With this year’s focus on Species Survival, the University of the Sunshine Coast has three academics speaking at Moreton Minds at Redcliffe Library on Thursday 15 August.

Dr Clare Stawski

How do animals cope with significant changes in their environment and what traits can aid their survival? It’s a question that’s taken Dr Clare Stawski from the freezing outer reaches of Norway to the tropical heat of Queensland.

Dr Stawski has a particular interest in the remarkable adaptability of mammals and how some of them use ‘torpor’ – a state of reduced body temperature and energy use – after events like fire, to survive in a landscape with little food and more exposure to predators.

She’s also involved in projects exploring how bats are adapting to living alongside humans in urban environments, and the changes affecting the bats and small mammals that populate K’gari.

Dr Libby Swanepoel

Species survival – human and otherwise – relies on having a healthy planet. But the climate and environmental pressures from terrestrial farming often mean our own food and nutrition needs are at odds with the needs of healthy ecosystems.

Dr Libby Swanepoel believes that seaweed could offer a solution to both.

As part of UniSC’s Seaweed Research Group, Dr Swanepoel has been involved in projects across Australia and the Pacific, exploring the nutritional, environmental and even social benefits of seaweed as a superfood, source of income, and ecological force for good.

Dr Trong Tran

Bees make honey, pollinate plants and perform a dozen other crucial roles in the survival of our planet and its inhabitants. But Dr Trong Tran is interested in one of the lesser-known things these incredible little creatures produce – a resin called propolis.

The remarkable substance – also known as ‘bee glue’ – has antibiotic, antimicrobial and antifungal properties that is seeing it rise to prominence in the health and wellbeing industry, offering another path to commercialisation for beekeepers.

Dr Tran believes by creating a stronger and more viable industry, we can better grow and protect Australia’s bee populations and the pivotal functions they perform.