Three geoscientists working in tectonics, water flow of aquifers and the evolution of the lithosphere and mantle are the recipients of the 2019 round of the 34th International Geological Congress Travel Grant Scheme announced recently.

The researchers will use the travel grant to attend international conferences and conduct field and laboratory work in collaboration with researchers in the UK, US and Canada. They will share a funding pool of around $15,000.

The recipients announced by the Australian Geoscience Council (AGC) and the Academy are:

• Dr Derya Gürer—Lecturer, University of Queensland, whose research relates to tectonics and the evolution of Earth's lithosphere at various spatio-temporal scales.
• Dr Dylan Irvine—Senior Lecturer, Flinders University, whose research involves measurements of water temperature to determine water flow, including flow in aquifers and the interaction between groundwater and surface water.
• Dr Timothy Chapman—Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of New England, who investigates the formation and evolution of the lithosphere and mantle using a mix of igneous and metamorphic petrology.

2020 round now open

The next round for this travel grant funding is now open for Australian and New Zealand geoscientists in the early stages of their careers.

Opportunities the grant may allow include undertaking field work in appropriate areas, visiting and working with appropriate international experts, inspecting appropriate mines or other geoscientific features such as type localities, and contributing to professionally organised geoscientific conferences or conventions. To find out more, read about previously awarded Travel Grants.

In acknowledgement that travel restrictions brought about by the COVID19 pandemic have affected plans, the closing date for which the proposed travel must be taken has been extended. In addition to travel delay, 2020 applicants for the grants are encouraged to detail innovative ways they can conduct their international research, laboratory and field work as part of their applications.

The travel grants are made possible through a trust fund administered by the AGC and the Academy, which was initiated after the 34th International Geological Congress in Brisbane in August 2012.

Apply or find out more about this opportunity.

Watch the full livestream of Falling Walls Lab Australia 2020 above.

Environmental geochemist Dr Jessica Hamilton from ANSTO is the winner of the fifth Falling Walls Lab Australia event, hosted online yesterday by the Australian Academy of Science in partnership with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Canberra and EURAXESS Australia and New Zealand.

Second place was awarded to Alan Robertson from ClearSky Genomics, while Andrew Law from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research took third place.

The People's Choice winner selected via a survey of audience members was Dr Dashen Dong, Research Fellow at RMIT.

The event featured ten contestants from across Australia presenting their ideas, research and initiatives on the theme ‘Which walls will fall next?’.

Three-minute pitch

Each participant had three minutes to make their pitch in front of a jury of eminent academics and leaders from business chaired by the President of the Academy, Professor John Shine.

Dr Hamilton's winning pitch was on breaking the wall of recycling CO₂ in mining. She has developed a relatively low-cost, low-energy-input process to make valuable products from mining wastes. This process could help lead to carbon-neutral mining operations.

Alan Robertson spoke about breaking the wall of genomics for doctors. His pitch was for a doctor/patient-focused genome browser, to help make genomics and its advantages accessible to all patients.

Andrew Law, third place winner, spoke on breaking the wall of ineffective cancer treatments. His pitch, a human-body analogue called ALTEN, helps doctors know in advance the effectiveness of cancer treatments, allowing for personalised healthcare and better outcomes for cancer patients.

People's Choice winner, Dr Dashen Dong, pitched an idea to break the wall of aged care monitoring using soft electronic sensors. This aims to improve the quality of life in aged care and reduce anxiety of families.

Winners to compete internationally

The top three ranked presenters of the Lab will each receive $1000 prize money, high-quality online science communication training led by European experts and provided by EURAXESS Researchers in Motion, and a professional video created by the Academy’s own production team.

The video will be shared with the influential audience of judges and participants of Falling Walls Berlin and on the Academy’s social media platforms which have more than 2.4 million followers.

These winners’ videos will then compete against 90 others selected by international Labs and the Falling Walls nomination process, and a panel of judges will decide on 10 finalists who will take part in the digital live event ‘Emerging Talents Category Day’ on 4 November as part of Falling Walls Remote 2020: The Breakthroughs of the Year.

The Emerging Talents winner will pitch their breakthrough project on the grand stage during the virtual live Falling Walls Day of 9 November in front of an audience of industry leaders, decision-makers, investors and international media.

Jury members

The event organising partners are grateful for the involvement of the jury members for Falling Walls Lab Australia:

• Professor John Shine AC PresAA FRS—President, Australian Academy of Science
• Mr Balbir Blassey—Head of Corporate R&D Operations, 3M Australia
• Ms Kate Hart—Partner ANZ, A.T. Kearney Australia
• Ms Rosie Hicks—Chief Executive Officer, Australian Research Data Commons
• Ms Sue MacLeman—FAICD FATSE FACPP - Chair, MTPConnect
• Professor Michael Schuetz—Director, Jamieson Trauma Institute
• Dr Jack Steele—Director Science Impact and Policy, CSIRO.

Read the event program booklet (PDF).

About Falling Walls Lab

Each year, the Falling Walls Foundation supports scientific organisations around the world to host a Falling Walls Lab. This international forum promotes interdisciplinary connections between aspiring academics, innovators, entrepreneurs, investors and professionals known for their excellent work.

Falling Walls Lab is a challenging and inspiring format for emerging bright minds, giving them a unique chance to become the next big success story in innovation. In 2019, Australian researcher Rhys Pirie took out first place at the Falling Walls Lab Finale in Berlin and was named 2019 Young Innovator of the Year. Read a follow-up interview with Mr Pirie six months after winning the competition.

The Falling Walls Foundation is a non-profit organisation in Berlin dedicated to the support of science and the humanities. It was established in 2009, 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. At its heart is the question ‘Which are the next walls to fall?’ as a result of scientific, technological, economic and sociological breakthroughs.

The Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Law jointly sponsored a symposium on the reception, quality and evaluation of scientific evidence in Australian courts during National Science Week.

The online event was moderated by the Hon Justice Virginia Bell AC, Judge of the High Court of Australia, and drew an estimated audience of around 600. It was the third year the two academies have held a joint event and the first time it was held fully online.

The panel eminent panel members were:

• The Hon Justice Mark Weinberg AO QC, Reserve Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria and Formerly a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia
• Professor David Balding FAA, Professor of Statistical Genetics, University of Melbourne
• Tim Game SC, Senior Counsel Forbes Chambers, Principal Practice in Criminal Law Professor
• Professor Carola Vinuesa FAA, Professor of Immunology and Co-Director, Centre for Personalised Immunology, Australian National University.

“There's clearly an appetite for these events that reaches around Australia and the globe, and the volume of registrations for tonight demonstrates a real appetite to continue this collaboration between the two academies,” said the President of the Australian Academy of Science, Professor John Shine.

“It's at that intersection of the Academy of Science and the Academy of Law where I think a lot of very important issues arise and can be constructively discussed with society. And we certainly won't let this pandemic slow us down in that respect.”

Oceans and bushfires were the focus of two National Science Week events this month, with the Academy hosting webinars which explored how science can help us improve the health of our oceans and manage bushfires. We thank the experts involved, and all those who joined us online. 

Innovations to save our oceans

On Monday evening over a live webinar, an expert panel discussed the issues affecting our oceans and provided tangible solutions. We were joined by Academy Fellow Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg from the University of Queensland, Jemma Purandare from Griffith University and Dr Beth Fulton from CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere.

Climate change and ocean warming, biodiversity loss, and marine pollution were just some of the problems that were discussed in the panel discussion and the following Q&A.

The panellists emphasised that there are individual actions that people can take, such as sorting recycling well and eating sustainably-produced seafood, but there are also technologies that can be harnessed better, such as on-water solar and wind power for renewable energy.

The event made it clear that we have an opportunity during the economic recovery post-COVID-19 to invest in the infrastructure and technologies for our future, rather than in old, emissions-heavy projects.

Fighting bushfires with science

On Thursday of National Science Week we were joined by Sandra Whight, an ecologist with more than 25 years’ experience as a firefighter and operational decision-maker and now with the Bureau of Meteorology, along with Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher, an Indigenous scientist at the University of Melbourne who specialises in fire ecology, climatology and geology.

The two experts discussed technologies such as satellite imagery and helicopter ‘water bombs’, the impact of severe fires on local ecosystems, and how we can continue to improve fire management systems.

While short-term predictions are hard to make, Ms Whight said that Australians need to understand that fire is part of our lives and land, but we need to work together to understand and respond to extreme catastrophic fire conditions.

Associate Professor Fletcher emphasised the need to make use of the scientific and cultural toolkits available to prepare for the dire predictions for future fire seasons across Australia and the globe.

In just one year, 29 Champions have led the way by affirming their commitment to the vision of the Women in STEM Decadal Plan. The national vision aims to establish a thriving STEM-skilled workforce that is fit for the future, globally recognised, powered by a diverse and gender-balanced pipeline, and supported by an inclusive and respectful workplace culture.

The Women in STEM Decadal Plan Champions initiative was launched in August 2019, encouraging all organisations across the STEM sector to submit responses aligning their gender equity activities with the six opportunities outlined in the Women in STEM Decadal Plan. Champions’ responses are publicly available on the Women in STEM website.

A report prepared by the Academy, One Year In—Women in STEM Decadal Plan Champions, analyses the gender equity activities highlighted by Champions and key stakeholders over the past year and defines the next steps to improving gender equity.

This analysis has identified areas of positive action and increased focus for Champions. The information is important for the STEM sector as it enters the second year of implementing the decadal plan.

Findings in the report illustrate that while there has been positive action in many areas, now is not the time to lose momentum given the impact of COVID-19 on women in STEM. Substantial work is required to create systemic change across the STEM sector.

All Champions displayed visible leadership from their executive teams and demonstrated efforts to improve the visibility of women in STEM roles. All have adopted various forms of inclusive workplace practices such as flexible work, generous paid parental leave policies, domestic violence leave and unconscious bias training.

Intersectionality—which looks at how a person’s social and political identities may combine to create unique situations of privilege or discrimination—was identified as an area with minimal focus. This will be of interest to the STEM sector as emerging research identifies intersectionality as an area of growing knowledge and action.

The Academy continues to welcome new Champion responses and encourages all STEM organisations to share their actions and learnings to show their support for a fair and equitable STEM sector.

Find out how to become a Champion 

The Academy has created a message that can be seen from space to highlight the important role of scientists as the world navigates the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

‘Science will solve this’ is being created during National Science Week as part of Inspiring the ACT’s ‘Satellite Selfie’. The message symbolises the Academy’s commitment to support the nation by providing the latest evidence from experts on COVID-19. In June, the Academy was named in the top 10 most prominent sources of information during the pandemic by the Australian Science Media Centre. Academy Fellows have been highly sought after for comment by the media.

Using a satellite 770 kilometres above Earth, the project has given the ACT, its surrounds and the Northern Territory the unusual opportunity to take part in a massive selfie. Three planned flyovers across the week give participants the best chance to have their creations captured by the satellite.

ANU astrophysicist Dr Brad Tucker said the images would form the “ultimate, out of this world, selfie”.

“Nothing to this scale and this many people has ever been tried before in the world, let alone Australia. We are going to use a satellite to take a massive selfie that shows what Canberra, its surrounds and the NT looked like in August 2020,” Dr Tucker said.

Careful planning is required to make a design visible from that height. Each 50 cm square on the ground translates to a single pixel in the satellite image. ‘Science will solve this’ was calculated to require 276 pixels.

On the first flyover on Monday morning it took 105 towels spread across the sunny Shine Dome car park by 12 staff members to make the plan a reality. While the satellite images will not be made available until after the final flyover on Friday, Monday’s action was captured by a drone flying a little closer to the ground.

Other creative designs can be seen by searching for #SatelliteSelfie on social media.

A big thank you to Accor for lending us the towels needed to share this important message in an environmentally friendly way, and to Living Simply for supplying the rocks to hold them down.

Karen Twigg has won the 2019-20 Mike Smith Student Prize with an essay exploring how water availability shaped women’s experience in rural Australia in the 1950s.

Ms Twigg’s work was commended for its creative topic, strong analysis and skilled presentation. “All credit goes to Joan [Bennet née Corbett], a deeply reflective and eloquent rural woman, whose experience forms the central focus of my essay,” she said.

“My own background growing up as one of three daughters on a farm in rural Victoria underpins my interest in the historical experience of rural women.”

With a first prize award of $3000, the Mike Smith Student Prize recognises the work of students in the history of Australian science or Australian environmental history. It is awarded by the Academy’s National Committee for History and Philosophy of Science in partnership with the National Museum of Australia once every two years. The judging panel also includes an Editor of the Academy’s journal, Historical Records of Australian Science.

“I am in awe of Dr Mike Smith’s work and his skill in integrating archaeological and environmental material, so winning the prize that bears his name is very significant,” Ms Twigg said.

“The award has also encouraged me to continue to explore gender assumptions and how they shape the ways in which the environment was experienced, imagined and changed.”

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Ms Twigg could not be presented with her award at a conference. It is hoped that her award may be presented at a future event. Her essay may be published in a book or journal in the future.

The judges of this competition thank all those who submitted essays to the 2019–20 Mike Smith Student Prize. Entries for the next round will open in late 2021.

Students thinking of preparing an entry for the next Mike Smith Student Prize may like to consider the events of 2020. How have Australian scientists handled epidemics in the past?

However, the judges will welcome any topic in the history of Australian science and in Australian environmental history.

A new survey looking at the impact of COVID-19 on Australia’s early- and mid-career researcher (EMCR) workforce has found significant effects on their mental health and productivity.

The results have prompted a call for employers, governments and funding bodies to take action to support Australia’s future science leaders during this crucial time.

The nationally representative survey of 333 EMCRs was conducted by the Australian Academy of Science’s Early- and Mid-Career Researcher (EMCR) Forum.

The survey found increased anxiety and strains on mental health due to employment uncertainty, the need to manage competing priorities such as caring duties, changes in the workplace, and perceived loss of career prospects. It also found COVID-19 is likely to have a lasting impact on the careers and wellbeing of much of the workforce.

The report’s recommendations for government include extending JobKeeper to the university sector and other STEM employers currently ineligible.

The survey found the shift in workloads for EMCRs poses serious challenges for universities on how they evaluate staff for internal promotions, with many early-career researchers facing disrupted track records. Survey respondents reported research activities being replaced with more teaching and administrative tasks.

The survey also found female EMCRs with caring responsibilities and those who reduced their working hours were most affected by the pandemic.

Associate Professor Michael Bowen, Chair of the EMCR Forum, said EMCRs are the lifeblood of Australia’s STEM sector.

“This sector is critical to our nation’s current and future prosperity so it is essential that government, employers and funding bodies work together to prevent the loss of a generation of EMCRs and irreparable damage to the sector,” Associate Professor Bowen said.

With over half of all surveyed researchers funded by external funding bodies, the report also recommends guidelines be put in place for assessors of research funding applications, so the impact of COVID-19 can be properly considered.

“The COVID-19 pandemic will have significant and long-lasting effects on early- and mid-career researchers now, and into the future,” said Associate Professor Vanessa Wong, Co-Deputy Chair of the EMCR Forum.

“Without rapid and continued support by government, employers and funding bodies, there will be mass exodus from STEM sectors leading to a substantial brain drain and lost future capacity and capability to provide solutions to future challenges, such as the next pandemic.”

The survey follows the publication of a report by the Rapid Research Information Forum in May which also found that women and early-career researchers are among those that will disproportionately experience negative impacts of the pandemic.

Read the full survey report and recommendations.

This page was updated on 13 August

Get involved with National Science Week events

How can science help us protect our oceans and manage the threat of bushfires?

This year for National Science Week in August, the Academy will be bringing the latest from science to you with two special online events addressing these important questions. Leading researchers will reveal how science can help us in times of national crisis, now and in the future. And you won't even have to get out of your ‘working-from-home’ attire to attend!

• Register for ‘Innovations to save our oceans’
• Register for ‘Fighting bushfires with science’

There's also a legal angle looking at the reception, quality and evaluation of scientific evidence in Australian courts, and school students are encouraged to let their creativity show with Spot the maths. Make sure to read about the fascinating things that Academy Fellows work on, and how they found their passion for science.

We’ll be featuring engaging online content to keep your science brain ticking all week. Make sure to keep an eye out on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Aiming to inspire interest and participation in science, National Science Week is Australia’s annual celebration of science and technology. Running this year from 15 to 23 August, it features more than 1000 events with more than one million people participating across the nation. This year, with online events and virtual tours from around the country and DIY Science resources, there is plenty to get involved with.

Share your stories

The Academy also encourages Australian scientists to get involved wherever they are by sharing their own stories during National Science Week on social media. Join in the #STEMsavinglives and #SolveItWithSTEM campaign by grabbing a selfie or posting a 30 second video of you in the lab or workplace and tell us how you use STEM to solve problems or save lives.

Make sure to use the hashtags and to tag the Academy (@Science_Academy) and National Science Week (@Aus_ScienceWeek) to increase your chance of a retweet.

Subscribe to receive emails about all the Academy’s events.

How will you science this #scienceweek?

A Senate committee examining Australia’s bushfires will today hear how Australia must deal with extreme weather events more effectively than is currently the case.

“Scientific evidence shows that as the world warms due to human-induced climate change, we experience an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events,” reports the submission by the Australian Academy of Science.

“As such [extreme weather] events become more frequent and severe, we must adapt Australia and Australians accordingly, and strengthen our mitigation efforts.

“Bushfires, along with other weather and climate challenges, pose complex and wide-ranging problems. Climate change, temperature extremes, droughts, storms, wind, and floods are intersecting and entangled. These must be addressed together.”

Academy Fellows Professor David Lindenmayer and Professor Chris Dickman will appear today before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration inquiry on behalf of the Academy.

They will tell the committee that the monitoring of Australian landscapes must be given the highest priority to give affected species and ecosystems the best chance of recovering from this summer’s bushfires.

Professor Dickman said Australia does not have really effective monitoring in much of the forest and woodland estate.

“The consequence is that it is very difficult now to get a handle on exactly what the fires have done,” said Professor Dickman, who is based at the University of Sydney.

“My worst fear is that some species whose ranges were largely in the path of the fires and were already in poor shape to begin will actually have disappeared—there’ll be extinction at the species level.”

Professor Lindenmayer said important monitoring work initiated by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment in conjunction with other organisations and researchers—but restricted by safety concerns and interrupted by the COVID-19 outbreak—must be continued and backed up by meaningful management actions.

“The Academy is resolute that the response to the bushfires must extend beyond the immediate and essential need to rebuild and recover,” said Professor Lindenmayer, who is based at the Australian National University.

“While immediate responses are important, broader issues including habitat restoration; biodiversity and species preservation; land, water and wildlife management; agricultural practices and more will need careful and measured consideration.”

The Academy’s submission also highlights the importance for the Senate—and all Australians—to have trustworthy information and answers about impacts of the 2019–20 megafires.

It says “with much misinformation in the public domain about the cause and impacts of the bushfires, we urge Australians to continue to consult reputable sources of evidence-based information such as the Australian Academy of Science, CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology.”

The Academy has also today published the second in a series of expert briefs on bushfire recovery. The new brief covers the impacts of bushfire on Australian wildlife, and the role of immediate and long-term monitoring to inform protection and maintenance actions to preserve our unique ecosystems. The first brief focused on the condition of soil after bushfires.

The Academy is also currently considering the recommendations of the interim report into the review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act published last week. Read the Academy’s initial submission to the review.