Innovation flows at Water@UNSW 2025

UNSW hosted the Water@UNSW Symposium on Friday 24 October, where dozens of members of the UNSW water community took the opportunity to showcase their latest knowledge and research—and two took home awards.

The full day event was comprised of 25 oral presentations on a broad range of topics—from rainfall modelling to digital infrastructure to cyanotoxin detection. With the symposium aiming to promote cross-disciplinary water research at UNSW, it provided a platform for researchers from different backgrounds to network, collaborate and discover common ground.

In the afternoon session, AquaYukla Managing Director and UNSW alumni Yulia Shutova was a keynote speaker, highlighting her career path and approach to water management. She reflected on the opportunities and challenges in transitioning between academia and industry—something she experienced first-hand. She shared insights on how research experience promotes adaptation, collaboration and critical thinking skills that are so important to innovation in water quality management.

ARC DECRA Fellow Dr Naras Hanumanth Rao from the School of Chemical Engineering was the Conference Organiser, responsible for bringing the program and community together.

He said, "It was inspiring to see the UNSW water community come together. The quality of research, diversity of topics from engineering and environmental science to medicine, policy, and design, and the overall enthusiasm for collaboration were outstanding.”

Two awards were presented on the day, supported by the UNSW Global Water Institute. The award for best presentation went to Dr Claudia Santori from the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences for ‘Restoring Sydney's crayweed forests: an update on Operation Crayweed’. Claudia is part of a team that is using science and community engagement to bring crayweed back to reefs where it once flourished, re-establishing essential habitat and food sources for Sydney’s coastal marine biodiversity.

The second award went to Ms Emma Hu from the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering for ‘Hook, Light and Sinker – Increasing fish attraction in Pipe Fishways using fish phototactic response to coloured light’. Emma is an undergraduate student who is helping to reintegrate the movement of fish through bodies of water using pipe fishways. Her research investigates how coloured light in these pipes can be used as a mechanism to improve fish attraction into the fishway entrance.

The depth and breadth of knowledge shared at the Symposium demonstrated just how critical all aspects of water research are for health, livelihoods and ecosystems. Presentations covered water policy and management frameworks, contaminant and water quality studies, ecological restoration and aquatic systems, hydrology, modelling and climate interactions, and emerging technologies for sustainable water use.

Dr Rao said, “Events like this remind us why UNSW continues to lead in water innovation and impact."