{"links":{"self":"http://dataportal.arc.gov.au/NCGP/API/grants/DE260102087"},"data":{"type":"grant-details","id":"DE260102087","attributes":{"code":"DE260102087","administering-organisation":"Charles Sturt University","announcement-administering-organisation":"Charles Sturt University","scheme-name":"Discovery Early Career Researcher Award","grant-status":"Active","funding-commencement-year":2026,"years-funded":3,"project-start-date":"2026-01-01","anticipated-end-date":"2028-12-31","grant-summary":"Harnessing animal intelligence to repair Australian mammal communities . This project aims to address Australia’s extinction crisis by testing how predation shapes prey intelligence and using this new information to restore threatened mammal populations. This project aspires to determine which cognitive traits influence the development of antipredator behaviour and hence promote survival alongside predators. By exploring the role of predation in shaping learning and memory, this project will return only the most ‘predator smart’ prey to the wild, testing a model that could facilitate the co-existence of native prey alongside introduced predators. Expected outcomes include a new understanding of how predation shapes the brain and practical cognition-based conservation tools to reduce extinction risk.","funding-current":492952.00,"funding-at-announcement":488857,"investigators-current":[{"title":"Dr","firstName":"Eamonn","familyName":"Wooster","roleName":"Discovery Early Career Researcher Award","roleCode":"DECRA","isFellowship":true,"orcidIdentifier":"0000-0002-2907-4076 "}],"investigators-at-announcement":[{"title":"Dr","firstName":"Eamonn","familyName":"Wooster","roleName":"Discovery Early Career Researcher Award","roleCode":"DECRA","isFellowship":true,"orcidIdentifier":"0000-0002-2907-4076 "}],"organisations-current":[{"organisationName":"Charles Sturt University","roleName":"Administering Organisation","state":"NSW"}],"organisations-at-announcement":[{"organisationName":"Charles Sturt University","roleName":"Administering Organisation","state":"NSW"}],"field-of-research":[{"isPrimary":false,"code":"310301","name":"Behavioural Ecology","type":"FOR20"},{"isPrimary":false,"code":"310405","name":"Evolutionary Ecology","type":"FOR20"},{"isPrimary":true,"code":"4104","name":"Environmental Management","type":"FOR20"},{"isPrimary":false,"code":"410401","name":"Conservation and Biodiversity","type":"FOR20"}],"socio-economic-objective":[{"code":"180606","name":"Terrestrial Biodiversity","type":"SEO20"},{"code":"190205","name":"Environmental Protection Frameworks (Incl. Economic Incentives)","type":"SEO20"},{"code":"280102","name":"Expanding Knowledge In the Biological Sciences","type":"SEO20"}],"international-collaboration":["Canada","England"],"lief-register":[],"achievement-summary":null,"national-interest-test-statement":"Introduced predators have driven the decline and extinction of >20% of Australia’s endemic mammals, an effect predicted to increase under future environmental conditions. In response, many Australian small mammals find themselves in their final bastion—predator-free conservation havens. Returning mammals to the wild from these havens has become a seemingly impossible task as prey are unable to recognise the risk posed by predators. Australia’s mammals being absent from Australian landscapes damages the environment, harms Indigenous cultures, threatens Australia’s No New Extinctions policy under the Threatened Species Action Plan and inhibits the functionality of Australia’s Nature Repair Market, valued at $136 billion. Cognition offers a novel solution to restoring Australia’s natural heritage. By reintroducing the most intelligent individuals into the wild, this project will foster populations with anti-predatory behaviours that promote survival. This project will provide low-cost tools to return Australia’s mammals to the wild, reducing extinction risk. Returning Australian mammals to the wild is crucial to maintaining Australia’s $6 billion ecotourism industry, as global visitors flock to see our unique fauna in the wild. This DECRA aligns with the national research priority of “protecting and restoring Australia’s environment” and in harmony with the Australian Universities Accord, bolsters the role of regional universities in Australia’s world leading research landscape."}}}