We will rock you! Our 2024 Opportunity Fund winners
2024 AuScope Opportunity Fund. Image: AuScope
Our 2024 AuScope Opportunity Fund round has been finalised, and we are happy to announce that 10 new projects will be funded (out of a pool of over 30 submissions) with a total investment of $1.8M! Each project selected will continue to help us build Australia’s Downward Looking Telescope, which will benefit our Geoscience Community and secure Australia’s sustainable transition.
Magnetometers-In-Schools
Building on AuScope’s preexisting ‘Seismometers in Schools’ program, this AuScope outreach project will develop an outreach program for secondary schools centred around the deployment of magnetometers, combined with lesson plans linked to school curriculum areas such as Earth history and resources.
Associate Professor Simon Williams, Professor Joanne Whittaker, and Associate Professor Maria Seton from the University of Tasmania’s IMAR (The Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies) will lead this project in collaboration with Ciaran Beggan from the British Geological Survey.
GLACier Collaborative Infrastructure (GLACI)
Developed by the University of Tasmania, this AuScope Earth Imaging & Sounding infrastructure will help boost research into glacier system processes and better constrain boundary conditions for ice sheet modelling.
GLACI will be led by Professor Anya Reading in collaboration with Dr Sue Cook and Sarah Thompson from the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP) and Dr Felicity McCormack from Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future (SAEF), which is based at Monash University.
Antarctica Melting Ice. Image: Matthieu Perrier
Novel Hyperspectral Mineral Mapping
This AuScope Characterisation project aims to create the world’s first facility for rapid, non-destructive, micro-scale phase + crystal orientation. This new capability will improve the mapping of rocks with critical minerals and complex materials with light elements and reveal crystal arrangements.
Professor Penny King from the Australian National University Research School of Earth Sciences (RSES) will lead this initiative, which includes several collaborators from CSIRO, Geoscience Australia, Curtin University, and the University of Canberra.
National Facility of Vertical Mineral Geochronology
In this AuScope Earth Composition & Evolution project, Associate Professor Stijn Glorie from the University of Adelaide aims to revolutionise geochronology by developing novel in situ β-decay dating methods (Rb-Sr, Lu-Hf, Re-Os) through a dedicated laser system for critical minerals research.
Professor Carl Spandler and Dr Sarah Gilbert from the University of Adelaide will also co-support this project.
Open-Access Rock Mineralogy Tools for Australia
This AuScope Characterisation project will generate an open-access online digital microscope and microchemical analysis interface, facilitating global efforts to standardise geochemical data and increase capacity for collaboration, reproducibility, and education.
Associate Professor David Flannery, Professor Balz Kamber, DrLuke Nothdurft, and Associate Professor Seelen Turkay from the Queensland University of Technology will oversee this project.
A digital microscope photomicrograph of a rock from the deep mantle (125 km). Earth scientists use the vivid colours in polarised light to identify minerals | Image: Balz Kamber
Assessing Hydrological Connectivity in Australia Through Noble Gas Data
This AuScope Earth Composition & Evolution project will demonstrate the value of the combined CSIRO and University of Adelaide noble gas analysis facilities to support research in water security and service growing water needs for minerals, agriculture, and energy sectors.
This project, led by Dr Matthias Raiber from CSIRO Environment, will be conducted in collaboration with the University of Adelaide’s ‘Atom Trap Trace Facility’ (ATTA).
AusGeohem in the Classroom
This AuScope outreach initiative aims to develop training modules and design lesson plans using the AusGeochem platform to modernise STEM teaching of Earth and environmental sciences at all levels of education.
This joint venture will be between Hayden Dalton from the University of Melbourne and Dr Bryant Ware from Curtin University.
Modernising Earth Science Data for High Performance Computing
This AuScope Research Data Systems initiative, in collaboration with the Geoscience Research Community and the Geological Surveys, will harmonise existing datasets into modern HPC_Compatible formats suitable for in-situ processing on AuScope’s NCI High-Performance Data and Compute platform.
Dr Ben Evans from the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) Australia at the Australian National University (ANU) will lead, with support from Dr Lesley Wyborn, Nigel Rees, Hannes Holman, and Jo Croucher.
Sediment Sampling Beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to Understand its Fragility
This AuScope Earth Sampling project funding will contribute to the International SWAIS 2C project (Sensitivity of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to 2-Degree Celsius), allowing Australian researchers to access scientific drilling infrastructure for sub-ice sediment sampling in remote West Antarctica.
Dr Ron Hackney and Dr Sarah Kachovich from the Australian National University will lead this project.
Updating Rock Dating with Pychron
This AuScope Earth Composition and Evolution project aims to support Australia’s Ar-Ar laboratories by adopting Pychron, a popular Python programming language, to align with international standards and future-proof our National Research Infrastructure.
Dr Hayden Dalton from the University of Melbourne will lead this project in collaboration with Curtin University and the University of Queensland.
Background
First piloted in 2021, AuScope’s Opportunity Fund assisted research projects with funding to boost Earth Geoscience infrastructure capacity and access, including establishing the long-term feasibility of pilot programs.
STORY IN A NUTSHELL
Announcing the winners of AuScope’s 2024 Opportunity Fund. This initiative funds research projects to boost earth science infrastructure capacity and access.
AUTHORS
Author: Daniel Vlahek
Edited by: Philomena Manifold
FURTHER READING
