Deakin’s Blue Carbon Lab is at the forefront of the fight against the effects of climate change.
Their research focuses on coastal ‘blue carbon’ ecosystems – seagrass, mangrove and saltmarsh – which are among the Earth’s most efficient carbon sinks, capable of storing carbon 40 times faster than tropical rainforests like the Amazon.
Led by Professor Peter Macreadie, the Blue Carbon Lab is discovering how coastal ecosystems can be protected and harnessed to reverse or even diminish the effects of climate change.
Philanthropic support has been vital to ensure that the Blue Carbon Lab has the freedom to pursue the type of research that is needed at the speed that it is required. The Blue Carbon Lab has been fortunate to attract support from a wide range of individuals and corporations, giving their time and funds to support an initiative that is of vital importance to all of us.
Dr Frank Gleason is an example of how a single individual can make a significant difference to research and a researcher’s career through their generosity. Dr Gleason, who passed away in 2020, was a microbiologist who developed an interest in seagrass wasting disease, which led to his collaboration with the Blue Carbon Lab and philanthropic support of Dr Stacey Trevathan-Tackett’s research.
Dr Gleason’s philanthropic support during the early years was essential to allow my career in academia to continue and was fundamental in developing my research portfolio.
Dr Stacey Trevathan-Tackett
Research Fellow
'My research looks at how the incredibly small things in coastal environments, like microbes and chemical compounds, affect plants, ecosystems and global-scale processes like climate change,' Dr Trevathan-Tackett says.
'His donations co-funded my first fellowship, working on a marine biosecurity database for Australia and launching the global TeaComposition H2O initiative. I have since been awarded two other prestigious fellowships.'
'The TeaComposition H2O initiative is a global analysis of how well different wetlands store carbon. With the help of citizen scientists, tens of thousands of teabags (donated by Lipton) are being buried in wetlands so that we can determine how carbon breakdown occurs in these environments.'
The teabags offer a standard measure of decomposition that can be used to compare wetlands. Fast decay of the tea inside the bag means more carbon is being released into the atmosphere. The bags are dug up and measured at regular intervals over a three-year period.
'The main goals are to track the biomass and carbon loss during decomposition and analyse the microbial communities driving the decomposition process. We hope to identify the wetlands that are better at capturing and storing carbon so that we can protect or restore them,' Dr Trevathan-Tackett says.
Discover our overachieving mangroves, wetlands and seagrass meadows and find out how they can help us deal with the climate emergency. Deakin's Dr Paul Carnell and Dr Melissa Wartman from the Blue Carbon Lab explain.
The HSBC citizen science program demonstrates how corporations can support discovery and spread the climate change message among their employees. HSBC initiated a partnership with the Blue Carbon Lab and Earthwatch Australia to develop a citizen science program that engaged its staff and partners in climate change research. HSBC staff manage $100 billion in sustainable finance and it is important that they have a sound understanding of natural systems and how their investment decisions impact the environment.
The HSBC program was a full-day immersive experience combining educational and data collection activities in a local wetland. A total of 21 HSBC citizen science days were delivered in the two years of the program. More than 350 employees from 23 businesses surveyed over 300 vegetation plots and collected more than 1000 soil samples from coastal wetlands. They learned about natural capital, ecosystem services and green finance while collecting data for the lab’s research projects. The data is being used to prepare research papers that will advance the understanding of blue carbon ecosystems. In 2019, the educational and scientific success of the program was recognised by the Australian Financial Review Higher Education Award for industry engagement.
As well as participating as citizen scientists, individuals continue to support the Blue Carbon Lab through direct donations via the website and through more targeted support, similar to Dr Frank Gleason’s giving.
In April 2023, researchers from the Blue Carbon Lab were awarded the Frontiers Planet Prize which supports scientific breakthroughs. Professor Peter Macreadie accepted the national award on behalf of his research team for the article, 'Blue carbon as a natural climate solution', published in Nature Reviews. In 2023, the Blue Carbon Lab is set to begin ground-breaking research on nature-based solutions to climate change across Australia.
The work of Deakin's Blue Carbon Lab is of vital importance – the solutions they find will shape the world we live in. You can also be part of the solution by supporting our mission. Learn more about how your donation can make a difference to world-leading research.
