Indigenous education, citizen frog surveys, research into wetland carbon storage and cancer-killing immune cells are among the winners at tonight's "Oscars" of Australian science.

Trophies and $170,000 in prize money have been awarded to 17 winners for research and innovation, leadership, science engagement and school science at the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes held at Sydney's Town Hall.

Here are some of the innovations that won.

Using science education to empower Aboriginal kids

For the first time the awards have included a prize for "STEM Inclusion", which was won by the National Indigenous Science Education Program — a unique collaboration of scientists and Aboriginal elders.

Nearly 20 years ago, chemist Joanne Jamie and colleagues at Macquarie University started working with Yaegl Country Aboriginal Elders in Northern NSW to study and record their bush medicine knowledge.

Along the way the National Indigenous Science Education Program (NISEP) was born, after Yaegl elders asked the scientists to help them empower their children.

Yaegl elder Uncle Ron Heron with some apple gum, which has antibiotic properties and is used as a bush medicine ( Supplied: Macquarie University )

"It was heartfelt request," said Dr Jamie, who was struck at the time by how different educational opportunities were for the Aboriginal children compared to her own.

"I've been really privileged all my life. I had no issues getting into education, going to university. I was supported the entire time, I had family members who are role models and these youth hadn't really."

The NISEP program, which also includes customary knowledge taught by elders, supports Aboriginal secondary students from lower socio-economic schools to deliver STEM workshops.

Will Frazer started the NISEP program in Year 7 when he was at Casino High School and is now in his third year studying science and law at Macquarie University.

"The NISEP program I think was really good for helping me build my confidence," he said in Macquarie University video, adding it helped build his public speaking and ability to think on his feet.

"It's taught me skills and given countless opportunities over the last years and it has led me to where I currently am."

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Yaegl woman Deb Breckenridge, who is NISEP northern Rivers Cultural Liaison Officer, said the program has brought a lot of pride to her community.

"NISEP means to me an opportunity for our kids to enhance their science knowledge and be exposed to new experiences."

And Dr Uncle Ron Heron, Yaegl County Elder, said the program gave students "a fair go".

"We never had this when we were young. It is a real eye opener in seeing these students be leaders. I feel proud," he said.

"They are not shy or timid anymore. They are telling me that they can do almost anything if they put their minds to it. I know they can!"

Unlocking the hidden power of blue carbon

Researchers studying the contribution of wetlands to fighting climate change have also been honoured.

Kerrylee Rogers from the University of Wollongong said wetlands were often thought of as "smelly and mosquito-ridden" but their ecological role was often overlooked.

"One of those really powerful hidden aspects is their capacity to sequester carbon from the atmosphere," said Dr Rogers, who leads the Blue Carbon Horizons Team.

The Blue Carbon Horizons Team — Dr Rogers is second from the left. ( Supplied: Paul Jones/University of Wollongong )

Plants like mangroves suck in carbon and store it in their roots. Because these are regularly covered by water, decomposition is slow, and dead roots can sometimes stay in place for thousands of years.

As sea levels rise, mangroves keep their position in the tidal zone by retreating inland — where roads and buildings don't stop them, Dr Rogers said.

But her team has also found mangroves build up their root mass to elevate themselves.

In other words, in response to global warming and rising seas, carbon storage increases in wetlands.

"So there's this kind of feedback loop ... to stabilise the effect of climate change."

Under some conditions, wetlands will likely be able to store more carbon per unit area than places like the Amazon forest, Dr Rogers said.

The researchers are working on incentives for people to protect and restore coastal wetlands, to avoid the pulse of greenhouse gases that occur when they are destroyed.

But Dr Rogers said it was also important to encourage South-East Asian countries to protect wetlands as well, and for consumers to do their bit when buying products from these neighbouring countries.

"A lot of mangroves are still being cleared for shrimp agriculture and palm oil plantations."

Carbon-rich mangrove roots also help stop coastal erosion and buffer against storm surges and flooding, Dr Rogers said, as well as providing habitat for fish stock and wildlife.

Making cancer-killing immune cells work better for longer

Laura Mackay from University of Melbourne has also won an award for her work towards improving cancer immunotherapy.

The body's immune cells, which include T cells, are well known for hunting down cancer cells.

Immune cell researcher Laura Mackay. ( Supplied: University of Melbourne )

"When anyone has cancer the T cells in their body will be recognising those cancer cells as foreign," Dr Mackay said.

"So you might have malignancies you don't know about [and] it's your immune system that's keeping that malignancy in check."

But when our immune system wanes, cancer can take hold and form a full-blown tumour.

Many researchers have been working on boosting a patient's T cells to fight cancer but Dr Mackay hopes to make such immunotherapy more effective.

"We're working out how we can make the immune response last longer and how can we induce a better immune response."

She has discovered special tissue-resident memory (TRM) T cells, which are present in virtually every tissue in the body and can last for several years.

Her plan is to work out how to convert ordinary T cells that circulate in the blood in to TRMs that live in tissues and use these for immunotherapy to target specific cancerous tissues.

One challenge is that TRMs have been linked with autoimmune conditions like psoriasis and possibly diabetes, so Dr Mackay and colleagues will need to investigate which subset of these special cells are going to be helpful in treating cancer.

Citizen scientists heeding frog calls

Another prize went to a program that helps scientists study frogs.

Jodi Rowley of the Australian Museum's FrogID team said frogs were among the most threatened group of animals on Earth and there were not enough frog biologists in Australia to get out and survey them.

Enter FrogID, a smartphone app that allows members of the public to record calls made by male frogs to attract females.

"Frogs are making it as easy for us as possible and they're actually yelling out what species they are," Dr Rowley said.

Jodi Rowley and the FrogID app ( Supplied: Australian Museum )

People can use the app to learn about frog calls and to record ones they hear and send them off to the Australian Museum to be identified.

"In just over 18 months Australians across the country have put over 100,000 frog records on the map in Australia which is remarkable," Dr Rowley said.

She said mapping frogs gives an idea of how frogs are faring and which species to pay most attention to.

"In recent times, for example, we found out that the green tree frog has actually almost disappeared from Sydney even though it once was very commonly distributed throughout."

And Dr Rowley said perhaps 20 per cent of all of Australia's frogs were as yet to be discovered.

"So you could actually make incredible discoveries just by pressing record on your smartphone," she said.

"People maybe think that frogs go 'ribbit' or 'croak' or make the same noise, but there's an incredible diversity of frog calls out there."

Dr Rowley said some frog calls sounded like a tennis ball, others like a motorbike or even an insect — and some calls were very deep, to be able to travel through thick vegetation or mud.

The researchers also hope to study whether human activity is changing the calls of frogs which live, say, near highways.

"Have they evolved deeper or higher or faster calls or do they only call between the traffic?"

Other winners include Endovascular Bionics Laboratory, University of Melbourne and Synchron Inc for a system that restores mobility to people with paralysis

Endovascular Bionics Laboratory, University of Melbourne and Synchron Inc for a system that restores mobility to people with paralysis Professor Hala Zreiqat, University of Sydney, for a bone repair ceramic material that heals bone and disappears when the job is complete

Professor Hala Zreiqat, University of Sydney, for a bone repair ceramic material that heals bone and disappears when the job is complete Professor Branka Vucetic, University of Sydney, for her contributions to the field of coding and wireless communications

Professor Branka Vucetic, University of Sydney, for her contributions to the field of coding and wireless communications Vivax Malaria Research Team, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, who are developing new diagnostics and vaccine candidates to eliminate malaria

Vivax Malaria Research Team, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, who are developing new diagnostics and vaccine candidates to eliminate malaria Team GreyScan, University of Tasmania and Grey Innovation for a device that can identify inorganic explosives in under a minute

Team GreyScan, University of Tasmania and Grey Innovation for a device that can identify inorganic explosives in under a minute Finn Thomas of St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Concord, NSW for making a video exploring the science behind the idea of bringing dinosaurs back to life

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