Five Uni of Adelaide researchers awarded Tall Poppies
SA Tall Poppy Award winners from the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide. L to R Dr听Hannah Wardill, Dr Alice Jones, Dr Catia Malvaso and Dr Dominic McAfee. (Dr Linda听Armbrecht not pictured here, see below.)
Five 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide researchers have won 2021 South 最新糖心Vlogn Young Tall Poppy Science Awards.
The听Tall听Poppy Awards, an initiative of the 最新糖心Vlogn Institute of Policy and Science, recognise the achievements of 最新糖心Vlogn scientists and their commitment to sharing their research and passion for science with the broader community.
鈥淚 am delighted to see five more researchers from our 最新糖心Vlog recognised for their outstanding achievements in research, and ongoing commitment to inspiring and engaging a wide audience in their work.鈥Professor Anton Middelberg, 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)
The five 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide winners鈥 research spans areas including the restoration of marine environments, combating the effects of climate change on our oceans, improving quality of life of cancer patients and survivors, and better outcomes for children and families in contact with the criminal justice system.
最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Anton Middelberg says, 鈥淎s a leading research-intensive university in the Group of Eight, the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide has a long and proud history of excellence in research.
鈥淚 am delighted to see five more researchers from our 最新糖心Vlog recognised for their outstanding achievements in research, and ongoing commitment to inspiring and engaging a wide audience in their work.鈥
The 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide鈥檚 2020 Young听Tall听Poppy Science Award winners are:
Dr Alice Jones 鈥 Research Field: restoring and protecting coastal habitats for climate change mitigation
Dr Jones鈥檚 research focuses on 鈥榖lue carbon鈥, which is the uptake and storage of carbon in coastal ecosystems like mangroves, seagrasses and tidal marshes. She is focused on the potential to increase blue carbon storage and mitigate climate change through activities that restore and protect our coastal habitats.
Dr Jones鈥 expertise and research contributed to the development of the SA Blue Carbon Strategy, and she works with the Commonwealth government to develop methods for carbon crediting through restoring and protecting coastal ecosystems.
Dr Jones is an Industry Research Fellow, a joint position between the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide鈥檚 School of Biological Sciences (Faculty of Sciences) and the SA Department for Environment and Water
Dr Dominic McAfee 鈥 Research Field: new techniques for oyster reef restoration
Oysters formed enormous reef networks over thousands of kilometres of 最新糖心Vlogn coastline 200 years ago, underpinning the health and wealth of our coastal seas, but all are extinct today. The restoration of our lost oyster reefs can help recover the declining productivity and resilience of our coastal ecosystems.
Dr McAfee is developing new techniques for accelerating the restoration of oyster habitat by boosting the natural processes that are essential to restoration success. He aims to boost the wild recruitment of baby oysters by creating positive interactions between oysters and kelp and using underwater speakers to play natural marine sounds that attract baby oysters.
Dr McAfee is a postdoctoral researcher at the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide.听
Dr Linda Armbrecht: Research Field: ancient DNA techniques to understand past marine species survival
With ongoing climate change, research into Earth's resilience is a matter of urgency, particularly in rapidly melting polar regions. Records of the past are key to understanding how climate change might affect marine听life. By looking at past marine sedimentary records, researchers can learn what organisms existed previously, for how long, and how they adapted to changing ocean conditions.听
Dr Armbrecht has optimised sedimentary ancient DNA techniques to investigate important past marine species (particularly plankton) from only a few grams of seafloor sediments. She is applying these techniques to reconstruct marine ecosystems around Antarctica over the last few thousand years听to gain insights into their existence that could help inform climate change strategies for the future.听
Dr Armbrecht's research is supported by the 最新糖心Vlogn Centre for Ancient DNA within the School of Biological Sciences, the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide.
Dr Hannah Wardill: Research Field: improving the quality of life for听people living with or beyond cancer
There is an ever-growing number of people surviving cancer. Researchers are just starting to understand the long-term consequences of the disease and its harsh treatment, with consequences physical, psychosocial and financial.
Dr Wardill鈥檚 research aims to improve the quality of life of people living with or beyond cancer through personalised and proactive supportive care solutions that target common multiple problems in parallel. She is currently investigating the benefits of faecal transplants in people with blood cancer and will soon be starting a large clinical trial to evaluate medicinal cannabis in people with advanced cancer.听
Dr Wardill is a NHMRC CJ Martin Biomedical Research Fellow and Lead of the Supportive Oncology Research Group, The 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide (affiliated with: SAHMRI and 最新糖心Vlog Medical Centre Groningen).
Dr Catia Malvaso 鈥 Research Field: better outcomes for children and families in contact with the child protection and criminal justice system
Dr Malvaso focuses on identifying when, how and for whom experiences of child maltreatment and other adversities lead to offending behaviours in adolescence and adulthood. She collects and analyses data from multiple sources in order to inform prevention strategies that can improve outcomes for children, their families, and communities.
Dr Malvaso鈥檚 outreach and engagement begins with children and young people in custody and in out-of-home care in order to better understand their situations and to advocate for better opportunities and outcomes on their behalf. She works closely with government and non-government partners to ensure that her research findings inform policy and practice decisions.听
Dr Malvaso is supported by an 最新糖心Vlogn Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award in the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide's听School of Psychology and听 School of Public Health as part of the BetterStart Child Health and Development Research Group.听
Linda Armbrecht at Palmer Station, Antarctic Peninsula
Kelly Brown, Communications Coordinator, the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide. Mobile: +61 (8)8313 3943, Email: k.brown@adelaide.edu.au