This project will use unique, ANU-designed 3D X-ray microscopes and state-of-the art image analysis to track physiological responses of drought-tolerant Australian plants when subjected to water stress. The results will help us understand the mechanisms that underpin drought-tolerance, helping resolve ongoing debates and helping understand which forest eco-systems that are most vulnerable to climate change, and why.

Generating 3D volumes, i.e., tomography, of an object as it changes over time  (or evolves) is a challenging problem. The ability to achieve this would reveal new information and understanding of many dynamic processes.

This project will involve building a model of several theoretically-complex X-ray behaviours within the microscopes at the ANU CTLab, drawing from: spatial partial-coherence, refraction, machine learning, and spectral interactions. The student will then apply this model to improve imaging capabilities at the ANU CTLab.