What real world challenge are you trying to address?

We’re looking at how ecological knowledge can improve the design and construction of marine urban structures, so as to ‘green the grey’.

Increasingly urban development is sprawling into the sea. As compared to the natural habitats they replace, structures such as seawalls, breakwaters, piers, pontoons and pilings typically support reduced biodiversity and fewer ecosystem services, such as fisheries productivity, maintenance of clean water and carbon sequestration.

Our research is investigating how the design of these structures can be modified such that they not only serve their primary intended purpose, but also provide habitat to marine plants and animals that are ecologically and functionally important.

How are you doing it?

The Bioshelters project lies at the intersection of ecology, sustainability, architecture, materials science, design and engineering.

We have been addressing the greening of marine urban structures from two angles:

1. how can we mimic those habitat features of natural shorelines, that are missing from marine urban structures; and
2. how can we design new ‘homes’ for marine plants and animals from first-principles, given site characteristics such as the availability of light, water quality, temperature and salinity.

The former comes more from an ecological perspective and the latter from an architectural perspective. Seeing when, and where, these two approaches converge and diverge has been really fascinating!

Who are your key collaborators?

The program runs out of the Sydney Institute of Marine Sciences (SIMS), of which Macquarie University is a founding member. Under the SIMS umbrella, we actively collaborate with researchers from UNSW on greening of marine urban seascapes.

The success of our research program is also in large part due to the commitment of Alex Goad, an industrial designer at the Melbourne-based SME, Reef Design Lab. His generosity of time and creativity has been integral to bringing our ideas to life.

Within Macquarie University, Distinguished Professor Lesley Hughes has been a huge source of support and inspiration in showing how science can be translated into action, and in thinking beyond the box on topics such as conservation and ecological restoration.

Have you received any external funding?

As well as funding through Landcom, donations from philanthropists (through the Harding Miller Foundation, Lim Sutton Initiative, Kirby Foundation), supported much of the initial research and development.

The subsequent scaling up of technologies to real world interventions, and the monitoring and evaluation of their efficacy has come from state and federal government sources, such as the NSW Environmental Trust and NSW Recreational Fishing Trust. Commercial sales have also provided funding for new research and development.

Any commercial innovations or spin-offs?

As part of our program we have developed Living Seawalls panels that can be fitted to marine urban structures such as seawalls to enhance their habitat value.
Living Seawalls: Bringing Sydney’s seawalls to life! from SIMS on Vimeo.

We have already had several commercial sales of this product in Australia, including for an upcoming installation at Watermans Cove Barangaroo. Internationally, we have had sales from as far away as Gibraltar. We have a number of additional products in the pipeline for development.

While it has been very gratifying to see our research directly applied to management, commercialisation has also brought challenges. For example, the possibility that our products may be used for greenwashing is one conundrum we have had to consider and combat.

What’s the ultimate goal?

Our vision is to transform urban waterways into biodiversity hotspots, that are of high environmental, social and economic value.

The COVID lockdowns have shown just how highly Australians value our marine ecosystems, for solace and recreation. Ensuring that our coastal cities can continue to grow sustainably is therefore a key goal of our research.

We have shown how seawalls can be modified to support greater biodiversity and ecosystem function, but we would now like to identify how similar approaches can be applied to other marine urban structures and be most effectively applied alongside conservation and rehabilitation of natural habitats.

We have a dream that no future marine construction will proceed without first considering opportunities for sustainability below the waterline and multiple benefits.

Karen Marais is one of two curators for the Downing Herbarium – a collection of dried plant specimens for the use of staff, students and the wider community. 

(1) In a nutshell, my job is to…
Look after the collection in the herbarium and to add new specimens to our collection.

(2) The question I hear most often in my work is…
Q: “How long does a dried plant specimen last for?”
A: Dried plant specimens can last for centuries, if they are carefully looked after (pest, humidity, light and temperature controlled). The oldest specimens we have here at Macquarie University date from the 1950’s and most are still in pretty good shape, despite our lack of ideal conditions. Large herbaria however may have specimens that date back as far as the 1700’s.

(3) The thing I find most rewarding in my role is…
To be able to go out into the field/bush as part of my work a few times a year.

(4) This year I want to…
Finish databasing Myrtaceae, the biggest plant family we have in the herbarium.

(5) A place that’s special to me is…
Anywhere out in the bush with everything I need in my backpack.

(6) My mother/father always told me…
Make the best of every day.

(7) My guilty pleasure is…
Savoury snacks, like crackers and cheese.

(8) I’m scared of…
Heights

(9) Something I’ve never done but wanted to try is…
Surfing. I do bodysurf, but I’d love to learn to surf on a surfboard.

(10) A moment I’ll always remember is…
Leaving South Africa, my country of birth behind.

Dr Lizzy Lowe, postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biological Science, takes us through some of the most common questions we have about our eight-legged friends.

Are daddy long legs really the most venomous spiders in the world?

These spiders aren’t actually that venomous, and even if they were, they can’t get their little fangs into us anyway.

 Are huntsman spiders dangerous?

All spiders have venom so all spiders are dangerous on some level and they can bite you. But you’ve seen how fast these guys are – they really don’t want to be anywhere near you. If you caught a huntsman and held onto it, they’d probably bite you – but they really don’t want to, they want to get as far away from you as possible.

Why don’t spiders stick to their own webs?

A spider doesn’t stick to its own web because it’s got these tiny little hooks on the end of its feet, so it’s only that very end of the foot that’s connecting onto the web at each time. They actually have to put the stickiness on their web every day to make sure they can still catch their prey.

What’s the best way to capture a spider that’s in my house?

If you can’t deal with the idea of a spider living in your house, the best thing you can do is to grab a cup, put it over the top, slide a piece of paper underneath and take it outside. This is a much better technique than using pesticides because then you are introducing all sorts of chemicals into your house that you don’t really need to be there. The spider is quite happy to live outside and will do a good job of eating pests outside as well.

Does Australia have the world’s deadliest spiders?

We do have a couple of very deadly spiders. We’ve got Redbacks and Funnel Webs. And they’re actually the only two spiders in Australia that will do you any harm. The most venomous spider is in Brazil – it’s called the Brazilian Wandering Spider and thankfully we don’t have that here.

How many species of spiders does Australia have and which are the most common?

There are over 4000 types of spiders we know about in Australia, but there is thought to be over 8000 additional ones that we don’t know about. So there are so many spiders that haven’t even been identified yet. The ones that live in our back gardens in Sydney include the St. Andrew’s Cross, Golden Orb Weaving Spiders and Leaf-curling Spiders. All of these spiders are great spiders to have a round!

Do spiders make good pets?

Spiders make wonderful pets! I know a lot of people who keep tarantulas and they’re really, really fascinating. But I think they are just wonderful things to have around. Have you ever sat down and watched a spider build its big beautiful web? They use so much concentration and it’s so intricate – it’s really a fascinating thing to watch. So, I love having them around, just to see what they’re up to.

Can spiders see in the dark?

There are lots of spiders that are nocturnal – but some of them don’t even need to see in the dark and that’s because they’ve got these webs. They sit in the middle of their web and they’ve got a leg on each of the spindles. As soon as a prey item lands in the web, it makes a vibration, and it’s actually that vibration that the spider is ‘seeing’. As soon as they feel that, they can run off and get the prey. They can actually work out how big that prey is, and what type it is from the type of vibration. So, spiders can see a little bit at night, but they’re really focusing on the vibrations that surround them.

This week, you’ll be fascinated by the insights of Professor Michael Gillings, evolutionary biologist and top four finisher in the Australian lecturer of the year poll, six years straight.

Talking to journalist Adam Norris, Michael covers everything from teaching as a form of entertainment, to the evolution of language, to the precarious future of the world as we know it.

Listen below and then tell us in the comments what you found most interesting in the podcast.

Listen to previous Pioneering Minds episodes on Soundcloud.

A new research project led by Dr Michelle Power from the Department of Biological Sciences has found that human sewage disposal in Antarctica presents a risk of introducing non-native bacterial species, specifically E. coli, into endemic Antarctic wildlife, potentially affecting its diversity and evolution.

Published in the Journal of Environmental Pollution and funded by an Australian Antarctic Science Grant from the Australian Antarctic Division, the research has detected E. coli genes in seals, penguins and invertebrates that are commonly associated with E. coli from humans.

“Some of the identified E. coli strains that we have detected in seals are known to cause disease in humans and birds. Antibiotic resistance genes, currently a major global issue, were discovered in many of the E. coli strains we tested. The antibiotic resistance genes were not detected in penguins or seals but were found in an Antarctic shellfish species which filters the water for its food,” said Dr Power.

The study, performed at Davis Station – one of four Australian Antarctic stations – included the collection of marine sediments at various coastal points within a 10 kilometre radius in addition to faecal samples from southern elephant seals, Adelie penguins and Weddell seals. Divers also collected heart urchins and Antarctic soft-shelled clam as part of the study.

“With more than 30 nations operating in Antarctica, and around 4000 people living in Antarctic research stations during the summer months, the potential impact of their presence to the surrounding ecosystem cannot be underestimated,” continued Dr Power.

Guidelines currently in place for treatment of sewage, established by the Antarctic Treaty system, allow research stations to dispose of untreated sewage directly into the sea – within certain parameters. With most research stations located on the coast of Antarctica, the research provides scientific evidence to support development of improved regulations for human waste disposal.

“There is currently no acceptable measure of impact of untreated sewage disposal in Antarctica and I would argue that simple genetic tools can, and should be used to determine the extent of gene pollution across Antarctica,” concluded Dr Power.