Aero Leplastier has always had an insatiable curiosity about how the physical world works and the processes that govern natural systems. He is currently completing his undergraduate honours research on the Great Barrier Reef looking at the protective platform structure of algal ridges, supported by an ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science scholarship. “The work that I am doing with my supervisors is important for understanding the vulnerabilities associated with the reef and how they’re going to hold up as ocean acidification continues and temperatures keep changing.

“The scholarship has allowed me to really immerse myself in this final year, to cut back on casual employment and give my research project the focus it deserves. The funding also has helped me become a fully qualified scientific diver, a vocational aspect that I hope to pursue in the future.”