January-February Newsletter: Issue 174
From the Director
Dear colleagues,
Well, it’s too late to welcome everyone to a new year, but since this is the first newsletter of the year, why not:
Happy New Year and welcome to our first RSB Newsletter of 2026.
I know everyone is busy, so here is a quick rundown on what has been happening.
First, as this is my first comment as RSB director, my sincere thanks to Craig for steering us through last five years and for getting us here and starting 2026 in a good position. Having survived the first few weeks of email traffic and meeting schedules, I now understand why he didn’t always have time to come to social hour!
So far this year, we have welcomed a new cohort of Honours students in RSB who are working hard on their research proposals, and I wish them all well with their submissions. Also happy to report that 11 of 17 internal, and six of 13 externally-led ARC Discovery proposals that were submitted at the end of last year have now been shortlisted. This is a great average, and I hope that most will get funded – even if we get the statistical 50% that would be nice. A record number of Future Fellowship applicants have just been responding to rejoinders and seven DECRA applications are about to be submitted. Good luck to everyone and thank you to the Research Office for their handling of a lot of concurrent applications at this time of the year. A reminder to please keep to all the internal grant deadlines so that feedback can go back to everyone in time and maximise our successes.
We do have a few trials ahead, not least the uncertainties about centralisation of some of our professional staff teams, the budget and the challenges AI is throwing at us in teaching. Our priories will be to buffer the consequences of staff changes, support our research students and keep the communication going.
What else can I say? Keep listening to your colleagues and students in the upcoming seminars, put up your hand to run one of the suggested activities from the IDEA committee (email Emily Furlong if unsure what this involves) and keep coming to social events like the RSB Social Hour and morning tea activities (and thanks to the social hour team for their planned special activities this year).
Welcome
Colm Ryan
Welcome to new PhD student Colm Ryan (Djordjevic / Mathesius groups, PS). Colm comes to ANU from Ireland, where he did his undergraduate Studies (Trinity College Dublin). In his PhD he will be investigating signalling pathways involved in plant nitrogen use efficiency and seed yield.
Ellie Jordan
APPN welcomes Ellie Jordan as our new Technical Coordinator.
Ellie joins us from the Atkin lab. Her role is to support our equipment fleet - to manage equipment bookings, inductions and maintenance. She will also be involved the GRDC Heat Tolerance and Canola projects and 3D scanning work.
Ellie is completing the final year of her Bachelor of Science degree alongside working for APPN.
It is great to have you on board Ellie!
Grants Awarded
Congratulations
In the Media
Ben Corry (BSB) has been interviewed on his research, in collaboration with The Hudson Institute of Medical Research, that has found that tiny RNA fragments help keep the immune system in check and prevent the body from attacking itself. Read the full ANU Reporter Article Discovery of tiny RNA fragments unlock giant potential for new autoimmune disease treatments.
Alharbi, A.S., Sapkota, S., Zhang, Z. et al. 2′-O-Methyl-guanosine RNA fragments antagonize TLR7 and TLR8 to limit autoimmunity. Nat Immunol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-026-02429-2
Danielle Way (PS) has been interviewed on her recent promotion into editor-in-chief for Wiley Online Library, read the full interview Meet Danielle Way Global Change Biology Editor-in-Chief.
News
A large gift for our small birds
Damien Farine (E&E) received a generous $200,000 gift from an anonymous donor to support the continuation of the superb fairywren project at the Australian National Botanical Gardens. This donation followed the news story by Damien’s Group that winter 2025 saw a loss of over 50% of the adults in the population, which is the largest ever annual decline recorded in over 35 years of monitoring (see the ANU reporter article Winter takes its toll on Canberra’s birds for more on this). Fran Hacker and Samuele Ramellini (PhD students in Damien’s group) are putting a big effort to develop the new methodological approaches, combining the power of decades of data together with fine-scale individual monitoring, that are needed to identify what precipitates such declines. The donation will go towards funding a PhD student to contribute towards this research, and highlights the local and international importance of the ANU Superb Fairywren Project.
Our Directors' Afternoon Tea
In late February, the School came together to say a fond farewell to our previous School Director Craig Moritz (E&E) who held the position of RSB Director from March 2021 to December 2025. CoSM Dean Kiaran Kirk provided some entertaining background on the trials and tribulations both in the lead up to Craig's Directorship and during his leadership; Covid-19, dog immigration, Renew ANU, were among the many topics covered. Another key aspect of Craig Directorship was his focus supporting the community at RSB and the College, and that this was always at the forefront of Craig's decisions for the School, with a particular focus on promoting a culture of cross-institutional and cross-divisional collaboration as well as improving inclusivity within the School. We thank Craig for his time as Director and look forward to his continuing engagement with the School as an Emeritus Professor and Group Leader.
Our Directors' Afternoon Tea was also a celebration of the Directorship to come. Our new School Director Ulrike Mathesius was welcomed into her role and Kiaran, having also known Uli for a long time, was able to enlighten us to a few entertaining stories of her history at RSB and assure us that we will be in safe hands under her guidance. Uli first came to ANU on the 2nd of November 1993 as an undergraduate student at the then Research School of Biological Sciences (RSBS) and has been at the School ever since, completing her PhD at RSBS 1996-1999, Postdoctoral Studies from 2005-2010 at School of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BAMBI), ARC Research Fellowship 2005-2010 then ARC DECRA Future Fellow from 2011-2015. Many members of the School will know Uli from her previous role as the Head of the Division of Plant Sciences, which she held from January 2021 to December 2025. We welcome Uli to her new role and look forward to seeing what comes next!
As part of the ceremonial transfer of leadership, Craig accepted his glitter-infested Ex-Director sunhat with humility and grace. The sunhat, which was constructed by the finest artisan milliners in the region, is rumoured to bestow its wearer with the ability to never sneeze in public and is kept under lock and key in the RSB Director's Office until the next Directorship handover.
Outreach
NYSF students visit APPN
On Friday 9 January, 16 students attending the National Youth Science Forum in Canberra visited the APPN-ANU node, viewing our research facilities, seeing the software we have developed to assist with plant phenotyping and engaging in a Q&A session with our staff.
The National Youth Science Forum (NYSF) Year 12 Program gives students from around Australia with a passion for science about to start year 12 a broader understanding of study and career options available in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Since 1984, more than 15,000 young Australians have progressed through the NYSF Year 12 Program, including those run under the organisation’s previous banner, the National Science Summer School (NSSS). Many of the program alumni have subsequently undertaken studies at ANU including in the Research School of Biology.
From the Australian Mountain Research Facility (AMRF)
Student Experience - Summer Cadetship
The Australian Mountain Research Facility (AMRF) Summer Cadetship is a summer program for ANU students to gain more experience in a wide array of mountain research project over the course of the summer break. AMRF dedicates itself to furthering research initiatives that address the impact of climate change on Australia's High-Country ecosystems and the adaptability of those ecosystems to upcoming climate concerns. Directed by Adrienne Nicotra (E&E), AMRF is a collaboration between multiple different institutes across 4 states within Australia. It is supported by the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN NCRIS) with contributions from RSB, FSES and CoSM. It maintains monitoring infrastructure and research sites spread across New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, and Tasmania.
This year 13 applicants were offered cadetships.
In the cadetship, time is often spent helping different labs and groups across RSB and FSES. Cadets have engaged with a wide range of research projects and have spent time at tasks range from taking measurements of plants in glasshouses, going out into the field for some hands-on experience, to helping out with the behind-the-scenes set up work that goes into making sure things are running smoothly. This position allows for cadets to explore their interests through work in different labs and figure out what direction they want to take in the future based on what they have learned during the cadetship.
My cadetship work commenced in mid-November, where I initially started with testing thermoelectric modules called Peltier plates for an upcoming field course. I got to make an insulated enclosure for them using foam and glass and developed a better understanding of their function. This was exactly the sort of experience I needed for starting my Honours project the next year, in which I will now include Peltier plates as a key component of my methods. Throughout November and December, I went on a handful of field trips supported by different labs, with a majority of them consisting of collecting samples of various types. I was able to learn how to use a number of tools, such as increment borers to collect microcore samples from snow gums in Kosciuszko and LI-CORs to measure chlorophyll florescence and gas exchange in leaves. This cadetship has been truly invaluable to me, as I have become more familiar with the processes of experimental set up and the wide variety of projects I have worked on has informed me of what I would enjoy exploring in my research in the future.
Written by Shrejal Choudhary
Publications
Abernathy V, Nahid NI, Stokke BG, Langmore NE. Have Asian koels evolved egg mimicry with any of their hosts? Journal of Avian Biology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jav.03481
Aghabi D, Rubio CG, Martinez MC, Fairweather SJ, van Dooren GG et al. ZFT is the major iron and zinc transporter in Toxoplasma gondii. eLife. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.108666
Alemu JB, Mallela J, Wicquart J. Trinidad and Tobago in: Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970 – 2024. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) and International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI). Wicquart J, Mathon L, Petit A, Rivera-Sosa A, McField M (eds.) Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network. https://doi.org/10.59387/BDHF9180
Alharbi AS, Sapkota S, Zhang Z, Jin R, Bones J, He S, Corry B et al. 2′-O-Methyl-guanosine RNA fragments antagonize TLR7 and TLR8 to limit autoimmunity. Nature Immunology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-026-02429-2
Appleby D, Langmore NE, Pitcher B et al. Rescue of the traditional song culture of a critically endangered songbird. Scientific Reports.
Austin V, Welbergen, JA, Backhouse, F, Langmore NE. The effects of age on vocal mimicry in female superb lyrebirds. Journal of Avian Biology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jav.03520
Benjamin W, Youngentob KN, Marsh K, Singh, Nitschke CR. Chemical composition of post-fire epicormic foliage affects nutritional quality for folivores. Forest Ecology and Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2026.123569
Braby MF. Seasonal polyphenism of larvae of Hypochrysops ignitus (Leach, 1814) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in the Australian monsoon tropics. Australian Entomologist.
Braby MF. Larval variation in Erina gilesi (M.R. Williams & Bollam, 2001) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Australian Entomologist.
Braby MF, Armstrong JJ, Müller CJ. Hypochrysops piceata aureus in: Tennent WJ, Müller CJ (eds). The Jewel Butterflies: A Monograph of the Lycaenid Genus Hypochrysops. Storm Entomological Publications.
Brunner R, Grinblat M, Moya A, Foret S, Hayward DC, Ball EE et al. Major transitions in early coral development: novel insights enabled by visualisation of a comprehensive transcriptomic dataset for Acropora millepora. BMC biology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-026-02507-9
Chen SH, Yap JYS, Viler V, Jones A et al. Pathways to Recovery: Genomics and Resistance Assays for Tree Species Devastated by the Myrtle Rust Pathogen. Molecular Ecology.https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.70030
Collings DA, Aleamotuʻa A, McCurdy DW. Structural conservation and jasmonate-induced development of phi thickenings in diverse plant taxa. Annals of Botany. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf285
Eakin CM, Heron SF, Connolly SR, Mallela J et al. Severe and widespread coral reef damage during the 2014-2017 Global Coral Bleaching Event. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67506-w
Fontana L, Bolcato S, Penndorf J, Aplin LM. Social and ecological factors associated with innovation in urban sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita). Behavioral Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/araf160
Ganguly DR, Gregory BD. The nuclear cap-binding complex regulates subcellular RNA processing and surveillance of coding and noncoding RNAs. Nucleic Acids Research.
Gopalan TAR, Howard I, Youngentob KN, Marsh KJ et al. The Influence of Fire and Foliar Chemical Composition on the Diet of Southern Greater Gliders (Petauroides volans). Austral Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.70178
Graetz A, Feng J, Ringeri A, Bird A, Schwessinger B et al. Benchmarking fungal species classification using Oxford Nanopore Technologies long-read ITS metabarcodes. Fungal Genetics and Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fgb.2025.104042
Hu T, Poire R, Way D. Leaf Analyzer: A fully automated and open-source tool for high-throughput leaf trait measurement. Plant Phenomics.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphe.2025.100145.
Lin Y, Zhou Z, Han Y, Corry B et al. TMEM63 proteins act as mechanically activated cholesterol modulated lipid scramblases contributing to membrane mechano-resilience. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68919-x
Luo Z, Tobias PA, Singh L, Jones A, Schwessinger B et al. Host adaptation and genome evolution of the broad host range fungal rust pathogen, Austropuccinia psidii. G3 – Genes, Genomes and Genetics. https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkaf255
O'Hara KE, Zozaya SM, Hahn EE, Holleley CE, & Moritz C. Repeated Independent Formation of Triploid Lineages Contributes to Clonal Diversity in Heteronotia binoei Parthenogens. Molecular Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.70240
Lyons FMT, Chmielewski J, Chan LJ, Tham WH et al. Crystal structure and nanobodies against domain 3 of the malaria parasite fusogen Plasmodium falciparum HAP2. Biochemical Journal. https://doi.org/10.1042/BCJ20250297
Lyons FMT, Chmielewski J, Gabriela M, Tham WH et al. Pfs48/45 nanobodies block Plasmodium falciparum transmission. Public Library of Science Pathogens. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1013884
Mahmood MA, Greenwood JR, Millar AA, Susila H. Next-generation genome editing: no transgene, no tissue culture. Trends in Plant Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2025.12.008
Nguyen ND, Rourke LM, Price GD, Long BM. The function, evolution, and future of carboxysomes. Journal of Experimental Botany. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eraf425
Zeglinski K, Schuster J, Sa JD , Tham WH et al. Alpseq: an open-source workflow to turbocharge nanobody discovery with high-throughput sequencing. mAbs. https://doi.org/10.1080/19420862.2026.2623326
Selva KJ, Lee WS, Enriquez AL, Tham WH et al. Elevated SARS-CoV-2 IgG4 in plasma and mucosa following repeated mRNA boosters impact antibody functions to Omicron and sarbecoviruses. eBioMedicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2025.106087
Su H, Yang Y, Zhang Y, Jones A et al. Autonomous recovery of wheat spikelet development following cold stress arrest mediated by modulation of sucrose degradation and IAA/ABA homeostasis. Journal of Experimental Botany. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eraf431
Tam R, Moller M, Luo R, Jones A, Rathjen JP, Schwessinger B et al. Long-read genomics reveal extensive nuclear-specific evolution and allele-specific expression in a dikaryotic fungus. Genome Research. https://www.genome.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gr.280359.124
Warrant E & Maleszka R. The multisensory basis of long-distance migration in monarch butterflies and bogong moths: precision navigation or simply chance? Journal of Experimental Biology. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.250957
Yogeeswaran K, Ingerfeld M, McInnes NR, Gunning BES, Collings DA. The lipotubuloids of Ornithogalum umbellatum L. contain hyperstable microtubules. Plants. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14233677
Zang K, Hong X, Nguyen ND, Rourke LM, Lee J, Price GD et al. Stages of biomolecular condensate formation in pro-β-carboxysome assembly. Nature Plants. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-026-02227-6
Zozaya, S.M, Read, W.J, Macor, S.A., Pavón-Vázquez, C.J., Gale, N.P., Wright, J.M., & Broady, E.S. (2026) Three new species reveal an unrecognized clade of rock monitors (Varanidae: Varanus) from the eastern Australian savannas. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf192
Read more
A tough winter has taken its toll on Canberra’s bird population, with less than half of the superb fairy-wrens that live in the Australian National Botanic Gardens surviving.
Extremely short, or tiny, fragments of RNA – working copies of our genetic code – play a critical role in keeping the immune system in check, preventing inflammation and the onset of autoimmune disease, according to an international team of researchers led by scientists from The Hudson Institute of Medical Research in collaboration with The Australian National University (ANU).
RSB Newsletter - November & December 2025. Vampires, HDR-EMCR Conferences, ARC DECRA successes and more.
RSB Newsletter - November & December 2025. Vampires, HDR-EMCR Conferences, ARC DECRA successes and more.