Fresh Science

This year, thanks to funding from the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education through the Inspiring Australia initiative, and partners in other states, we’ve expanded the program to include state finals in:

• Queensland, supported by the University of Queensland;
• Victoria, supported by Scienceworks;
• New South Wales, supported by ANSTO and;
• South Australia

Here’s the state finalists – we’ll announce the national finalists in the next week or so.

Queensland:

• Smart software solving the case of the missing bacteria: Lauren Bragg, UQ/CSIRO
• Where to spend money to save the Malleefowl: Sam Nicol, UQ/CSIRO
• Is fibre locking up the nutrients in our guts? Anneline Padayachee, UQ/CSIRO
• Meet the next deadly E. coli  superbug: Makrina Totsika, UQ
• A real Nemo adventure helps an endangered anemonefish: Martin van der Meer, JCU
• That’s not right…detecting anomalies in credit cards and remote sensing: Ji Zhang, USQ
• Clean water, chemical free with electrochemistry: Jelena Radjenovic, UQ
• The DNA of our daily bread – unravelling the wheat genome: Paul Berkman, UQ/CSIRO

New South Wales:

• Next gen encryption – using WiFi signals to protect your personal information: Taha Ali, CSIRO/UNSW
• Flourine – brightening your teeth… and providing hints about the evolution of the Milky Way: Alan Alves Brito, MSO/ANU
• The growth of galaxies – a ‘Pompeii’ galaxy metropolis uncovered:  Amanda Bauer, AAO
• Architecture on the nanoscale, creating nanomaterials for building, drug delivery and and medical imaging: John Moraes, USyd
• All the words in a library on a grain of rice – writing on the nanoscale: Cathal O’Connell, ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science/ University of Wollongong
• Nanoscale bookcases stocked with golden books – the next generation of nano-sensors  Amanda Rider, CSIRO
• The afterlife of parasites: Shokoofeh Shamsi, Charles Sturt University
• Developing the next generation of cleaner biofuels: Nicholas Surawski, CSIRO
• Using aboriginals’ knowledge to monitor the impact of climate change: Emma Woodward, CSIRO
• Tiny termite prospectors unearthing gold from ancient riverbeds: Aaron Stewart, CSIRO

Victoria:

• Pigeon vomit – keeping baby pigeons healthy since forever: Meagan Gillespie, CSIRO AAHL/Deakin
• Working with cows to prevent HIV: Marit Kramski, Uni Melb
• Tiny terror unveiled – superbug genome mapped: Margaret Lam, Uni Melb
• Video game and drug addiction – more similar than you might think: Olivia Metcalf, ANU
• Using ants to model human panic: Nirajan Shiwakoti, Monash
• Using lasers  to help babies breathe easy: Melissa Siew, Monash Institute of Medical Research/Monash University
• Building spaceships out of clay: Carolina Tallon, Uni Melb
• Connecting the brain in premature babies: Deanne Thompson, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute
• Getting old, getting fat and getting breast cancer: Sarah To, Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research
• Ageing cancer cells to stop them reproducing: Kamil Wolyniec, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
• Lymphoedema sufferers: lift, don’t loaf: Kate Pumpa, University of Canberra

South Australia:

• Can your gums tell you if you’ll get arthritis: Melissa Cantley, University of Adelaide
• Using the body’s defence systems to reduce brain damage: Frances Corrigan, University of Adelaide
• Stopping mineral ores from turning to jelly: Ataollah Nosrati, Ian Wark Research Institute/Uni SA
• Smart clays clean up pollution: Binoy Sarkar, CRC CARE/Uni SA
• Turning the genes for prostate cancer on and off: Fatima Valdes Mora, Garvan Institute of Medical Research
• The barcode which sheds light on Antarctic marine biodiversity: Helena Phoenix Baird, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
• Growing bigger tuna faster: Nicole Kirchhoff, National Centre for Marine Conservation and Resource Sustainability/ University of Tasmania
• Keeping yourself cool, without costing the Earth: Tim Law, University of Tasmania