We acknowledge the Kaurna people, the original custodians of the Adelaide Plains and the land on which the University of Adelaide's campuses at North Terrace, Waite and Roseworthy are built.

Welcome to our April 2024 edition. As our Institute's activities for this year are well underway, ISER is proud to announce its new team members, as you will read below.

We continue to champion the research excellence of ISER Affiliates, have updated our website, and are working to distinguish expertise areas such as our hydrogen research. We invite anybody who would like to be profiled or involved in this initiative to contact the ISER team. We look forward to seeing those who can participate at the CSORSC launch and the other exciting upcoming events, together with ISER Affiliates and our visiting title holders.

Prof. Michael Goodsite and Prof. Melissa Nursey-Bray

Director and Deputy Director

New Staff

We are pleased to welcome new staff members to the ISER team, adding to the dynamic capabilities of the Institute. Most recently, Amanda Cunningham-Moody is our newly appointed Institute Manager. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from her focus on the Clarivate Hi Cites within Research Services at the University. With extensive technical and management knowledge, and experience from her previous roles, we are excited to start this new chapter with her!

Meet our Fellows

Earlier this year, Dr Mohammad Boshir Ahmed became a Future Making Fellow at ISER and the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University. With a varied background and expertise in engineering disciplines such as Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering, to name a few, his primary research focus is to understand plant behaviour through disease detection, pesticide delivery, plant sensitivity monitoring, and boosting plant growth (i.e., plant bioelectronics) through developing new techniques and new materials.

Also, a Fellow at ISER, Dr Jack Evans, joined us as a DECRA Fellow at the end of last year. He is a computational chemist aiming to improve the understanding of chemical and physical properties of emerging materials. His most recent work focused on understanding the acceleration of research data deposited in different sources on the internet. This research data is key for the sustainable research of future generations. To read more about this work, click here.

Impact story

Many young Australians experience eco-anxiety. With the help of University of Adelaide researchers, Associate Professor Shoko Yoneyama and her team member Danielle LeMieux have created a climate and pandemic anxiety-related course, which aims to create a source of positive emotions to drive change. Click here to read the full article.

In the news

2024 Le Fèvre Medal

Professor Yao Zheng won the Le Fèvre Medal from the Australian Academy of Science. He is an internationally recognised chemical engineer, focusing his research on the principles of catalysis and energy materials chemistry for green hydrogen production. His breakthrough work and contribution as a team to Australia's green hydrogen industry are innovative in directly producing ultrapure hydrogen from raw and untreated seawater by electrolysis instead of requiring rare, highly purified deionised water. To learn more about his work, watch the video here.

Centres in the spotlight

The Australian Critical Minerals Research Centre (ACMRC), led by Centre director Professor Carl Spandler, offers a cost-effective, efficient, and environmentally sustainable approach to discovering and extracting critical metals. These commodities are essential to building current and emerging technologies for manufacturing clean energy production. To see more of the amazing work and contributions of the ACMRC team, click here.

Out and about

Professor Johnathan Patz - Research Mission 1 Lecture

In early March, Professor Patz hosted a lecture providing insights into climate health related to the *Foci And Magnets for Excellence (FAME) Research Mission 1 – Resilient, healthy, and equitable communities. The lecture received a positive response and sparked deep interest among attendees, many of whom stayed for an additional hour to exchange ideas and insights with Jonathan and each other.

Science Meets Parliament

Deputy Director of ISER and Vice President of the Institute of Australian Geographers, Prof Melissa Nursey-Bray, along with Dr Alice Jones, recently attended the 24th "Science Meets Parliament" in Canberra, where they met with other researchers, and Green's senator Dorinda Cox. The University of Adelaide was a proud sponsor of this event, an annual conference hosted by Science & Technology Australia to assist in increasing engagement between the STEM sector and policymakers. The event reminds us of the importance of investing in science research.

ISER Advisory Board Meeting

The ISER Advisory Board Meeting was held on the 6th of March, with board members including government and industry representatives in attendance. The key topics discussed were around the 'Here for Good' and FAME strategies, whilst also identifying opportunities and initiatives to be championed by ISER.

Overcoming Barriers to Decarbonising Fleet Transport

Hosted by SA Zero in partnership with Committee for Adelaide, RAA and the University of Adelaide, the event showcased local organisations and their innovative solutions addressing challenges related to the adoption of EV's. Libby Hogarth, University of Adelaide's Sustainable Development Planner, spoke at the event discussing ISER's mission in sustainability.

IWD Lunch 2024

ISER was delighted to celebrate International Women’s Day by hosting a table at the South Australian Business Chamber lunch. We were joined by fabulous women, all leaders in their field with representatives from Arup, Adbri Limited , SA Power Networks, Dept of Energy and Mines, Smart Energy Council, EY and the Centre for Sustainable Operations and Supply Chain Resilience.

Exporting Green Hydrogen to Europe—The Legal Framework from a European Perspective hosted by Prof. Dr. Christian Buchmüller

The seminar focused on the need for a holistic approach and interdisciplinary research on transforming the energy system. Attendees from government, industry, legal practice, and the University of Adelaide's schools of law, social sciences, and engineering were invited to consider the complex legal requirements the Australian hydrogen industry must adhere to in order to export hydrogen to EU countries.

ISER workshop "Bridging the Gap: Strategies for Effective University-Industry Collaboration"

ISER's Adjunct Professor, Göran Roos, delivered a three-hour workshop covering critical success factors and best practices for fostering productive collaborations between our university and industry partners. Participants gained insights into the key challenges often hindering these partnerships and practical strategies for overcoming them. At this event, held on the 29th of April, our researchers also shared their experiences in building and maintaining relationships with business partners.

Useful resources

ISER's Sustainability-related Course Portal assists in finding a course or program related to any of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), from undergraduate programs to postgraduate coursework. If a sustainability-related course is not featured on the list, please contact us to update.

Find a sustainability-related course

ISER has widely promoted the Sustainability Experts Portal amongst our stakeholders. Through this portal, they can explore the leading-edge work of the University of Adelaide experts transforming technologies, products, policies, and practices to support sustainable development goals locally and globally. Register here to be added to the portal.

Find a sustainability expert

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Resources for UoA researchers

Pivot-RP is a comprehensive, searchable database of international research funding opportunities and collaborators across all disciplines and funding types.

Learn how to use the tool, get support to create a curated list of funding opportunities by emailing Research Services, or register your EOI to request individual or group training sessions.

Submission opportunities

All ISER affiliates are encouraged to contact us to provide feedback; propose an Impact Story; submit any upcoming events in alignment with Sustainability, Energy and Resources areas; or request support in these research fields.

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