CV summary
I am Director of the Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research (TIAR) and Head of the School of Agricultural Science at the University of Tasmania (UTAS), Australia (http://www.tiar.tas.edu.au). TIAR is a joint venture between the University of Tasmania and the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (DPIPWE). The partnership has brought together the human and physical resources of Tasmania’s two major agricultural research and development providers to create a centre of excellence in cool climate agricultural research. TIAR conducts well-targeted, cost effective, innovative and responsive research and development at regional, national and international scale. TIAR’s activities are funded by the Tasmanian government, the University of Tasmania, agricultural research, development and extension organisations, resource management organisations, other granting bodies and industry. We are a well-established boundary organisation that engages in fundamental, strategic and applied research across the wide spectrum of agricultural sciences.
TIAR has a dynamic team of over 200 scientists, post-graduate students and technical experts many of whom are internationally renowned, with access to world-class facilities and equipment. Postdoctoral fellows and postgraduate students of the School of Agricultural Science are an integral part of the research team as well as providing trained staff for Australia’s future. TIAR has strong links to other research, development and extension institutions throughout Australia and around the world.
From 2007 to 2011 I was Professor of Crop and Weed Ecology and Head of the Centre for Crop Systems Analysis at Wageningen University (part of Wageningen UR) in the Netherlands.
My scientific interests are transdisciplinary and cover the broad field of agricultural systems science, applied climate science and associated social / societal interactions (1, 2, 5, 6). Within CSA I have lead the research theme ‘Designing Climate Robust Systems’. Research conducted under this theme aims to improve plant production at various levels of integration, using simulation modelling as central research methodology.
I joint WUR in 2007, after a 19-year, distinguished science career with the Queensland Government, Australia (e.g. in 2005 my team was awarded the Queensland Premier’s Award for Excellence in Public Sector Management, category ‘Innovation and Creativity’). My research includes technologies for climate risk assessments in the emerging field of ‘adaptation science’ (4).
I am a member of the Scientific Steering Committee for the CGIAR Challenge Program on Climate Change, Agriculture & Food Security (CCAFS; http://www.ccafs.cgiar.org/committee-staff-ccafs.php), I chair the PE&RC Education Committee, I am a member of the Educational Programme Committee (OWI) Climate Studies, a member of CLIVAR’s Asian - Australian Monsoon Panel (a component of the World Climate Research Programme, WCRP) and a member of two Elsevier Editorial Boards (European Journal of Agronomy and Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability). I also acted as a scientific reviewer for the IPCC.
I am a founding member of the Agricultural Production Systems Research Unit (APSRU) in Australia and was co-responsible for the design, implementation and management of the agricultural systems simulation platform APSIM (3). I pioneered the application of seasonal climate forecasting and operational climate risk management in Australia and internationally (1, 4, 5). I published approximately 70 papers in disciplinary and transdisciplinary journals. Currently I supervise 4 PhD students.
I strongly engage with the international science community. In 2009 I presented 9 invited key notes at meetings across the world on topics ranging from crop physiology and modelling to influencing science policy at EU or global level (e.g. Netherlands: AgSAP http://www.conference-agsap.org/session_C2.htm Switzerland: World Climate Conference 3: http://www.wcc3.org/sessions.php?session_list=PS-2, Indonesia: EU conference on climate change http://pri-ristek.info/bogorconference/speakers.html).