Conveners
Earth and Environment
- Ewen Silvester (La Trobe University)
Dr
Peter Kopittke
(The University of Queensland)
21/11/2014, 13:45
Earth and Environment
Oral
Aluminium (Al) is toxic to plant root growth in the acid soils comprising ca. 40-70% of the world’s arable land, but the mechanisms whereby Al reduces growth remain unclear. Despite 30 µM Al decreasing root growth within 30 min, we are unaware of any study that has provided information on the distribution of Al in roots within this timeframe. Using roots of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.)...
Dr
MARIA C. HERNANDEZ-SORIANO
(SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SCIENCES, THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND)
21/11/2014, 14:15
Earth and Environment
Oral
Carbon storage in soil is essential for soil productivity while being directly linked to climate change. Mapping microaggregate-associated forms of soil organic carbon can help understanding the mechanisms of carbon stabilization in soil, revealing molecular organization, physical protection in soil particles and co-localization of carbon sources with microbial processes.
Spatially-resolved...
Dr
David Paterson
(Australian Synchrotron)
21/11/2014, 14:35
Earth and Environment
Oral
X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM) can be used for elemental and chemical microanalysis across many length scales and is a powerful tool for quantitatively mapping trace elements within whole biological specimens [1]. Advances in X-ray fluorescence detection schemes [2, 3] now enable acquisition at mega-pixel per hour rates which in turn allows collection of 3D information in realistic...
Dr
Evan Robertson
(La Trobe University)
21/11/2014, 14:55
Earth and Environment
Oral
The IR spectral region is crucial to our understanding of atmospheric chemistry and physics. Firstly, radiative processes associated with emission and extinction are fundamental to energy transfer and the IR region in particular is central for materials at the moderate temperatures found in non-stellar environments such as this planet’s atmosphere. Secondly, infrared spectroscopy is uniquely...