Ridding the environment of toxic waste, and finding creative uses for industrial byproducts, is the business of Flinders ARC Discovery Early Career researcher Dr Justin Chalker.
The lecturer in synthetic chemistry, whose laboratory at Flinders has discovered a new material capable of removing toxic metals from water, will join other Adelaide early-career researchers at a Fresh Science event on Monday night.
With other emerging Adelaide university researchers, Dr Chalker will share his discoveries in relation to remediation and toxic metal detection in industrial waste.
“The industrial byproduct project is part of a larger program in our lab to develop advanced functional materials and polymers that are synthesised using sustainable resources,” Justin says.
“Many industries produce a range of underused byproducts or chemicals toxic to the air, water and soil and finding new and innovative uses for these waste materials is a major advance,” he says.
Dr Chalker’s one-minute ‘flash’ presentation is part of a national program to support early-career researchers to showcase the impact and relevance of their work.
The event will be held from 6-8pm (Monday, 24 August) at the Old Lion at North Adelaide.
Justin’s team in the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences is also working on organic chemistry development of environmentally sustainable molecules, chemical synthesis of diagnostic and therapeutic proteins and new functional materials.
Other snapshots will be given by early-career researchers from:
University of SA – Zlatko Kopecki (‘skin therapy gets its wings’), Marnie Winter (‘non-invasive prenatal diagnosis for all pregnancies’), Aidan Cousins (‘improved cancer detection with novel magnetic surgical probe’), Julie-Anne Fleet (‘less invasive forms of pain relief from analgesia in childbirth’), Rebecca Sharp (‘size matters: reducing blood clots from vascular devices’);
University of Adelaide – Daniel Trewartha (‘mass comes from subatomic quantum sea’), Vicki Thomson (‘where did Polynesians come from?’) Ashleigh Paparella (‘redesigning vitamins to treat bacterial infections’) and Tullio Rossi (‘lost in a silent acidified ocean’);
SARDI Aquatic Sciences – Lachlan McLeay (‘the use of seabirds in Australian marine conservation’).
Limited seats are left and bookings are essential here.