Announcing the winners of the Peer Prize for Climate
With the generous support from the UNSW Sydney Grand Challenge Program and the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland, Thinkable was proud to host the inaugural Peer Prize for Climate. Our objective was to provide a new way to better showcase, mobilize & celebrate the latest climate-change research and solutions from working climate scientists across the world.
Outcomes
We attracted 101 entries from across the world’s universities & industries, showcasing research papers/discoveries ranging from the fundamental science of climate change through to new technologies that have an impact on climate through carbon abatement. Over the 2-week voting period we had over 50,000 people engage entries and over 1,000 verified researchers from all over the world vote. Here is a map from where our community peer votes came from.
Congratulations to everyone — after a process of verification, here are the top 3 entries for each category.
Top-3 for the Climate Science Prize
1st Prize with 66 votes
Summary: Rapid Arctic warming is changing the types of plants that proliferate in tundra ecosystems. An important component of that is the silica cycle, which has implications for phytoplankton production in nearby coastal waters. Dr Carey’s research gives us new insights into how rapidly warming Arctic ecosystems impact silica storage, with large potential unrealized consequences for downstream marine ecosystems.
2nd Prize with 60 votes
Summary: Sea-level rise as a consequence of climate change is a major risk for low-lying coastlines. But local tides and storm-surges amplify the impact of extreme sea-level events. Through a global analysis, Dr Wahl found the uncertainties and magnitude of extreme sea-levels are often more significant than long-term sea-level projections from climate warming. This means it is critical to take into consideration local sea-level effects to fully understand future impact under climate change.
3rd Prize with 21 votes
Summary: Elevated carbon dioxide in seawater has been found to impact sensory behaviour in some fish, but it’s impact on a community-perspective is unknown. Dr Nagelkerken and his team examined a marine ecosystem under abnormally high carbon dioxide (via a volcanic vent) and found that elevated CO2 did not alter competitive hierarchies of fish but can reduce local fish diversity and homogenize fish communities.
Top-3 for the Climate Impact Prize
1st with 77 votes
Summary: Prof Hu and his team at the Electrified Vehicles Lab at Chongqing University conducted an exhaustive analysis to demonstrate the optimal factors needed to produce lowest carbon emissions for plug-in hybrid vehicles. They found that the application of wind-power was the best result, reducing emissions by 21%, providing important insights into the uptake and use of plug-in electric vehicles.
2nd with 64 votes
Summary: Dr Fogerty & RedMap Australia explored the potential climate-change impact of changes to fish habitats as temperature warms. They found that ‘first-fish sightings’ outside the normal range are likely to indicate a longer term climate-induced change in the ocean. This provides a new way to better detect species distribution changes under a warming world.
3rd with 45 votes
Summary: Clean-tech startup Catalytic Innovations has come up with a way to produce hydrogen fuel out of environmentally harmful dairy wastewater: acid whey. They ultimately will have a two-fold climate impact by producing renewable electricity to form fuel while simultaneously cleaning wastewater.
Student Prize Winner with 71 votes
Summary: The ability to produce renewable power within cities is critical. Angelo’s PhD is researching the optimal design of wind micro-generator aimed to provide energy for low-powered applications — particularly impactful within cities.
We have been excited to showcase the latest climate research & technologies and drive open learning for the inaugural year of the Climate Prize and have learnt alot about this new style of community-driven award. We thank all those who participated! Any institutions who would like to be involved & support the next Peer Prize for Climate, we’d love to hear from you!
Thanks!
Ben McNeil
Chief Scientist, Thinkable.org
