2024: Partnerships with impact 

In 2024, the School achieved significant growth in research performance, with external funding increasing to $10.4 million – up from $6 million in 2023. Much of this growth was the result of collaborations with local and state governments (including the Sunshine Coast Council and Redland City Council, the City of Moreton Bay and City of Gold Coast, and the Queensland Government’s Departments of Environment and Science and Transport and Main Roads). We were pleased to strengthen relationships with industry partners, and grateful to receive more than $900,000 in philanthropic gifts to support sustainability initiatives, including through new partnerships such as that between our marine scientists and the CID Environment Foundation.

A major milestone was the announcement of a $2.1 million Australian Research Council Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (ARC LIEF) grant – the first of its kind led by UniSC. Awarded to a team led by Professor Andrew Marshall and Associate Professor Javier Leon, the grant will support the TruForest project, which aims to establish a world-leading network for laser (LiDAR) scanning of Australian rainforests to advance the accuracy and efficiency of measuring forest structure, biomass and carbon, offering new potential for scientific research into large scale forest responses to logging, cyclones and climate change.

We also expanded our research training, growing our higher degree by research (HDR) cohort to 131 candidates and completing 20 HDRs in 2024. The School remains UniSC’s largest HDR enrolling unit and continues to attract global expertise.

Highlights

• Work continued on the planned Fraser Coast Turtle Rehabilitation and Research Centre, which received $250,000 from the Australian Government under the Hinkler Regional Deal, following a >$1 million investment from the Queensland Government in 2023.
• New and/or expanding partnerships with industry partners included Unitywater, Rio Tinto, Qbiotics, Thales, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, and the International Development Research Centre – Canada.
• The School produced more than 300 research publications across the year, including journal articles, conference papers, nine book chapters and one book – many involving international collaboration.
• We reinforced our status as a destination for international expertise, hosting several distinguished scholars, including leading Canadian industrial ecologist Professor Steven B. Young from the University of Waterloo’s School of Environment, Enterprise and Development.

Celebrating our staff

• Senior Lecturer in Organic Chemistry Dr Trong Tran received a $510,000 Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship for a three-year project focused on stingless bee propolis, or ‘bee glue’.
• Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr Shaodong Guo also received an Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship worth $240,000 for a three-year project on eco-friendly insecticides from spider venom.
• Nuclear scientist and Senior Lecturer in Engineering (Manufacturing) Dr Rezwanul Haque received a national Young Scientist Award for his research using nuclear technology to find cracks and signs of stress in riveted joints in sheet metal in car bodies.
• Staff from the Chlamydia Research Team received the UniSC Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research Impact for their work to improve koala conservation and disease management.

Making a difference: Our research in action

Seaweed to the rescue: Researchers pioneer natural solution for healthy aquaculture

A groundbreaking research program is exploring how red seaweed, specifically the Asparagopsis species, can naturally enhance fish health and growth – offering a sustainable alternative to antibiotics in aquaculture.

While Asparagopsis is already known for reducing methane emissions in livestock, its potential benefits for fish had not been explored until UniSC’s Seaweed Research Group launched a study in 2017. Led by Professor Nick Paul, their goal was to tackle one of aquaculture’s biggest challenges: disease, which causes an estimated $6 billion in losses globally each year. Traditional disease management methods (such as antibiotics and chemical treatments) can be costly and environmentally harmful. UniSC’s team set out to find a natural solution.

Initial trials with rabbitfish showed promising results: fish fed with seaweed supplements experienced a fourfold increase in immune response and a 19 percent boost in natural growth. These findings led to a provisional patent in 2018 for a method to enhance fish immunity using red seaweed. 

In 2019, UniSC partnered with Tassal, Australia’s largest seafood producer, to test the seaweed supplement on Atlantic salmon. The results were impressive: salmon with simple digestive systems responded well to the supplement, showing improved growth and reproductive potential. Economically, the benefits were clear – adding seaweed to salmon feed could save $0.58 per kilogram of fish produced, potentially saving the Australian salmon industry $46.6 million each year.

This success led to a second patent, focused on increasing productivity in non-ruminant animals like fish. In 2025, UniSC licensed this patent to Sea Forest, a Tasmanian company known for producing methane-reducing cattle feed. Sea Forest is now commercialising UniSC’s research by creating a fish feed supplement from leftover seaweed material, known as “press cake.”

These findings have influenced international research efforts with other aquaculture species – including the University of Lisbon’s study of feed additives for seabream and Deakin University’s work with farmed abalone – and shaped global policy, appearing in briefing papers for the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and national strategies in Finland on the climate impact of fish products. The research has also been cited in more than 10 international patents, which include methods for turning seaweed into eco-friendly animal feed in the US, and immunity-boosting pet food in South Korea.

This research indicates that the use of Asparagopsis in aquaculture could offer a powerful tool to improve fish health, reduce reliance on antibiotics, and support sustainable seafood production. As climate change and disease pressures grow, this natural solution could play a vital role in securing the future of global aquaculture and food security.

Fields of the red seaweed Asparagopsis taxiformis in the shallows at Moffat Beach, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. (Credit: UniSC Seaweed Research Group).

The Greenland Project: A 600-kilometre scientific traverse 

The Greenland Project is a groundbreaking scientific expedition aimed at improving our understanding of the Greenland Ice Sheet – the world’s second-largest ice mass. As climate change accelerates the ice sheet’s melting, rising sea levels pose serious threats, particularly to Oceania’s low-lying islands and coastal communities. While satellite data helps monitor these changes, it must be validated with on-the-ground measurements to ensure accuracy.

In May 2024, Dr Adrian McCallum and an international team of scientists from Denmark, Greenland, Germany, and Sweden undertook a 600-kilometre ski traverse across the Greenland Ice Sheet over 30 days.

This expedition collected six key datasets – Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), surface elevation, passive seismic readings, snow density, and ice core samples – to verify satellite observations and better understand the ice sheet’s structure and changes.

This was the first known collection of such densely spaced data across the entire ice sheet and was hailed by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) as “rare and hugely valuable.” The data is now being analysed through multiple academic projects, including a PhD, two master’s theses, and three Honours studies. Early results confirm that glaciers are retreating and that satellite data is largely accurate, though further analysis is underway in collaboration with seven international institutions, including Dartmouth College and The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø .

The project has informed discussions at the highest levels of government, including with Australia’s ambassador to the US, Dr Kevin Rudd, and staff at the US Embassy. GEUS will publish a scientific paper summarising the findings in July 2025, and conversations are ongoing with the US Navy about applying similar data-gathering techniques across the Arctic Ocean.

One of the project’s most notable achievements is demonstrating the feasibility of low-impact, cost-effective scientific expeditions. It led to the creation of a new European company, The Adventure Research Collective (ARC), which supports sustainable research initiatives. ARC has already conducted a scientific traverse of Europe’s largest icefield, Iceland’s Vatnajökull, and is planning a return to East Greenland in 2026. The project will also feature at the UN Ocean Conference in France in June 2025, contributing to global efforts to protect the ocean.

• Public awareness of Arctic climate issues has surged thanks to media coverage of The Greenland Project, which included over 440 features across national and international outlets, reaching an estimated audience of 160 million.
• To further share its story, the team is working with Sydney-based Northern Pictures to produce a three-part documentary titled Ages of Ice, set to air in 2026 in the US, Australia and the UK.

Resources

Download the report (PDF)