A Q+A with Liz Eadie of CSIRO,
Australia’s national science research agency
Liz Eadie, an Executive IP Manager at CSIRO, speaks to POF about their
key areas of focus throughout 2020, the new initiatives they are working
on to bolster Australia’s COVID-19 recovery, how they’ve been impacted
by the pandemic, their approach to commercialisation and more…
Inspire December 2020
Q: What is CSIRO’s mission
statement? 8
At CSIRO we solve the greatest
challenges through innovative science
and technology. We are Australia’s
national science agency and innovation
catalyst, collaborating to boost
Australia’s innovation performance.

We are one of the largest and most
multidisciplinary mission-driven
research organisations in the world.

Q. What new initiatives are
CSIRO working on?
In August this year, we announced
a new missions program to bolster
Australia’s COVID-19 recovery
and build long-term resilience.

The program of large-scale, major
scientific and collaborative research
initiatives will be aimed at solving
some of Australia’s greatest
challenges, focused on outcomes that
lead to positive impact, new jobs and
economic growth. These challenges
cannot be met by CSIRO alone, so
the missions program will bring
together government, universities,
industry and the community.

CSIRO will direct $100 million
annually to the co-creation of
missions, working with the brightest
minds across the research sector
and industry, to help Australia. Read
more about CSIRO’s program of
missions here.

Q. The challenges Australia
has faced throughout 2020,
including the pandemic
and bushfires, have had a
significant impact on the
way people live and work.

How has CSIRO responded
to these challenges?
CSIRO was founded 100 years ago
on a vision of science redefining
our future. We are at our best when
responding to big challenges. This
year we have been at the forefront
responding to a widespread drought,
then a devastating bushfire season,
followed by a global pandemic.

During last summer’s extreme
bushfire events, CSIRO brought
more than 70 years of expertise
in bushfire research to help with
bushfire modelling, prediction and
preparation, and monitoring recovery.

Since the emergence of the COVID-19
pandemic, we have been involved in
key research in the global response
to the outbreak. Our ‘One Health
model’, launched in 2016, allowed us
to respond to a new disease threat in
multiple ways.

Our researchers have been studying
the virus – how long it takes to
develop and replicate, how it
impacts the respiratory system, how
the host responds and how it can be
transmitted. We’re also looking to
understand its origins, how it may be
changing and how it behaves. We’re
looking at questions such as what
Solving Australia’s
greatest challenges…