About Me

Prof Phil Brown is an agricultural scientist with a passion for working with agricultural industries to improve their productivity, profitability and sustainability. Phil arrived in Bundaberg in 2010 to take up the position of Professor of Horticultural Science. Phil's research expertise is in horticultural science, with a focus on plant physiology and agronomy. He works closely with industry partners to deliver practical outcomes based on an understanding of the physiological and anatomical basis of crop development. Bundaberg is the perfect location for horticultural research, with a greater concentration of horticultural industries in the region than anywhere else in Australia.

General

Media Citations

Professional Experience

Sep 2015 - present Director, Institute for Future farming Systems, CQUniversity

Mar 2010 – present Professor of Horticultural Science

School of Health, Medical and Applied Science, CQUniversity

Jan 2009 – Jan 2010 Head of School

School of Agricultural Science, University of Tasmania

July 2006 – Jan 2009 Deputy Director, Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research

University of Tasmania

Jan 2003 – Dec 2008 Senior Lecturer (Level C), Horticultural Science

School of Agricultural Science, University of Tasmania

Jan. 1997 – Jan 2003 Lecturer (Level B), Horticultural Science

School of Agricultural Science, University of Tasmania

May 1994 – Jan. 1997 Associate Lecturer (Level A), Horticultural Science

Department of Agricultural Science, University of Tasmania

April 1992 – May 1994 Research Officer (Plant Production Group)

Biology Department, University of Central Queensland

Professional Memberships

1996 - present International Society for Horticultural Science

1996 - present Australian Society of Horticultural Science (past President of AuSHS)

1992 - 2000 Australian Society of Plant Physiologists

Recent Research Projects

Hinkler Regional Deal - Agricultural Technology Facility

From: 30/06/2020 to 28/02/2023
Grant: Competitive Grant (Category 2: Other Public Sector)
Funding Schemes: Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources - Hinkler Regional Deal
Total Funding: $5,000,000.00

Research Partnership: Haughton Solar Farm - Agri-volaics

From: 30/04/2020 to 30/06/2020
Grant: Contract Research (Category 3: Industry and Other)
Funding Schemes: PacificHydro - PH Haughton Solar Farm Pty Ltd
Total Funding: $11,000.00

A robotic guidance and control system for mobile farm equipment, initially a mower

From: 05/03/2020 to 31/10/2020
Grant: Contract Research (Category 3: Industry and Other)
Funding Schemes: ICU Solutions Pty Ltd T/A Smarter Farm Systems Australia
Total Funding: $29,217.00

Collaborative Deed CQU & DAF

From: 01/10/2019 to 01/10/2024
Grant: Competitive Grant (Category 2: Other Public Sector)
Funding Schemes: Department of Agriculture & Fisheries
Total Funding: $1,175,000.00

#1255135 New Gulf Province (Papua New Guinea) Transport Route Impact Study

From: 10/05/2018 to 30/11/2018
Grant: Contract Research (Public)
Funding Schemes: ERIAS Group Pty Ltd
Total Funding: $21,954.07

LP15007 (CON-001063) - Protected cropping in the Australian tropics: An optimisation and decision making framework

From: 05/03/2018 to 30/04/2021
Grant: Scholarship (Category 1: Aust Competitive Grant)
Funding Schemes: HIA Scholarship
Total Funding: $120,900.00

Novel approaches for root-knot nematodes control

From: 20/11/2017 to 31/05/2021
Grant: Competitive Grant (Category 2: Other Public Sector)
Funding Schemes: Advance Queensland Research Fellowships
Total Funding: $300,000.00

Optimisation of a crops fertility management program - ICG000060

From: 19/07/2017 to 30/01/2019
Grant: Competitive Grant (Public)
Funding Schemes: Innovation Connections - Discretionary Grants - prev Research Connect & Enterprise Connect
Total Funding: $50,000.00

Integrating protected cropping systems into high value vegetable value chains in the Pacific and Australia - HORT/2014/080

From: 01/01/2017 to 31/12/2021
Grant: Competitive Grant (Category 1: Aust Competitive Grant)
Funding Schemes: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
Total Funding: $1,325,082.00

Supporting commercial sweet potato production and marketing in the PNG highlands - HORT/2014/097

From: 01/03/2016 to 31/08/2021
Grant: Competitive Grant (Category 1: Aust Competitive Grant)
Funding Schemes: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
Total Funding: $4,999,833.00

Food security in Pacific Island farming communities: assessing the impact of protected vegetable cropping on local market diversity, access, affordability, sustainability and utilisation

From: 27/04/2017 to 26/04/2018
Grant: Competitive Grant (Ineligible)
Funding Schemes: The Crawford Fund
Total Funding: N/A

LP15007 (CON-001064) - Temporal scale precision irrigation and fertigation in horticultural crops by combining crop based sensor data acquisition and precision irrigation technologies

From: 01/01/2017 to 30/04/2020
Grant: Scholarship (Category 1: Aust Competitive Grant)
Funding Schemes: HIA Scholarship
Total Funding: $135,000.00

Advanced Management Decision Tool for Tropical/Subtropical Protected Cropping Systems

From: 01/05/2016 to 15/03/2020
Grant: Competitive Grant (Category 2: Other Public Sector)
Funding Schemes: Advance Queensland Research Fellowships
Total Funding: $300,000.00

Research Fellows - Farming Systems and Vegetable Crop Science

From: 01/07/2014 to 01/07/2019
Grant: Competitive Grant (Category 3)
Funding Schemes: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Queensland
Total Funding: $1,128,660.59

Mitigating climate change and greenhouse gases in tropical vegetable production

From: 01/07/2013 to 30/06/2016
Grant: Competitive Grant (Not Specified )
Funding Schemes: Carbon Farming Futures - Filling the Research Gap - Round 2
Total Funding: N/A

Research Supervision

Accreditation

I am currently accredited for supervision in the following:

4518 Pacific Peoples society and community
3004 Crop and Pasture Production
3002 Agriculture, Land and Farm Management
4101 Climate change impacts and adaptation
3008 Horticultural Production
3099 Other agricultural, veterinary and food sciences