The (new), mushroom Hygrocybe reesiae, originally found in Lane Cove Bushland Park, was listed under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act, 1995. For the first time, abnormal changes in protected waxcaps (Hygrocybe fungi) in the park are recorded.

‘Rosecomb’ refers to the gross malformations when mushrooms are exposed to petroleum products. H. reesiae rosecomb is not a genetic mutation, rather genetic instability coupled with an exogenous factor. Extinction may occur if threats remain.

This photograph shows the moment of release of a juvenile green turtle into the waters off Lord Howe Island, by marine park ranger, Sallyann Gudge. The photo was taken in the open ocean 1.5 nautical miles offshore.

The turtle in the picture was one of three that had gone astray and was found near death. The three young reptiles had been rehabilitated in Sydney then flown to the island for release.

A soap film interacts with a mixture of burning hydrocarbon gases. The hot gas follows the contour of a bubble before breaking the thin soap layer and entering into it. This whole process happens in few milliseconds and is invisible to human eye. This photograph was taken using the Schlieren technique, which allows to study motion and interaction of transparent media with different refractive index gradients.

The image was a finalist for Science Photography at the 2010 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.

The black tyrant Ant (Iridomyrmex rufoniger) in a symbiotic relationship with these ‘scale insects’. The black tyrant Ant is often found attending to smaller insects in hope of the excreted ‘honey dew’ which contains high sugar levels. The small insects receive protection and the ants receive food. Everybody wins.

Tidal Warp is a compilation of 427 photographs made over an eight-hour rise of the tide. Using techniques and concepts taken from time-lapse and streak imaging, it creates a real image graph of the tide, sunset and light falloff over time.

Believed to be the first of its type, this technique can be used to provide data whilst giving the viewer a clear indication of the subject photographed. Being digitally photographed, ten pixel columns from each image were chronologically assembled. Prior to shooting, calculations ensured the correct number of images were taken to produce an image with correct proportions.

The image was a finalist for Science Photography at the 2010 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.

Through destruction comes rebirth – the science of the Australian floras reliance on fire to bring forth new life and growth, Illustrated through this burning Balga, the cause of which was a lightning strike in dry scrub.

This image incorporates a range of sciences including ecology, botany and chemistry. All these sciences were realised through my curiosity over the visual beauty of this Balga, and of course, the foundation of all science is just that…the power of curiosity and, thus, discovery.

This photograph demonstrates the intricacy, camouflage and bizarre evolution of the leafy Sea dragon (Phycodurus eques). The leafy sea dragon has evolved to perfectly mimic its surrounding seaweed habitat.

It was photographed off the South Australian coastline at a depth of 5 m at midnight. I searched for the leafy sea dragon using scuba gear, an underwater torch and specialised underwater photography equipment.

This image was generated as part of a movement analysis workshop for a group of dancers who were competing in an international dance competition. Frustrated at the inability to forensically examine their movements, I worked with a specialist flash lighting supplier and camera manufacturer to create a rig that would freeze and capture movement accross a very short time frame. This final image was a composite of 40 images shot over a 3.5 second period.

Looking due south showing the movement of the Earth over 50 minutes. A joining of 100 images, each exposure 30 seconds shows the star trail. The red church (an old movie set in Lightning Ridge NSW) is lit by a 30 second exposure of the brake lights of my car. Internal light is by torch light.

The image was a finalist for Science Photography at the 2010 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.

Great balls of fire: newborn nerve cells navigate their Universe. Some microscope images could have come from a powerful telescope. This neurosphere was cultured from an adult mouse brain in a project aiming to determine how new brain cells are born in the adult brain.

With nascent neurons (yellow) navigating amongst associated astrocytes (red), it reminds me of a meteorite in the night sky and highlights the mirror relationship between microcosm and macrocosm. In the century old words of Cajal, “As long as our brain is a mystery, the Universe, the reflection of the structure of the brain will also be a mystery.”

Whilst researching the effects of elevated CO₂ on marine algae at Davis Base, Antarctica, the Aurora Australis bathed us in all its splendor one night in early 2009. The photo illustrates the nature of science in an extreme environment, extreme in both its remoteness and its beauty.

This is a photomicrograph showing the birefringent properties of a transparent plastic coat hanger under darkfield illumination. The array of colours is produced by employing a system of cross-polarisation, which makes visible the internal stresses within the structure of the material. The polariscope allows the levels of strain within the plastic to be shown, characterised by the quantity of colour bands visible.

The image was a finalist for Science Photography at the 2010 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.

While studying emperor penguins over winter at Auster colony near Mawson Station, Antarctica, we discovered that in the second month of incubation the males would walk 1-2 km to relocate. Each male carries his egg on his feet and their mates are not due back from their foraging for another 3-4 weeks.

It is not clear why they move; perhaps a nearby iceberg shifted, or they want cleaner snow, but it is surprising how readily over a thousand males will walk with their eggs. I adjusted the levels and boosted the saturation slightly, and removed a figure in the distance.

By squeezing an opened bottle of methylated spirits, I have captured the moment when the ethanol vapour is shaped into a toroidal vortex as it exits the mouth of the bottle. This normally invisible gas flow can be observed under an RGB Schlieren optical arrangement with the full spectrum of visible light. These types of vortices are similar to those used by jellyfish for propulsion, and have been studied for application in submersible vehicles.

The image was a finalist for Science Photography at the 2010 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.

Here we have a Coprinopsis (formerly Coprinus) mushroom, in which the cap auto-digests from the margin to facilitate spore release. These fungi have gills so closely spaced that spore discharge is facilitated by getting the old gill out of the way so that the newly matured basidia (the structures that make the spores) can discharge their spores into space. The droplet is pigmented brown as dark spores are released and caught in their millions by the fluid.

The image was a finalist for Science Photography at the 2010 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.

Changes in refractive index visualised using a red-green-blue z-type schlieren system. Used by technicians everywhere to blow dust from circuit boards, compressed ‘air in a can’ is invisible to the human eye.

When viewed using the schlieren system, the gases used are of a different refractive index to the surrounding air, allowing us to see the gas flow that would normally be invisible. Schlieren images are normally monotone, but with the use of a tri-colour filter the image becomes coloured, adding aesthetic elements and giving insight into what direction light rays are being refracted by the gas.

Captured over 12 hours, this image frames a region of the sky in the constellation of Orion known to southern observers as the handle of “The Saucepan”. The combined atomic and optical processes coordinate to produce this stellar kaleidoscope of wispy details and colours.

The image won second place in the Science Photography at the 2010 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes

Demonstrating that life and death in the animal kingdom comes in all shapes and sizes, this image shows the long-legged gly, measuring 3 – 4mm, consuming its prey. When catching the smaller fly the long-legged fly hardly moved from its spot and the speed of the attack was quicker than the eye could follow.

The image won the Science Photography Prize at the 2010 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.

Capturing the smoke flow created whilst a light filament burns out when the bulb has been removed. This image captures the motion of the smoke flow just before it turns into a shapeless mushroom cloud.

The project assistant with the Museum of Victoria held a gel cover over a 1/500th of a second flash to snap the smoke’s movement. The image one third prize in the 2010 Eureka Science prize for photography.

Bearing the unfortunate name of “Rock Snot” in New Zealand, this beautiful diatom often overgrows in streams. It then ruins the habitat for fish and has an unpleasant consequence on recreational activities. The individual diatoms have been mounted by hand on to a slide; the exqusiite colours have been introduced in the microscope by the technique of differential interference contrast.