Dr Peter Carberry - President

BScAgr (Hons) PhD

Peter is a Senior Principal Research Scientist with CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems in Australia. He leads the CSIRO team based with the Agricultural Production Systems Research Unit (APSRU) in Toowoomba and is on the APSRU Management Committee. His disciplinary expertise is in crop physiology, and in the development and application of systems simulation models - he has been a key developer of the APSIM cropping systems model. In more recent times he has led major RDE projects aimed at increasing the participation of farmers and advisers in research. His current interests lie in working closely with proactive farmer groups around Australia to improve the relevance of science and the rigour of on-farm research. Over the past 20 years he has also been involved in development projects in India and Africa, the emphasis of which has been on soil fertility management and farming systems research.

Some recent publications include:

Carberry, P.S., 2001. Are science rigour and industry relevance both achievable in participatory action research? Agricultural Science, 14:22-28.
Carberry, P.S., Hochman, Z., McCown, R.L., Dalgliesh, N.P., Foale, M.A., Poulton, P.L., Hargreaves, J.N.G., Hargreaves, D.M.G., Cawthray, S., Hillcoat, N. and Robertson, M.J., 2002. The FARMSCAPE approach to decision support: Farmers,’ Advisers,’ Researchers’ Monitoring, Simulation, Communication, And Performance Evaluation. Agricultural Systems, 74: 179-220.
Carberry, P.S., Probert, M.E., Dimes, J.P., Keating, B.A. and McCown, R.L., 2002. Role of modelling in improving nutrient efficiency in cropping systems. Plant and Soil 245:193-203.

Professor Len Wade - Vice-President

Since July 2002, Len has been GRDC Chair in Crop Agronomy at the University of Western Australia (UWA). From 1993, Len was Agronomist/Physiologist and Consortium Coordinator for Rainfed-Lowland and Flood-Prone Ecosystems in South and Southeast Asia, while based at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines. Before that, he was Agronomist/Senior Agronomist/Principal Agronomist with the Queensland Department of Primary Industries for 18 years, based mainly at Emerald in Central Queensland. Len has substantial research experience in three major cropping systems: rainfed wheat-based systems in Mediterranean environments, rainfed rice-based systems in the subhumid tropics, and rainfed sorghum-based systems in the semi-arid tropics.

His qualifications include a B. Agr. Sc. (Hons) from the University of Queensland in 1974, a Ph.D. from the University of Western Australia in 1988, and Research Fellowships to ICRISAT in India in 1980 and Texas A&M University in the USA in 1989-1990. Len has more than 100 refereed publications and is on the Editorial Boards of Field Crops Research, Plant Production Science, and Plant and Soil. He is enjoying the new challenges at UWA of lecturing to undergraduate students and chasing research funds. He has been married to Ruth for nearly 20 years, and they are enjoying Perth. Western Australia is a great place with Mediterranean crops and pastures, lovely wines, great seafood, beaches, wildflowers, forests, and rugged national parks. Len is sure everyone will enjoy the Australian Agronomy Conference in Western Australia in 2006!!

Karin Schiller - Secretary

Karin has a diverse career; Graduating from UNE with a B. Rural Science, Karin worked with Heritage Seeds as sales/agronomist servicing the northern part of NSW exposing her to temperate and sub-tropical climates and their differing pasture systems. Seeking a new experience, she moved to the horticultural sector, working in wholesale at the Brisbane Market, Rocklea. This role took her overseas to Brunei and Jakarta exploring new markets.

After a number of positions outside of agriculture, Karin realised she missed getting her hands dirty, thus, she accepted a role at Walgett, NSW working in a GRDC funded farming system project. This work was very rewarding, however, difficult due to the recent/current drought. An important component of the projects outcomes was its role in up-skilling farmers and exposing them to new technology via their participation with the Agricultural Production Systems Research Unit, (APSRU).

Currently, Karin is the Industry Representative for the largest Fish Co-operative in NSW. This role acts as the conduit between members, government agencies, parliament and other resource stakeholders. So she doesn’t lose perspective, and always keen to keep informed about agronomy, she eagerly accepted the ASA Secretary role.
Published Paper: Karin SCHILLER & John AYRES; 1993 "The effects of winter conditions on the nutritive value of Lotus pedunculatus cv.Maku and Trifolium repens cv. Haifa". Tropical grasslands, Vol. 27 no.1

Erik van Oostrom - Treasurer

Erik is a Dutch national and graduate from Wageningen Agricultural University with a major in plant breeding. Erik’s Ph-D studies at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Syria and a Post-Doc at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India, well and truly focused his research on trying to understand the crop physiological causes for genotypic differences in adaptation to abiotic stress. This background brought him to Australia in 1998, when he joined the APSRU cropping systems modeling group, initially through a position with CSIRO in Brisbane, but since May 2002 as a senior research fellow at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. Erik is involved in research projects to incorporate genetic functionality into existing crop growth simulation models, to allow these models to capture crop adaptation to abiotic stress in a predictive way, such that crop growth simulation models can be valued as a tool in crop improvement programs.

Richard Routley

Richard is a Senior Development Agronomist with the Qld Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries based at the Roma Research Station in SW Qld. In this capacity he leads a number of RD&E projects that focus on the development of economically and environmentally sustainable production grain production systems."

David Midmore

David was appointed the Foundation Professor of Plant Sciences in 1995 and is Director, Plant Sciences Group, Primary Industries Research Centre. His academic qualifications were attained at the University of Reading - BSc.Agricultural Botany (First Class Hons), PhD.

Over 30 years of work experience has included such positions as a Crop Physiologist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (Mexico), Agronomist/Crop Physiologist at the West Indies Central Sugar Cane Breeding Station (Barbados), Physiologist and Research Co-ordinator at the International Potato Centre (Peru), visiting scholar at Nova Scotia Agricultural College, Dalhousie University Canada and a year as Head of the CIP Physiology Department. In addition David spent five years as Director of Production Program of the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center in Taiwan, prior to being appointed to Central Queensland University.