CSIRO

Accessing clean water in inland Australia is a challenge, and Mungalla Station is a perfect example of this. Located near Ingham in North Queensland, the historic cattle station is owned by the Nywaigi Traditional Owners who operate history and cultural tours. The station trucks water in for Mungalla's guests, including tourists and school groups. While bore water is available, the quality is not fit for direct use. If it was, it would provide a year-round safe water supply that’s also suitable for drinking. That's where our collaboration comes in. We’ve been working with the Nywaigi people on a nature-based treatment approach, drawing on local knowledge of plants. Co-designed together, this world-first system uses all-natural bio-carbon sourced from local plants. Indigenous knowledge informed the selection of suitable renewable, plant-based biomass from lands connected to Country as feedstock for making the carbon. The partnership also includes other Indigenous communities, training organisations and local representatives so locals can operate and maintain the unit, and the community can run it without outside help. Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/dyPMZp7p 📷 | Mungalla Station

Bringing space to regional communities. 🚀 In its first year of operation, our mobile Mission Operations Centre (MOC), or "Space Truck", has travelled across Australia supporting space activities and inspiring students in regional communities. Separate to its operational capabilities as a mission control centre, the truck welcomed over 11,600 people on board, including 6,600 students and teachers, through STEM outreach and community engagement activities. Our MOC facility manager, Craig James, said the reward has been seeing the surprise and wonder on people's faces as they walk through the door for the first time. Learn more about our Space Truck: https://lnkd.in/ewYDDR7Q

Building international relationships helps Australia and our region. 🌏 By collaborating with organisations like the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), we can improve international disease surveillance networks, get earlier warning of disease threats, and prepare our people and our industries against them sooner. Strong biosecurity in the Asia Pacific region means stronger biosecurity for Australia. It was in this spirit that our Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) along with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry welcomed international disease experts to Geelong this week for the fifth Regional Meeting for WOAH Reference Centres in the Asia and Pacific. We were delighted to host WOAH's Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, Dr Tomoko Ishibashi, and representatives from WOAH and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to ACDP yesterday, pictured here with ACDP's Director Dr Debbie Eagles.

You're looking at thousands of years of story, knowledge and connection. 🌳 We're proud to unveil a new artwork at our Parkes Observatory Visitors Centre: From Country, Through Time. The 10-metre mural by Wiradjuri artist Scott 'Sauce' Towney celebrates the enduring connection of Wiradjuri people to Country and the land that Murriyang, our Parkes radio telescope sits on. In Sauce's words, "Country is always changing, but its spirit, stories and connections continue. I truly believe these stories and connections belong to all of us that call this place home." If you're visiting Parkes, make sure you stop by and see it for yourself. Plan your visit: https://lnkd.in/gKk5b7k8 📷 | Counter-clockwise from top: Scott 'Sauce' Towney; CSIRO's Dylan Wright and Sophie Williams with Sauce; Sauce with a side view of From Country, Through Time; Sauce on day 1 of painting the mural.

Bring you favourite rock to work day.🪨 Even though it’s like picking their favourite child, we asked some of our geologists what their favourite mineral is in celebration of Earth Science Week. Our research is exploring how Australia can sustainably and responsibly supply the critical minerals needed for the future. Mineral enthusiasts: what's your favourite? Find out more about this research: https://lnkd.in/eky75xk3

Reimagining what's possible. 💡 What happens when researchers spend nine weeks testing assumptions about their research, talking to customers and exploring the potential of their ideas in market? Find out at the upcoming ON Prime 20 Showcases, where research teams share their learnings, discoveries and what’s next. You can join online or in person, with showcases in Sydney, Armidale, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Canberra. If you’re interested in research translation, innovation, science or the journey from great research to real-world impact, this event is for you. ON Prime is a 9-week program that helps participants explore the potential of their ideas through customer discovery, market validation and expert mentoring. Learn more and register: https://lnkd.in/ehWMv2tp

The September 2026 greenhouse gas data from one of the cleanest air sources in the world is now available. Kennaook / Cape Grim is a world-famous atmospheric gas monitoring station managed by us and the Bureau of Meteorology. Access the data: https://lnkd.in/gcjB-vhp

Say hello to a new serving of 'spaghetti worms'. 🪱 Scientists have announced a new genus and seven newly described species of deep-sea segmented 'spaghetti worms'. They’re the latest addition to the polychaetes, a class of marine worms with segmented bodies that have appendages called parapodia (side feet), armed with multiple bristles. These marine worms resemble centipedes, but their close relatives are terrestrial earthworms. While finding new deep-sea species is not uncommon, it is rare for scientists to establish a new genus, a biological classification above species. The new genus name is Terebellosuctoria, meaning ‘terebellids with suckers’, which was inspired by the unusual suction cups on their bodies. A study published in Records of the Australian Museum back in July examined marine worm specimens collected on several voyages of our research vessel (RV) Investigator, including two led by Museums Victoria in 2021 and 2022. More than 850 marine worms were collected during those voyages to discover the deep-sea biodiversity around Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. These findings show just how much we still don’t know about the marine life in the deep ocean around Australia. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/eSP7Xbkx Images: 1. Spaghetti worm (Terebellosuctoria Jimii) by Dr Elena Kupriyanova et al, Australian Museum 2 & 3. Spaghetti worm by CSIRO 4. RV Investigator in Darwin by Museums Victoria

The great Earth bake-off. 🌍 To celebrate Earth Science Week, our talented Minerals unit experts swapped their lab coats for aprons and cooked up some Earth science-themed cakes! Here’s what’s on the table, in order: 1. Bouma sequence cake – It depicts the famous Bouma turbidite sequence, showing how sediments settle as flow velocity decreases, from coarse sand at the base to mud at the top. 2. Exploring for Nickel Cake – Two cakes representing XRF maps of rock samples from mafic intrusions. The patterns on top hint at which one we’d want to drill (slice) for nickel rich sulfide. Spoiler: it was the cake on the right! 3. Digital + Geology – Cake with an edible icing on top depicting hyperspectral sensing, marine geology, regolith layers, various landscapes and, minerals and ore. 4. Volcano cupcakes – Mini volcanoes with lava lakes and exploded calderas. 5. Volcano muffins – More mini volcanoes, with strawberry jam lava. 6. Dolerite dyke cake – A dyke is a sheet‑like body of rock that cuts across pre‑existing rock layers, represented by the green unit made from pistachio. It's cutting across a sedimentary basin with intrusive granites. All made from delicious cinnamon bun. Earth Science Week is a global celebration highlighting how Earth science shapes our everyday lives.

Drawn to the sea but taken to the sun. 🌞 Dr Rowena Yew didn't set out to become a physicist. Her childhood fascination with the sea sparked a career as an engineer at the docks in Singapore. But her curiosity eventually led her to Australia to research solid-state physics and photophysics. Today, Rowena works in our Solar Technologies group as part of the Ultra Low Cost Solar (ULCS) initiative. She leads work developing technologies aimed at improving the performance, reliability and affordability of solar energy. Rowena is passionate about supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, which often face significant challenges adopting new technologies. She hopes to help make innovation more accessible to businesses that are trying to navigate rising energy costs and a rapidly changing energy landscape. Meet Rowena: https://lnkd.in/evsFvEXa 📷 | Rowena at the Arecibo Observatory, a lifelong dream inspired by Carl Sagan's Contact.