CBA Funded Projects

CBA funds a number of pilot projects as part of our Ignition Grant program each year.

These small grants aim to 'kick-start' novel collaborative research between researchers from at least two or more CBA partner institutions (ie. ANU, CSIRO, UC), with the intention that the results will subsequently form the basis of more substantial research proposals and collaborations.

Since 2012, the CBA has funded over 60 Ignition Projects across 11 rounds.

In June 2016 past and present grant recipients were invited to share their progress and results in an Ignition Project Symposium. Presenting short ‘lightning talks’, scientists and students from ANU and CSIRO presented a wide range of diverse and original science highlighting the success of the Ignition grant scheme.

Filter by status
Projects Research themes Status
A curation community for coral environmental genomics Climate change and adaptation Completed in 2014
A next-generation phylogenetics approach to explore the immense diversity of Australian thynnine wasps Conservation zone planning, Threatened species Completed in 2017
A test of the power of GBS for delimiting species boundaries among incipient species of Australian orchids Conservation zone planning, Threatened species Completed in 2016
ALA Two-way Indigenous Engagement Case Study Conservation zone planning, Threatened species, Invasive species and biosecurity Completed in 2016
An exome capture system for phylogenetic and evolutionary studies in the hyperdiverse orchid tribe Diurideae (Orchidoideae) Threatened species, Climate change and adaptation Completed in 2016
Bill adaptation in parrots: finding loci involved in surface area increases by integrating morphometrics with Next Gen Sequencing Climate change and adaptation Completed in 2019
Biodiversity change: A risk factor for human health? Climate change and adaptation Completed in 2018
Biogeography of sex reversal and the effects of climate change on reptile sex determination Climate change and adaptation Completed in 2019
Bringing next generation approaches to conservation genomics using museum collections – Rock wallaby museum skinomics Conservation zone planning, Threatened species Completed in 2015
Can adaptation in ‘ecosystem engineers’ drive fire regime feedbacks? Habitat fragmentation and restoration, Invasive species and biosecurity, Climate change and adaptation Completed in 2016
Characterising the evolutionary and ecological diversity of invertebrates in the Monsoonal vine thickets of the Kimberley Conservation zone planning, Habitat fragmentation and restoration Current
Collections-based landscape genomics: Red-browed finches as a test case Climate change and adaptation, Conservation zone planning Current
Crossing Lines: A new synthesis on Asian, Melanesian and Australian biotic exchange Current
Curating spatial data to understand patterns and processes shaping biodiversity in New Guinea Climate change and adaptation, Conservation zone planning Current
Developing hyRAD-X capabilities for population genomics and identification of cryptic species Conservation zone planning Current
Developing new methods for using distribution data to identify taxa that can tolerate extreme conditions Climate change and adaptation, Conservation zone planning, Threatened species Current
Effects of climate change on avian morphology Climate change and adaptation Current
Environmental drivers of Acacia-associated symbiotic microbe diversity Climate change and adaptation Current
Evolutionary processes in Billy buttons Conservation zone planning, Threatened species Completed in 2019
Future ecosystems states: linking ecophysiological cues and thresholds to climatic regimes, variability and weather extremes Climate change and adaptation Completed in 2019
Genetic and demographic impacts of contemporary disturbance regimes in Mountain Ash forests Climate change and adaptation, Conservation zone planning, Habitat fragmentation and restoration Current
Genetic characterisation of formalin preserved fish tissue Conservation zone planning, Threatened species Current
Genetic rescue of the Southern Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby: is there genomic evidence it is reducing inbreeding? Threatened species Current
Genome skimming with degraded DNA from herbarium specimens Threatened species Current
Genomic diversity in Australian palms Conservation zone planning Current
How local is local? Landscape genomics in Yellow box Climate change and adaptation, Habitat fragmentation and restoration, Threatened species Completed in 2019
Hybrid history: deep sequencing of the Tasmanian blue gum Conservation zone planning Completed in 2019
Investigating the effects of diversity, distribution and chytrid load on Uperoleia frog skin microbial communities Climate change and adaptation, Conservation zone planning Current
Landscape genomics of a dryland river keystone species, Eucalyptus coolabah: the influence of hydrochory on landscape genetic structure Climate change and adaptation, Conservation zone planning Current
Linking genomic data to spatial biodiversity data in the Atlas of Living Australia Climate change and adaptation, Conservation zone planning Current
Molecular phylogeny of Helicoverpa from museum specimens Conservation zone planning, Invasive species and biosecurity, Threatened species Current
Palaeoecological indicators of biodiversity change through time Climate change and adaptation, Conservation zone planning Completed in 2019
Penguin ectoparasites of the Southern Hemisphere Climate change and adaptation, Conservation zone planning Completed in 2019
Phylogeny of the longhorn beetle genus Rhytiphora (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)  Climate change and adaptation, Conservation zone planning Current
Species discovery and refugia in the monsoonal tropics Climate change and adaptation, Conservation zone planning Completed in 2019
The untold story of underground communities: fungi and soil seed banks in Mountain Ash forests Conservation zone planning, Habitat fragmentation and restoration Current
Uncovering the hare microbiome Invasive species and biosecurity Completed in 2019
Understanding biological invasions: assessing the biosecurity threat of the pink bollworm to Northern Australia Invasive species and biosecurity Current
Will polyploidy provide a reproductive advantage in a changing climate? A test case with Themeda triandra (Kangaroo grass) Climate change and adaptation Completed in 2019