Feature articles

Australia is home to a diverse array of ‘bush foods’ which have nourished Indigenous people for millennia but, with a few exceptions like the macadamia nut, these native Indigenous foods have not made it into our supermarket trollies.

The Australian Research Council (ARC) Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Uniquely Australian Foods, based at The University of Queensland, aims to transform Australia’s bush foods industry, by bringing a new variety of Australian-grown foods to our tables. The Training Centre is leading the way to change the way Australians—and the world—think about Australia’s cuisine and food products.

In response to the unprecedented and tragic 2019-20 Australian bushfire season, many researchers have had a significant public role to play in explaining the science behind bushfires, their control and their aftermath. One of these researchers is Professor David Lindenmayer, from The Australian National University’s Fenner School of Environment and Society.

Professor David Lindenmayer is one of Australia’s leading ecologists—an expert in landscape ecology, conservation and biodiversity—who has had significant ARC funding support including an Australian Laureate Fellowship in 2012 and as a Chief Investigator at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions from 2012-2018. He is currently leading two Linkage Projects grants examining woodland biota and the effects of animals on bushfire risk, building on 37 years of empirical longitudinal research on bushfires in south-eastern Australia.

Early childhood is a time of intense learning, at time when the framework is set in place for the learning that will follow—and because of that it is perhaps the most important period in a child’s education.

The Conceptual PlayLab, based at Monash University, is a five-year research project investigating the best way to teach and support young children to form concepts in science, engineering, technology and mathematics (STEM).