physiology of the centric diatom Leptocylindrus (Bacillariophyta) from a southern hemisphere up-welling system

Ajani PA, Hallegraeff GM, Allen D, Coughlan A, Richardson AJ, Armand LK, Ingleton T, Murray SA Oceanography and Marine Biology: an annual review Establishing baselines: a review of eighty years of phytoplankton diversity and biomass in southeastern Australia

Ajani PA, Kim JH, Han MS, Murray SA Phycological Research The first report of the poten-tially harmful diatom Pseu-do-nitzschia caciantha from Australian coastal waters.

Ajani PA, Larsson M, Rubio A, Bush S, Brett S, Farrell H Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science Modelling bloom formation of the toxic dinoflagellates Dinophysis acuminata and Dinophysis caudata in a highly modified estuary, south eastern Australia

Baird ME, Adams MP, Babcock RC, Oubelkheir K, Mongin M, Wild-Allen KA, Skerratt J, Robson BJ, Petrou K, Ralph PJ, O’Brien KR, Carter AB, Jarvis JC, Rasheed MA A biophysical representa-tion of seagrass growth for application in a complex shallow-water biogeochem-ical model

Baird ME, Cherukuru N, Jones E, Margvelashvili N, Mongin M, Oubelkheir K, Ralph PJ, Rizwi F, Robson BJ, Schroeder T, Skerratt J, Steven ADL, Wild-Allen KA Remote-sensing reflectance and true colour produced by a coupled hydrodynamic, optical, sediment, biogeo-chemical model of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia: Comparison with satellite data

Baker KG, Robinson CM, Radford DT, McInnes AS, Evenhuis C, Doblin MA Thermal Performance Curves of Functional Traits Aid Understanding of Ther-mally Induced Changes in Diatom-Mediated Biogeo-chemical Fluxes

Bellgrove A, van Rooyen A, Weeks AR, Clark JS, Doblin MA, Miller AD New resource for population genetics studies on the Aus-tralasian intertidal brown alga, Hormosira banksii: isolation and characteriza-tion of 15 polymorphic mi-crosatellite loci through next generation DNA sequencing

Bibiloni-Isaksson J, Seymour J, Ingleton T, van de Kamp J, Bodrossy L, Brown M Spatial and temporal varia-bility of aerobic anoxygenic hotoheterotrophic bacteria along the east coast of Australia.

Carney RL, Seymour JR, Westhorpe D, Mitrovic SM Lotic bacterioplankton and phytoplankton community changes under dissolved or-ganic-carbon amendment: Evidence for competition for nutrients

Cherukuru N, Davies PL, Brando VE, Anstee JM, Baird ME, Clementson LA, Doblin MA Physical oceanograph-ic processes influence bio-optical properties in the Tasman Sea

Cleverly J, Eamus D, Luo Q, Coupe NR, Kljun N, Ma X, Ewenz C, Li L, Yu Q, Huete A The importance of inter-acting climate modes on Australia’s contribution to global carbon cycle extremes

Davey PA, Pernice M, Sablok G, Larkum A, Lee HT, Golicz A, Edwards D, Dolferus R, Ralph P Functional & Integrative Genomics The emergence of molecu-lar profiling and omics tech-niques in seagrass biology; furthering our understand-ing of seagrasses.

Davies CH, Coughlan A, Hallegraeff G, Ajani P, Arm-brecht L, Atkins N, Bonham P, Brett S, Brinkman R, Burford M, Clementson L, Coad P, Coman F, Davies D, Dela-Cruz J, Devlin M, Edgar S, Eriksen R, Furnas M, Hassler C, Hill D, Holm-es M, Ingleton T, Jameson I, Leterme SC, Lønborg C, McLaughlin J, McEnnulty F, McKinnon AD, Miller M, Murray S, Nayar S, Patten R, Pritchard T, Proctor R, Purcell-Meyerink D, Raes E, Rissik D, Ruszczyk J, Slotwinski A, Swadling KM, Tattersall K, Thompson P, Thomson P, Tonks M, Trull TW, Uribe-Palomino J, Waite AM, Yauwenas R, Zammit A, Richardson AJ Sci Data Corrigendum: A database of marine phyto-plankton abundance, bio-mass and species composi-tion in Australian waters.

Doblin MA, van Sebille E Drift in ocean currents impacts intergenerational microbial exposure to tem-perature

Eamus D, Huete A, Cleverly J, Nolan RH, Ma X, Tarin T, Santini NS Mulga, a major tropical dry open forest of Australia: recent insights to carbon and water fluxes

Gardner SG, Nielsen DA, Laczka O, Shimmon R, Bel-tran VH, Ralph PJ, Petrou K Dimethylsulfoniopropion-ate, superoxide dismutase and glutathione as stress response indicators in three corals under short-term hyposalinity stress

Garren M, Son K, Tout J, Seymour JR, Stocker R Temperature-induced behavioral switches in a bacterial coral pathogen.

Huete A Ecology: Vegetation’s re-sponses to climate variability.

Huete A, Ponce-Campos G, Zhang Y, Restrepo-Coupe N, Ma X, Moran MS Monitoring Photosynthesis from Space

Jeffries TC, Curlevski NJ, Brown MV, Harrison DP, Doblin MA, Petrou K, Ralph PJ, Seymour JR Partitioning of fungal as-semblages across different marine habitats

Kelleway JJ, Saintilan N, Macreadie PI, Ralph PJ Sedimentary Factors are Key Predictors of Carbon Storage in SE Australian Saltmarshes

Kelleway JJ, Saintilan N, Macreadie PI, Skilbeck CG, Zawadzki A, Ralph PJ Seventy years of continuous encroachment substantially increases “blue carbon’ ca-pacity as mangroves replace intertidal salt marshes

Koedsin W, Intararuang W, Ritchie RJ, Huete A An integrated field and remote sensing method for mapping seagrass spe-cies, cover, and biomass in Southern Thailand

Kretzschmar AL, Verma A, Harwood DT, Hoppenrath M, Murray SJ J Phycol Characterization of Gambierdiscus lapillus sp. nov. (Gonyaulacales, Dinophyceae): a new toxic dinoflagellate from the Great Barrier Reef (Australia).

Kumar M, Kuzhiumparam-bil U, Pernice M, Jiang Z, Ralph PJ Algal Research-Biomass Biofuels and Bioproducts Metabolomics: an emerging frontier of systems biology in marine macrophytes

Lee H, Golicz AA, Bayer PE, Jiao Y, Tang H, Paterson AH, Sablok G, Krishnaraj RR, Chan CK, Batley J, Kendrick GA, Larkum AW, Ralph PJ, Edwards D Plant physiology The Genome of a Southern Hemisphere Seagrass Spe-cies (Zostera muelleri).

Ma X, Huete A, Cleverly J, Eamus D, Chevallier F, Joiner J, Poulter B, Zhang Y, Guanter L, Meyer W, Xie Z, Ponce-Campos G Drought rapidly diminishes the large net CO2 uptake in 2011 over semi-arid Australia

Ma X, Huete A, Poulter B, Eamus D, Cleverly JR Australia’s ‘great green boom’ of 2010–11 has been undone by drought

McElroy D, Doblin MA, Murphy R, Hochuli D, Coleman R A limited legacy effect of copper in marine biofilms

Messer LF, Mahaffey C, M Robinson C, Jeffries TC, Baker KG, Bibiloni Isaksson J, Ostrowski M, Doblin MA, Brown MV, Seymour JR High levels of heterogeneity in diazotroph diversity and activity within a putative hotspot for marine nitrogen fixation.

Murray SA, Farrell H, Harwood T, Zammit A Harmful Algae News Is ciguatera moving south in Australia?

Murray SA, Smith K, Rhodes L, Verma A, Curley B, Harwood DT, Kohli G, Solomona D, Rongo T, Munday R Harmful Algae A new Gambierdiscus species (Dinophyceae) from Rarotonga, Cook Islands: Gambierdiscus cheloniae sp. nov

Murray SA, Suggett DJ, Seymour JR, Doblin M, Kohli GS, Fabris M, Ralph PJ Unravelling the functional genetics of dinoflagellates: a review of approaches and opportunities

Obata K, Miura T, Yoshioka H, Huete AR, Vargas M Spectral Cross-Calibration of VIIRS Enhanced Vege-tation Index with MODIS: A Case Study Using Year-Long Global Data

Peng D, Wu C, Zhang B, Huete A, Zhang X, Sun R, Lei L, Huang W, Liu L, Liu X, Li J, Luo S, Fang B The Influences of Drought and Land-Cover Conversion on Inter-Annual Variation of NPP in the Three-North Shelterbelt Program Zone of China Based on MODIS Data.

Pernice M, Sinutok S, Sablok G, Commault A, Schliep M, Macreadie P, Rasheed M, Ralph P Marine Environmental Research Molecular phys-iology reveals ammonium uptake and related gene expression in the seagrass Zostera muelleri

Ralph PJ, Hill R, Doblin MA, Davy SK Theory and Application of Pulse Amplitude Modulated Chlorophyll Fluorometry in Coral Health Assessment

Rehman AU, Szabó M, Deák Z, Sass L, Larkum A, Ralph P, Vass I The New phytologist Symbiodinium sp. cells produce light-induced intra- and extracellular singlet oxygen, which mediates photodamage of the photo-synthetic apparatus and has the potential to interact with the animal host in coral symbiosis.

Rinke C, Low S, Woodcroft BJ, Raina J, Skarshewski A, Le XH, Butler MK, Stocker R, Seymour JR, Tyson GW, Hugenholtz P Validation of picogram- and femtogram-input DNA libraries for microscale metagenomics

Ros M, Pernice M, Le Guillou S, Doblin MA, Schrameyer V, Laczka O Colorimetric detection of caspase 3 activity and reactive oxygen derivatives: Potential early indicators of thermal stress in corals

Sablok G, Pérez-Puli-do AJ, Do T, Seong TY, Casimiro-Soriguer CS, La Porta N, Ralph PJ, Squartini A, Muñoz-Merida A, Harikr-ishna JA Frontiers in Plant Science PlantFuncSSR: Integrating first and next generation transcriptomics for mining of SSR-functional domains markers

Schmidt M, Pringle M, Devadas R, Denham R, Tindall D A framework for large-area mapping of past and pres-ent cropping activity using seasonal landsat images and time series metrics

Schrameyer V, Krämer W, Hill R, Jeans J, Larkum AWD, Bischof K, Campbell DA, Ralph PJ Marine Biology Under high light stress two Indo-Pacific coral species display differential pho-todamage and photorepair dynamics

Siboni N, Balaraju V, Car-ney R, Labbate M, Seymour JR Vibrio, seasonal variation, abundance and diversity, Vibrio cholerae, Vibrio vulnifi-cus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Vibrio spp. within the Sydny harbour Estuary

Slavov C, Schrameyer V, Reus M, Ralph PJ, Hill R, Büchel C, Larkum AW, Holzwarth AR “Super-quenching” state protects Symbiodinium from thermal stress - Implica-tions for coral bleaching.

Tran NAT, Padula MP, Even-huis CR, Commault AS, Ralph PJ, Tamburic B Algal Research Proteomic and biophysical analyses reveal a metabolic shift in nitrogen deprived Nannochloropsis oculata

Verma A, Hoppenrath M, Dorantes-Aranda JJ, Har-wood DT, Murray SA Harmful Algae Molecular and phylogenetic characterization of Ostre-opsis (Dinophyceae) and the description of a new spe-cies, Ostreopsis rhodesae sp. nov., from a subtropical Australian lagoon

Verma A, Hoppenrath M, Harwood T, Brett S, Rhodes L, Murray S Phycological Research Molecular phylogeny, morphology and toxigenicity of Ostreopsis cf. siamensis (Dinophyceae) from temper-ate south-east Australia

Wu J, Albert LP, Lopes AP, Restrepo-Coupe N, Hayek M, Wiedemann KT, Guan K, Stark SC, Christoffersen B, Prohaska N, Tavares JV, Marostica S, Kobayashi H, Ferreira ML, Campos KS, da Silva R, Brando PM, Dye DG, Huxman TE, Huete AR, Nelson BW, Saleska SR Leaf development and demography explain pho-tosynthetic seasonality in Amazon evergreen forests.

Xie Z, Huete A, Ma X, Re-strepo-Coupe N, Devadas R, Clarke K, Lewis M Landsat and GRACE ob-servations of arid wetland dynamics in a dryland river system under multi-decadal hydroclimatic extremes

6 7ANNUAL REPORT 2016 C3 CLIMATE CHANGE CLUSTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016 C3 CLIMATE CHANGE CLUSTER

NEW GRANTSIN 2016

National Taxonomy

Research Grant

Programme - Student

Travel Grant Arjun Verma

Shauna Murray

$1,500

Parks Australia Divison - Department of the Environment

Harnessing chain-

forming diatoms for

improved lipid biofuel

production (DECRA -

Dr Justin Ashworth)

Justin Ashworth

$120,395.49

ARC

Scientific review of Toxic

Algal Species towards

Improving Management of

Toxic Blooms in NSW

Penny Ajani

$30,639

Hornsby Shire Council

The role of marine

microbes in the global

carbon cycle

JB Raina

$6,000

Australian Academy of Science

Photosynthetic traits

as key performance

indicators of coral

health

David Suggett

$138,723.25

ARC

Phenology product

maintenance, updates,

and future transitions

for AusCover

Alfredo Huete

$55,000

CSIRO

Terrestrial Ecosystem

Research Network New

South Wales (TERN NSW)

Alfredo Huete

$80,000

The University of Sydney

A New Photo-Bioreactor

For The Large-Scale

Axenic Culture Of

Coral Symbiotic

Peter Ralph

$101,095.63

ARC

Ecology and natural

dispersal mechanisms

of Gambierdiscus, the

causative organism

of the human illness

Ciguatera Fish Poisoning

Martina Doblin

$6,780.92

PADI Foundation

The role of marine

microbes in the global

carbon cycle (DECRA -

Jean-Baptiste Raina)

JB Raina

$129,712.38

ARC

Implementation of a

national pollen alert

system for better

management of allergic

respiratory health

Alfredo Huete

$56,000.00

NHRMC

NSW Deep Green Biotech

Hub - C3

Peter Ralph

$1,000,000

NSW Department of Industry

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SEMINARS

March

09-Mar-16 Fran van Dolah Florida Red Tides: on the origins, impacts, and molecular processes regulating algal bloom dynamics

17-Mar-16 Michele Fabris The reconstruction of Phaeodactylum tricornutum’s metabolism: unveiling biochemical peculiarities towards the biotechnological exploitation of microalgae

24-Mar-16 Paul Jaschke Learning how to engineer genomes by building viruses

30-Mar-16 Li Wang Hybrid mimics in Arabidopsis

April

06-Apr-16 Richard Lewis Ciguatera and ciguatoxins: from epidemiology to pharmacology and detection

13-Apr-16 Bronwyn Wake How to get published – Nature Climate Change and other Nature titles

29-Apr-16 Kunshan Gao Marine primary producers under global change stressors

May

04-May-16 Dries Vandamme The integration of flocculation based harvesting in microalgae biomass biorefineries

09-May-16 Sergey Kurdyukov

Application of CRISPR genome editing tools for coral reef research

12-May-16 Sinead Collins Using experimental evolution to understand phytoplankton responses to contemporary ocean change

18-May-16 Thomas Jeffries Microbial Mad Max: ecology of microorganisms in warming global drylands

June

08-Jun-16 Alonso Zavaleta Photodamage and photoprotection in PSII

17-Jun-16 Mike Baird eReefs marine modelling suite

August

03-Aug-16 Matt Padula Proteomics of the environment

17-Aug-16 Juan Diego Gaitan-Espitia

Assessing the role of physiological plasticity and local adaptation to ocean warming and acidification

31-Aug-16 Brendan Burns Rocking the cradle of life: Functional complexity of microbial mat ecosystems

October

17-Oct-16 Liz Deschaseaux Dimethylated sulphur compounds in a changing ocean

November

09-Nov-16 John Raven Carbon dioxide concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) with a Climate Change Cluster twist

14-Nov-16 Tomas Zavrel Utilization of laboratory scale flat-panel photobioreactors in microalgal biotechnology

30-Nov-16 Malwenn Lassudrie-Duchesne

Interaction between bivalves of commercial interest and toxic blooms of Alexandrium spp.

The institute has been delivering research excellence in Category 1 grants since 2008, and has now reached the size and scale to be a nationally recognised research institute with sufficient breadth of skill to enable it to expand into new areas with an industry focus, while continuing to grow its existing research programs. In 2016, C3 received on-going grant funding of $2.9 million.

8 9ANNUAL REPORT 2016 C3 CLIMATE CHANGE CLUSTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016 C3 CLIMATE CHANGE CLUSTER

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Emma CampUK

Pimchanock BuapetThailand

Hazel Farrell Sydney

Gurjeet Kohli Singapore

Rachel Levin Sydney

Michael Kuhl Denmark

John Raven Scotland

Michael Borowitzka Tasmania

Neil Saintilan Adelaide

Malwenn Lassudrie-Duchesne France

Daniel Nielsen Denmark

Natalia Restrepo-Coupe Canada

Maria Schmitz Fontes Brazil

Roberta Ricci Italy

Wenjie Zhang China

Xunhe Zhang China

Elisabeth Deschaseaux Sydney

Matthew Nitschke New Zealand

Tomas Zavrel Czech Republic

Alicia Lloyd Sydney

Simone Low Singapore

Maria Isabel Seguro Requejo Norwich, UK

Roman Roman Stocker Switzerland

Shady Amin United Arab Emirites

Irene Wagner-Döbler Germany

David Green Scotland

Chris Bolch Tasmania

Suhelen Egan Sydney

VISITORSC3 visitors are from many

different locations, our visitors contribute to C3’s research

culture and development through engaging in cross-centre and

cross-faculty dialogue.

10 11ANNUAL REPORT 2016 C3 CLIMATE CHANGE CLUSTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016 C3 CLIMATE CHANGE CLUSTER

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Dr Jean Baptiste-Raina

UTS Chancellors Awards Early Career Excellence

Dr Jean Baptiste-Raina

Australian Academy of Science J.G. Russell Award

Shauna Murray

UTS Chancellors Awards Research Excellence through Collaboration

Penelope Ajani

2016 NSW Annual Coastal Management Innovation Award

Shauna Murray

2016 NSW Annual Coastal Management Innovation Award

AWARDSStudent and staff mentorship for all career stages, and the development of individual research careers, is one of the guiding principles in C3. We encourage our staff and students to participate in a number of the researcher development activities at UTS and within C3

Associate Professor Justin Seymour

is the NSW node leader of the national Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS).

Professor Alfredo Huete

is the Sydney node leader of AusCover (NCRIS funded remote sensing data facility of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN))

Associate Professor Shauna Murray

NSW Government State Algal Scientific Advisory Committee, Technical Advisory Committee members

Dr Penny Ajani

NSW Government State Algal Scientific Advisory Committee, Technical Advisory Committee members

Professor Peter Ralph

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Working Group member

Associate Professor Martina Doblin

ARC College of Experts Biological Sciences and Biotechnology member

ENGAGEMENT

CONFERENCESThe Annual C3 Colloquium:

In 2016 the colloquium title was Algae-bacteria interactions, held from 7 – 9 December 2016. The goal of this colloquium was to discuss new developments and fruitful paths of investigation to tease apart the ecological ties between two of the most fundamentally important groups of aquatic organisms.

Australian Shellfish Quality Assurance Advisory Committee Science Day:

The UTS Climate Change Cluster (C3) was honoured to host The Australian Shellfish Quality Assurance Advisory Committee (ASQAAC) Science Day on November 3rd 2016. These gatherings have been a biennial event for the past six years, acting as a forum to bring together those with an interest in seafood safety in Australia, to share knowledge and build professional networks.

The two major hazards for seafood safety are marine biotoxin uptake into shellfish or finfish, caused by harmful algal blooms, and bacterial or viral contamination. The ASQAAC event is about the seafood industry, government health and food safety regulators and managers, and researchers, coming together to find and discuss new insights into the occurrence and management of harmful algal blooms and pathogens in Australian seafood.

12 13ANNUAL REPORT 2016 C3 CLIMATE CHANGE CLUSTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016 C3 CLIMATE CHANGE CLUSTER

IN THE MEDIA

Keeping one step ahead of pollen triggers for thunderstorm asthma

Alfedo Heute

7 December 2016

Forecasting the levels and types of pollen across Australia will help predict and mitigate thunderstorm asthma epidemics.

A three way endeavour

Pimchanok Buapet, Malwenn Lassudrie-Duchesne, Emma Camp

11 October 2016

The Climate Change Cluster continues to attract talented young scientists to its research programs: 2016 is shaping up as a bumper year with three Endeavour Fellows choosing to work with seagrass, coral and oyster experts at UTS Science.

Drifting biodiversity

Martina Doblin

21 September 2016

The East Australian Current (EAC) has a significant impact on the ecology of eastern Australia. With indications that the EAC will warm by 2 - 3°C by 2070, novel techniques and technology used by scientists aboard RV Investigator will provide information about the potential impacts on the marine foodweb, including the implications for commercial fisheries.

State goes Deep Green with algae-based biotech funding

Peter Ralph

19 August 2016

A $1m NSW Government grant will support an innovative bio-manufacturing facility at UTS. Based on algae and known as the Deep Green Biotech Hub, it will connect industry, entrepreneurs and students to boost the state’s bio-economy.

Algae building blooms

Peter Ralph

12 July 2016

Amazing as it sounds bright, bubbling wall panels filled with microalgae could be the future of sustainable building design.

From little things to the world stage

Jean-Baptiste Raina

7 July 2016

Innovative and creative research is at the centre of Dr Jean-Baptiste Raina’s success and is leading to professional development opportunities that are enhancing his reputation in the field of marine microbial ecology.

Satellite study reveals dynamics of Australia’s total water storage

Zunyi Xie, Alfredo Heute

3 June 2016

New research using remote sensing technology aims to assist Australian water resource management, detect hidden droughts and monitor flood risk.

Coral bleaching discovered in Sydney Harbour

Samantha Goyen

19 April 2016

Scientists monitoring the temperate corals of Sydney Harbour have observed bleaching effects for the first time: above-average sea-surface temperatures are a major factor

Marine toxin research reveals key biosynthetic pathways,opening the way for product discovery

Gurjeet Koli, Shauna Murray

21 January 2016

A UTS:C3 led collaboration provides answers to basic questions about key biosynthetic pathways in marine toxin producing microbes opening up the possibility of new product discovery.

Fixed on Nitrogen in Australia’s tropical waters

Martina Doblin, Justin Seymour

11 January 2016

Nitrogen fixation is a fundamental process within the ocean, C3 led research gives first detailed description of nitrogen fixing bacterial communities in the region.

Microalgae challenge for UTS Design students

Peter Ralph

5 January 2016

Changing the public’s perception of algae: two UTS Design students rise to the challenge with some surprising results.

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