UTS PhD students Rebecca Wood and Gabriela Quintana Vigiola's research ideas are shortlisted in the Thinkable Open Innovation Award 2015.
thinkable.org is a web forum where innovative researchers in any field from all over the world are invited to share their cutting-edge ideas and research knowledge to the public.
The Thinkable Open Innovation Award 2015 is offering a $5000 research grant to the entrant who receives the highest number of votes.
The founder of thinkable.org Dr Ben McNeil, a senior lecturer at the University of NSW, approached Wood and Quintana Vigiola and encouraged them to enter the competition after viewing their 2014 Three Minute Thesis (3MT) presentations on YouTube.
Rebecca Wood uses a toothbrush to scrub benthic diatoms from rocks in a far north Queensland river. Picture supplied
Wood, who is from the School of Environment in the Faculty of Science and the 2014 UTS 3MT winner, is no stranger to presentations and competitions. Her decision to compete in the Thinkable Open Innovation Award stems from her passion for protecting Australian environment.
Wood says, "I'm passionate about protecting Australia's freshwater environments."
"My research project aims to develop an innovative biomonitoring index that uses benthic diatoms (freshwater algae) to detect the toxic impacts of herbicide pollution in rivers that flow into the Great Barrier Reef.
"My research will contribute to the better management of herbicide pollution in rivers and the protection of aquatic ecosystems from herbicide toxicity."
Quintana Vigiola is from the School of Built Environment in the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building. Her research focuses on the social and urban issues confronting marginalised communities in Venezuela that prevent people from using community spaces.
"Cultural events in urban spaces aren't just about culture," Quintana Vigiola says. "They are a way for people to take back their community spaces, such as basketball courts appropriated by criminal gangs where people only have the courage to visit on Good Fridays."
She says for people in small communities of Venezuela to have meaningful places for cultural, social and economic exchange, they need built environment professionals working with them.
"Enabling cultural activities in urban space is the first step in solving important social and urban issues."
Voting closes for the Thinkable Open Innovation Award on 30 April. To learn more about all the entrants' ideas visit the competition page or go straight to the submissions for Rebecca Wood and Gabriela Quintana Vigiola.
To show your support for UTS's two outstanding research innovators you'll need to sign up or log in to thinkable.org to register your vote (you can only vote once).
- Two UTS PhD students have been invited to profile their work in an international competition run by the web forum thinkable.org
- Rebecca Wood and Gabriela Quintana Vigiola are in the running for a $5000 research grant, to be decided when public voting closes on 30 April