Humankind has burned organic matter since the dawn of time. Carbon-based materials contain strong chemical bonds which can react with oxygen to produce water, carbon dioxide and energy. This energy is used to cook our food, heat our houses, propel our vehicles and generate electricity. Two of these combustion by-products (water and energy) are not a problem, but the third – carbon dioxide, is causing our planet to warm. An alternative to burning organic matter is to burn hydrogen, which produces only water and energy. This smallest and lightest of all gases has a much higher energy density than coal or diesel and can be made from sunlight and water. What is stopping us from replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen? This masterclass will discuss the innovations that have led us to this inflection point in human history. Read More

Professor David Young

Dean of the College of Engineering, IT & Environment, Charles Darwin University

Professor David Young is a chemist with an interest in new materials, in particular for efficiently generating hydrogen. He has been awarded two national research medals by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. Professor Young obtained his PhD from the University of Queensland, before postdoctoral studies at the University College of North Wales and at Oxford University. He holds the honorary post of Visiting Scientist at the A*STAR Institute for Materials Research and Engineering, Singapore, as well as Visiting Professor at Soochow University, China and Adjunct Professor at Monash University in Australia. He is a Managing Editor of the Journal of Molecular and Engineering Materials.

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Food and natural resource production is undergoing the most significant change since the industrial revolution. Current changes are driven by a number of influences including food security, dietary health, responsible production and agtech developments, supporting greater efficiencies. Join Professor Lowe as he explores these forces and their potentially sustainable and technological solutions. These include using increase crop yields and DNA timber tracing to end illegal logging supply, turning food waste into nutraceuticals and cosmetics, and harnessing the bio foundry of plant cells to produce the proteins, pharmaceuticals and materials that will ultimately allow us to live on Mars. Read More

Professor Andrew Lowe

Chair of Plant Conservation Biology at The University of Adelaide

Professor Andy Lowe solves some of the most pressing global resource, production and landscape sustainability challenges. His focus is the responsible and economically-realistic application of technological innovations. Professor Lowe is an expert in plants and trees, particularly the management of genetic, biological and ecosystem resources. He is passionate about communicating science, particularly on the threats and solutions to biodiversity pressures.

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Introduced in January 2016, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a global framework for striving towards sustainable outcomes. SDGs directly relating to the built environment are:

• SDG 11 focusing on sustainable cities and communities
• SDG 9 on resilient infrastructure, and
• SDG 12 on responsible consumption and production.

Other relevant SDGs include SDG 7 on Energy and SDG 6 on Water. The SDGs do not explicitly mention circular thinking or practices for the built environment. Yet, the principles underpinning sustainability and circularity are the same, especially those focusing on resource efficiency and conservation.
Join Professor Iyer-Raniga to examine examples of circularity and efficiency in the built environment at the global, regional and local level (Melbourne, Australia), in order to better understand how circularity can support a better-developed world. Read More

Professor Usha Iyer-Raniga

School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University

Usha Iyer-Raniga is the Co-Lead of the United Nations One Planet Network’s Sustainable Buildings and Construction Programme on Sustainable Consumption and Production, aligned with SDG12.
Professor Iyer-Raniga's primary interest is sustainability of the built environment ensuring sustainable outcomes for its users. Professor Raniga has worked in the field of energy efficiency and conservation for over thirty years, in India, Canada and Australia, bringing practical knowledge of energy efficiency, conservation and triple bottom line sustainability to buildings and the built environment.

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In healthcare, AI is supporting clinicians and consumers to make more precise healthcare decisions using data on genetics, environment and lifestyle. AI has the potential to deliver higher-powered clinical information and assessments, while overcoming barriers such as access to expert assessment and advice. However, the full benefits of AI cannot be realised unless the technology is safely and ethically integrated into clinical and consumer practice. This masterclass will investigate the impacts of AI on quality and patient safety, ethical challenges such as data ownership and privacy, and the very nature of the doctor-patient relationship. Join Associate Professor Magrabi to explore the advantages and challenges of AI in healthcare. Read More

Professor Farah Magrabi

Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University

Professor Farah Magrabi has a background in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering, with over 17 years’ experience in Health Informatics. Her work focuses on the design and evaluation of digital health and artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies for both clinicians and consumers.
Professor Magrabi’s research seeks to investigate the clinical safety and effectiveness of digital health technologies. She is internationally recognised as a leader in this area and has made major contributions to documenting the patient safety risks of digital health. In 2015, she received the Sax Institute’s Research Action Award for the international impact of her research on policy and practice to improve digital health safety.

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Astronomy is as old as humanity itself. However, it is only in the last 100 years that we have begun to understand the Universe in scale, age and complexity, including the discovery in 1929 that the Universe is expanding.

Nobel Laureate, Professor Brian Schmidt

Vice-Chancellor and President The Australian National University

Professor Brian Schmidt is one of Australia's most eminent scientists and winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, alongside many other academic awards and distinctions. Professor Schmidt spent most of his academic career as an astrophysicist at the ANU Mount Stromlo Observatory and Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics before becoming Vice-Chancellor at ANU. In 1998, under Professor Schmidt’s leadership, the High-Z Supernova Search team made the startling discovery that the expansion rate of the Universe is accelerating. Recognised as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the United States Academy of Science and the Royal Society, Professor Schmidt was also made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2013..

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The greatest threat to marine ecosystems today is climate change. Greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere from human-related sources are warming and acidifying the oceans at staggering rates. Fish, including sharks and rays, make up over half of all vertebrate species on the planet today and they occupy every body of water. They account for some of the extremes in development, “athletic performance” and physiological tolerance. But these fish but are facing unprecedented changes in their habitats. Join Associate Professor Rummer to examine athletic performance across the species and habitats suffering climate change stress as a predictor of future scenarios for marine ecosystems. Read More

Dr Jodie Rummer

Associate Professor of Marine Biology, James Cook University

Associate Professor Jodie Rummer is an Australian Research Council (ARC) Super Science Fellow within the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. Associate Professor Rummer’s is a specialist in ecological, evolutionary and conservation physiology with a focus on contemporary issues affecting fish populations. She is specifically interested in physiological performance indicators of stress and acclimation strategies of fishes, environmental adaptations related to O2, CO2 exchange, acid-base balance and ion regulation, as well as the evolution of life history traits, distribution patterns and biogeography. Dr Rummer holds a BSc with honours and MSc from the University of West Florida USA, a PhD from the University of British Columbia, Canada, and a post-doctoral Fellowship at City University of Hong Kong. Dr Rummer also held an ARC Early Career Discovery Fellowship from 2015 to 2017. She has published 93 peer-reviewed journal articles, 11 peer-reviewed book chapters, 8 conference proceedings and 16 editorial commentaries.

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Join Nobel Laureate Professor Barry Marshall as he discusses using leading technology to identify, understand and prevent global infectious diseases. In addition to Helicobacter pylori research, the Marshall Centre, named in Professor Marshall’s honour, is at the forefront of infectious disease identification and surveillance, diagnostics and drug design, and transformative discovery. Professor Marshall’s research also embraces new technologies, including next generation sequencing and genomic analysis. He recently developed a novel approach for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal disorders through artificial intelligence and analysis of bowel sounds. Join Professor Marshall to learn more about his world-leading discovery and ongoing research. Read More

Nobel Laureate, Professor Barry Marshall

Director, The Marshall Centre for Infectious Diseases Research & Training, University of Western Australia (UWA)

Professor Barry Marshall and Emeritus Professor J Robin Warren were jointly awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease. Professor Marshall returned to Perth and UWA in 1996 after a tenure at the University of Virginia. In 1998, Professor Marshall was made a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 2008, he was elected a Foreign Member of the prestigious US National Academy of Science, an institution established in 1863 by US President Abraham Lincoln. Today, Professor Marshall is the Director of The Marshall Centre for Infectious Diseases Research and Training which was founded in his honour at the University of Western Australia (UWA) in Perth.

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Australia is recognised as a world leader in tourism research, especially in sustainable tourism. In this masterclass, Associate Professor Anne Hardy explores managing tourism for sustainable outcomes and discusses what we mean by ‘sustainable tourism’. Is it simply a fashionable phrase or something that can actually be achieved? How can research help? What innovations have come out of Australia that are helping the tourism industry around the world act in a more sustainable and responsible manner? In addition to exploring these questions and more, join Professor Hardy as she discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has given us time to pause, reflect and consider the future of tourism management in support of sustainable tourism. Read More

Dr Anne Hardy

Associate Professor Cultural and Heritage Tourism, Tourism and Sociology, School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania

Associate Professor Anne Hardy grew up in one of the most beautiful tourist destinations in the world: Tasmania. Now, her research career is devoted to exploring the tourism industry. Associate Professor Hardy’s research focuses on three key areas: the neo tribal behaviour of tourists; sustainable tourism; and tracking tourism movements. Associate Professor Hardy is also the lead investigator on the Tourism Tracer project that has earned numerous awards.

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