UNSW Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Parenthood vs longevity: lives of zoo animals reveal inner workings of ageing Drawing on data from more than 100 mammal species, an international team of researchers examined the trade-off between living a long life and having babies.

www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/new...

Eminent Ecologist 2025: Angela Moles | Lessons in starting out as an ecologist British Ecological Society · Episode

🌱Angela also sat down with our Executive Editor Richard Bardgett to talk about how she went from seed science to applied ecology, and falling into a career in academia

🎧Listen to the podcast here: buff.ly/2augoKE

🏆We are pleased to announce that our Eminent Ecologist for 2025 is Angela Moles!

✨Angela has collected a few of her favourite Journal of Ecology papers together here: buff.ly/86uQ6v5

Driving discovery: UNSW receives $70m for two Centres of Excellence Two new national research centres will unite leading experts to tackle challenges in ocean sustainability and quantum computing – areas critical to Australia’s future prosperity.

Excited to be the new home for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Our Future Oceans, led by @profmattengland.bsky.social here at UNSW Science www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/new...

When Does Rainfall Become Recharge? - Eos Counting drips in caves is helping to reveal how much precipitation is needed to start refilling underground aquifers.

Measuring rainfall recharge thresholds allows researchers to assess how much rainfall is needed to recharge groundwater and when this recharge occurs, write @andy-baker.bsky.social + colleagues at CSIRO, UNSW, @flindersuniversity.bsky.social, & @deakinuniversity.bsky.social

eos.org/science-upda...

Repetition and order of exposure to salinization and nutrient enrichment drive freshwater microbial community responses Biological systems face multiple stressors that impact biodiversity and ecosystem functions, with complex interactions that vary spatially and temporally leading to unpredictable outcomes. In freshwa...

New paper alert!! Repetition and order of exposure to salinization and nutrient enrichment drive freshwater microbial community responses, led by PhD student Rose Fuggle with supervisors Mariana Mayer Pinto, Miguel Matias and Ziggy Marzinelli. 🧪🌐🦠

Read here: doi.org/10.1002/ecy....

#microbes

'Unusually active': Ten giant hail warnings for SEQ this storm season The region has been hit by another round of storms which brought large and even giant hailstones. Is this the new normal?

Queensland’s had a rough run of storms with giant hail recently - I talked with ABC news about them. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...

‘Taking back the desert’: can Australia’s small marsupials learn how to live alongside their predator, the feral cat? Scientists excited by progress in bold project to see if native species can train themselves to survive alongside cats

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Impacts of colonisation on dingoes are ‘written in their bones’, new research finds

Just like everyone and everything else that was already in Australia when the First Fleet arrived in 1788, dingoes had to adapt to their new reality.

Cover Stories: Dr. Russell Bonduriansky In this week’s blog post, Dr. Russell Bonduriansky, professor at University of New South Wales, discusses the story behind the cover for 2016’s Volume 30, Issue 10 of Functional Ecology. Russ…

📖Cover Stories!📖

📙Dr. Russell Bonduriansky discusses the story behind the cover of Volume 30, Issue 10, published in 2016!

📸Russell shares his memories of capturing neriid flies in combat and how, thanks to a chance encounter on a walk with his son, he came to study them🪰

buff.ly/7PmIZKW

🧪🌍

An interview by a river bank

Researchers being filmed in a cave

An interview on a floodplain

Research and filming crew in a cave

It's a wrap on our Wellington Caves fieldwork and filming about groundwater recharge. I have some superstar UNSW colleagues, happy to film and be filmed. Looking forward to see how all this looks. Thanks to @marilumelozurita.bsky.social and the
@unswbees.bsky.social team

Hunters or collectors? New evidence challenges claim Australia’s First Peoples sent large animals extinct Australia doesn’t have any ‘kill sites’. In fact, there’s no hard evidence people hunted the megafauna.

theconversation.com/hunters-or-c...

'Localised extinction' risk for seagrass in Botany Bay It is estimated half of the local seagrass habitat in Gamay (Botany Bay) has already been lost. Researchers and Aboriginal rangers are replanting seagrass fragments and using biochar to restore the ar...

Our work with the Gamay Rangers to restore the environmental and cultural values of seagrass in Gamay - Botany Bay www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

New research from UNSW and the University of Tasmania reveals how predator size and diversity influence urchin predation on New South Wales reefs. Large male blue gropers were responsible for three-quarters of all urchin attacks. Learn more: greatsouthernreef.com/urchin-preda...

Air temperatures over Antarctica have soared 35ºC above average. What does this unusual event mean for Australia? The stratospheric polar vortex high above Antarctica has rapidly heated up. These sudden bursts of heat can bring rapid weather changes in Australia

CCRC Senior Research Fellow @drjucker.bsky.social explains in this Conversation article what is happening above Antarctica right now, and how it might impact us: theconversation.com/air-temperat...
@unswbees.bsky.social

Breaking the ice: why study Antarctica? From unique wildlife to resilient microbes, world-changing climate dynamics to untapped biotechnological potential – four UNSW scientists outline what makes Antarctica a laboratory like no other.

UNSW scientists outline what makes Antarctica a laboratory like no other news.unsw.edu.au/en/breaking-...

Excited to share that we’re part of ANZIC! This collaboration means our researchers (and students!) get a seat at the table for international drilling expeditions — bringing home samples and discoveries that shape our understanding of Earth. www.iodp.org.au/2025/09/18/1...

We’re honoured to have won the Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Environmental Research! Huge thanks to our amazing partners Reef Design Lab, global collaborators, and the many supporters who made this possible. It was incredible to celebrate alongside so many of the nation’s leading scientists!

🏆 Dr Aaron Eger from @unsw.edu.au is awarded the Eureka Prize for Emerging Leader in Science. #EurekaPrizes

Learn more: youtu.be/M06od5P7s1s

🏆 @livingseawalls.bsky.social is awarded the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water Eureka Prize for Environmental Research: youtu.be/l76BDpJ7HU4

#EurekaPrizes @sims-australia.bsky.social @melaniejbishop.bsky.social @cariocamayer.bsky.social @marialvozzo.bsky.social

Sexual conflict as a constraint on asexual reproduction: an empirical review Theory predicts that facultatively asexual animals, which can leverage the advantages of both sexual and asexual reproduction, should outcompete obligately sexual and obligately asexual animals. Yet,....

Another chapter of my PhD at @unswbees.bsky.social is out!! 🎉 #OpenAccess with
@nathwilliamb.bsky.social & Russell Bonduriansky in Biological Reviews @camphilsoc.bsky.social
👉 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

We are hosting a Masterclass for our partners and stakeholders from government and industry! Deepening your knowledge and understanding of weather and climate science! 🎓

📌 UNSW Law Theatre, Sydney
⏱️ Tue 2 Sep: 9:30am-5pm
💵 Free to attend
Register here: lnkd.in/gCUMhpuv
Agenda here: lnkd.in/gHdZHMj8

From sea ice to ocean currents, Antarctica is now undergoing abrupt changes – and we’ll all feel them The vast ice of Antarctica has long seemed impregnable. But sudden changes are arriving – from shrinking sea ice to melting ice sheets and slowing ocean currents.

From sea ice to ocean currents, Antarctica is now undergoing abrupt changes – with global ramifications theconversation.com/from-sea-ice...

Dingoes are not domestic dogs – new evidence shows these native canines are on their own evolutionary path

New research suggests dingoes are distinct enough to have their own scientific name. If this is accepted, it will have far-reaching consequences.

Science in the Swamp 2025 - National Science Week Join us on Sunday 17 August for Science in the Swamp – a FREE family fun day out at Centennial Park! Loch Avenue South will transform into a pop−up village of scientific wonder this National Science W...

On today - come and see us in Centennial Park to learn more about UNSW Science www.scienceweek.net.au/event/scienc...

We are honoured to announce that we are a 2025 #EurekaPrizes finalist for Environmental Research!

@eurekaprizes.bsky.social are Australia's peak scientific awards, recognising the achievements of researchers across all scientific disciplines.

Check it out!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yrR...

Oceans are becoming hotter, long-term trends show - ABC listen Matthew England is studying global changes in ocean heat and circulation. The AMOC - the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is showing signs of slowing, and as it does, impacts are being felt...

This week I joined the wonderful Robyn Williams on the ABC Science Show to discuss our recent North Atlantic Nature paper plus a range of other topics — marine heat waves, polar vortex wobbles, the AMOC, and the deep cost of climate inaction. Part 2 airs next week.  
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

Will hailstorms get worse with climate change? What causes hailstorms, where they hits hardest, and how climate change affects them. Dr Tim Raupach unpacks the science, risks and modelling on Totally Cooked.

I had the pleasure of joining @sarahinscience.bsky.social and @instrachan.bsky.social on the Totally Cooked podcast from @21stcenturyweather.bsky.social to talk about hail - how it forms, where it hits, and how climate change might affect it. Listen here: 21centuryweather.org.au/engage/total...

Rockabye baby: the ‘love songs’ of lonely leopard seals resemble human nursery rhymes Leopard seals in Antarctica live solitary lives. But the simple patterns of their underwater song, akin to nursery rhymes, bring mates from across the seas.

Thrilled to see my work featured in @aunz.theconversation.com !!! 🦭🎶

Rockabye baby: the ‘love songs’ of lonely leopard seals resemble human nursery rhymes
theconversation.com/rockabye-bab...

Outstanding to see three finalists for the 2025 Eureka Prizes from @unswbees.bsky.social - #3 Jodi Rowley who has done so much for conservation and understanding of our threatened frog species