Plant and Water Science experiments were a hot topic of conversation for a group of visitors last week. 

A group of enthusiastic Capricorn Coast University of the Third Age members were enthralled to discover the amount of research bubbling away beneath the surface of the Rockhampton Campus at the Centre for Plant and Water Science.

Plant Sciences showed off their research during a U3A visit last week.They heard all about the possibilities of Biochar; the benefits of being able to gauge the sweetness of fruit and vegetables of the bush; the ecological possibilities of cadmium uptake in tomato plants, and they were enthralled by Associate Professor Nanjappa Ashwath's passion for his plants.

Worm poo and other plant experiments rounded out the Plant and Water Science experience for the morning.

From there, the group headed for Capricornia College to enjoy lunch in the College dining hall followed by a tour of one of the residences and the college gardens conducted by Cathy Clark.

Their day ended with a look around the commercial centre and a browse in the bookshop and then a visit to the Capricornia Historical Collection at the Campus Library where Kerri-Anne Malcolm was able to pass on information about the specifics of the collection and encourage the visitors to be aware of the type of local historic material that could be valuable. 

Frances Homan, on behalf of the U3A group said: "We were impressed by the knowledge of all the staff we met and the enthusiasm they demonstrated for their chosen discipline was positively contagious."

More research on display."All of us came away feeling we had learned something and with the desire to know more."

Organiser of the day's visit, Glenys Kirkwood, Community Relations Coordinator from the Office of Development & Graduate Relations, said: "Being able to rely on the enthusiastic participation of staff and students from the different disciplines is an essential part of being able to successfully open up our campus and welcome the community in.

"I am particularly indebted to the time given by today's staff/students, whose passion was so enthusiastic, our visitors couldn't help but become involved." 

The full list of staff/students who assisted on the day:

Plant & Water Science :  Dr John Abbot, A/Prof Nanjappa Ashwath, Mar Mar Thi - MSc student, Dr Surya Bhattarai, Dr Phul Subedi, Kylie Hopkins, Subhash Hathurusingha - PhD Candidate, Kalpana Pudasaina - PhD Candidate, Graham Fox, Deepak Paudel, Karuna Shrestha - PhD Candidate, Geeta Gautam Kafle - MSc Candidate, Linda Ahern.

Dr Surya Bhattarai spoke about fruit sweetness research with the U3A visitors.Capricornia College : Michael Ness and his happy and helpful staff, Cathy Clark.

Capricornia Collection : Kerrie-Anne Meares, Kelli Stidiford