Search Marsden awards 2008–2017
Search awarded Marsden Fund grants 2008–2017
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Standard
Year Awarded: 2012
Title: Feeling gravity in your bones: characterising a molecular sensor of force
Recipient(s): Prof SP Robertson | PI | Otago University
Prof MA Brown | AI | The University of Queensland
Prof J Cornish | AI | The University of Auckland
Public Summary: Bones can sense forces, like gravity, and respond by strengthening themselves through mineralisation. A terminally differentiated cell that lies buried within the bony matrix is known to house the key mechanotransducer that mediates this effect, but the identity of the molecular sensor remains unknown. Through the study of Mendelian diseases with aberrant skeletal mineralisation we hypothesise that proteins called filamins fulfil this role and that knockout of a key filamin protein domain in the mouse will ablate mechanosensation in bone. This protein domain, encoding a flexible hinge is known to equip filamin with the ability to arrange cytoskeletal actin fibrils into configurations that optimise a cell's ability to sense, and withstand, shear forces exerted upon them. Identifying causative mutations in genes other than filamin in other individuals with similar bone accretion defects will also add to our understanding of the workings of this cellular sensor of mechanical force. These insights will not only be of considerable fundamental biological interest but also address the mechanism through which inactivity leads to bone weakening in the immobile and infirm.
Total Awarded: $847,826
Duration: 3
Host: University of Otago
Contact Person: Prof SP Robertson
Panel: BMS
Project ID: 12-UOO-033
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Fast-Start
Year Awarded: 2016
Title: Finding the needle by removing the haystack: modeling diffuse foregrounds to detect the Epoch of Reionization
Recipient(s): Dr QC Zheng | PI | Victoria University of Wellington
Associate Professor JD Bowman | AI | Arizona State University
Associate Professor M Johnston-Hollitt | AI | Victoria University of Wellington
Public Summary: Detection of the faint signal from ancient neutral hydrogen provides a unique probe of the formation of the first stars during the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). However, the high redshift EoR signal, which can be only detected at low frequency radio band, is buried deeply under foregrounds dominated by our Galaxy and extragalactic radio sources. Constructing a precise foreground model and subtracting them is vital, but rather difficult, especially for diffuse, extended sources. The Murchison Widefield Array telescope (MWA) is a low-frequency radio interferometer located in Western Australia. The high resolution and sensitivity of the upgraded MWA will enable us to detect the diffuse emissions at low frequency radio band. We propose to use the upgraded MWA to characterize the angular power of low frequency diffuse sources in galaxy clusters and build the source model needed for EoR detection. Our diffuse source model will provide a vital missing component which can be inserted into the simulations to help us understand the foreground features, it will be of wide interest in the EoR community and ultimately will take us one critical step closer to detecting the faint EoR, revealing for the first time details of our cosmic past.
Total Awarded: $300,000
Duration: 3
Host: Victoria University of Wellington
Contact Person: Dr QC Zheng
Panel: ESA
Project ID: 16-VUW-105
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Fast-Start
Year Awarded: 2009
Title: Finding the source of the stem cell stream
Recipient(s): Dr MA Curtis | PI | The University of Auckland
Public Summary: Currently all the stem cell therapies for brain disorders focus on the subventricular zone (SVZ) stem cells that overlie the striatum. We have identified a new group of stem cells that are much more abundant and are located in the SVZ that overlies the thalamus. We will perform experiments using rodent and post-mortem human brains to determine if this novel population contributes to the stem cell pool present overlying the striatum and if they contribute to the migrating stem cell pool in the rostral migratory stream. This study will determine the capacity the brain has for endogenous regeneration.
Total Awarded: $266,667
Duration: 3
Host: The University of Auckland
Contact Person: Dr MA Curtis
Panel: BMS
Project ID: 09-UOA-204
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Fast-Start
Year Awarded: 2012
Title: Fingerprinting geothermal fluids: tracking the magmatic signature
Recipient(s): Dr IS Chambefort | PI | GNS Science
Prof JH Dilles | AI | Oregon State University
Prof CA Heinrich | AI | ETH-Zurich
Public Summary: The origin, composition and location of the deep magmatic fluids heating and influencing New Zealand’s geothermal systems are equivocal. Disagreement exists between scientific disciplines on whether shallow intrusive magma bodies feed the geothermal systems of the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ). We will use both established and pioneering in-situ analysis of fluid inclusions and alteration minerals to:
1) Characterise the magmatic fingerprint and reconstruct the pattern of alteration zonation associated with magmatic degassing; and
2) Track the magmatic fluid signature in active geothermal systems in the TVZ.
This challenging Fast-Start project will be a world-first on active geothermal systems. The PI will collaborate with world experts in seeking to understand the magmatic-hydrothermal transition with access to cutting-edge analytical facilities.
Interpretation of the results will enhance the understanding of fluid-rock interaction processes at depth in the TVZ geothermal systems. New chemical constraints will emerge on the nature and evolution of deep-seated fluids from source to surface in regions of high crustal heat-flux, providing support for future research in magmatic petrology and evolution of the TVZ, volcanic gas chemistry, well chemistry and well targeting for deep geothermal exploration.
Total Awarded: $300,000
Duration: 3
Host: GNS Science
Contact Person: Dr IS Chambefort
Panel: ESA
Project ID: 12-GNS-028
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Fast-Start
Year Awarded: 2015
Title: First come, best served? The role of generalist and specialist species in the assembly, diversity and productivity of ecosystems
Recipient(s): Dr JR Deslippe | PI | Victoria University of Wellington
Dr M Hartmann | AI | Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
Professor JM Tylianakis | AI | University of Canterbury
Public Summary: Interactions among species underpin ecosystem function. The solutions to many pressing problems such as invasive weeds, biodiversity loss and the conservation of endemic species in a changing climate, all hinge on the processes that lead species to form communities. Communities form as species disperse into new habitats and begin to interact with other species. Surprisingly, we have a poor understanding of how the dispersal or arrival of a species relates to its ability to interact with others. This gap limits predictions of how changes in biodiversity will affect ecosystem productivity. Using novel experimental approaches, cutting-edge ecological theory, and DNA sequencing technology, we will explore these relationships. We will examine networks of plants and their symbiotic fungi because these communities allow experimental manipulation not possible in other systems. This work will overcome limitations of previous studies to reveal how the characteristics that determine species' arrival to a new habitat relate to their abilities to interact with other species. We will then determine the consequences of the formation of species interactions for ecosystem productivity for the first time. Our research is likely to generate novel solutions to a range of pressing problems encountered on farms and within New Zealand's conservation estate.
Total Awarded: $300,000
Duration: 3
Host: Victoria University of Wellington
Contact Person: Dr JR Deslippe
Panel: EEB
Project ID: 15-VUW-069
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Standard
Year Awarded: 2009
Title: First contact: environmental shifts, faunal collapse and the Polynesian settlement of New Zealand
Recipient(s): Mr C Jacomb | PI | University of Otago
Dr M Bunce | AI | Murdoch University
Professor RN Holdaway | AI | University of Canterbury
Public Summary: Polynesian arrival in New Zealand around AD1300 involved the introduction of fire, hunting and exotic species into a pristine environment which resulted in deforestation and faunal extinctions. While these processes are broadly described their mode and tempo are poorly understood. Using new DNA techniques, isotope analysis and radiocarbon dating of archaeological bone and eggshell, we will produce a detailed model of the interplay between hunting practices and ecological response. This will include a region-by-region extinction chronology for all moa species and a model of the biological and behavioural responses of target species to changing hunting practices.
Total Awarded: $690,667
Duration: 3
Host: University of Otago
Contact Person: Mr C Jacomb
Panel: EHB
Project ID: 09-UOO-164
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Standard
Year Awarded: 2010
Title: Flexible behaviour mediated by modular processing of visual information in jumping spiders
Recipient(s): Dr XJ Nelson | PI | University of Canterbury
Dr DP Harland | AI | AgResearch
Prof RR Jackson | AI | University of Canterbury
Assoc Prof DC O'Carroll | AI | The University of Adelaide
Public Summary: With visual scenes being awash with redundant information, all visual systems face the daunting task of minimising the processing of irrelevant information. This task is especially formidable for small animals that work with few neurons and miniature brains. Research on insect vision has shown that significant information processing can occur in the sensory periphery, at or near the level of the retina, and algorithms based on what is known about insects are of considerable applied interest in the field of biorobotics. Our goal is to understand another miniature visual system, that of the jumping spider (Salticidae). These predators are famous for their exceedingly complex predatory strategies and ability to see detail in their visual world at a level more similar to that of primates than that of insects. Salticids have eight eyes. Our hypothesis is that the salticid operates with a modular, but highly coordinated, visual system (different eyes dedicated to different functions) and deploys intricate eye-movement strategies when undertaking detailed prey-classification tasks. A specialised eye tracker will be used for studying eye behaviour and neurophysiological techniques, based on newly developed methods for salticids, will be used to obtain single-cell recordings from the salticid retina.
Total Awarded: $578,261
Duration: 3
Host: University of Canterbury
Contact Person: Dr XJ Nelson
Panel: EEB
Project ID: 10-UOC-008
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Fast-Start
Year Awarded: 2016
Title: Floating families? New Chinese migrants in New Zealand and their multi-generational families
Recipient(s): Dr LS Liu | PI | Massey University
Public Summary: A substantial Chinese migrant community from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has formed in New Zealand (NZ) in the three decades since the passing of the Immigration Act 1987, which reversing a long-standing bias towards European and Pacific Island migrants. A significant but unknown proportion of these are multi-generational families renowned for their transnational connections and spatial mobility. The building of multi-generational family units is a long-established and well recognised pattern of Chinese migration; however, the ability to sustain family unification is shaped both by immigration policy and transnational migratory mobility. The intersection between transnational migration and the inter-generational experiences of migration has not yet been studied.
This research will provide the first understanding of how PRC Chinese migrants adapt to NZ society as extended and multi-generational families. A novel three-generation framework encompassing migrants, their children and parents is used to investigate how migratory mobility and intergenerational dynamics configure migratory trajectories of individual family members and shape migrants’ family life and sense of identity and belonging.The findings will provide insights into the debate on cultural diversity that is rooted in changing demographic structures and contribute theoretical advances to our understanding of transnationalism as an evolving process across multiple generations.
Total Awarded: $300,000
Duration: 3
Host: Massey University
Contact Person: Dr LS Liu
Panel: SOC
Project ID: 16-MAU-023
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Fast-Start
Year Awarded: 2011
Title: Fluid transient signals in pressurised liquid conduits
Recipient(s): Dr PJ Lee | PI | University of Canterbury
Prof MS Ghidaoui | AI | The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Prof DP Taylor | AI | University of Canterbury
Public Summary: This cross-disciplinary project investigates the fundamental behavior of fluid transient signals in pressurised liquid conduits. The proposed fundamental research has the potential to allow all fluid conduits--including infrastructural pipelines and biomedical systems--to act as a medium for information transfer and can revolutionize the way such systems are used.
Time varying, or transient signals, are vitally important in electrical systems as they allow information to be sent across large distances through electrical conduits and are the basis of the modern internet and other telemetry systems. The fluid equivalents to electrical data signals are fluid transients—compressive waves that propagate through pressurized conduits at speeds over 1000 m/s. Unlike transient signals in electrical conductors, the distortion and attenuation processes of fluid transient signals in pipelines are poorly understood. This study will employ advanced measurement and generation methods to investigate the behaviour of these high speed compressive waves in the laboratory as well as in the field. The impact of this fundamental understanding is wide ranging and will allow fluid conduits to serve not only as a method for transporting mass over large distances, but also as a medium for transferring information and allowing the adaptation of technologies in electrical fields to fluid systems.
Total Awarded: $300,000
Duration: 3
Host: University of Canterbury
Contact Person: Dr PJ Lee
Panel: EIS
Project ID: 11-UOC-013
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Standard
Year Awarded: 2011
Title: Food security in a rapidly urbanising country: the Goroka fresh food market, Papua New Guinea
Recipient(s): Dr MW Busse | PI | The University of Auckland
Public Summary: Food security in rapidly-urbanising countries is among today’s most urgent global issues. The world faces a growing food crisis, and in 2010 for the first time 50% of the world’s population lived in urban areas. This research addresses urban food security through an anthropological study of a fresh food market in the town of Goroka in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG). By 2030, PNG will have the 6th fastest urban growth rate in the world, and feeding this rapidly growing urban population will be a significant challenge. Considerable research exists on food production in PNG, but there is little research on the markets through which urban residents have access to fresh food. The goal of this research is to understand the complex social relationships that comprise the Goroka market from the perspectives of the diverse participants in the market rather than through the application of Western economic models. This will be achieved by long-term anthropological research in the marketplace and surrounding rural hinterland. The research will provide new insights into market processes and new practical knowledge that will enhance market participation and food security in PNG and other developing countries facing growing urban food insecurity.
Total Awarded: $633,928
Duration: 3
Host: The University of Auckland
Contact Person: Dr MW Busse
Panel: SOC
Project ID: 11-UOA-047