Key points
- Every year the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes award excellence in science, research and innovation.
- Our researchers are part of four teams recognised as finalists in this year’s awards.
- We have finalists across categories including safeguarding Australia, infectious diseases, sustainability, and interdisciplinary research.
Every year the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes reward excellence in research and innovation, leadership, science engagement, and school science.
Our researchers are part of teams recognised for safeguarding Australia, sustainability research and beating infectious diseases. Here’s an introduction to our finalists.
Predicting ocean conditions
Together with the Bureau of Meteorology, our Bluelink project is a finalist in the Outstanding Science in Safeguarding Australia category.
The team has developed a platform to better understand and predict ocean conditions, using the power of super-computers, ocean models and data from global observation networks. The system can provide a comprehensive estimate of ocean conditions, now and into the future.
This information is used by sectors working in the marine environment, such as maritime transport, fisheries, security, and tourism, to increase safety for operations, and reduce risk to the environment.
Bluelink produces a comprehensive suite of real-time ocean forecasts, ranging from local beach conditions to regional currents and waves, and oceanic circulation on a global scale.
Beating Buruli ulcer
Stacey Lynch and Kim Blasdell, from our Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, are finalists in the Infectious Disease Research category as part of the Beating Buruli initiative led by the Doherty Institute.
The Beating Buruli team has greatly progressed our understanding into the ecology, epidemiology and risk factors of Buruli ulcer. This includes confirming the role of mosquitoes in the transmission of this skin disease.
As part of the world’s largest case study on Buruli ulcer, led by us, the team identified both risk factors and behaviours that can protect against this disease.
They also validated possum faecal-based surveillance as an early warning system for human cases of this disease.
Collectively this information means we finally have the tools to develop intervention measures against this disease, bringing us closer to beating Buruli.
Developing sustainable Omega-3 canola
Our Agriculture and Food team, along with our industry partner Nuseed, is a finalist in the Sustainability Research Award.
This world-leading science represents a great example of gene transfer within the plant kingdom. It allows the oil crop canola to produce seed oil with levels of Omega-3 comparable to those derived from fish oil. This provides significant global health, economic and environmental benefits.
Commercialisation of this gene transfer science has global implications. It protects fish stocks and improves global health through access to essential nutrition, improved economics and long-term sustainable environmental outcomes.
Solving the West Antarctic Ice Sheet mystery
Nerida Wilson works with our National Biodiversity DNA Library and is a finalist in the Excellence in Interdisciplinary Scientific Research category. This is recognising research she undertook as part of an international team while working at the Western Australian Museum and University of Western Australia.
The team used octopuses to solve a mystery about the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is the huge ice sheet that covers West Antarctica. They found this ice sheet vanished during the Last Interglacial period, around 125,000 years ago.
At that time, global temperatures were similar to today. It's a warning to the world that we may be nearing the tipping point of this ice sheet. If it melts, it could raise sea levels around the world by 3 to 5 metres.
How did octopuses tell them? Population genetics! The team looked at the DNA of a species of octopus living on opposite sides of the ice sheet. They found genetic connectivity between them, dating back to the Last Interglacial. This would only be possible if the seas had been connected due to the ice sheet melting completely.