About Me

I have a practical, hands-on, capability, yet an academic perspective on life. I am very grateful for the ‘free’ education I received, and the enjoyable employment I hold, and am quite driven by a concept that I should ‘pay my way’ with society. Specifically, I believe that my R&D effort should result in a gain to society, and that I should provide practically relevant training to undergraduates and postgraduates. I very much enjoy my current position, working in a space involving both commercial and academic outputs. This cv reflects a career focus on R&D until 2007, followed by a period of increased academic governance roles, with a return to an R&D focus from 2015. The past decade has seen outcomes in the development of technologies (near infrared spectroscopy, thermal time) to forecast optimum harvest time and (machine vision) technologies to forecast harvest load, supporting the development of a mango fruit robotic harvester.

General

Universities Studied At

BSc hons Uni. of Qld. Botany Dept., 1983 (Nitrogen metabolism of Casuarina)
Masters, Queens University, Biology Dept., Canada, 1985 (The effect of low root temperature on C and N assimilation and partitioning in soybean)
PhD, Queens University, Biology Dept., Canada, 1988 (The role of phloem supply to soybean nodule function)

Awards

Australian Mangoes Industry Innovation Award 2024

Member of the Order of Australia (AM) 2023

Australian Near Infrared Spectroscopy 'Tony Blakeney' Award 2022

CQU Vice Chancellors Award for Excellence in Research 2016

CQU OPAL Award for Engaged Research and Innovation 2015

Ministry of Agricultural Development (Government of Nepal, Singh Durbar, Kathmandu) 2014

Lynsey Welsh Award for Innovation in NIR Science 2010

Excellence in Supervision’ Award (CQU Postgraduate Student Organization) 2006

Vice Chancellors' Award for Research (UCQ) 1992

Media Citations

https://www.citrusaustralia.com.au/news/latest-news/handheld-devices-could-determine-brix-levels 2017

http://www.freshplaza.com/article/174953/Aus-growers-attribute-mango-crops-40-procent-rise-in-value-to-innovation

https://felixinstruments.com/blog/a-quality-meter-for-the-mango-supply-chain/

https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/news/media-releases/scanning-device-puts-science-behind-art-picking-mangoes

https://www.industry.mangoes.net.au/resource-collection/2017/3/19/increasing-australias-appetite-for-mangoes-one-bite-at-a-time

Landline 2020https://iview.abc.net.au/show/landline/series/0/video/RF1904Q006S00

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/australian-mango-industry-association_auto-harvester-demonstration-activity-6988295060593283072-xrHz?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P5fJBoxip4

https://youtu.be/krTrqn9xM1c

Universities Australia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TKqCHqSKmw&feature=youtu.be

Previous teaching

Plant Physiology, Foundation Plant Biology, Histotechniques, Technology and Instrumentation, Aquatic Botany

Professional Memberships

Australian Near Infra-red Spectroscopy Group,

International Society for Near Infrared Spectroscopy,

International Society for Horticultural Science

Responsibilities

Radiation Safety Officer

Industry Reports

Walsh, K.B. and Harrison , D. (1997) Nitrogen fixation in sugarcane? Australian Sugarcane 1, 30-31.

Editor

Associate editor, Postharvest Biology and Technology

Associate editor, journal Precision Agriculture (2020-2022)

Guest Editor, Special Issue on In-Field Estimation of Fruit Quality and Quantity, Agronomy (completing 2020)

Special Issue of Post Harvest Biology and Technology (2019)

Guest editor for special issue on on Vibrational Spectroscopy for journal Postharvest Biology and Technology (2018)

Recent Research Projects

Feasibility and commercial viability of voluntary carbon standards and methods for farmers (ICG001537)

From: 01/02/2021 to 31/01/2022
Grant: Competitive Grant (Category 2: Other Public Sector)
Funding Schemes: Department of Innovation, Industry & Science - Innovation Connections
Total Funding: $49,996.00

Reducing Granulation in the Production of Imperial Mandarins (CT19005)

From: 12/08/2020 to 31/05/2023
Grant: Contract Research (Category 2: Other Public Sector)
Funding Schemes: Hort Innovation Citrus Fund - through DAF
Total Funding: $4,000.00

Scanning Technologies for Horticultural Packhouses (ST19022)

From: 10/08/2020 to 08/09/2020
Grant: Contract Research (Category 3: Industry and Other)
Funding Schemes: Plant and Food Research HIA Funded Project ST19022 2020
Total Funding: $15,000.00

Automating crop estimation and harvest of Calypso mango

From: 01/01/2020 to 01/01/2023
Grant: Competitive Grant (Category 2: Other Public Sector)
Funding Schemes: Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowships 2019
Total Funding: $180,000.00

Automating crop estimation and harvest: Multiscale monitoring of tree crops (ST19009)

From: 25/10/2019 to 01/09/2022
Grant: Competitive Grant (Category 1: Aust Competitive Grant)
Funding Schemes: Horticulture Innovation Australia Limited
Total Funding: $939,423.00

Optimising the pyrolysis conditions for biochar feed ingredients and Dicalcium phosphate and products characterization for use in feed additives and composts

From: 23/08/2019 to 15/10/2021
Grant: Competitive Grant (Category 2: Other Public Sector)
Funding Schemes: Department of Innovation, Industry & Science - Innovation Connections
Total Funding: $28,300.00

Accelerated Thermophillic Aerobic digestion (ATAD) of Poultry Wastes for Rapid composting and Development of Value Added Compost Products

From: 01/08/2019 to 31/07/2022
Grant: Contract Research (Category 3: Industry and Other)
Funding Schemes: President Biotech Pty Ltd
Total Funding: $138,328.00

On farm estimation of Calypso fruit quantity and harvest timing

From: 26/07/2019 to 31/08/2022
Grant: Contract Research (Category 3: Industry and Other)
Funding Schemes: Perfection Fresh Australia Pty Ltd
Total Funding: $120,000.00

ICG000521 - Performance evaluation of biochar feed additive for cage layers in tropical environments (North Qld)

From: 07/05/2018 to 06/06/2019
Grant: Competitive Grant (Category 2: Other Public Sector)
Funding Schemes: Department of Innovation,Industry and Science (DIIS)
Total Funding: N/A

Machine vision in agriculture - Early Career Fellowship (ECF) Grant

From: 01/01/2016 to 29/05/2019
Grant: Competitive Grant (Internal Grant)
Funding Schemes: CQU Early Career Fellowship (ECF) Grants 2015
Total Funding: N/A

Accelerating Innovation to application of compost and compost technologies in the Great Barrier Reef Catchments

From: 17/06/2019 to 30/04/2020
Grant: Competitive Grant (Category 2: Other Public Sector)
Funding Schemes: Regional Development Australia Far North Queensland and Torres Strait Inc
Total Funding: $227,273.00

Autonomous Optical Fish Grading (Partner - Australian Reef Fish Trading Co Pty Ltd)

From: 01/04/2019 to 15/12/2019
Grant: Competitive Grant (Category 2: Other Public Sector)
Funding Schemes: Department of Innovation, Industry & Science - Innovation Connections
Total Funding: $37,174.00

Yr 2 - Technologies in fruit sorting - ICG000007 (Yr 1-RC48923)

From: 01/05/2017 to 30/05/2018
Grant: Competitive Grant (Public)
Funding Schemes: Innovation Connections - Discretionary Grants - prev Research Connect & Enterprise Connect
Total Funding: $50,000.00

Technologies in fruit sorting - RC48923

From: 01/02/2016 to 30/01/2017
Grant: Contract Research (Public)
Funding Schemes: MAF Oceania Pty Ltd
Total Funding: N/A

Quality standards, refinement and testing: Measuring DM and Brix in ripening Mangoes - MG15002

From: 24/12/2015 to 01/05/2017
Grant: Competitive Grant (ACGR)
Funding Schemes: Horticulture Innovation Australia Limited
Total Funding: N/A

Multi-scale monitoring tools for managing Australian Tree Crops: Industry meets innovation

From: 19/08/2015 to 16/05/2019
Grant: Competitive Grant (Category 1: Aust Competitive Grant)
Funding Schemes: Rural R&D for Profit programme
Total Funding: $585,000.00

Carbon Smart Fertilizer 'Green Chicken'

From: 01/10/2014 to 22/12/2016
Grant: Competitive Grant (Not Specified )
Funding Schemes: Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts, Dept (Qld) - Accelerate Partnerships
Total Funding: N/A

Structures to improve entrepreneurial activity: a case study around citrus producers of Nepal

From: 01/07/2012 to 30/06/2016
Grant: Competitive Grant (Not Specified )
Funding Schemes: Public Sector Linkages Program
Total Funding: N/A

Research Supervision

Accreditation

I am currently accredited for supervision in the following:

3001 Agricultural Biotechnology
3002 Agriculture, Land and Farm Management
3108 Plant Biology
3008 Horticultural Production

Current Capacity

I am currently available to supervise more research candidates

No Supervisions to display.

Research Interests

Agricultural And Veterinary Sciences

Horticultural Production - Horticultural Crop Growth and Development
The core theme in my career has been the application of (non invasive) instrumentation to issues related to plant performance, and in particular in photosynthate transport - assimilate partitioning ([gas exchange], [transducers], [magnetic resonance imaging], [11C for photoassimilate distribution]). Responding to funding opportunities and industry requirement, I have shifted from an original focus on nitrogen fixation. I am particularly proud of my roles leading multidisciplinary work resulting in the association of a phytoplasma with the papaya dieback disorder, and of my involvement in the near infra-spectroscopy (NIRS)-fruit quality assessment project. However, I believe I am also effective when called upon to participate in a secondary role to a project, bringing a new perspective and skills to bear to the problem.

Publications

No publications to display.

Teaching

Higher Education

No information to display

Vocational Education and Training