Almost all active caldera volcanoes host hydrothermal systems that circulate a mixture of seawater, meteoric water and magmatic fluids through the subsurface geology to seeps or vents on the seafloor. These fluids can explosively interact with magma in volcanic eruptions and can change the physical properties of their host rocks, influencing both the likelihood of eruptions occurring and their explosivity. The nature of these interactions is poorly understood, including how fluid flow changes during periods of magmatic intrusion, how the hydrothermal system connects magmatic fluids to the surface and the spatial distribution and extent of alteration/mineralisation. While we know hydrothermal fluid flow plays an important role in modulating eruption dynamics, as long as these fundamental knowledge gaps exist it is impossible to forecast, with any degree of accuracy, what this effect will be which makes understanding hazards and impacts in eruption scenarios difficult. In this proposal we will combine novel controlled source electromagnetic mapping of porosity and permeability, with passive seismic mapping of hydrothermal fluid flow in the shallow subsurface, constrained by heat flow measurements and surface and subsurface sampling to characterise the porosity and permeability of the Santorini hydrothermal system. Santorini has been selected as the ideal natural laboratory to test these relationships because it is exceptionally well characterised geophysically and geologically, has a diversity of hydrothermal vents and has experienced recent activity which can be used to test modelling. We will quantify how magmatic fluids are partitioned between vents to identify the primary pathways for magmatic volatile escape, and quantify the impact hydrothermal mineralisation has had on the physical strength of the seafloor. Once we have a full picture of the system in its current state we will use mapping, fluid inclusions, mineralogy and the sedimentary record to establish how vent locations, subsurface fluid pathways, and fluid fluxes, temperatures and chemistries responded to the 2011/12 period of unrest. These data will be used to constrain the boundary conditions for a hydrothermal system model, which can be used to predict how the system will respond to future periods of intrusion both at Santorini and at other caldera systems around the world. This project will provide a step change in our understanding of hydrothermal interactions with volcanoes and our ability to predict their response to changes in the magmatic system. This has implications not just for understanding volcanic eruptions, but also for understanding metal and volatile fluxes from the mantle to the ocean and atmosphere, the development of economic metal deposits in these systems, the impact on ecological communities of intrusive and extrusive volcanic events, geothermal energy production, and for hazard forecasting and mitigation. The project will push the frontiers of knowledge by combining cutting edge geophysical and geochemical techniques to produce a model of a caldera hydrothermal system at a resolution previously not possible, and by developing modelling tools that would allow the application of these findings to other systems. The project is ambitious but achievable and benefits from a large team of international expert proponents, partnerships with other large international projects and high-quality pre-existing data upon which to build.

AUSTRALIA

Grass pea is a pulse crop with remarkable tolerance to drought as well as flooding, making its seeds an important local food source in several tropical countries, especially Ethiopia, Sudan and Eritrea as well as India and Bangladesh. In times of weather extremes causing crop losses, grass pea often remains one of the most available foods and the cheapest source of protein, helping people survive during food shortages. The mounting challenge of climate change increases the need for crops that can be grown sustainably and withstand weather extremes. Through its 8000-year history of cultivation grass pea has been a part of human diets - from Neolithic sites in the Balkans, through the bronze-age middle east, the Roman Empire and medieval Europe until the modern day. But despite its value for food and nutritional security, grass pea carries the stigma of a potentially dangerous food. Its seeds and leaves contain a neurotoxic compound that can cause a debilitating disease known as neurolathyrism. This disease only appears in people who are malnourished and consume large amounts of grass pea over several months. Yet the fear of neurolathyrism, which has been known since antiquity, has led to grass pea being undervalued by farmers, breeders and scientists, making it an 'orphan crop'. There is no significant international trade in grass pea and too little research to develop the potential of this resilient, sustainable source of protein. Grass pea is able to fix nitrogen from the air (through symbiosis with nodulating bacteria), can efficiently use soil phosphate through its mycorrhizal associations, can penetrate into hard, heavy soil and is relatively tolerant to pests and diseases. All these characteristics make it an ideal crop for agriculture where farming inputs (fertiliser, pesticides, irrigation, etc.) are limited, as is the case in most smallholder farms in Sub-Saharan Africa. We therefore believe that improved grass pea varieties can have a significant impact beyond the millions of people who already cultivate it in Africa today and could become a crucial sustainable food source for many more. Our project aims to remove the limitations of this crop by using the tools and resources we have already developed in our previous research to breed new varieties that are safe to consume, high-yielding, nutritious and resilient to environmental stress. We have identified new low-toxin variants with lower beta-ODAP contents than any existing varieties. In addition we have sequenced and assembled the grass pea genome and transcriptomes under stress and non-stress conditions and we are working to enable modern crop improvement methods on the back of these. Through this research partnership we have access to grass pea lines representing the global diversity of the crop and those that are locally adapted to East Africa and to expertise on smallholder agriculture and seed systems. The UPGRADE project will build on this foundation and create a partnership to translate bioscience research advances on grass pea into new varieties with tangible benefits for smallholder farmers. Besides this, our research will generate valuable data on the performance of grass pea and the physiological role and regulation of the production of the toxin in the plant. Through a better foundational understanding, we and other researchers will be better able to direct future breeding efforts and deliver the promise of grass pea.

The air we breathe is teaming with microorganisms, with air currents transporting microbes globally. The earliest efforts to describe the distribution of airborne microbes were carried out by the founding father of microbiology, Louis Pasteur, over 125 years ago; but since then airborne microbes have been largely ignored. One reasons for this is that there are significant technical challenges in collecting airborne microorganisms,and thus microbial ecologists have focused on the low hanging fruit of soil and waterborne microorganisms. Even when efforts have been made to study airborne microorganisms, the research has been largely focused at a local/national level, but air pollution does not respect national boarders. Therefore, we have assembled a new network of world-leading experts in bioaerosols biomonitoring to take a global perspective on the ecology and human and environmental health effects of airborne microorganisms. Collectively, airborne microorganisms are referred to as bioaerosols, which is simply the fraction of air particles that are from a biological origin. Exposure to poor air quality is a major global driver of poor health, killing 1 in 8 people. Pollen is probably the best known example of a bioaerosol, which as an allogen, has a direct impact on public health. However, live bacteria, fungi, and viruses in the air pose a significant health risk through infectious respiratory diseases such as Legionellosis and Aspergillosis. The negative public health risks in themselves makes research into bioaerosols worthwhile. However, bioaerosols also play central roles in the life cycles of microorganisms, global ecology, and climate patterns. Analysis of bioaerosols at landscape scales has shown that even marine and terrestrial environments are connected over vast distances by exchange of bioaerosols. Indeed, it is well known that bioaerosols can be transported between continents on 'microbial motorways' in the sky (e.g. Saharan dust). Further to this, bioaerosols influence the climate by acting as nucleation forming particles and promoting precipitation. Due to the vast distances involved it is not possible to get the full picture from studies carried out at a local or national level, instead a global perspective is required to study these processes. A major recent methodological advancement in microbial ecology is the application of 'next generation sequencing' technology. Isolation of DNA from the environment and its analysis with high throughput sequencing has been a key tool in revolutionizing our understanding of the ecology of microbes from soil and water environments. Due to the lower concentrations of microorganisms in air samples this is technically challenging for bioaerosols. Consequently molecular methods are underutilised in bioaerosols research. Nevertheless a number of research groups across the globe have developed methods for molecular (DNA based) analysis of bioaerosols. However, a lack of standardisation between these methods makes it challenging to compare results and draw conclusions from combined datasets. This new network brings these experts together for the first time in order to standardise and further improve these methods. However, a key objective of this network is to make these methods more widely available. The largest burden of air pollution is in lower and middle income countries, where access to advanced molecular methods is limited. Through the network, researchers in lower and middle income countries can access these tools, pushing research forward where the need is greatest.

Urban air pollution affects the health of hundreds of millions of people around the world. In SE Asia, 800,000 deaths were attributed to particulate air pollution (PAP) - the tiny dust particles that pollute the air - in 2012, alone. This is a particular issue for children because early exposure is directly attributable to life-long vulnerability to respiratory diseases. Finding appropriate, sustainable and innovative mechanisms for their protection is essential to ensuring resilient and productive societies in the future. This is the primary challenge to which the FACE-UP project responds. Airborne particulates are hard to avoid. They not only pollute outdoor air, but also contaminate the indoor environment so children are exposed at home and school, as well as during outdoor travel, play, and exercise. Reducing exposure to PAP is one of four crucial actions identified by our partner UNICEF in their framework for improving children's health. The best way to reduce exposure is to curb the production of pollutants (known as emissions reduction), but this is a slow and difficult task involving profound shifts in policy, legislation and infrastructure. Until air quality reaches safe levels, governments and NGOs must 'face-up' to the fact that communities are taking protection into their own hands, commonly through wearing facemasks, which may not be effective for children. Those who exercise their right to protect themselves and their children must be provided with the best evidence on how to do this in ways that are affordable, accessible and, crucially, complement their cultural environments. A key goal of FACE-UP is to elucidate how local factors affect the way that communities can protect their children from PAP, and to harness this information to ensure that appropriate advice and support can be freely accessed and, where appropriate, policies enacted to alleviate risk. FACE-UP is a consortium of PAP exposure, social, behavioural and health scientists, statisticians and local and international agencies whose expertise lies in the interrelationship between the environment and children's health. We will work with urban children in two developing countries, Indonesia and Nepal, which both exhibit severe PAP but have differing contexts, being home to different cultures, climates, socioeconomics, built environments and policies. These factors not only impact the potential for ill health, but people's motivation, opportunity and capability to reduce children's exposure to PAP. We will determine how, when and where children are exposed, as well as current protective measures (if any). Sensitive to, and influenced by, the feasibility of different practices, we will develop and assess the effectiveness of different types of protective actions, such as behaviour changes at home and school, and personal actions like wearing facemasks, and will estimate the potential health impact that can be achieved through adoption of these practices. Working with the communities to capture primary data on their cultural contexts, the project will also seek to understand the logistical factors that influence uptake (e.g. availability of education, political barriers and material supply chains) and how people might best learn about the practices. Ethical issues of agencies recommending practices that may not be very effective or affordable also will be evaluated. Robust data collection and analysis will feed directly into co-created and evaluated solutions, such as informational products, in partnership with local children, carers and agencies, which will be disseminated locally and globally, facilitated by our partner organizations. The FACE-UP evidence will support ethical policy decisions, and individual actions to implement interventions, so that, combined with emissions reduction strategies, the world's children will grow up with the evidence to reduce their risk of developing diseases from air pollution exposures.