Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment

Scientists tagging 10,000 bogong moths to solve mystery The project's success largely relies on citizen scientists spotting a distinct white dot on the wings of moths.

In an Australian first, a team of researchers from @westernsydneyu.bsky.social and volunteers from the self-titled "bug nerd network" have just tagged more than 10,000 bogong moths to find out where billions of them go when they leave the mountains.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...

ICOM2026 Registration is OPEN
lnkd.in/dzY-JZ9g

💰Early bird rates are available until April 12

🍽️ Conference dinner is included with registration

Join IMS for reduced registration fee 👉 lnkd.in/e_8maHFU

#ICOM2026 #mycorrhiza #IMS @fungidownunder.bsky.social

As part of #ClimateActionWeek Sydney, the NSW Decarbonisation Innovation Hub is hosting a tour of the environmental innovation sites on Hawkesbury Campus.

Wednesday, March 11 | 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Find out more & register free: luma.com/g9gemfza

#climate-smart #agriculturalinnovation #agtech

Our newly launched quarterly newsletter will highlight our latest initiatives & stories showcasing impact across our networks.

Read the first edition: shorturl.at/JRa63
Subscribe now at: ems.gs/3EOK0iqhncY

@westernsydneyu.bsky.social
#IndustryCollaboration #ResearchImpact

Intense heatwaves directly threaten crops and native species. Here’s what we can do Sustained extreme heat can damage, weaken and kill all living things, from wheat crops to koalas and fruit bats.

Intense heatwaves directly threaten crops and native species. Here’s what we can do
theconversation.com/intense-heat...

Tiny radio transmitters reveal a hidden survival tactic in birds The white-backed swallow survives the extreme temperatures of inland Australia by reducing its body temperature to save energy.

Tiny radio transmitters reveal a secret survival tactic in Australia’s white‑backed swallow — deep torpor, a behaviour scientists didn’t think this species could do.
🔗 Read more: theconversation.com/tiny-radio-t...

A remarkable new ABC News story has spotlighted the critically endangered Christmas Island flying fox — and the vital role researchers are playing in understanding and protecting the species
www.abc.net.au/.../rare-pho...
@westernsydneyu.bsky.social

This award-winning doco contains the best natural history footage of lyrebirds ever made! It also features some of our research at the HIE, @westernsydneyu.bsky.social and has just been made available to stream free via SBS OnDemand lnkd.in/eRm4SQHy
Find out more at lnkd.in/etrajSwT
#EchotheCall

🥭 Researchers are uncovering the science behind the pigments and traits that give #AustralianMangoes the vibrant yellows and rich orange colours consumers love.

🔗 Read the full story in the Summer 25/26 edition of Mango Matters (page 26): shorturl.at/9kAkn

Native bees, insects, birds and mammals keep our ecosystems alive but feral honeybees are outcompeting native species, weakening pollination networks and contributing to biodiversity decline. Protecting native pollinators means protecting Australia’s future. 🌱💛
theconversation.com/native-polli...

Flying foxes die in their thousands in worst mass-mortality event since Australia’s black summer Volunteers found thousands of dead bats at Melbourne’s Brimbank park, wildlife expert says

Thousands of flying foxes have died in Australia’s worst heatwave event since Black Summer.
These keystone pollinators are critical for forests & food security—yet climate extremes are pushing them to the brink.
Read more: shorturl.at/OzVsr
#ClimateCrisis #Biodiversity #FlyingFoxes

Flying foxes die in their thousands in worst mass-mortality event since Australia’s black summer Volunteers found thousands of dead bats at Melbourne’s Brimbank park, wildlife expert says * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Thousands of flying foxes have perished in the heatwave that scorched south-east Australia last week, the largest mass mortality event for flying foxes since black summer. Extreme temperatures resulted in deaths in camps across South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. Grey-headed flying foxes, listed as vulnerable under federal environment laws, were the most affected. Continue reading...

Flying foxes die in their thousands in worst mass-mortality event since Australia’s black summer

Yes, forest trees die of old age. But the warming climate is killing them faster The warming climate is killing Australia’s forest trees at a faster rate. This offers a glimpse of what may lie ahead for forests globally.

Australia’s trees are dying faster — not from fire, but from the stress of a warming, drying climate, weakening their role as vital carbon sinks.
🔗 theconversation.com/yes-forest-t... @bmedlyn.bsky.social @westernsydneyu.bsky.social @profchoat.bsky.social

👏Congratulations @westernsydneyu.bsky.social
researcher @chaoxiong.bsky.social
- awarded $475K #DECRA to boost crop resilience against climate extremes & pathogens. 🌱
🔗 Read more: westernsydney.edu.au/newscentre/n...
#ARC #Innovation #ClimateResilience #SustainableAgriculture 🌏

This Christmas, #DeadlyScience is raising funds to deliver microscopes and microscopy kits to classrooms in remote and regional communities.

Each kit opens a window to the microscopic world, igniting curiosity and building confidence.

Find out more at: deadlyscience.org.au/kitsmas/

Congratulations to @westernsydneyu.bsky.social HIE researchers named as Clarivate's Highly-Cited Scholars for 2025, Prof Brendan Choat, Dist Profs Belinda Medlyn, Brajesh Singh, & Ian Wright, and affiliates Peter Reich and Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo - each recognised for multiple consecutive years.

@prof-braj-singh.bsky.social has been honoured this week with a NSW Premier’s Prize for Science and Engineering for his ground-breaking research in soil ecology, sustainable agriculture, and global environmental management.
www.westernsydney.edu.au/newscentre/n...

@thegsbi.bsky.social @prof-braj-singh.bsky.social

Dist Prof Brajesh Singh has been recently elected as a #ForeignFellow2026 of the Indian National Science Academy, citing his outstanding scientific contributions and commitment to strengthening Australia–India bilateral relations through science & diplomacy. Congratulations Braj!

IAN Spring 2025 FINAL | Page 38 Joomag digital interactive publication

Exploring almond genetics to future-proof Aussie orchards -
researchers are decoding the DNA to help breeders create climate-smart, high-yielding almond varieties. viewer.joomag.com/ian-spring-2...
@eelab.bsky.social #AlmondResearch #SustainableHorticulture #HortInnovation #InANutshell

PhD Scholarship in Sound Science - Boosting Flower Pollination and Crop Production by Sonication (domestic students only). Contact A/Prof. Christopher Cazzonelli (email c.cazzonelli@westernsydney.edu.au) before applications close 31st October 2025

@westernsydneyu.bsky.social has launched WESTERN 2030 - a visionary roadmap that places students, impactful research, & community at the heart of everything we do.

📘 Discover how we're shaping the future: www.westernsydney.edu.au/news/strateg...

#Western2030 #FutureFocused #EducationForImpact

In the first study of its kind, researchers have discovered that bats fatten seasonally to survive harsh environmental conditions.

Read the full story: shorturl.at/rPl6z
Read the research paper: doi.org/10.1111/ele....
@westernsydneyu.bsky.social

ABC Landline explores the benefits of integrating #solar and #agriculture and points to the potential for future farming in Australia that could be supercharged with successful funding of the Agrisolar CRC ☀️🌾⚡

Watch it here: lnkd.in/gFjSXyW9

🌏🏆 @westernsydneyu.bsky.social has been ranked No 1 for delivering community impact in the THE Impact Rankings for four consecutive years 2022-2025. Find out more at: shorturl.at/igIv5%F0%9F%...

#WSU #SustainableDevelopment #ImpactRankings #TimesHigherEd #GlobalImpact #WesternSydneyProud

@westernsydneyu.bsky.social has been awarded $5.9 million to lead a transformative project restoring native ground cover and building drought resilience across NSW.
Find out more: shorturl.at/I8g0T
@dnaprymer.bsky.social
#FutureDroughtFund #SustainableFarming
@australiangov.bsky.social

Jacaranda, black locust and London plane: common street trees show surprising resilience to growing heat in Australia As Australian cities heat up, street trees are needed more than ever for their cooling. It turns out many are more resilient to heat than expected.

Can urban forests survive in a hotter, drier future? Jacaranda, black locust and London plane: common street trees show surprising resilience to growing heat in Australia theconversation.com/jacaranda-bl...

Trillions of microplastics are polluting our oceans — harming marine life, entering the food chain, & our bodies.
🌍 #WorldEnvironmentDay 2025 🌏 is a call to action reduce, reuse and rethink the way we use plastic to #BeatPlasticPollution - one of the biggest environmental challenges of our time.

Thermal acclimation of stem respiration implies a weaker carbon-climate feedback The efflux of carbon dioxide (CO2) from woody stems, a proxy for stem respiration, is a critical carbon flux from ecosystems to the atmosphere, which increases with temperature on short timescales. Ho...

New research reveals the amount of carbon dioxide released by trees could be considerably less than predicted
Find out more: shorturl.at/myRAP
Read the article: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

@westernsydneyu.bsky.social researchers have discovered that drought affected wheat plants are able to call on eco-friendly soil bacteria to survive
Find out more: shorturl.at/Nnyjz
Read the article: doi.org/10.1016/j.ch...
@prof-braj-singh.bsky.social