Western Sydney University’s Prof. Zhonghua Chen is an expert in plant physiology, plant breeding, biophysics and agronomy – and an academic mentor to Australia’s next generation of crop scientists. 

AARSC senior researcher Craig Shephard leads the National PC mapping project, an initiative of Protected Cropping Australia supported by Hort Innovation, UNE, LLSNSW and the CRC. He’s also a keen mountain-biker.

Hear BeefLedger Chair Warwick Powell discuss the ‘Smart trade’ team’s blockchain-backed digital platform and its potential to streamline cross-border trade.

Queensland University of Technology’s Dr Ozgur Dedehayir researches the strategic implications of technological evolution, disruptive innovations and their impacts on society. Most recently, he’s been focused on food innovation ecosystems – a topic that resonates with this keen home chef.

CRC Board member Peter Schutz OAM has netted the 2021 Australian Institute of Food Science & Technology President’s Award for his outstanding contribution to the Australian food industry. 

Charles Darwin University’s Dr Sean Bellairs is a specialist in site revegetation and in breeding and establishing plants indigenous to Australia’s north. He’s also the research lead on the CRC’s four-year, multi-partner ‘Native rice commercialisation’ project.

As CRC Industry PhD student attached to the ‘Blueberry nutritional optimisation’ project, Gareema Pandey is working with crop scientists and sustainability experts at Western Sydney University and NSW Department of Primary Industries to improve the nutritional profile of blueberries grown undercover.

For University of New England’s Professor Derek Baker, better agribusiness means everything from improving regional infrastructure to reducing waste and finding more resilient, responsive paths to market.

Dr Ruey-Leng Loo is a clinical pharmacist who is focusing her clinical expertise on the application of metabolic phenotyping in epidemiological and nutritional studies.

Mark Cardamis has graduated from making mini greenhouse prototypes to joining a collaborative university-industry project team as a CRC Industry PhD, exploring mobile sensing systems for remote monitoring of crops in advanced indoor greenhouse systems.

QUT Design Lab head and Professor of Urban Informatics Marcus Foth undertakes cutting-edge transdisciplinary work that “brings together people, place and technology”. He’s also leading the CRC’s Smart Trade Hubs project, and using his expertise to help save wombats and bees.

UK-trained QUT biochemist Robert Speight is leading a new CRC project with Sanitarium Health Food Company exploring healthy proteins for plant-based products.

Murdoch University Associate Professor Vicky Solah brings 36 years of expertise in food science and human nutrition to the CRC. Right now she’s profiling artichokes for CRC partner Mt Lindesay. Next, she’ll begin upcycled fruit-and-veg product trials at the new WA Food Innovation Precinct.

In a career spanning decades, continents and planets, Distinguished Professor David Tissue has maintained a thirst for exploration and a desire to help crops thrive, even in the most hostile environments.

For UNSW Associate Professor and networked embedded sensor expert Wen Hu, automated farms supplying ‘smart cities’ with premium fresh food are the way of the future. And IoT systems are paving the way to this new, networked reality.

Appointed to the ‘Commercialising native rice project’ early in 2020, CRC PhD student and beneficial indigenous-species expert Gehan Abdelghany is working on the theoretical component of her doctorate from Egypt while she waits for travel bans to lift.

UNSW Associate Professor Pat Spicer’s broad-ranging career spans industry, academia and two continents. The constants? Complex fluids and collaboration.

For Dr Gal Winter, lecturer and microbiologist at northern NSW’s University of New England, studying the ecology of microbe colonies – most recently, those surrounding tomato plant roots – has been a cross-continental endeavour.

QUT-based robotics engineer Dr Chris Lehnert specialises in solving commercial automation challenges, developing novel solutions for an array of real-world applications. Right now, he’s developing components for high-tech vertical farm modules in a CRC collaboration with Greenbio.

For Priti Krishna, Foundation Chair of Sustainable Agriculture at Western Sydney University and lead researcher on the CRC’s Blueberry nutritional optimisation project, it’s not just about growing better crops; it’s about growing crops better.

For this IT-pro-turned-UNE-microbiology post-grad, the chance to study the root microbiome of greenhouse-grown tomatoes with Costa Group under the CRC was one too good to refuse.

This brilliant scientist was the first in her family to attend university. But for Elaine Holmes, world-leading metabolic scientist, WA Premier’s Research Fellow and recent recipient of a prestigious Australian Laureate ARC Fellowship, academia proved a natural fit.

Queensland University of Technology Professor Sagadevan Mundree is an expert in the fields of biochemistry and cell biology, agricultural and industrial biotechnology, and tropical crops – notably pulses. He also loves to hike.

For UNSW’s Professor Sami Kara, sustainable manufacturing is a key to future prosperity and a cleaner, greener planet. Scientica Education Fellow and Director of Vertically Integrated Projects in the University of New South Wales’ Faculty of Engineering, Sami isn’t one to silo […]

As an agri-biotech company, Greenbio Group looks forward to working with automation experts in the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision at Queensland University of Technology to develop high-tech automated facilities in which to grow food and medicinal plants for use in high-value […]

As a food grower, you might think I’m part of a dying breed of people. Climate change, scarcity of arable land and price pressures are enough to add worry lines to the most weathered farmer’s face. And while I worry […]

CRC partner Providence Asset Group brings a wealth of expertise around smart technologies – including renewable energy for microgrids and world-first hydrogen technology for green-power storage – to the collective table, and is positioned to play a key role in […]

New CRC partner BeefLedger, with its expertise in blockchain technology and hands-on experience in the Chinese market, will be a boon to participants looking to export premium high-value food products. And that doesn’t just mean beef. Driven by a belief […]

Cordelia Selomulya is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at UNSW and has taken up a lead role in the Future Food Systems CRC as its Director of Research and Commercialisation. She brings extensive experience working with industry partners, including Bega, […]