Bumper crop of doctoral graduates from Plant and Water Science
Published on 30 September, 2011
The recent graduation at CQUniversity Rockhampton was a bumper session for the Centre for Plant and Water Science (CPWS), as five PhD students and one Masters student gained their awards...
LINK for a larger image: VC Scott Bowman (centre) with Noel Sammon, Ria de Guzman, Riti Sharan, Karuna Shrestha and Geeta KafleThis is probably the first time a single unit has produced so many higher degree students in one event.
The Centre, which forms part of the Institute for Resource Industries and Sustainability (IRIS), was initiated by Professor Kerry Walsh as the ‘Plant Sciences Group' in 1990, as an extension to the existing Animal Sciences unit led by a younger Graham Pegg, within the then 'Primary Industries Research Centre'.
The Centre's growth was bolstered by the faculty appointment of Nanjappa Ashwath (following the retirement of Choong Low), fresh from a position at Kakadu in the NT and by substantial Queensland Government seed funding to develop horticultural research, leading to the appointment of Professor David Midmore as the Director in 1995 (a position he still holds). At present, six academic staff, five research staff and six adjunct fellows are associated with the Centre.
Over the past 10 years, the Centre has attracted around $12 million of research grants, produced over 100 refereed publications and generated over 30 Masters and PhD graduates. The graduates of the Centre have occupied prestigious positions in government, private and other sectors. For example, David Cunningham is now a senior scientist with the Bureau of Rural Science in Canberra, Brett Kuskopf runs a mass spectrometry analytical unit within the University of Melbourne, Sharon Brown is an overseas development consultant working mostly with a German group in Vietnam, Grant Zhu is with DERM in Emerald and Lance Pendergast is with DEEDI-PIF in Emerald.
The researchers have worked on diverse topics ranging from molecular biology to ecosystem reconstruction. The Centre has made a significant contribution to both regional and global issues in the fields of Asian vegetables, oxygation, natural sweeteners, post harvest physiology, phytocapping, conservation and biofuels.
Dr Manouchehr Torabi, the 6th CPWS student to graduate has now relocated to Canada.