Personal profile
Biography
My research focuses on the characterisation and bioengineering of selective membrane transport proteins towards advancing crop resilience and productivity, and developing membrane separation biotechnologies for water and resource security. In 2025, I was named ACT Emerging Scientist of the Year for my work integrating plant science and membrane innovation towards developing wastewater treatment technologies that support environmental sustainability, water security and resource recovery. Alongside Dr Caitlin Byrt and Dr Annamaria De Rosa, I co-founded ANU-based biotechnology start-up Membrane Transporter Engineers (MTE).
Education/Academic qualification
Plant Sciences, PhD, Plant Aquaporins that Facilitate Cation Transport and their Regulation by Phosphorylation, University of Adelaide
Award Date: 9 Mar 2020
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Bioderived element resource separation technology for waste processing
McGaughey, S. A., De Rosa, A., Iqbal, S., Beck, F. J., Gurieff, N. B. & Byrt, C. S., 2025, Mine Closure 2025: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Mine Closure. Knutsson, S., Fourie, A. B. & Tibbett, M. (eds.). Perth, p. 1-16 16 p. (Proceedings of the International Conference on Mine Closure).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper › peer-review
Open Access -
Interactions of rare earth elements with living organisms and emerging biotechnical applications
McGaughey, S., Iqbal, S., De Rosa, A., Caley, J., Haksonen, A. H., Villa-Gomez, D. & Byrt, C., 15 Mar 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Plants, People, Planet. 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open Access13 Citations (Scopus) -
Post-translational modification acts as a digital like switch influencing AtPIP2;1 water and cation permeability
Qiu, J., McGaughey, S. A., Byrt, C. S. & Tyerman, S. D., Dec 2025, In: Scientific Reports. 15, 1, 15 p., 22552.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
A high-throughput yeast approach to characterize aquaporin permeabilities: Profiling the Arabidopsis PIP aquaporin sub-family
Groszmann, M., De Rosa, A., Chen, W., Qiu, J., McGaughey, S. A., Byrt, C. S. & Evans, J. R., 19 Jan 2023, In: Frontiers in Plant Science. 14, 1078220.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access21 Citations (Scopus) -
Exploring aquaporin functions during changes in leaf water potential
Byrt, C. S., Zhang, R. Y., Magrath, I., Chan, K. X., De Rosa, A. & McGaughey, S., 2023, In: Frontiers in Plant Science. 14, 1213454.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open Access19 Citations (Scopus)
Projects
- 5 Active
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Circular water and fertiliser reuse system techno-economic assessment feasibility study
Byrt, C. (PI), De Rosa, A. (CoI), Iqbal, S. (CoI) & McGaughey, S. (CoI)
16/01/26 → 16/07/27
Project: Research
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Bioengineering technologies for harvesting rare earth elements from waste
Byrt, C. (PI), De Rosa, A. (CoI) & McGaughey, S. (CoI)
20/01/25 → 21/07/30
Project: Research
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ARC Training Centre in Critical Resources for the Future
Fiorentini, M. (PI), Mavrogenes, J. (PI), Araujo, D. (CoI), Belousova, E. (CoI), Berry, A. (CoI), Cook, N. (CoI), Gomez, D. V. (CoI), Gomez, D. V. (CoI), Gonzalez-Alvarez, I. (CoI), Holden, E.-J. (CoI), Karrech, A. (CoI), Kemp, A. (CoI), Lawie, D. (CoI), Le Vaillant, M. (CoI), Liu, W. (CoI), Ma, X. (CoI), Ma, X. (CoI), McGaughey, S. (CoI), McGee, L. (CoI), Parbhakar-Fox, A. (CoI), Parbhakar-Fox, A. (CoI), Santini, T. (CoI), Smithies, R. H. (CoI), Spandler, C. (CoI), Suvorova, A. (CoI) & Yaxley, G. (CoI)
29/07/24 → 28/06/29
Project: Research
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Bioderived Element Resource Separation Technology (BERST)
Byrt, C. (PI), De Rosa, A. (CoI) & McGaughey, S. (CoI)
1/06/24 → 11/04/27
Project: Research
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Securing agri-food industry resources by developing systems for harvesting nutrients and clean water from wastewater
Arsic, M. (PI), Byrt, C. (PI), De Rosa, A. (CoI), Hilder, P. (CoI), McGaughey, S. (CoI), O'Sullivan, C. (CoI) & Xie, Z. (CoI)
1/04/23 → 31/12/26
Project: Research