Research

An inaugural report from Australia's most comprehensive and detailed fire mapping database has found 2025 to be the second largest fire year in the past decade, driven by severe weather and storm-related ignitions. The North Australia and Rangelands Fire Information (NAFI) service, based out of Charles Darwin University (CDU) recently released its first – and from now annual – Fire Year Summary Report for 2025, detailing fire activity across Australia. 

Narrandera’s koala population is contributing to a major scientific study, with researchers from the Koala Sentinel Program back in the Riverina for its final round of fieldwork ... Researchers are investigating factors such as health, disease, genetics, nutrition, habitat, and ecology across six very different landscapes...

The global fertiliser market faces a prolonged period of tight supply, weak affordability and heightened price risk and, even if current geopolitical tensions ease soon, "normalisation will be slow", according to a recently-released industry report. In its latest Semi-annual Fertiliser Outlook, global agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank says the international fertiliser market ended the first quarter of the year under severe strain.

Collagen from sheep skin and lungs can support wound closure and tissue regeneration in people, opening the door for new wound care materials made from traditionally underutilised red meat processing byproducts ... "Wound healing is a complex process requiring the coordinated interaction of cells, growth factors and extracellular matrix components.

The future of Australia’s koalas is being reshaped in Port Stephens, with groundbreaking, world-leading research now underway at the Port Stephens Koala Hospital ... the investment is powering a three-year research program that will study a cohort of 100 koalas using advanced diagnostic technology – including CT, X-Ray, ultrasound and qPCR blood analysis.

A new national Faba Bean Breeding Program will provide growers with improved higher-yielding varieties of faba beans with better disease resistance, quality traits and adaptation across Australian growing regions. Australia is the world’s largest exporter of faba beans, supplying around one-third of global trade, with key markets including Egypt, the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia.

A lizard known to Wiimpatja Aboriginal Owners as Kungaka “the Hidden One” has been formally described as a new species, acknowledged in research published today in Zootaxa. With fewer than 20 individuals of the species known to exist, the Kungaka is also now one of Australia's most threatened reptiles.

The Australian Antarctic Program has completed two environmental management and research voyages to Heard Island and McDonald Islands – the first campaign of its kind in 20 years. The islands are an Australian external territory, located in the Southern Ocean, about 4,000 km south-west of Australia.

The recent Snow Gum Summit in Jindabyne has drawn attention to the health of this notable tree of the Australian alps. The causes or primary cause of widespread snow gum decline, with a particular focus on fire regimes, climate change and insects, and the appropriate response to this problem, are the subject of a considered exchange of differing views here between two experts from different generations but not entirely different schools or schools of thought.

Ten million people now call regional Australia home, and Western Australia is leading the way with its regional population growing faster than the cities, according to a deep dive into the latest population statistics released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). 

The first major project unveiled by the Australasian Space Innovation Institute, the National Digital Twin for Australian Agriculture holds immense potential for the agricultural industry to harness existing national datasets and observation systems to model scenarios, test options and inform discussions and decisions, including at scale. Australian Rural & Regional News found out a good deal through an in depth interview with Andrew Beveridge, Director of the National Digital Twin for Australian Agriculture.

Australian fruit and vegetable growers are missing out of sales of up to one million tonnes of produce that never makes it to market, estimated at up to $2.5 billion a year. In response, a new national research program aims to help farmers keep more value from every harvest by tackling surplus and losses on-farm.

Australia is “critically exposed to geopolitical risk”, unless Australia can reliably produce a domestic supply of liquid fuel, The Nationals’ think tank has warned.

New paper says Australia’s present fuel strain is not the worst-case scenario and calls for more drilling, new diesel-focused refineries, and coal-to-liquids to restore fuel security. Australia’s current fuel crisis should not be mistaken for the worst-case scenario. That is the warning from a major new report released today by the Page Research Centre...

Experiments look to improve beekeepers’ ability to import desirable genetics, by understanding how deformed wing virus is transmitted from queen bees to eggs through drone semen. New insights into the transmission of a significant honey bee virus could pave the way for safer access to imported genetics that could help Australia’s honey bee and pollination industry adapt to varroa mite.

Professor Bhattacharya from Monash University says advancing domestic refining and feedstock technologies is critical to improving long-term fuel security. Monash engineers have developed a pyrolysis technology that converts end-of-life tyres and plastics into high-value liquid hydrocarbons, creating a new, circular source of refinery-ready feedstocks.

More than 200 riders and support crew hit the road last Friday on the annual Tour de Cure Signature Tour, a nine-day cycling event aiming to raise $2 million for cancer research, support programs and prevention projects Australia-wide.

Dr Brookhouse and the Snow Gum Summiteers (Snow gum dieback raises fears for largest river system) should look at the history and basic ecology of chronic eucalypt decline or so-called dieback ... Pests, parasites and diseases are symptoms and contributors, not causes of chronic eucalypt decline ... Chronic decline of eucalypts is not a consequence of climate change.

Matthew Harrison. It’s widely promoted for its environmental benefits. But how does it actually affect farm profitability and greenhouse gas emissions? Evidence remains limited. One reason is that regenerative agriculture is usually presented as a bundle of practices...

A new independent study has confirmed what the Tweed community already knows – the Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre is one of regional Australia’s most remarkable cultural assets, contributing almost $20 million each year to the local economy.

New research has revealed past land clearing is increasing the vulnerability of native Australian forests to the invasive myrtle rust disease — with regrowth forests emerging as hotspots for impact.