Three projects addressing major sugarcane threats are now underway.
The new ARC Training Centre in Plant Biosecurity has appointed PhD students (above from left) Samantha Whitling and Lavi Singh to work on projects investigating sugarcane rust pathogens. The projects are being supervised by Deputy Director Prof. Benjamin Schwessinger at the Australian National University and SRA Field Pathologist Dr Seona Casonato, and supported by Research Mission Manager Dr Stephen Mudge.
In addition, Post Doctoral Researcher, (above right) Mohammad Juhanbakht has been appointed to work with Deputy Director Mostafa Rahimi Azghadi at James Cook University and SRA Weed Scientist Emilie Fillols on a project investigating remote sensing of weeds and targeted automated spraying.
Another PhD will be appointed soon for a third SRA project developing pest management strategies for exotic moth borers through conservation biological control.
The ARC Training Centre in Plant Biosecurity has been operating for 11 months and was officially opened this week on International Plant Health Day (12 May) in Canberra.
The new Training Centre has been set up to train the next generation of scientists to tackle some of Australia and the world’s biggest biosecurity challenges. The five-year, $10 million investment in postgraduate research training is funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC), three universities and 27 partner organisations, including SRA, Burdekin Productivity Services and Herbert Cane Productivity Services Ltd.
As a partner in the ARC Training Centre, SRA staff will also have free access to a wide range of biosecurity-related training courses on topics such as genomics and nanopore sequencing, biosecurity policy, advanced linear modelling and biostatistics, programming, machine learning, remote sensing, eDNA sampling, portable in-field genomic analysis, and research-to-impact translation.
Read more about ARC Funding (Page 30) and the ARC Training Centre in Plant Biosecurity (page 31).
The views expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those off the Australian Government or Australian Research Council.
To learn more about the ARC Training Centre in Plant Biosecurity visit their website.
