Our researchers are at the forefront of driving sustainability and resilience globally, addressing critical challenges in biodiversity conservation, climate change, biosecurity and food security.
Embracing One Health principles and acknowledging the interconnectedness of ecosystems, societies, and economies, our researchers work across terrestrial, marine, and urban environments, focusing on enhancing ecosystem resilience, conserving species, combating environmental degradation, developing sustainable agricultural practices and adaptive ecosystem management.
Our discoveries also lead to innovations in renewable energy, critical minerals, and advanced materials, supporting the global transition to green technologies, while our research in sustainability and decision-making integrates social sciences and Indigenous Knowledges to develop practical, community-centred solutions. Collaborating across disciplines in both discovery and translational research, we’re shaping a healthier, more equitable and sustainable world, safeguarding our planet for future generations.
Our research spans nine strengths across multidisciplinary research
Biodiversity is the variety of all species on earth; the different plants, animals and micro-organisms, their genes, and the terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecosystems of which they are a part. Conserving biodiversity is essential to a healthy planet and upholding fundamental necessities such as clean air, fresh water and sustainable supplies of food and other commodities.
Our researchers work in marine, aquatic and terrestrial environments, exploring ecological and evolutionary dynamics, behavioural ecology, botanic and zoological diversity, to address threats driving species extinctions and ecosystem degradation.
Our climate and environmental scientists examine how societies and ecosystems respond to climate and environmental change. Exploring the processes governing Earth’s changing climate and its impacts on terrestrial, marine, coastal and urban environments enable us to understand how these changes influence biogeochemical and biospheric processes.
Our research in climate and environmental science spans marine geosciences, geology and geophysics, environmental and physical geography, biogeochemistry, biosphere-atmosphere exchange and biophysical chemistry.
Our discoveries allow us to enhance climate models, improving our understanding of environmental impact of human life, as well as developing innovative strategies toward more resilient and adaptive organisms and ecosystems.
Critical minerals and materials are vital for renewable energy and energy storage technologies and demand a fulsome understanding of both the sourcing and use of these resources. Our research across disciplines such as geology and geophysics, chemistry, and economic and political geography, contributes to the development of new exploration strategies and machine-learning tools for sourcing critical minerals and base metals.
Our research in solid state and materials chemistry and advanced functional materials allows us to optimise how we use critical minerals and materials, while our research in material synthesis, device fabrication and solar cells allows us to test these resources in emerging technologies. This research is critical to the global effort toward transitioning to a green energy future.
Our research in disease modelling and biosecurity addresses global and local challenges in managing infectious diseases and their impact on animal and human health.
Our commitment to One Health principles guides our multidisciplinary research toward modelling disease spread, zoonotic diseases and developing biosecurity measures. This research draws on our expertise across veterinary science, epidemiology, entomology, wildlife genomics, and chemistry.
With our research activities ranging from examining disease outbreaks and biosecurity risks, to understanding pathogen genomics to detect, track and manage disease in both humans and animals, we contribute to enhanced disease control and biosecurity practices, informing public health and biosecurity policies.
Our research in food security contributes to sustainable and high-quality food production and the management of rural land, while also drawing on Indigenous Knowledges. We focus on enhancing agricultural and land-use practices, combating crop diseases, agricultural pests, and advancing reproductive technologies in livestock across disciplines ranging veterinary science, plant breeding, entomology, economic geography, agricultural and environmental sciences.
Through our Indigenous Grasslands for Grain project, we collaborate with Indigenous stakeholders and stewards on Country toward recreating the native grain production system, which produced food while sustaining variable ecosystems for thousands of years.
By integrating advanced technologies, innovative practices and working directly with community and industry, our work enhances food security and contributes to sustainable agricultural solutions.
In 1987 the UN defined sustainability as ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.
Our research in sustainability explores the interface between ecology and social science, traversing terrestrial, marine and urban environments. Through disciplines ranging environmental microbiology, nanoscience, geology, geography and sustainability analysis we develop practical solutions that promote sustainability, such as water and land resource management and mitigating pollutant impacts.
In partnership with community, we co-produce research enabling us to support healthier environments while also providing broad, democratic benefits for the millions of people who depend on them.
Our research addresses the urgent need for sustainable and renewable energy production, conversion and storage solutions. With deep expertise across disciplines including applied physics, chemistry, advanced materials and nanotechnology, we develop of novel materials for electrical storage, enhanced light absorption and energy conversion processes, material synthesis, device fabrication, characterization and modelling.
Our work in solar cell testing is rapidly advancing solar technology, developing multi-junction solar cells with applications in integrated photovoltaics and clean fuel production. In hydrogen energy, we develop enhanced processes for hydrogen production through water splitting and hydrogen storage solutions.
Our discoveries allow us to make new materials for energy solutions ranging solar cells, hydrogen production and storage, gas storage and carbon dioxide capture, and next-generation batteries.
Supporting and protecting the ecosystems we rely on and care for requires a deep understanding of how they work, and how they and the species within them respond to changing environments. Our researchers work across a wide variety of different ecological settings, spanning marine, desert and urban environments, driving research in disciplines ranging plant ecophysiology, behavioural ecology, and conservation biology.
The emerging research is incredibly diverse, ranging investigating desert plant biodiversity under extreme conditions which provides insights for climate resilience, to observing interactions between native species and invasive predators, with our findings informing conservation strategies.
These efforts contribute to creating sustainable and resilient ecosystems by promoting biodiversity and developing adaptive management practices, essential to long-term ecological and the health of our planet.
Effecting positive change to improve sustainability and address the climate crisis requires collaboration, engagement and coproduction between communities, decision-makers and diverse scientific disciplines. Understanding how people arrive at beliefs and make decisions in their day-to-day life is key to navigating a world where misinformation abound, and science is challenged for political purposes.
Recognising and valuing different knowledge systems, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges, and understanding peoples’ lived experience forms the basis for working together towards transformative and sustainable change. This work spans disciplines including cognitive sciences, neuroscience, geography, philosophy, biomedical ethics, science communication and behavioural economics, allowing us to positively influence behaviour across a range of scales.
Our research informs how we support people in encouraging good habits and engaging in citizen science, through communicating scientific evidence to the public and the shaping of government policies.
