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Directed evolution gone so so wrong?
0

Synthetic Biology

Directed evolution gone so so wrong?

As a scientist, we are used to expriments going wrong. But I believe, no one has had an experiment gone this wrong.This depicts a dystopian alternate future where a directed evolution experiment meant to evolve protein cages to have improved porosity goes horribly wrong. This definitely is not a prophetic piece I dreamt of. Thus to all scientist, dont worry too much about experiments going wrong. At least you did not cause a human extinction event.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

This artwork was created on adobe illustrator. No AI was used.



Galactic Supernova Distribution
2

Gravitational Wave Discovery

Galactic Supernova Distribution

I simulated 2 million core-collapse supernovae in the Milky Way galaxy over 100+ million years. These are simulated from within OB associations using the SNOB package [1].

[1] Kachelrieß & Mikalsen, Comput. Phys. Commun. 311, 109537 (2025)



Stomata- The breathing pores of Life
37

Plant Success

Stomata- The breathing pores of Life

Captured using a handheld Dino-Lite digital microscope as part of my PhD research, this image reveals stomata, the microscopic pores that regulate gas exchange and water loss in plants. By opening and closing, stomata control the uptake of carbon dioxide for photosynthesis while limiting water loss through transpiration, making them central to plant survival and drought tolerance. This image is part of my research to understand how differences in stomatal traits contribute to water-use efficiency in crops. No AI was used.



Competing tent poles and circus tents
0

21st Century Weather

Competing tent poles and circus tents

Created as an original digital illustration, hand-drawn with a stylus in the SketchBook app. The artwork depicts how the atmosphere and oceans are connected through deep convection(associated with tall clouds and rainfall) over the tropics. It references the conceptual idea of the atmosphere behaving like a circus tent, with the local sea surface temperatures dictating the height of tentpoles (red and white striped vertical bars), which touch the tent fabric (solid and dashed dark blue curved lines) in regions where rainfall occurs.The tent fabric, which acts as a threshold for deep convection, is highest at the location of rainfall and relaxes further away from it. My research explores the interaction between the tropical Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. More specifically on how known modes of variations in sea surface temperatures over the Pacific(El Niño) and Atlantic interact to modify the thresholds.This is shown in the artwork by combining El Niño state with warm Atlantic conditions.



a lesson in planning
1

Plant Success

a lesson in planning

It always wise to know what gene you’re working with…

No AI was used in this piece.



Sky Localisation - Hunt for Galactic Supernova
1

Gravitational Wave Discovery

Sky Localisation – Hunt for Galactic Supernova

Gravitational wave signals from core-collapse supernovae warn us minutes to days before the shock breakout (explosion). These signals are picked up by gravitational wave detectors LIGO (Hanford and Livingston) and Virgo, and allow us to hunt down the supernova before it explodes.

Sky localisation needs to be fast. My research explores using machine learning (specifically flow matching) to speed this up. The best part of my research is the connection between the things we can see in the night sky (from Auckland) and Galactic supernovae. This plot is a homage to that!

[AI disclaimer: I used AI to help me generate code (thanks Claude), which has greatly helped me with expanding what's possible with data visualisation]



The Many Voices of Spacetime
1

Gravitational Wave Discovery

The Many Voices of Spacetime

This artwork visualises the range of cosmic sources that ground-based gravitational-wave observatories search for. Merging black holes and neutron stars, appear alongside still-undiscovered signals from spinning neutron stars, exploding stars, unresolved populations, and other unexpected phenomena. Each object represents a source capable of disturbing spacetime and producing gravitational waves that travel toward the laser interferometer below.

Created as a layered digital illustration using Adobe Illustrator, the piece combines stylised astronomical sources, propagating wave patterns, and an interferometer inspired by LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA. My research explores the populations and formation histories of merging compact objects. I created this artwork to show both the gravitational-wave sources we have already heard and the many cosmic signals we are still searching for.

(No AI was used to produce this work.)



DBTL cycle
6

Synthetic Biology

DBTL cycle

This illustration showing my PhD project in the DBTL cycle – Design, Build, Test and Learn.
Lovely greens are my Cyanobacteria 🙂



Dancing cells and me
5

Synthetic Biology

Dancing cells and me

Me checking on my petri dish 🙂
(no contamination!)



A PhD Dream to Feed a Drier World
6

Plant Success

A PhD Dream to Feed a Drier World

This comic is inspired by my PhD dream: helping crops adapt to a drier world.

I drew this comic to communicate the key message of my PhD project in a simple way. My research focuses on transpiration efficiency (TE), which describes how much biomass a plant can produce for each unit of water it transpires. Crops with higher TE may grow better with limited water supply, or save water during vegetative growth so more remains available for reproduction and yield formation.

I explored which leaf conductance and photosynthetic traits shape TE by using experimental phenotyping and crop canopy modelling. Under well-watered conditions, lower leaf stomatal conductance and higher electron transport-limited photosynthesis may improve TE. Under water-limited conditions, however, leaf width may become a dominant trait. Crop canopy with narrower leaves show higher TE.

No AI used.



Mind's Eye of a Plant Biologist
7

Plant Success

Mind's Eye of a Plant Biologist

In the Mind’s Eye of a Plant Biologist, you might see a fluid amalgamation of patterns, colours, textures, and microscopic sensory impressions. This artwork was painted with watercolour and gouache, with a colour scheme inspired by chlorophyll, auronidin, and anthocyanin pigments found in plants. Colourful layering of plant cellular forms and recognisable genetic symbols including the DNA double-helix, bacterial plasmids, and a phylogenetic tree is intended to evoke a sense of curiosity about the possibilities for exploration in plant research.

The piece also depicts two key genetic model organisms, Marchantia polymorpha and Arabidopsis thaliana, studied in our lab and others within the Plant Success CoE. With diverse models and genetic tools, we work creatively towards understanding how DNA gives rise to complex developmental patterns across land plants.

No AI was used in this piece.



PhD student life
24

Plant Success

PhD student life

This meme captures the two faces of PhD student life: the polished, travel-ready persona shown on social media contrasted with the gritty, hands-on reality of fieldwork and lab slog. As a PhD student improving symbiotic nitrogen fixation in mungbean, your feed might show conference photos and scenic breaks, while actual days are filled with inoculation trays, counting nodules, and long hours troubleshooting experiments. It’s a humorous reminder that impactful research combines polished communication with persistent, unglamorous effort, the unseen experiments, data cleaning, and repetitive tasks that eventually lead to meaningful gains in biological nitrogen fixation.




38

Plant Success

A Highthrough put pipeline for root nodules phenotyping

This one-minute video showcases our high-throughput root nodule phenotyping workflow. Nodules are specialized organs that covert atmospheric nitrogen to plant available nitrogen supporting sustainable food production with less N-fertilizers. The technique was developed in response to a major challenge I faced during my first large scale mungbean GWAS experiment of my PhD: counting nodules by hand was extremely time-consuming, with one sample taking almost an hour, and highly labor-intensive. To address this, we developed a standardized imaging workflow that begins by setting up the lighting system, switching on the camera, and placing a color calibration chart to ensure consistent image quality. Roots are then carefully spread on the illuminated imaging surface, and high-resolution images are captured. Using this setup, we imaged nearly 1,000 root samples. These images will be analyzed with a deep learning model to automatically detect, count, and measure nodules.



Where the Human Eye Reaches Its Limit, Simulations Unveil the Unseen Molecular World
0

GET CO2

Where the Human Eye Reaches Its Limit, Simulations Unveil the Unseen Molecular World

Snapshot represents the output of the computational Gas Adsorption Simulation, visualized using the VMD software. This piece demonstrates the molecular-level interactions between the designed artificial polymeric membrane with CO2 (in red) and N2 (in blue). This research helps to establish the process of selective CO2 capture. The visualization reveals that CO2 packs into the polymer's pockets far more than N2 does, providing grounds for direct carbon capture technology. No AI was used.



Listening to my mungbean plants
19

Plant Success

Listening to my mungbean plants

This photo was taken in mungbean fields at Hermitage Research Facility, Warwick, QLD, during my work of collecting shoot sampling at maximum biomass for N15 analysis, ranking genotypes by symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF) capacity. Part of the GRDC-funded project "Genetic Initiative to Transform SNF in Australian Pulses," this field trial follows my PhD glasshouse screening of 300+ mungbean genotypes from WorldVeg and diverse Australian accessions, testing whether glasshouse-based selections hold up under field conditions. This work highlights efforts to boost SNF in mungbean, reducing reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertiliser for more sustainable food production. Mungbean also offers an affordable, protein-rich alternative to meat, supporting food security in developing countries.



One in four breaths
0

Synthetic Biology

One in four breaths

As the first photosynthetic living things to evolve, Cyanobacteria (AKA blue-green algae) were responsible for forming our oxygen-rich atmosphere and today perform a quarter of global photosynthesis: every one in four breaths. To honour their significant output, this piece uses four real cyanobacterial cultures grown in the lab as “paint”. The dark green is the concentrate of a cyanobacterial culture isolated from Singapore, the light green a concentrate of cyanobacteria from the North Pacific Ocean, the pink a concentrate of cyanobacteria from the Red Sea, and the brown a concentrate from the Sargasso Sea. The short dash-like brush strokes are to represent the rod cell shape of these microbes. No AI was used.

Given their (often unappreciated) contribution to the functioning of the planet, my research aims to characterise the factors that contribute to their survival in the environment and to explore how we can harness these toward engineering modern carbon capture technologies.




9

Plants for Space

Ever wonder what a nutrition-packed green juice looks like on a microscopic level?

Smart processing releases plant ingredients (green) from the cell wall (cyan) while preserving the nutritional properties. Understanding how food structure links to sensory perception and functionality helps P4S scientists to create palatable food for deep space travel and Earth's sustainability. Image was captured using a confocal microscope at the Biological Optical Microscopy Platform at the Bio21 Institute.



Molecular Parfait
1

GET CO2

Molecular Parfait

Created using Visual Molecular Dynamics and PowerPoint, this artwork describes the recipe to making a layered membrane on a molecular level. This “Molecular Parfait” is made up of polymer, ions, water, and graphene sheets, resulting in a colourful dish of berries, custard, and cream. Simulating the system for 20 ns, we can observe the membrane in its equilibrium state, to better understand which “ingredients” interact with each other in our material. This recipe reflects the importance of computational methods for researching the nanostructure of membranes for various electrochemical applications. No AI was used.



The structure of a leaf surface
9

Plants for Space

The structure of a leaf surface

Understanding the structure of plant ingredients can help us to explore opportunities for new plant-based foods, to develop better methods for extracting biopharmaceutical ingredients and to optimise storage. This image was captured using a Cryo Scanning Electron Microscope (Hitachi SU7000) of a water spinach leaf (Ipomoea aquatica) at the Ian Holmes Imaging Centre.



Arabidopsis P4S logo
0

Plants for Space

Arabidopsis P4S logo

I couldn't bring myself to discard these plants after experiments. Here, Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings are arranged to form the green arrow of the P4S logo. The red seedlings were stained with safranin for a separate experiment to highlight their cell walls before being carefully transferred onto the plate. The Blue Planet is created from duckweed plants stained with nitroblue tetrazolium, a dye commonly used to detect reactive oxygen species.




0

Plants for Space

Growing P4S

Arabidopsis thaliana is a model plant widely used in plant biology research. Here, young seedlings grow on an agar plate, gradually forming the green arrow of the P4S logo. A simple arrangement of living plants becomes a symbol of growth, discovery, and the future of sustainable science.



Millennium duck
1

Plants for Space

Millennium duck

When I saw the duckweeds my colleagues were about to discard after an experiment, I couldn't resist rescuing them. I transferred the tiny plants into a pair of vials and placed them in my 3D printed Millennium Falcon holder. After all, if we want to garden in space, we have to start somewhere! Fun fact: duckweed is the world's smallest flowering plant and one of the fastest growing. It can contain up to 45% protein by dry weight, making it a promising sustainable food source—and perhaps even a future space superfood.

This image was created without AI: just a camera on a stand and a black cloth as the background.



The Cost of Growing Taller
0

Plants for Space

The Cost of Growing Taller

Under the same light, water and care, one plant reaches beyond the rest—only to appear isolated, unsupported and bent beneath its own growth. This image reflects the emotional weight of tall poppy syndrome, where those who rise, succeed or stand apart may be criticised, diminished or pressured to make themselves smaller.

Yet the plant continues to reach toward the light. Its growth is not an act of arrogance, but a natural expression of potential. The image reminds us that progress should be nurtured rather than cut down, and that a healthy community does not fear those who grow taller—it creates space for every plant to flourish.



More Than a Bunch
2

Plants for Space

More Than a Bunch

Created as an original digital illustration, drawn by hand with a stylus using layered linework and watercolour-style colour. The artwork depicts the architecture of a banana plant, including its broad leaves, pseudostem, fruit bunch, male bud and senescing outer leaves. It connects to my research on banana genomes and plant immune-receptor genes, which seeks to understand how this globally important crop can be protected from disease. By showing the whole plant rather than only the fruit, the piece celebrates the biological complexity behind every banana bunch and the need to build more resilient crops.



From Rosette to Reproduction
0

Plants for Space

From Rosette to Reproduction

Created from three original photographs taken during Arabidopsis growth experiments in a controlled-environment facility. The images are arranged as a simple progression from vegetative rosette, to emerging floral bud, to open flowers, with only cropping and basic exposure adjustments. This transition is controlled by networks of hormones, light and environmental signals. My research investigates how strigolactones and related pathways influence plant architecture, stress tolerance and the balance between growth and defence. The series shows how a tiny model plant can reveal decisions that are central to crop productivity on Earth and in future space-growing systems.



Microscope under the eye scope
0

Plants for Space

Microscope under the eye scope

Microscope Under the Eye Scope 🔬🥒

A cucumber slice takes centre stage beneath the microscope’s “watchful eye.” Through advanced imaging, researchers can investigate the fruit’s internal tissue structure, cell organisation and water distribution—features that contribute to firmness, juiciness and that all-important cucumber crunch.

By comparing these microscopic details across different growing conditions, we can better understand how factors such as nutrition, lighting and cultivation systems influence fruit development and quality. What looks like a simple cucumber slice is actually a complex biological structure, holding valuable clues for producing fresher, tastier and more resource-efficient food—on Earth and potentially beyond!



Unpeeling the Banana Genome
1

Plants for Space

Unpeeling the Banana Genome

Created as an original digital illustration, drawn by hand with a stylus using layered pencil and watercolour-style brushes. The familiar act of peeling a banana reveals a DNA double helix, turning the fruit into a visual metaphor for genomic discovery. The work connects to my research on the banana NLRome, the collection of immune-receptor genes that helps banana plants recognise pathogens and defend against disease. By placing DNA inside an everyday fruit, the illustration invites viewers to look beyond the peel and consider how genomics can support healthier, more resilient banana crops.



Diversity of Bonds
0

Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science

Diversity of Bonds

Cyclic peptides are small, ring-shaped molecules found in nature and designed by scientists. Their unique cross-bracing bonds enhance their stability and make them promising candidates for new medicines.

This artwork combines hand-drawn digital coloured-pencil illustration with molecular science to celebrate the remarkable diversity of cyclic peptides across nature. From left to right, it depicts: an orbitide from flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum); a cyclic peptide from sunflower (Helianthus annuus); an artificially cyclised conopeptide from the cone snail (Conus victoriae); a cyclic antimicrobial peptide from the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta); and a cyclotide from the violet (Viola odorata).

Together, these molecules trace a visual journey across plants, animals, and engineered systems, reflecting the work of CIPPS researchers to discover new peptides and proteins, uncover their biological functions, and translate their potential into solutions for health, agriculture, and industry.



Peptide science is "child's play"
0

Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science

Peptide science is "child's play"

At the Woollahra Library Wonderlab junior scientists got hands-on and crafty to make the pictured models of mammalian and bacterial cells as well as neurons in airdried clay. They learnt about cell structures and how peptides like insulin carry sugar from the blood stream into the cell to give it energy. They also learnt how peptides are made from building blocks of amino acids that fold into 3D shapes, like a key, to lock and unlock functions in their bodies. Some favourite peptides were oxytocin which builds strong bonds with people we love, and endorphin which makes us feel good when we exercise.




133

Plant Success

An empirical experiment

Genomic prediction is widely used to predict plant performance and accelerate breeding decisions, but most studies focus on a single generation. My research explores a bigger question: can these predictions remain accurate across cycles of selection? Using a large-scale empirical breeding experiment in Arabidopsis thaliana, I integrate genomic and phenotypic data to identify the genetic regions that consistently respond to selection over time and use these insights to improve prediction accuracy for future generations. Ultimately, this work aims to help breeders make smarter, more reliable long-term selection decisions for complex traits and accelerate the development of improved crop varieties



Love Naturally
0

Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science

Love Naturally

Hybanthus enneaspermus is an Indian folk medicinal herb that has been widely used as a libido enhancer and is a source of disulfide-rich cyclic peptides named cyclotides. This artwork blends watercolour painting and digital drawing to depict our study’s findings demonstrating that rats dosed with the herb extract and cyclotide hyen D are more sexually aroused compared to rats dosed with the placebo, suggesting that hyen D could contribute to the libido-enhancing activity of this ethnomedicinal herb. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c01045



The Binary Black Hole Chonk Chart
1

Gravitational Wave Discovery

The Binary Black Hole Chonk Chart

This artwork reimagines the "chonk chart" meme using real astrophysical data. Black holes detected through gravitational waves are represented by increasingly chonky cats, with their sizes corresponding to different masses. The artwork uses observations from GWTC-5, the latest catalogue of gravitational-wave events. The curve at the bottom shows the inferred population distribution, revealing which black-hole masses are most common and highlighting rarer objects in "mass gaps" that challenge models of how black holes form from massive stars.

My research explores the masses, spins, and formation histories of merging black holes. I created this piece to make complex data accessible and memorable. The population distribution was generated in Matplotlib; the vector illustrations, annotations, and final composition were created in Adobe Illustrator.

(Original artwork created July 2025; revised with the GWTC-5 dataset. No AI was used.)



Actual gene network and conspiracy theory?
0

Plant Success

Actual gene network and conspiracy theory?

Created using Biorender to bring all the images together incorporating the classic Spiderman pointing meme between a simple gene network and a conspiracy theory board discussing things like aliens. This meme was inspired based off my PhD research which inferred bud dormancy gene regulatory networks by utilising mathematical algorithms on gene expression data.

Credits to each individual photo is placed below:
(1) Spider-man, episode 19b "Double Identity", 1967.
(2) The curious case of conspiracy theories, an article from the Particle.




0

Dark Matter

AGN: Assembly Bias's Fault?

This video brings my SDSS study on active galactic nuclei (AGN) to life. It opens with a hook: supermassive black holes, not stars, are the universe's brightest objects, raising the question: why do some galaxies light up as AGN while others stay dim? Published in PASA, the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, our results show AGN are more strongly clustered than star-forming galaxies, even after matching stellar mass, and prefer denser regions. Comparing physical properties like colour, star formation rate, D4000 break and concentration index reveals these differences persist in both low and high-density regions, proving environment alone doesn't decide a galaxy's fate. Bulge structure and cold gas content matter more, varying widely between galaxies of the same mass. We call this assembly bias: a galaxy's unique formation history, not its mass or neighbourhood, decides alone whether it becomes an AGN. The video distils this finding into a short engaging story.




1

Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science

Peptide

Sung to the tune of Vance Joy's Riptide this parody by Dr Andy Walker and the King lab at CIPPS communicates the exciting work of discovering new medicines and eco-friendly pesticides from Australia’s amazing venomous flora and fauna.



Purple, Red, We Listen and We Don't Judge
0

Plant Success

Purple, Red, We Listen and We Don't Judge

Original photograph of two Nicotiana benthamiana plants I grew and photographed myself, edited only in PowerPoint (text boxes, callouts, emoji – no AI used). The purple leaf is wild-type, where transcription factor MYB activates the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway (ABP), producing the characteristic purple hue. The red leaf is an F3'5'H mutant (CRISPR/Cas9 knockout), where silencing F3'5'H stops purple pigment production and redirects flux within the same pathway toward red anthocyanins instead. Same pathway, same plant – it's simply whether F3'5'H is on or off that decides purple versus red. That switch mirrors my actual mood depending on audience: "off" during supervisor meetings, where I feel bruised and withdrawn about slow progress, and "on" at conference networking, where the same project suddenly becomes fascinating and I'm on fire talking about it. The meme pairs real anthocyanin genetics with a relatable PhD moment, using colour switching to tell an emotional story.




0

Plants for Space

Illuminating Duckweed

Once a vibrant green duckweed colony is stripped back to reveal an unseen world. By removing chlorophyll after Nitro Blue Tetrazolium (NBT) staining, deep blue patterns emerge, showing the accumulation of reactive oxygen species as a sign of stress within the tiny plants. Captured during my research using microscopy, this video reveals how scientific techniques can expose patterns that are invisible to the naked eye. We see the tiny aquatic monocots floating around devoid of chlorophyll yet showing us the stress patterns in a natural visual and colorful form.



Genomic prediction
0

Plant Success

Genomic prediction

Meme of Philomena Cunk interviewing academic for genomic prediction. Original image credit: House of Tommorrow/BBC
AI was used to aid in generating ideas, but text was not generated with AI.



The Great Escape
1

Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science

The Great Escape

Before cancer can spread, its cells must first learn to let go.

This image captures lung cancer cells in the midst of that transformation. Their glowing internal scaffolding has been dramatically reorganised, allowing the cells to change shape and prepare for movement. Triggered by a synthetic molecule that transports ions across cell membranes, these changes offer new insight into the mechanisms that drive cancer progression.



Illuminating Duckweed
0

Plants for Space

Illuminating Duckweed

Tiny but mighty, duckweed is the world's smallest flowering aquatic plant. This image captures duckweed transformed with naturally occurring glowing proteins delivered using Agrobacterium, a bacteria commonly used in plant research. The transformation reveals vibrant green and red fluorescence, turning each tiny frond into a living canvas while highlighting a process that is normally invisible. Created from fluorescence microscopy images, this artwork reflects our work into developing duckweed as a platform for plant synthetic biology. By combining scientific imaging with artistic composition, the piece celebrates the hidden beauty of transformation and reminds us that even the smallest plants can inspire big ideas for agricultural biotechnology, and future space exploration.



Like a MOF to a flame
0

Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science

Like a MOF to a flame

This image captures suspended shards of a fluorescent supramolecular metal organic framework (MOF) illuminated by confocal microscopy.



Tangled Diversity
0

Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science

Tangled Diversity

The Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea) is a rich source of natural food colorants and antioxidants as well as a catalyst for advancements in medicine and agriculture. Key to these innovations are small circular defence molecules known as cyclotides. Notably the eco-friendly pesticide, Sero-X®, derives its potency from extracts of this versatile plant.

Utilizing plant genomics and evolutionary studies, researchers at CIPPS aim to unravel the intricate genetic evolution within C. ternatea to shed light on how the plant’s genes have adapted and conferred new functions over time.

This artwork blends watercolour painting and digital drawing to pay homage to the myriad of cyclotides produced by C. ternatea. A sequence diversity wheel is entwined by the vine, adorned with its vibrant coloured flowers, creating a visual testament to the plant’s genetic richness.



Actin' Crazy
1

Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science

Actin' Crazy

Image created using microscopy. This image captures a dramatic reorganization of the cellular actin cytoskeleton, visualized through immunostaining in lung epithelial adenocarcinoma cells.



Let me in
1

Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science

Let me in

Image created using acrylic paint. One of the challenges of our research is to find ways to assist the entry of small helical peptides into cells. It is a daunting environment, with membranes that do not let them pass, and proteases that, if they do, chop them up in pieces.



Mustache for a Cleaner Future
19

GET CO2

Mustache for a Cleaner Future

This scientific illustration shows a CO2 molecule selectively adsorbed at the central active site of a mustache-shaped MoS₂ nanomaterial, emphasizing the importance of engineered catalytic sites for efficient carbon capture and sustainable climate solutions.The initial design and visualization were created by me using the VESTA software based on my own scientific data and modelling work. ChatGPT was used only as an editing and communication aid to improve the wording, clarity, and presentation of the accompanying description. No AI-generated content was used to create the original artwork, design concept, or scientific visualization.



Spider venom cake
2

Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science

Spider venom cake

Image created using digital layered vectors. Spider venom contains thousands of unique peptides. My research focuses on discovery and characterization of orally active venom peptides from diverse arachnid species. Using electrophysiology studies on insect ion channels, we are creating new eco-friendly bioinsecticides from spider venom to provide sustainable pest management solutions. No AI was used.




0

Synthetic Biology

KARI Adrift

This piece is a timelapsed microscopy video of protein crystals with added methylene blue pigment, filmed through the microscope lens on a standard mobile phone. The crystals are composed of an engineered variant of ketol-acid reductoisomerase (KARI), a key enzyme (and major bottleneck) of a cell-free enzymatic cascade for the production of isobutanol from glucose. These crystals were grown in a 1 microlitre droplet for structural determination via X-ray diffraction; the blue pigment is a crystal-specific dye that diffuses into and stains protein crystals, differentiating them from unwanted salt crystals. Over time, the dye accumulates inside the crystals and, alongside the mixing processes within the droplet, create a turbulent stream of blue prisms.



Tropical Tracheids
0

Plant Success

Tropical Tracheids

Peering just underneath the surface of a leaf in the unique conifer Podocarpus dispermus, a remarkable feat of evolution is on display. Conifers, unlike flowering plants, lack the sophisticated "vessel-based" water transport system that enables efficient irrigation of broad leaves, which is why most conifers have scale or needle leaves. A group of Southern Hemisphere conifers, the Podocarpaceae, have overcome this evolutionary limitation by reinventing the wheel. An interconnected matrix of tracheids transports water laterally from the main vein to support leaves broad enough to survive light-competitive environments. For Podocarpus dispermus, this means it thrives in the otherwise flowering-plant dominated rainforests of tropical North Queensland. Naturally colourless, this tissue is stained with Toluidine blue, emphasising the characteristic helical thickening in the cell walls of tracheids. 10X magnification. No AI was used.



The retreat
1

Plant Success

The retreat

Every year, our centre retreat brings together staff from all our affiliated universities for a time of connection, laughter, and shared memories. Inspired by Thanos assembling the Infinity Stones, this meme reimagines each Infinity Stone as a participating university's logo. Individually, each university is unique and valuable, but together, they form a powerful alliance that makes our Centre stronger. The retreat celebrates the friendships, teamwork, and collective spirit that unite us across institutions.
Made using PowerPoint. No AI used.



The Dark Universe above me
1

Dark Matter

The Dark Universe above me

Mobile phone (Dookie Vic, May/26). I looked up at the night sky thinking of how Dark Matter is invisible, mysterious and seeing the stars, thinking of how Dark Matter gravitationally holds galaxies together. I thought of the Emu in the Sky, the Indigenous constellation made from dark nebulae. I thought of the Milky Way and the Southern Cross, maybe that is what I could see, but also what I couldn't see. I like the movement in the picture, it felt like the sky was moving around me. Being in the country gave me the opportunity to look up at the stars and watch them move, the mysteries of the sky, the light and the darkness and the stories that surround the constellations and the science that explains what the universe is made up of, of the things we can see and not see, of what we can touch and not touch, of what we know and what we do not know. The sky reminded me of this juxtaposition. Dark Matter and Emu Sky are not the same but both represent the mysteriousness of our universe.



The "scientist" misconception
1

Plant Success

The "scientist" misconception

It's always a bit of fun to tell people that you work in science when their interpretation of that may be quite far from the day-to-day reality of what you get up to. Every contaminated agar plate and batch of poor quality plants gets us a bit closer to actually figuring something interesting out, and we enjoy the work enough to keep coming back to it despite the setbacks. Made using procreate, no AI used.




2

Gravitational Wave Discovery

aLIGO – al dente Laser Interferometric Gravitational-wave Observatory

The gravitational waves that we detect on Earth are created by the most energetic collisions in the Universe; black hole mergers. These black holes stretch and squeeze the fabric of time and space as they perform a death dance, increasing in speed and violence up until the moment of collision. Millions of light years away on Earth the gravitational waves are so small that the motion caused by them is orders of magnitude smaller then the width of an atom. Detecting gravitational waves needs the most sensitive instruments ever made by humanity, in an international collaborative effort. The detector is represented here in this work with spaghetti, a spaghetti detector on a spaghetti Earth trying to detect ripples of spaghetti space from coalescing of spaghetti black holes.




0

Synthetic Biology

In Good Hands

This stop-motion video is made from drawings based on real personal videos, some taken since 2023 – before I even truly knew I wanted to pursue science. Not only does this animation attempt to capture the day-to-day work of Synthetic Biologists, but seen in every five frames is someone who has shaped my personal journey in science. The idea of this piece came from when I started thinking about how 'my science' is only made possible through all the science done by the people around me, either through direct mentorship, friendship, or inspiration. Every frame is a reminder that my science exists because they do. Drawings were done on Procreate. No AI was used.



Dark Matter Exclusion plot simplified
0

Dark Matter

Dark Matter Exclusion plot simplified

If finding WIMPs were a police investigation, physicists would have the world's most patient detectives.WIMPs have been playing hide-and-seek with physicists for decades. Every experiment checks another "room" in the vast landscape of possible masses and interaction cross sections. Most rooms come back with a disappointing "Not here." But that's exactly how science works: every null result narrows the search, making the remaining hiding places fewer and more specific. The WIMP may be an expert at hiding—but physicists are even better at searching. 😄



Echoes of inheritance
1

Plant Success

Echoes of inheritance

This represents the unseen genetic architecture that shapes every living organism. Hidden from human sight, this intricate biological framework influences growth, adaptation, diversity, and the transmission of traits across generations. It reflects the idea that life’s visible forms are guided by an invisible genetic foundation that connects the past, present, and future. By drawing attention to what cannot be seen, this depicts the complexity of inheritance and reminds us that every living being carries a silent genetic legacy that continues to evolve through time.



Replicating divison in artficial cells
6

Synthetic Biology

Replicating divison in artficial cells

Replicating key living cell processes, such as cell division, remains one of the greatest challenges in the bottom-up approach to synthetic biology. In these microscopy images, we demonstrate that lipid-based artificial cells possess the ability to undergo division in response to external stimuli, including heat and light. These findings provide important insights into the development of life-like synthetic systems and advance our understanding of the minimal requirements for cellular reproduction.



Crossing paths
3

Gravitational Wave Discovery

Crossing paths

'Crossing Paths' is inspired by my work in signal processing. A digital painting I created in Procreate is processed like telescope data. My bespoke pipeline bins the image into discrete pixels, averaging colour at finite resolution, then maps each pixel's RGB values onto real DMC thread colours. The chart is hand-stitched on 11-count Aida as an approximation to the true image. Counted cross-stitch echoes the algorithms behind Bayesian inference, how we measure merging systems that emit gravitational waves like this neutron star–black hole binary. To understand an event seen only through ripples in spacetime, we must estimate its masses and how nuclear matter behaves at extreme densities. Stitch by stitch, the tidally disrupted stream accreting onto the black hole emerges, just as a sampling algorithm converges on the parameters describing the source. Pipeline developed with AI assistance (Claude). No generative AI was used for images. Code and original painting available on request.



labyrinth of light
1

Dark Matter

labyrinth of light

This is a side-view of a number of bar-shaped crystal scintillators stacked together. Crystal scintillators are a class of special material that emits light (scintillates) when hit by external radiations, and extremely rarely by dark matter particles. The light eventually reaching the photodetector signals the presence of interaction, but due to the usually very high refractive index, the light will go through multiple total internal reflections. This photo illustrates this labyrinth that's traversed by photons before they eventually become detected by us.




27

Synthetic Biology

Shape Shifting in Artificial cells: Surprising leap towards life-like behaviour

Watching these artificial cells bend, reshape, and recover under light offers a glimpse into how the fundamental mechanics of living cells may one day be recreated from the bottom up. Recorded using an epifluorescence microscope, this video captures lipid-based artificial cells undergoing reversible shape transformations in response to light. These dynamic shape changes are central to fundamental life processes, such as endocytosis, cell division, vesicle budding, and intracellular trafficking. Recreating these shape changes in synthetic systems has remained a major challenge in bottom-up synthetic biology. Remarkably, artificial cells shown here repeatedly switch between distinct morphologies under light stimulation, despite having no photoswitchable molecules and photoreceptor proteins. The response emerges from a novel design principle, demonstrating that light-responsive behavior can be achieved through alternative mechanisms, which is also giving us insight into origin of life.



The not-so impulsive journey of mung
4

Plant Success

The not-so impulsive journey of mung

Click the icon of a page with an arrow (above right) to view full graphic novel.

This comic sets the scene for my research on heat tolerance in mungbean. Mungbean is a protein-rich crop that originated in South Asia, however the crop spread to different parts of the world, including Australia, due to climatic reasons. Now, Australia is one of the biggest producers of mungbean, but heat and drought stress affects mungbean farmers massively. But, they have thrived in harsher environments around the world historically so there must be something in them that helped them survive. Hence we are looking into genomic regions of heat resilience in mungbean! This original comic was digitally drawn using Procreate for iPad. The idea and the sketches are mine, no AI was used.



Elli the E. coli
8

Synthetic Biology

Elli the E. coli

A crocheted semi realistic E. coli as a synthetic biology mascot for our working group. In the lab, it’s the most versatile and helpful bacterium we have. From cloning and protein expression to metabolic engineering and biosensor development, E. coli is the workhorse that makes countless experiments possible. This plush captures its iconic rod shape, flagella, and even surface pili. It’s a tribute to the microbe that quietly powers discovery, one colony at a time.



The "Bones" and "Veins" of tomato plant
0

Plants for Space

The "Bones" and "Veins" of tomato plant

This microscopic image reveals the secondary xylem of a tomato stem. Like "bones," it provides the mechanical strength and structural support that keep the plant upright; like "veins," it transports water from the roots to every growing organ. The stem cross-section was stained with Toluidine Blue O, which distinguishes lignified and non-lignified tissues. The blue-stained secondary xylem consists of lignified cells arranged like bricks, continuously produced during secondary growth to increase stem thickness and mechanical strength. The surrounding purple-stained tissues represent the ground tissue and epidermis. My research seeks to understand how plants regulate secondary xylem development through cell wall integrity signalling and phytohormones, with the goal of engineering crops with optimised structural biomass for greater resilience on Earth and sustainable plant production in Space.



Florist's last picks
4

Plant Success

Florist's last picks

A vase filled with various plant species worked with by members of the CoE for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture. These may not be the prettiest plants, but our research gives us all a new level of appreciation for them. The combination of species across the centre creates a foundation of knowledge which can be transferred between species and extrapolated upon in new ways which we would never have considered working alone.

Species include Sorghum bicolor, Pisum sativum (pea), Oryza sativa (rice), Triticum aestivum L. (wheat), Vigna radiata (mungbean), Arabidopsis thaliana, Senecio, Eucalyptus, Marchantia polymorpha, Magnifera indica (mango), Solanum lycopersicum (tomato), Citrus australasica (finger lime), Macadamia integrifolia. Acrylic gouache on canvas.



The Dish and the Moon
0

Gravitational Wave Discovery

The Dish and the Moon

Bathed in a cloudless blue sky, the Parkes radio telescope appears to reach toward the half Moon. Yet its true target lies far beyond our nearest celestial neighbour. During this observation, the telescope was searching for radio signals from pulsars and magnetars. Sixty-five years after its inauguration, the Parkes radio telescope continues a remarkable scientific legacy. From helping relay television signals from the Apollo 11 Moon landing to advancing pulsar astronomy and discovering fast radio bursts, it has continually expanded our understanding of the Universe. This photograph celebrates both the enduring spirit of exploration and the evolving role of a telescope that many of us proudly regard as the most beautiful telescope.

Photo details:
Taken on 31 August 2025 with a Google Pixel 7 (6.81 mm, f/1.85, 1/1055 s). The submitted image has been proportionally resized to comply with the competition's maximum image dimensions. No AI is used.



One Small Headset
1

Gravitational Wave Discovery

One Small Headset

During National Science Week 2024 at Swinburne University of Technology, a young visitor dons an astronaut suit and embarks on a journey through the universe using a virtual reality headset. This moment captures the excitement of discovery and the power of immersive technology to inspire the next generation of scientists and explorers. Neil Armstrong famously described the moon landing as "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." This photograph reminds us that every journey of discovery begins with the courage to imagine. For this young explorer, it begins with one small headset.

Photo details:
Taken on 14 August 2024 with a Nikon D5600 (140 mm, f/4.8, 1/50 s). The submitted image has been proportionally resized to comply with the competition's maximum image dimensions. This photograph is an original capture with no AI-generated or AI-edited content.



Familiar Patterns of Early Origin
3

Plant Success

Familiar Patterns of Early Origin

Illustrated using watercolour and pencil, this artwork features four representatives of an early-diverging land plant lineage: the leafy liverworts (Jungermanniidae) from ~320 MA. Tiny and unsuspecting to the naked eye, these plants hold an incredible diversity in their morphological patterning, represented here by the unique shapes and arrangement of their leaves which are often finely lobed or toothed. DNA sequences containing familiar motifs (TATA-box, start and stop codons) intersect with lines and patterns swirling around the plants to highlight the fluid nature of genetic evolution and gene expression.

This artwork was co-inspired by our research investigating the genetics underlying growth and development of bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts) and project work I completed for the National Herbarium of Victoria illustrating microscopic leafy liverworts as a tool for species identification.

No AI was used.



From Waste to Wonders
1

Synthetic Biology

From Waste to Wonders

This digital artwork was created using Procreate. This drawing is meant to illustrate my PhD project, which looks into genetically modifying yeasts to consume waste substrates as an alternative feedstock for the production of valuable commodity products, like biofuels. My work specifically looks into the use of Black Soldier Flies as a platform for the conversion of organic wastes into a single substrate that can be utilised by yeasts – hence the depiction of flies on the different waste items. Overall, the drawing shows a Synthetic Biologist in the lab working with a yeast that is leaping off its agar plate to consume the waste items. No AI was used.



From Waste to Wonders
9

Synthetic Biology

From Waste to Wonders

Click the icon of a page with an arrow (above right) to view full graphic novel.

This digital artwork, intended to be a children's book, was created using Procreate. This story follows a yeast learning to eat waste to produce oil, which summarises the overarching aim of my PhD project. I wanted to display the debate of 'food versus fuel', in which it is not sustainable to use food crops (e.g. sugar) for the production of biofuel/bioproduction, but that it would be more ideal to utilise waste substrates as an alternative feedstock for precision fermentation. I also wanted to show the guiding motto of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, which is "Inspired by Nature: Designed by Science", by showing the yeast meeting different organisms in nature and learning from them how to eat certain waste. This illustrates the idea of how Synthetic Biologists take genetic information from organisms in nature and place them into new organisms to give them new capabilities. No AI was used.



The Fate of the Earth
3

Gravitational Wave Discovery

The Fate of the Earth

Click the icon of a page with an arrow (above right) to view full zine.

This 8-page zine was created to illustrate the questions involved in my research on planet engulfment (i.e., the process by which stars consume planets). I am particularly interested in how these events affect the properties of the host star. In my research I seek to answer these questions through detailed simulations of stellar evolution, as well as by analysing telescope data to find stars that have recently ingested their planets. While my research is focussed primarily on stars outside our Solar System, this field of study will help us understand the fate of the Earth after it is engulfed by the Sun, which is the topic of the zine. This zine was created on cardstock using alcohol markers, acrylic paint pens and coloured pencil. No AI was used.



Inspiral
1

Gravitational Wave Discovery

Inspiral

"Inspiral" is an artistic interpretation of the bending of gravitational space-time of an inspiraling pair of compact stars. Made from 34 laser cut multi-coloured acrylic pieces, tesellated into a laser inscribed, clear acrylic background. This work emulates a stain glass effect, as studying signals from these phenomena are a "new window into our Universe". Dimensions 42cm x 31cm (HxW). No AI was used.



Cyanotype No.1
1

Plant Success

Cyanotype No.1

These are cyanotype prints of Arabidopsis thaliana. The use of cyanotype photographic printing has a compelling history in capturing the morphology of botanical specimens – 19th century botanist Anna Atkins was the first to use the method in a botanical context to illustrate various species of British algae and ferns. So I thought it would be fun to continue that history for the model species that our lab group (Beveridge/Cooper lab) work on: Arabidopsis thaliana.

Normally, to create cyanotype prints, the paper and specimen are exposed to sunlight to trigger the light sensitive mixture applied to the paper (a 50:50 mix of potassium ferricyanide and ferric ammonium citrate), however these specimens are genetically modified and therefore could not reasonably be taken outside the lab. I instead created these using the grow lights in our growth chambers and, to further tie the work to the lab environment, printed them on laboratory filter paper.




0

Automated Decision-Making and Society

AI Art: Visualising the Rhetoric Using Collage

This video presents a compliation of collages I have handcrafted using Canva and cut-and-paste techniques, either digital or with paper, scissors and glue. The images draw attention to the rhetoric used by both AI supporters and those who criticise the latest versions: AI models such as large language models and image generator models. It highlights the materialities of AI infrastructures such as data centres, the use of stolen creative and personal data to train the models, the extractive ethos of Big AI, the slop it creates, and the impacts on people and the planet. No AI was used to create these images and all images used in the collages are public domain, often taken from heritage archives. The video was made on Canva.



The evolution of gravitational-wave science
1

Gravitational Wave Discovery

The evolution of gravitational-wave science

This artwork was created last year (2025) to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the first direct detection of gravitational waves, one of the most significant scientific breakthroughs of the 21st century. Through a combination of illustrations and text, the artwork traces the history of gravitational-wave science, from the early theoretical work of Poisson and Einstein to today's advanced detector era, featuring hundreds of gravitational-wave detections, concluding with the exciting prospects for future discoveries. The artwork was designed in Canva and includes original clipart illustrations created by Carl Knox and myself. No AI was used.



E. coli meets the corporate ladder
2

Synthetic Biology

E. coli meets the corporate ladder

‘You have been promoted; you are now one of my elite employees’ is a meme originating from MainlyMannie about corporate scenarios where you get a measly raise or prize rather than a proper raise or actual benefits. In this meme, I’ve applied it to an E. coli bacterium, in which, after the cell takes up the plasmid (a small, circular piece of DNA that scientists use to add new genetic information to cells) we created, it is now an ‘elite employee’.

As synthetic biologists, we are always making cells do all of our work for us. In a way, we can be their demanding boss, while the cells are our overworked employees, busy making toxins, medicines, proteins and all kinds of useful products we ask them to produce. In this meme, I use an example from my research project in which I make E. coli turn blue by providing it with a plasmid I engineered.

This artwork was created in Procreate on my iPad, with text, borders, and arrows added post-drawing in Canva. No AI was used for this artwor



Anatomy of an Online Crowd
0

Automated Decision-Making and Society

Anatomy of an Online Crowd

A force-directed network visualisation of coordinated behaviour on Twitter during the 2020 #ReopenAmerica protest movement, produced for my research into detecting online influence campaigns. Each of the 7,280 nodes is an account on X (formerly Twitter); the 26,513 links (or edges) connect accounts that repeatedly acted together within 300 seconds. Colour encodes the coordination type: co-linking (red), co-retweeting (blue), co-tweeting (yellow) and co-replying (white). The layout was computed from real social media data using our open-source Coordination Network Toolkit and the Force Atlas 2 algorithm in Gephi, then exported as an image. The dense blue core is a community of COVID-safety advocates, while the surrounding clusters reveal smaller pockets of coordinated amplification. No generative AI was used in any part of this process, including in the Coordination Network Toolkit code.



Coalescence
7

Gravitational Wave Discovery

Coalescence

The seven pieces portray the time evolution of a binary neutron star merger, and the turbulence of that coalescence. Overlayed with the time domain inspiral and post-merger gravitational wave signal. The sharp waveform overlayed is used to represent the precision of gravitational wave detectors on Earth, contrasting the noisy, and relatively mysterious, merger. Gold is used on the waveform to reflect the value of a high precision post-merger signal to my research field. Overall this work is used as a commentary as to how turbulent events in deep space are accurately translated to scientific evidence to the behaviour of extreme matter.

Oil paint and gold marker on canvas.
11in x 14in each.

No AI was used.



Data Centre Decoupage
0

Automated Decision-Making and Society

Data Centre Decoupage

This image was created as a commentary on the impacts of hyperscale data centres being built to service GenAI, despoiling the natural world and causing health problems for people. The image was created using multi-media methods. First, I made an image on Canva of a data centre emitting a black cloud of smoke. I then printed this out on photocopy paper. Then I selected a background image from a public domain archive, featuring a oil painting of a landscape. I printed this out too. I then found some images of plants in a magazine. I used these paper materials to handcraft a decoupage creation, creating a 3D effect. I then photographed it with my smartphone and uploaded it to Canva, where I added an ornate gold frame to complete the image. No AI was used.



Cellular Bubbles
0

Plant Success

Cellular Bubbles

This piece was made by shooting a laser into a guard cell of Dicksonia antarctica, as seen using microscopy. The laser nucleates a bubble in the cell. The collapse of the bubble visually demonstrates the positive pressure within the cell; the pressure of guard cells is what regulates the carbon intake and water loss of plants through their leaves. No AI was used.



Physics At All Scales
1

Dark Matter

Physics At All Scales

This linoprint illustrates how physics connects across all scales – from fundamental, point-like particles to the cosmic web, and from the deepest questions about the nature of reality to the high-tech instruments shaping our daily lives. It reflects my own research into dark matter, which spans those same extremes: we build some of the most sensitive, shielded spaces on Earth to detect a handful of particles, yet everything we know about dark matter comes from vast cosmic structures and the fingerprints it left on how the universe formed. The technology linking those two worlds sits in between – and that's where my work happens.



Most Frequent Seabreeze Occurrence Time in Austral Summer
1

21st Century Weather

Most Frequent Seabreeze Occurrence Time in Austral Summer

This image reveals the daily rhythm of sea breezes across the Sydney Basin during the austral summer. Each colour represents the hour at which sea-breeze conditions occur most frequently, calculated from three months of high-resolution atmospheric simulations.

A clear transition emerges from the coast to the inland mountains. Along the coast, sea breezes occur most frequently during the afternoon. Further inland, the timing shifts later in the day, revealing the gradual influence of marine air and the role of Sydney’s landscape. The pattern is strongly influenced by topography, particularly the coastal plain and the Blue Mountains, which affect the inland progression of the circulation.

What appears as an abstract mosaic is a map of time itself—a portrait of summer afternoons written by wind, land, and sea.



The Reef Remembers
0

Synthetic Biology

The Reef Remembers

Please view the entire project here: https://www.behance.net/gallery/246078291/Coral-Sculpture

The Reef Remembers is a biodegradable coral sculpture made from bioplastic that explores the fragile relationship between marine life, sustainable materials, and ecological memory. Inspired by the organic forms of coral reefs, the work reflects both the beauty and vulnerability of ocean ecosystems threatened by pollution, climate change, and human consumption. Through videos projected onto the sculpture using augmented reality, the piece highlights the potential role of synthetic biology in protecting fragile reef ecosystems in Australia and around the world.




9

Automated Decision-Making and Society

Gaze Trails

Created in Python using an open-source eye-tracking dataset, this artwork transforms human gaze into a visual landscape. A short video recorded with a Tobii eye tracker in the RMIT Usability Lab is embedded in the piece, revealing how gaze is captured in real time. The video was edited using iMovie.

Each coloured line represents the eye-movement trajectory of a different person while reading or searching for information. Though we may look at the same world, we do not see it in the same way. Our gaze reflects our habits, experiences, attention, cognitive states, and even aspects of personality.

My research uses eye-tracking signals to better understand how individuals seek information and process knowledge. These insights may support personalised learning and adaptive technologies. Through this artwork, I hope to celebrate the uniqueness of human perception: every gaze follows its own path, and every person experiences the world differently.



Chemical Fireworks:Revealing the Hidden Art Within Sb2WO6 Crystals
1

GETCO2

Chemical Fireworks:Revealing the Hidden Art Within Sb2WO6 Crystals

At first glance, this looks like a brilliant firework illuminating the night sky. In reality, it is a spectacular display of atomic geometry at a scale completely invisible to the naked eye!
This vibrant burst is an Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) map of an Antimony Tungstate (Sb2WO6) crystal, captured using a Thermo Fisher Spectra 300. By assigning a color to each element's unique X-ray signature—yellow for Oxygen, red for Antimony, and blue for Tungsten—we can visualize exactly how these fundamental building blocks intertwine.
The beautiful oranges and purples radiating outward are the dense, overlapping tapestry of Antimony and Tungsten atoms. This nanoscale pyrotechnic display perfectly synthesizes materials science and art, reminding us that nature's atomic structures often harbor unexpected masterpieces.



Synboo: A Synthetic biology Twist On The Game Taboo
0

Synthetic Biology

Synboo: A Synthetic biology Twist On The Game Taboo

Created using layered digital illustrations in Procreate and Canva. This artwork is a synthetic biology–themed mock-up of the game Taboo. The illustrations are inspired by microorganisms and biological systems commonly encountered in synthetic biology, including Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces yeast, plant cells, viruses, and rod-shaped bacteria. This game was originally made for an SBA (Synthetic Biology Australasia ) outreach event. To play the game, you have to get your teammates to guess the “target word” found at the top of the card, without saying the word itself or five other forbidden words found underneath, the “taboo” words. I have chosen the words to display based on my project, which uses engineered tRNAs to reprogram translation!



Life in Translation
1

Synthetic Biology

Life in Translation

Created using polymer clay and resin. This artwork explores life at progressively smaller scales, from a Petri dish to a single E. coli cell, and then to a ribosome.

* Bottom: Petri dish. A Petri dish containing various microorganisms, including bacteria, yeast and cyanobacteria. This sculpture represents transfer RNA (tRNA), the focus of my research, which is found across all domains of life, including both prokaryotes and eukaryotes.* Top left: E.coli. This is my favourite organism and the one I work with daily. The blue dots in this sculpture represent ribosomes.
* Top right: Translation machinery. I have made a ribosome with tRNA and a growing polypeptide chain emerging from the top! This represents the vital link between mRNA code and tRNA, which add each amino acid. The pink tRNA represents a natural (cognate) tRNA, while the purple tRNA represents an orthogonal tRNA, which I use to add new amino acids to proteins.

No AI was used.



CAPE
0

21st Century Weather

CAPE

A geeky beauty, the picture shows Convective Available Potential Energy from a weather model simulation over Darwin NT. This quantity is often used to forecast thunderstorms. Here it shows the coastline plus the Tiwi Islands as land and sea heat up differently during the day. The fine structures that are visible show the power of high-resolution weather models, painting our weather just as if an artist was given free reign with an empty canvas and a brush.



Alfred
0

21st Century Weather

Alfred

A rendering of TC Alfred just off the Gold Coast. View is from the north (somewhere above the Coral Sea) looking south. The rendering includes plenty of science, with surface winds (arrows) circling around the central low (notice how the surface bulges downward to create a literal depression), lower clouds in the spiral arms, high, deep clouds where most of the rainfall is produced, and localised small rain cells around the storm to the left (rainfall represented by blue surfaces underneath clouds). The clouds show the resolution of the Global Forecast System, of which the data is taken for the visualisation. No smoothing over, just the beauty of a powerful storm within its environment, its place on Earth, and in space.



I Heart Lows
0

21st Century Weather

I Heart Lows

Created using data from NOAA's Global Forecast System (GFS) for wind and clouds. Rendered on a linux workstation using ParaView and my own pv_atmos python package. The picture shows a rendering of an East Coast Low occurring in the beginning of July 2025. I noticed the heart shaped cloud bands when accidentally rotating the camera view. The shape itself came about through a split of the low pressure centre into two almost distinct centres, together with the characteristic cloud band reaching all the way to the tip of tropical Queensland. The image shows the beauty of our planet, where weather is one of many things connecting north and south, land and ocean, sun and rain, hot and cold, all of it in the shape of a heart.



Expectation vs reality
0

Plants for Space

Expectation vs reality

Created on an iPhone using screen shots of my personal qRT PCR data from an Applied Biosystems QuantStudio 12K Flex Real Time PCR System.

I was hoping to find ethylene responsive gene orthologues between the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (mouse ear cress to its friends) and Lactuca sativa (lettuce). Both plants were being treated with ethylene to shorten root growth whilst (hoping to) keeping shoot growth 'normal'. If I found orthologues maybe it would inform future studies for crop optimization, especially for protected cropping in an uncertain climate or maybe in Space where resource constraints are a reality.

The bottom panel is me testing for ethylene response related gene expression and the top panel is exactly the same. Same genes, same samples, same user, equipment, reagents, plants, same everything, only one hour apart.

What happened? Who is to say really.



Radioactivity in Sydney
0

Dark Matter

Radioactivity in Sydney

This is the graphical abstract that has been officially published by the Journal of Environmental Radioactivity—the first of its kind in the journal. I am increasingly frustrated with the way we communicate science, even to other scientists. That's why we chose to present the graphical abstract as a comic: to make the story, motivation, and findings more engaging, accessible, and fun!



Underground Vulnerability
0

Plant Success

Underground Vulnerability

Captured using microscopy, fluorescence-stained soybean roots glow green when hydrated and slowly “turn off” as cells become damaged during drought stress. This artwork visualises little-known underground plant processes, investigating the vulnerability of root systems under climate change. No AI was used.



Surreal AI
1

Automated Decision-Making and Society

Surreal AI

Click the icon of a page with an arrow (above right) to view full zine.

Surreal AI presents a series of hand-crafted digital collages I have made as a creative and critical response to generative AI as part of my research program as a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. The zine was inspired by the surrealist art movement. There are many aspects of the current GenAI moment that are surreal: from the ludicrous overblown claims by Big AI for how these services will improve everyday life or replace humans, or are magical or godlike, to tech oligarchs’ fever dreams of ‘the singularity’ involving superintelligent AI taking over the world. The collages and zine was created manually on Canva, using basic image editing tools such as cut and paste, cropping, background removal, image positioning and colour editing (but completely avoiding GenAI tools on that platform). The images were sourced from those available on Canva and in online archives of public domain artworks, such as Public Images by Cosmos.

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