10 questions with… Daniele Carlesso

daniele_web

Hailing from a small town in Northern Italy called Solbiate Olona,  Daniele Carlesso arrived in Sydney to commence his Macquarie PhD in February 2020 – just one week before Italy put a COVID-halt on international travel.

Having snuck in to Australia by such tiny margin, it’s fitting that Daniele now spends his days studying very tiny creatures. Working under the supervision of Dr Chris Reid and Professor Andrew Barron in Biological Sciences, Daniele is looking at the self-assembled structures of weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) and discovering that these tiny blind creatures are actually little marvels of engineering.


1. Something people ask you when they find out what you do for living
Are you getting paid to play around with a bunch of ants!?

2. Something you’d like staff to know about
My supervisor Chris Reid and I just published an interesting article in The Conversation, talking about self-assembly architecture in social insects.

3. Something you feel proud of
The University recently awarded me the Tony Price Award, which will allow me to travel to Queensland for a few weeks to perform field work with weaver ants.   

4. The coolest bit of equipment you use in your work
We are setting up infrared cameras and lights for automated tracking of weaver ants. Each ant will be equipped with a very tiny (< 1mm) QR code on its back, which we will track with a custom software in MATLAB. 

5. What you need to do your best work
Ants, ants, and more ants! Also, a good computer capable of running heavy scripts is often helpful. Some of the software I use requires high GPU and CPU processing power.

6. Your definition of success
Success to me is to being recognised as an expert in your field, having people asking you advice and help on research matters and have them know that they can count on you.

Also, not being severely bitten by ants during experiments is a great success!

7. Something you’ve read recently that has had an impact on you
We are now able to design brain machine interfaces to control electronic devices, and soon this technology may be available for treating neurological disorders in humans. Wow!

8. A favourite photo from your camera roll
I took this photo of pink flannel flowers in the Blue Mountains a couple of months ago. These flowers are rarely seen, as they need a precise combination of intense fires followed by heavy rains to bloom.  I was so lucky to witness their beautiful colours.

pink-flannel-flowers

9. I’m happiest when…
I’m snorkelling in the ocean or canyoning in the Blue Mountains.

10. What you like about where you live
I love living in Sydney, and in NSW, because of the amazing wildlife and landscape you get to see all year round.

 

 

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