We showcase the impact of UOW students, teaching, research, and graduates on the world. Our mission is to share inspiring stories that educate and motivate, highlighting the transformative power of education in addressing global challenges.
50 Voices
This year, as part of our 50th Anniversary celebrations, we have launched 50 Voices - a content series that celebrates the people who have made UOW what it is today. From labs to libraries, lawns to lecture theatres, hear unique stories from students, staff, alumni, donors, and community members who have had a lasting impact.
Articles
Environment and Energy, Research
How mangrove restoration can safeguard the Solomon Islands
In the quiet morning light of Langalanga Lagoon in the Solomon Islands’ Malaita Province, the tide drains the last of the crystal-clear water through a tangled maze of mangrove roots.
Environment and Energy, Science and Technology
The hidden history of extreme floods in Sydney
Floods are among Australia’s most devastating natural disasters, and recent years have shown just how vulnerable our communities can be.
Environment and Energy, Science and Technology
Adrift in a warming world
It was the classic European jaunt, the kind that beckons young people with little responsibility and all the time in the world.
Alumni, Environment and Energy
Finding beauty in seaweed and sustainability
“You’ve got to create solutions that work,” says Dr Pia Winberg, a celebrated marine ecologist, entrepreneur and graduate of the University of Wollongong (UOW). Her focus on seaweed and microalgae is not just about products but a mission to address global sustainability challenges.
Environment and Energy, Science and Technology
How IVF can save our most endangered frogs
Dr. Aimee Silla is using IVF and hormone therapy to help bring endangered frogs back from the brink of extinction, giving these species a hoppier future.
Environment and Energy, Research
Diving into marine life mysteries with UOW’s MAVE Lab
With humpback whales migrating along Illawarra shorelines, we get daily reminders of the amazing marine life that exists right on our doorstep.
Environment and Energy, Science and Technology
What's in a name?
Biologist and award-winning photographer Dr James Dorey explains the art of assigning names to bee species that are new to science.
Environment and Energy
The beautiful diversity of UOW's flora and fauna
How purposeful planting shaped UOW's biodiversity
Alumni, Environment and Energy
Force of gravity
The UOW graduate putting retired mineshafts to work for our green energy future
Arts and Culture, Environment and Energy
Pootopia: the science, art and economics of human manure
Most of us don’t think twice about the fact that our favourite fruit and veggies are grown with the help of animal manure. But how would you feel about growing food with your own poo?
Environment and Energy
Setting the stage for greener housing
Team UOW Australia reminisces on how they retrofitted the first-ever net-zero house and won Solar Decathlon China
Environment and Energy, Research, Science and Technology
Understanding Australia’s ancient landscape
“I’m not a very spiritual person, but it’s such a spiritual place out there. It’s otherworldly, and I just sort of fell in love with the place and the community.”
Environment and Energy
Voting with two wheels
Cycling to work can help improve physical and mental health, reduce congestion and mitigate climate change.
Environment and Energy, Students
The UOW water warriors
Students go pond-dipping to understand the importance of aquatic habitats
Environment and Energy, Research
Walking in the footsteps of scientists at Low Isles
Environmental researcher Associate Professor Sarah Hamylton retells her latest expedition
Environment and Energy, Science and Technology
Among ancient moss forests
Distinguished Professor Sharon Robinson shares her first-hand experience of her decades-long research in Antarctica.
Alumni, Environment and Energy
The double degree dynamic
Joe Cincotta’s career has taken him from advertising to the frenetic pace of digital start-ups, to working with Facebook, to banks and insurance, to medicine and now helping zoos around the world care for their animals.
Environment and Energy
The truth about Australia’s plastic problem
Despite Australia’s small population, it is consistently one of the largest producers of waste in the OECD
Environment and Energy
UOW’s journey to global sustainability
The University of Wollongong (UOW) signed a commitment to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2019. Three years later, UOW is ranked equal 70th in the world for social and economic impact and is placed in the top 50 global universities for seven of the 17 goals.
Environment and Energy
Why have we had so much rain this year?
As parts of western NSW prepare for heavy rainfall and severe flooding, the east coast is once again bracing for more wet weather throughout spring.
Environment and Energy, Health and Medicine
The (renewable) power of exercise
Imagine charging your phone by going for a run. That’s the concept behind Dr Fatemeh Mokhtari’s project intertwining renewable energy, tech and activewear.
Business and Economy, Environment and Energy
Should Australian governments nationalise the electricity sector? It’s not that simple
The shock suspension last week of Australia’s wholesale electricity market rekindled an age-old debate about whether the energy sector should be nationalised – in other words, owned and controlled by government.
Education, Environment and Energy
Carbon neutrality, greenhouse gases, net-zero: understanding the lingo of a sustainable future
On 5 June, to mark World Environment Day, the University of Wollongong (UOW) announced its commitment to carbon neutrality by 2030. It follows years of devastating natural disasters exacerbated by climate change, including the Black Summer Bushfires and recent East Coast floods.
Environment and Energy
When disaster strikes: living in a world with more frequent natural disasters
Just two years after the devastating Black Summer bushfires swept through Australia, the east coast has once again been battered by the forces of nature.
Environment and Energy, Science and Technology
Koala vocals providing key to saving species
Artificial intelligence that identifies individual koalas by their vocals promises to revolutionise our understanding of the iconic – and now endangered - Australian marsupial.
Business and Economy, Education, Environment and Energy
Meet the team: Facility for Intelligent Fabrication
The Facility for Intelligent Fabrication (FIF) was formed in recognition of the changing business climate, as the Illawarra transitions from large-scale heavy manufacturing, and the need for local manufacturers to innovate and adapt to remain competitive. In this piece, we speak to one of the groups leaders and an early career researcher to understand their different perspectives and roles.
Environment and Energy
Climate change, eucalypt bark and bushfires: Why do some trees die and others survive?
Harriet is a fire ecology researcher who is currently completing her PhD with the Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires.
Environment and Energy, Law, Politics and Society, Students
Our future in their hands
They’re in their early twenties, fresh-faced but also fiercely committed and hopeful that together, they can change the future of our climate
Environment and Energy, Health and Medicine
How to choose milk for yourself and the environment
The acceptance of alternative milk in Australia is booming, with plant-based products equating seven per cent of milk consumed and the industry worth around $230 million in 2020.
Environment and Energy
Plastic is no longer just a marine problem
“More and more, we are finding that microplastics are in the atmosphere, in the mountains, in the ice caps, in the human environment.”
Environment and Energy
How microplastics are impacting our precious plankton
Researching plankton might not seem like the most interesting organisms to study in the ocean.
Environment and Energy
Helping oyster farmers to weather environmental challenges
It’s been a crazy twelve months for Batemans Bay oyster farmer Ewan McAsh. This time last year he was fighting bushfire flames at the front door of his oyster farm office and storage sheds.
Environment and Energy
The two of us: Jeff Kelleway and Zachary Nagel-Tynan
PhD Candidate Zachary Nagel-Tynan is investigating what processes are occurring below ground in coastal wetland ecosystems. His supervisor is School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, Vice Chancellor's Research Fellow Dr Jeff Kelleway.
Environment and Energy
August_ The two of us: Duane Robinson and Brendan Banfield
PhD Candidate Brendan Banfield is passionate about renewable energy and sustainability. His research is investigating how smart technologies in buildings can be used to reduce electricity costs and increase thermal comfort. His supervisor is Duane Robinson who was appointed Deputy Director of the SRBC in 2015, and more recently Director of the APQRC in 2020.
Community, Environment and Energy, Science and Technology
Researcher spotlight: Daniel Daly
This month we are focussing on United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, to raise the profile of researchers and projects working toward this important goal to ensure we protect our environmental future.
Environment and Energy, Science and Technology
Staying on top of wasted efforts
It was once believed that the concrete used to build our cities’ sewer pipes would easily last a hundred years or longer. A ‘build and forget’ service, with maintenance only required for what enters its tunnels, and not for the structure itself.
Environment and Energy, Science and Technology
Improving the ocean starts at our coast
The Second World Ocean Assessment was released in April, in connection with Earth Day 2021. The assessment involved contributions from more than 300 scientists from the UN’s group of experts chosen from around the world, and provides a comprehensive and integrated review of scientific information on the state of the marine environment.
Environment and Energy, Health and Medicine, Science and Technology
The three of us: Faisal Hai, Ashley Ansari and Michael Stapleton
Michael Stapleton is an Environmental Engineer who through his PhD, is investigating the interconnection of two emerging water pollution issues- microplastics and antibiotics. Michael has two amazing academics and researchers supporting him on his journey- Professor Faisal Hai & Dr Ashley Ansari.
Environment and Energy, Science and Technology
Combining chemistry and Aboriginal art
Artist and scientist Stephanie Beaupark is combining her two passions for her PhD research into Eucalyptus dyes and culturally-safe research methodologies.
Environment and Energy, Science and Technology
Virtual International conference organized by UOW’s Professor Shujun Zhang
During 16th -21st May, the ISAF-ISIF-PFM2021 joint meeting (International Symposium on Applications of Ferroelectrics, International Symposium on Integrated Functionalities and Piezoresponse Force Microscopy Workshop) was held virtually.
Environment and Energy
The student comparing fox skulls all around Australia
UOW PhD student Ryan Dallas is hoping his research into foxes will help contribute to the conservation of Australia’s native species
Environment and Energy, Community, Study areas, Science and Technology
The rise of eco-anxiety
As the world continues to grapple with the tangible impacts of climate change, eco-anxiety has become a very real problem.
Education, Environment and Energy, Health and Medicine, International, Study areas, Science and Technology
A blueprint to change the world
The University of Wollongong is working to effect change on a global level, with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals providing a roadmap for creating a better world for all.
Community, Arts and Culture, Environment and Energy
Helping Country to heal after fire
Led by University of Wollongong researcher Dr Anthony McKnight, a team of staff, students and community members are helping flora and fauna on Yuin Country in the Snowy Mountains to recover from the summer’s devastating bushfires.
Environment and Energy
The 3 of us: Crystal Arnold, Jennifer Atchison & Anthony McKnight
The University of Wollongong (UOW) is home to many high achieving PhD students who are working towards solving real world problems. Behind every great PhD candidate is a great supervisor (or two).
Environment and Energy
Safer electric vehicles
Chief Investigators Professor Haiping Du and Dr Shuaishuai Sun, both from the Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences, are developing suspension and advanced control techniques that have the potential to improve vehicle safety by reducing the prevalence of accidents, injuries and fatalities caused by unstable vehicle motion such as loss of handling and traction control and rollovers.
Environment and Energy
The two of us: Michael Adams and Freya Croft
The University of Wollongong (UOW) has so many high achieving PhD students, working towards solving real world problems. Behind every great PhD candidate is a great supervisor (or two). We hear from both to understand their perspective of the post graduate journey.
Environment and Energy
Next-Generation Smart Solid-State Transformers (S3T)
A new UOW research project funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) aims to design, develop and implement a next-generation smart solid-state transformer (S3T) that will greatly contribute to Australia’s energy infrastructure.
Environment and Energy
Understanding environmental stressors for the Great Barrier Reef
With the future of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef under threat, a newly funded three-year project will expand our understanding of the drivers and context of recent mass coral bleaching on the reef.
Environment and Energy
The three of us: Pauline McGuirk, Gordon Waitt & Hilton Penfold
The University of Wollongong (UOW) has so many high achieving PhD students, working towards solving real world problems. Behind every great PhD candidate is a great supervisor (or two). We hear from both to understand their perspective of the postgraduate journey.
Environment and Energy
Shaping a sunburnt country
Fire has shaped the Australian landscape, biodiversity and resources for millennia and in south-eastern Australia, it is the dominant ecological disturbance and a prominent natural hazard.
Environment and Energy
Measuring the health of Antarctica’s ecosystems
Researchers have been granted more than half-a-million-dollars by the Australian Research Council to investigate the cause and consequences of apparent changes to environmental ecosystems in East Antarctica. The funding ($505,000) was awarded through the ARC’s Discovery Projects scheme.
Environment and Energy
Coastal landscape evolution
Researchers will use innovative modelling techniques to document and date the nature and implications of the historic environmental changes that shaped Australia’s modern coastal landscapes thanks to a $391,000 Australian Research Council Discovery Project grant.
Environment and Energy
Powering new energy designs
Australia has abundant renewable energy resources such as solar, hydro and wind. The wide use of clean energy sources will greatly reduce Australia’s demand for fossil fuels, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and alleviate global warming and climate change, resulting in significant environmental benefits to the country.
Environment and Energy
Making New Strategic Partnerships
The UOW is an international network of strategic partnerships - and we partner for a reason. Collectively we can tackle major global issues more effectively, and develop the next generation of exceptional researchers and industry leaders.
General tags, Alumni, Education, Environment and Energy, Science and Technology
Laura Wells
Scientist, model, environmentalist, television presenter, and all-round passionate human being, Laura Wells defies expectations.
Arts and Culture, Environment and Energy, Science and Technology
Talking about my (energy) generation
Never before has energy been so accessible or in demand.
Environment and Energy, Science and Technology
A healthy diet for a healthy planet
Forecasts suggest that by 2050, 10 billion people will inhabit the earth, requiring the production of 70 to 100 per cent more food.
Environment and Energy, Study areas
Rise of the Himalaya
Understanding their origins means we can more accurately reconstruct Earth’s fractured history.
Environment and Energy
How theatre is helping Vanuatu protect its fisheries
A team of UOW researchers are behind an initiative that uses theatre to educate remote villages about the importance of sustaining fisheries for generations to come.
Arts and Culture, Community, Environment and Energy, Science and Technology
The buck stops here
Ethical dilemmas are likely to arise in the workplace from time-to-time, no matter what job you do. If, for instance, your workplace doesn’t have a recycling system in place, it is easy to blame the company when you find yourself throwing recyclable items in the trash.
Environment and Energy, Health and Medicine, Science and Technology
Why the digital revolution needs a human touch
From health to congestion, stormwater to air pollution, the digital revolution is transforming urban areas into smart cities. But is our love of technology leaving people behind?
General tags, Alumni, Community, Environment and Energy, Study areas, Science and Technology
Turning the tide on plastic pollution
Global plastic pollution is reaching crisis level. This has severe implications for our oceans, our environment, our wildlife and our health, now and into the future. But is it too late to end the plastic pandemic?
Environment and Energy, Study areas, Science and Technology
Kai's journey from rock pools to fish schools
From his childhood on the Far South Coast of NSW to his current research that investigates the social lives of fish, Kai Paijmans has always been enamoured with marine ecosystems and the creatures that dwell within.
Environment and Energy, Study areas, Science and Technology
Global Climate Change Week
Climate change is an urgent and important issue that in years to come will have an irreversible impact on our society. At UOW, students and researchers are working to provide practical solutions to the many problems facing our planet, including warming sea temperatures, food security, and plastic pollution.
Arts and Culture, Environment and Energy
The Janet Cosh Herbarium
Tucked away in a temperature controlled room in a building at the University of Wollongong, you’ll find a quiet achiever called the ‘Janet Cosh Herbarium’. An archival resource for botanical research at UOW, the herbarium is also used for teaching the next generation of environmental scientists.
Environment and Energy, Law, Politics and Society
Dealing with Disasters with Diversity in mind
When disaster strikes, Dr Christine Eriksen doesn’t just see a city or community at the mercy of nature. She sees a diverse population trying to survive, and a complex network of services trying to save lives and get people back on their feet.
Environment and Energy, Science and Technology
Environmental research making an impact
As a university with a focus on research quality and impact, UOW academics are driving projects of excellence that are making a difference. The Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) framework identifies research excellence at Australian universities compared to national and international institutions.
Environment and Energy
Turning blue
With almost 60,000 kilometres of coastline, Australians are highly reliant and connected to the ocean and the coastal waterways that surround us. These waterways have supported communities that have resided on our coasts for thousands of years with food and a means for travel. As a nation we are passionate about our coasts and the ocean, there is a feeling of it being important to our culture.
Environment and Energy
July: Future Of: Investigating Climate
Associate Professor Tim Cohen is a geomorphologist and Quaternary scientist in the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences (SEALS) at UOW. He researches landscapes, their evolution and past climates. He is the Theme leader for Climate in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), and the recipient of an ARC Future Fellowship.
Arts and Culture, Environment and Energy
PhD Stories Vanessa Cavanagh
The University of Wollongong (UOW) has so many high achieving PhD students, working towards solving real world problems. Each month we will meet one and hear their story,
Environment and Energy
PhD stories: Clayton McDowell
The University of Wollongong (UOW) has so many high achieving PhD students, working towards solving real world problems. Each month we will meet one and hear their story
Environment and Energy
The Future Of: The Evolving Earth
The Future Of series asks UOW experts and researchers a set of five questions to gain some insight into the future states of our lives, our communities, and the world.
Environment and Energy
The Future Of: Sustainable Housing
The Future Of series asks UOW experts and researchers a set of five questions to gain some insight into the future states of our lives, our communities, and the world.
Environment and Energy
On the front line of sea level rises
A warming planet is driving sea level rises and forcing the world map to be redrawn to reflect changes to our coastlines.
Community, Environment and Energy
Investing in the great Australian dream
Human geographer Charlie Gillon finds the great Australian dream of a block of land and house in the suburbs has transformed
Environment and Energy, Study areas, Science and Technology
Fuelling the fire
It’s time now to take control and cut emissions into the atmosphere as our forests are resilient – to a point.
Environment and Energy, Study areas, Science and Technology
A career forged by fire
Robert Sawyer’s 35-year journey from horrific burns to PhD graduate testifies to a tenacity that can’t be broken down.
Environment and Energy
Every last drop
Water is in demand all over the world. But if the coming shortage is not of water, but of storage, then we need to rethink how we capture, store, treat and recycle this most precious of resources.
Environment and Energy
Nemo in hot water
As climate change and rising sea temperatures cause once colourful coral to turn brown and die, researchers explore what coral bleaching means for the creatures that call the reef home.
Environment and Energy
Cleaning up our oceans
More than 70 per cent of our planet is covered by ocean. What is it that drives people to explore the deep blue, and why do they feel the need to protect it?
Environment and Energy
Food waste leaves energy production much to digest
The smell is unmistakably that of beer. Though it's over-fermented beer, with a pungent aroma akin to rotten fruit filling the nostrils.
Arts and Culture, Environment and Energy, International, Study areas
Fish for life: Food security in the South Pacific
As declining stocks in coastal fisheries threaten the food security and health of South Pacific nations, UOW researchers are working with island communities to ensure they have fish for life.
Environment and Energy
Friday essay: The cultural meaning of wild horses
Australia has the largest wild horse herd in the world and their presence is deeply controversial. Human geographer Michael Adams explores the cultural meanings.
Environment and Energy
Energy savers
Inside homes in the Illawarra, many senior residents curl up beneath a blanket, trying to keep warm during winter.
Environment and Energy
A man on a mission
Tim Flannery has devoted his life – and career – to championing the environment. But with climate change looming as the greatest threat to our planet, he believes the time to act is now.