Shaping a sustainable future with the help of the Westpac Scholars Trust

Dr Andrea La Nauze, Ms Tori Millsteed and Ms Sara Watson Two University of Queensland (UQ) researchers have shared more than $500,000 in funding from the Westpac Scholars Trust to tackle major sustainability challenges facing Australia. Environmental economist, Dr Andrea La Nauze is the recipient of the prestigious 2023 Westpac Research Fellowship. Dr La Nauze will use her Fellowship funding to measure the costs of poor air quality to better inform policy makers, communities and researchers as they consider monitoring guidelines and environmental standards. "More than 3,000 Australians are dying every year because of air pollution, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and climate change is exacerbating poor air quality through events such as bushfires," Dr La Nauze said. "My research will look at the benefits of using low-cost home monitors to measure people's exposure to pollution, improve estimates of the costs, and explore ways to address air quality." Dr La Nauze, from UQ's School of Economics , said insights from her research would inform the debate about how Australia thinks - and acts - for the environment. UQ PhD candidate Tori Millsteed has been named a 2023 Westpac Future Leader for research on increasing crop yields through genetics. "To feed Australia's growing population and keep pace with climate change, agricultural production must intensify, but many current farming practices are harmful to the environment," Ms Millsteed said.