The document summarizes various events and activities that took place at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment in early 2015. It discusses a careers advisors day, a research symposium, a tour for guests from Japan, showcases for research centers and projects, and new people joining the Institute. It also introduces visiting fellow Dr. Stephanie Stuart and her research investigating why plants invest in stems and how stem construction may be impacted by climate change.

1. uws.edu.au/hie
HAWKESBURY INSTITUTE
FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
SUCCESS SHOWCASE – QUARTER ONE 2015

2. UWS Careers Advisers’ Day
– 9 February 2015
Careers Advisers offer a valuable
role in influencing decisions made
as students leave school and
decide on where to study and what
kinds of study pathways exist. UWS
hosted its Hawkesbury campus
tour for Careers Advisers on
February 9th, and we were pleased
to provide a rotating showcase of
our Institute. We aimed to show the
diversity of opportunities available
in sciences and STEM disciplines,
including opportunities beyond the
traditional career science pathway.
We always say there’s no better
way to see the potential of life at
UWS than by seeing it for yourself.
Institute Research Symposium
Day – 26 March 2015
With a rapidly growing Institute
of around 50 scientists and more
than 40 students, more than ever
we need to find ways to share
knowledge and updates about the
diverse research programs underway.
Our annual Research Symposium
provided a speed-tour of research,
with 49 different presentations ranging
from one minute up to 12 minutes.
It was a highly enjoyable event that
will foster ongoing collaborations and
connections for our increasingly large
cohort of staff, students, interns,
international visitors and guests.
Tour for guests from
Otaka, Japan –
3 February 2015
We had the pleasure of showing
guest students from Japan
through EucFACE as part of their
stay with UWS Sustainability.
This was a great opportunity to
share with them our experimental
journey, while they gave us some
fantastic insights into some of
the very innovative agricultural
technology evolutions being
created in Japan.
COMMUNITY
2

3. RESEARCH
STUDENT RESEARCH WITH A DIFFERENCE
Showcase for the ARC Centre
of Excellence In Translational
Photosynthesis – 25 February 2015
UWS joins a number of other leading institutions
as part of the new ARC Centre of Excellence in
Translational Photosynthesis (CETP), a multi-
million dollar collaboration to increase the yield
of important food crops to address global
food shortages in a changing world climate.
With a wide network of partners in Australia
and internationally, the CETP uses advanced
molecular and genetic tools to modify the
physiology of carbon capture so that crops can
cope in future climatic conditions.
Biology Of Tephritid Fruit Flies
Research Community Meeting –
2 April 2015
Tephritid fruit flies include a range of fly species
that normally consume fruit as their main
food source. This includes the Drosophila
fruit fly that is widely used as a model for
genetic and breeding analysis as well as
the destructive fruit flies that destroy fruit
by laying their eggs into ripening crops. Of
major importance and concern to horticulture
is the Queensland Fruit Fly, a species that
has traditionally been managed mostly with
systemic insecticides. Researchers are making
progress with alternative techniques, of which
UWS has made several important discoveries
in recent years. These techniques centre on
manipulating the ability of fruit flies to breed
effectively and include mass release of male-
only flies, manipulation of sex-determination
processes in flies and use of non-systemic
protectants to trap or prevent fly activity.
Image credit Mr John Morrow.
Adam Frew
How soil fungi might control
underground cane grubs in sugar cane.
Anita Wesolowski
Selecting stronger eucalypts as part of
our SIEF project.
Andrew Gherlenda
How elevated CO2
impacts on insect
communities.
3uws.edu.au/hie

4. Tracey Steinrucken Wins Fulbright Student Scholarship
Tracey Steinrucken has been awarded a 2015 Fulbright Student Award and will travel
to the University of California, Berkeley. This is a wonderful achievement for an aspiring
student and will open up connections and opportunities with our colleagues and
collaborators in the United States and more broadly. Tracey’s achievement follows
on from her recent successes in UWS’ Three Minute Thesis rounds.
Image: Ms Tracey Steinrucken (second from left) and Prof Anthony Maeder (SCEM,
third from left).
Nicholas Colman and
Chris Gordon Awarded
2014 John Cairney Award
for Outstanding Student
Publication
PhD students Nicholas and Chris have
been awarded this very prestigious
award for their article about the
important ecological role of apex
predators, more specifically the effects
of dingo removal on Australian animal
assemblages and ecosystems. This
article was published in the prestigious
Proceedings of the Royal Society B in
March 2014 and has already obtained
10 citations (including a commentary
within the same journal). It has also
attracted significant media coverage
and contributes to an important
broader debate. Prof John Cairney
was Director of the former Centre
For Plants And The Environment, the
precursor to the Hawkesbury Institute
for the Environment and this award
celebrates his legacy and passion
for fostering new scientific talent.
Image Mr Nicholas Colman.
STAFF AND STUDENTS
Jessica Mowle Wins Travel Grant to Rhizosphere 4 Conference
Rhizosphere 4 is the fourth in a series of international conferences to examine the
root-soil interface (‘rhizosphere’) where a significant research effort is underway to
enhance plant and crop productivity. PhD student Jessica Mowle has successfully
won a travel grant that will support her journey to Maastricht in June 2015 as part
of her study on Wollemi Pines.
4

5. Nguyen Duong
Wins Laurence
Mound Fellowship
Duong won recently the
prestigious Laurence Mound
Fellowship, in the form of a travel
scholarship in order to attend
and present her work at the Xth
International Symposium on
Thysanoptera & Tospoviruses in
Asilomar, California, in May 2015.
Jules Wright Wins
W S Pender Award
For Advancement
Of Beekeeping
Pender & Beekeeping goes back
to 1892, where Pender Bros
started out in Maitland NSW
with a small timber yard and mill
producing timber for the local
community, supplying bee keeping
supplies to the local bee keepers
and later supplying bee keepers
Australia wide. This award is
in recognition of Jules’ studies
on native bee habitats and the
prevalence of native bees across
Sydney’s golf courses.
Kylie Brice Wins American
Society for Microbiology
Travel Award
PhD student Kylie Brice has been
awarded a travel grant to support
her poster presentation at the
American Society for Microbiology
Conference in New Orleans.
Kylie’s work on the microbial
biomes within koalas’ digestive
systems is an important area of
research.
5uws.edu.au/hie

6. As always, the Institute hosts
a large number of visitors,
collaborators and new
colleagues through our
various programs.
»» Professor Fernando Maestre
Gil has arrived via the Institute’s
Research Exchange Program to
work with Professor Braj Singh
and colleagues.
»» Dr Rosana Lopez won a prestigious
Marie Curie Fellowship and is
working with Dr Brendan Choat,
Professor David Ellsworth and
colleagues for two years.
»» Ms Carrie Ramig – Technical
Assistant (Plant Chemistry)
providing technical assistance
on our SIEF project.
»» Mr David Fidler is undertaking
his professional training year
placement as part of his degree
at Cardiff University, training
with Dr Scott Johnson.
»» Ms Wen Shi is a PhD student
from Yunnan University working with
Prof David Tissue and colleagues.
»» Mr Paul Coraggio is about to
enrol in a Master’s Degree at the
University of Göttingen and is
undertaking a working holiday with
Dr Paul Rymer and colleagues.
»» Ms Valentina Arca is undertaking
a Bachelor’s degree in natural
sciences and environment at
the University of Sassari. She
is undertaking training with
Dr Raul Ochoa Hueso.
NEW PEOPLE
Prof Fernando Maestre Gil
Dr Rosana Lopez
Ms Wen Shi
6

7. »» Judith de Jager join us as part
of our Cotutelle agreement with
the University of Aberdeen –
this program provides a PhD
qualification from both UoA
and UWS by spending time at
both unis. She is working with
Assoc Prof Sally Power.
»» Leah Koloadin join us from
UNSW and is working with
Dr Brendan Choat.
»» Katie Howard is based at
the Victorian Department
of Primary Industries and
HIE, and is working with
Dr Ricky Spencer (School-
Based Researcher).
»» Laura Castaneda Gomez
joins us from Colombia and is
working with Dr Yolima Carillo.
»» Namraj Dhami is from
Nepal and is working
with Dr Chris Cazzonelli.
»» Desi Quintans continues his
studies following completion of
Honours First Class at HIE and
is working with Dr Paul Rymer.
»» Coline Deveautour joins us
from France and is working
with Dr Jeff Powell.
»» Jonathan Finch joins us from
the United Kingdom and is
working with Prof James Cook.
»» Elle McDonald continues her
studies following completion of
Honours First Class at HIE and
is working with Dr Chris Turbill.
NEW PHD STUDENTS
Elle McDonald
Judith de Jager Leah Koloadin
Katied Howard Laura Castaneda Gomez
Namraj Dhami Desi Quintans
7uws.edu.au/hie

8. CONTACT DETAILS
Hawkesbury Institute
for the Environment
University of Western Sydney
Locked Bag 1797
Penrith NSW 2751 Australia
Bourke Street
Richmond NSW 2753 Australia
Phone: +61 2 4570 1125
Email: hieinfo@lists.uws.edu.au
HIE553404/2015
uws.edu.au/hie
MEET DR STEPHANIE STUART – VISITING
FELLOW, MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY AND
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
Dr Stephanie Stuart:
Why do plants invest in stems?
We welcome Dr Stephanie Stuart to
the Institute as she spends time in
Australia to uncover how and why plants
in different ecosystems construct their
stems to make the most of their habitats.
When you look at an ecosystem, you’ll
see that there is a wide variety of plants
ranging from tiny mosses right up to
enormous hardwood trees. How do
plants decide what the best structure will
be? And will they still make these same
decisions under a climate of rising CO2
?
Dr Stephanie Stuart completed her
PhD at the University of California,
Berkeley. She joins us in the second
year of a National Science Foundation
Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology,
after spending the first year in at Ulm
University in Germany. Her work at HIE is
in partnership with Macquarie University.
Her project, entitled “Why be woody?
Costs and benefits of stem construction”
aims to understand how plants allocate
resources towards stem construction,
a process that uses energy that plants
might otherwise use for processes like
reproduction. Dr Stuart’s project asks:
»» What do plants get out of building a
stronger stem, and why are multiple
strategies successful?
»» How do variations in stem design
contribute to stem strength per unit
investment?
»» How do changes in climate interact
with costs of stem construction, leading
to grassland to forest transitions?
We had a chat with Dr Stuart as she
settles into her stay at the Institute:
What led you to explore
these questions?
“If you look at the world around us, you’ll
see a huge variety of different species.
But we really don’t understand yet what
makes plant species different, or why
there are so many of them. If you think
about it, large trees are growing right
next to small shrubs and even tiny plants
like flowers and grasses. They are all
experiencing the same conditions, so
how is it possible that such different
adaptations can be successful?
“For people who study plants, there is
a lot of interest in understanding how
plants use finite resources available to
them – like light, water and nutrients
– and decide how they will use those
resources within the environments in
which they grow. I want to understand
how plants can come up with so many
different answers to what seems, at
first, like a really simple question.
“Many researchers have noticed that
there is an increasing trend towards
the growth of more woody plants. In
many places around the world – the US,
South Africa, and Australia, to name a
few – graziers have been complaining
that they are losing pastureland because
more and more trees are growing in the
fields where they graze their animals.
There are many different theories as to
why, but I suspect it is because rising
CO2
makes it much easier for trees to
build their big, woody stems. In other
words, more carbon, more trees. Part
of my project will be trying to find
evidence of this in Australian pastures.
‘‘For people who study
plants, there is a lot of
interest in understanding
how plants will use resources
within the environments
in which they grow…
’’What will you work on while you
are at the Hawkesbury Institute?
I’m doing a mixture of modelling-
based and field-based work including
some analysis of climate suitability.
I’m working with other researchers
here as part of their ongoing projects
such as how eucalypts from different
parts of Australia will cope with
rising temperatures and CO2
.
I am also keen to find out about some of
the observations from experiments in the
Whole Tree Chambers that concluded in
2014. The trees inside those chambers
grew very tall and thin because they
were never exposed to the wind that
would otherwise make them strong – it
will be interesting to compare their stem
structures with trees grown in the open.
‘‘Usually, I would have to wait
until I got to a conference
to see so many of my
colleagues in the same
place at the same time…
’’