freelance science journalist and author
From The Guardian, 27 April 2017: n February 2018 the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the remote Norwegian Arctic will celebrate its 10th anniversary. Among the gifts it will receive are two collections of precious seeds and grains from the Australian Pastures Genebank and the Australian Grains Genebank, to be deposited into the vault as … Continue reading Food security: the gene banks future-proofing Australian agriculture
From Fish magazine, December 2016: Native seaweeds could be the next big thing in Australian aquaculture, as businesses look to diversify their income streams and improve water quality at the same time. Researchers at the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) have been investigating integrated multitrophic aquaculture. This describes the co-culture of organisms where … Continue reading Seaweed on shortlist in co-culture trial
From Fish magazine, December 2016 As the world’s oldest continuous culture, Aboriginal Australians have not only maintained a connection to the land for tens of thousands of years, but also to the waters that encircle and run over it. These waters have provided a wealth of food and other resources to countless generations. With the … Continue reading A voice for Indigenous fisheries
From The Guardian, 23 February 2017: Australian homeowners with solar panels and batteries could soon trade their electricity in a digital marketplace developed by a consortium of electricity providers, energy tech startups, energy retailers and energy agencies. The Decentralised Energy Exchange – or deX – was launched on Thursday with the promise to “change the … Continue reading Australian consortium launches world-first digital energy marketplace for rooftop solar
From the Guardian, 21 February 2017: When it comes to coping with heatwaves, our own cities are conspiring against us. Road surfaces, pavements and buildings all contribute to keeping urbanised environments three to four degrees hotter than surrounding non-urbanised areas. With heatwaves like the ones that have just baked half of Australia to a crisp … Continue reading Urban heat islands: cooling things down with trees, green roads and fewer cars
From Ensia magazine, 9 January 2017: At 2:46 p.m. local time on Friday, March 11, 2011, Japan was rocked by the largest earthquake ever to strike its shores. The 9.1 magnitude quake triggered a devastating tsunami that killed more than 15,000 people. It also took out the back-up emergency generators that cooled the reactors at … Continue reading As global demand for electricity grows, geothermal energy heats up
From The Guardian, 16 December 2016: In a world of dwindling resources, waste is one thing in no danger of running out. Each Australian generates more than 2,000kg of waste per year, and around half of that ends up in landfill. But at least some of that waste could be turned into a resource that … Continue reading Transforming waste into fuel with Australian innovations, from tyres to sugar cane and agave
From The Guardian, 27 December 2016: As any punter will know, backing winners isn’t easy. There’s a little bit of science, a little bit of art and a whole lot of luck. Australia’s independent renewable energy agency came into being in 2012 though an act of parliament, with a $2.5bn, 10-year mission to improve the … Continue reading Solar energy and rethinking geothermal: ARENA’s hits and misses
From ABC News in Science, 22 November 2016: The production of cement is a major source of carbon dioxide, but new research suggests the material that makes up our concrete jungles also plays an important role in reabsorbing carbon emissions. But as cement ages and weathers over time, it also absorbs carbon dioxide in … Continue reading Concrete products reabsorb nearly half CO2 released in cement manufacture
From the Guardian, 4 November 2016: In July 2010, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) took a $32m gamble on geothermal energy, investing in Australia’s first demonstration of geothermal electricity generation. Six years later, the wells in South Australia’s Cooper Basin have been filled with concrete and abandoned, and the geothermal exploration company involved – … Continue reading ‘The heat is there’: is there a future for geothermal energy in Australia?
Bianca Nogrady 