Two of Central Queensland’s senior agricultural scientists, Dr Bill Burrows and Dr John Vercoe, were presented with gold-plated lapel buttons in recognition of their dedicated research for the primary industries, particularly for Queensland.

The presentations happened after a CQU-hosted seminar on the interactions between upland and lowland farming enterprises in the Philippines by Dr Jerry Shivelly, of Purdue University in the USA (pictured above right with CQU's Professor David Midmore).

The two Fellows of the Australian Institute for Agricultural Science and Technology were presented with their lapel buttons in recognition of a combined total of more than 90 years of focused research. Both scientists have been Fellows of the AIAST for more than a decade.

The Plant Sciences Group hosted two other visitors in February who gave seminars in the Thozet Building of CQU. Dr Ashantha Goonetillek of QUT spoke on waste and storm water management, and Dr Alonso Gonzalez of CSIRO Darwin gave an insight into the importance of leaf flushes in the understanding of variability in flowering in the mango variety, Kensington Pride.

Members of the public are welcome to attend seminars, which are regularly held on the last Friday of each month. Contact Debbie Clark on 4930 6870 for details.

Group photo: (left to right) Professor David Midmore (president of the AIAST/CQ branch), Dr John Vercoe, Dr Bill Burrows, Rob Long (Secretary of the AIAST/CQ branch) and David Orr (Treasurer of the AIAST/CQ branch).