Prof. Ary Hoffmann,
Director
"The growing status of
CESAR
is evident from the recognition
of our achievements in
the scientific
literature, industry, government and the broader community."
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The Centre for Environmental Stress and Adaptation Research (CESAR) is an Australian Research Council's Special Research Centre for:
- Biomonitoring
- the development of inexpensive, non-invasive biomarkers that show how ecosystems are stressed by factors such as pollution, salinity, land clearance and fire
- Chemical stress
- genetic mechanisms by
which organisms adapt to stresses caused by agents such as pesticides and heavy
metals, leading to predictions about the potential of organisms to evolve
resistance
- Climatic stress
- genetic and
physiological mechanisms by which organisms adapt to changes in climates,
leading to predictions about species and biodiversity vulnerability to climate
change
- Applied program - aims to provide a more integrated approach to pest management in southern
Australian agricultural ecosystems that also incorporates the
management of beneficial organisms
The major questions CESAR asks are: how do organisms, and in particular, insects, adapt to environmental stress and, how do you measure responses to environmental stress using these insects? The research is pitched at the genetic, ecological, physiological and biochemical level.
CESAR is currently a collaboration of two Victorian universities - The University of Melbourne and Monash University. It involves over 80 people, made up of 3 academic staff, 16 research fellows, 19 research assistants, 39 post-graduate and 8 under-graduate students.
Prof. Ary Hoffmann is the Director of CESAR, and leader of the Biomonitoring Program;
Prof. Phil Batterham is the Research Director and is the leader the Chemical Stress Program;
Assoc. Prof. Steve McKechnie is the leader for the Climatic Stress Program.
Other key participants are Prof. John McKenzie and Dr. David Heckel. CESAR has an advisory board that meets annually to discuss the direction of research conducted at CESAR.
CESAR also works closely with industry and the community, consulting to the grape and wine, grains, wool industries as well as the government and the wider community on a range of pest control issues of international significance.
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