PhD candidate Rhiannon Schembri from the Faculty of Science and Engineering will travel to Cornell University in upstate New York to learn a powerful new DNA sequencing technique, while Macquarie alumnus Dr Lachlan Phillips, now at CSIRO, will work with NASA to improve water quality monitoring systems.
“We’re applying brand new technology used by evolutionary biologists to look at how bird DNA is structured and organised,” Schembri says.
“The Australian grass finches that I have been studying at Macquarie’s Griffith Ecology Lab are perfect for this kind of research because several species have developed different ways of packaging their DNA.”
Macquarie University PhD candidate Rhiannon Schembri is bound for the USA after receiving a prestigious Fulbright scholarship.
In August, Schembri will spend four to six months at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, working with Cornell’s Genomics Innovation Hub.
This laboratory is one of only two facilities worldwide with expertise in linked-read sequencing – a breakthrough technique that allows scientists to study entire genomes at a fraction of traditional costs.
“Rhiannon’s work will revolutionise our understanding of bird genetics,” says Professor Simon Griffith from Macquarie University’s School of Natural Sciences. “The techniques she’ll learn at Cornell will significantly advance Australian research capabilities in this field.”
Meanwhile, Dr Phillips will work on NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission, developing new ways to train artificial intelligence systems to monitor water quality using satellite imagery.
His work supports CSIRO’s AquaWatch Australia project, creating a comprehensive ‘weather service’ for water quality using satellite data over the Great Barrier Reef.
Both scholars present their research at the Fulbright Orientation Program in Canberra this week, which includes a gala event at Parliament House.
The Fulbright Program supports research collaboration and international academic exchange between the United States and more than 160 other countries.
