Dr Samir Alahmad
Dr

Samir Alahmad

Email: 

Background

Dr Samir Alahmad is an early career plant breeder, geneticist and plant physiologist within the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation at the University of Queensland. He graduated with a PhD degree in 2019 from the University of Queensland. His main focus is dissecting the genetics of complex traits that contribute to enhanced yield. In particular, his research is focused on better understanding the genetics of drought adaptive traits such as root system architecture and canopy development. He worked on two GRDC-funded projects that aimed to develop elite durum and bread wheat varieties with optimal root system architecture for improved yield. Dr Alahmad also focuses on integrating breeding technologies and high throughput UAV remote sensing technologies to better understand crop response to drought stress. His primary focus is to understand how spectral reflectance indices can be used to speed up the development of new resilient varieties with enhanced genetic gain. Dr Alahmad's interests are quantitative genetics, population genetics, genomic selection, machine learning, and UAV phenotyping.

Availability

Dr Samir Alahmad is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Qualifications

  • Bachelor (Honours) of Agriculture, Damascus University
  • Masters (Research) of Agriculture, Damascus University
  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland

Research interests

  • Winter cereals pre-breeding and genetics

  • Investigating the value of root traits and canopy development in improving resilience and yield of cereal crops

  • Developing elite lines with designed root system architecture for future climates

  • Adapting wheat to drought and crown rot conditions

  • Using UAV sensor technology to provide new means of evaluating plant root performance

Research impacts

Novel approach aimed at reducing yield losses under drought and crown rot conditions by optimising root system architecture, enhancing plant access to water in deep soils, and improving other water use efficiency traits such as canopy structure. Details of this work can be found https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/15/5260. In addition, the identification and management of crown rot disease for winter cereals are summarised in "Taking the stock of what we know about crown rot disease in Australia".

Rooty and GRDC projects aimed at the development of elite bread and durum wheat with modified root systems (different root ideotypes) targeting different environments and soil types are essential for placing a value on these below-ground traits. Information on the best root-environment-combination is crucial to defining breeding targets for Australian wheat breeding programs and delivering benefits to farmers and growers globally and here in Australia. To get more details about these projects, read the GRDC press release here

In 2022, I commenced a second postdoctoral research project (3 years) funded by an ARC-linkage grant which focuses on using cutting-edge breeding technologies to explore and harness variation in root systems and canopy development. This project aims to accelerate the development of stable, productive barley varieties for future Australian farms.

Search Professor Samir Alahmad’s works on UQ eSpace

26 works between 2011 and 2025
All (26) Journal Article (18) Book Chapter (1) Other Outputs (7)

21 - 26 of 26 works

Featured

2011

Journal Article

Morphology and distribution of the Indian Gerbil, Tatera indica (Hardwicke, 1807), in Syria : (Rodentia: Gerbillinae)

Shehab, Adwan H., Al-Ahmad, Samir A. and Samara, Fauzy F. (2011). Morphology and distribution of the Indian Gerbil, Tatera indica (Hardwicke, 1807), in Syria : (Rodentia: Gerbillinae). Zoology in the Middle East, 52 (1), 3-10. doi: 10.1080/09397140.2011.10638473

Morphology and distribution of the Indian Gerbil, Tatera indica (Hardwicke, 1807), in Syria : (Rodentia: Gerbillinae)

2025

Journal Article

Rooting for microbes: impact of root architecture on the microbial community and function in top- and subsoil

Lattacher, Adrian, Le Gall, Samuel, Rothfuss, Youri, Gao, Chao, Harings, Moritz, Pagel, Holger, Giraud, Mona, Alahmad, Samir, Hickey, Lee T., Kandeler, Ellen and Poll, Christian (2025). Rooting for microbes: impact of root architecture on the microbial community and function in top- and subsoil. Plant and Soil 579904, 1-19. doi: 10.1007/s11104-024-07181-w

Rooting for microbes: impact of root architecture on the microbial community and function in top- and subsoil

2024

Journal Article

Stacking beneficial haplotypes from the Vavilov wheat collection to accelerate breeding for multiple disease resistance

Tong, Jingyang, Tarekegn, Zerihun T., Jambuthenne, Dilani, Alahmad, Samir, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Hickey, Lee, Dinglasan, Eric and Hayes, Ben (2024). Stacking beneficial haplotypes from the Vavilov wheat collection to accelerate breeding for multiple disease resistance. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 137 (12) 274, 1-15. doi: 10.1007/s00122-024-04784-w

Stacking beneficial haplotypes from the Vavilov wheat collection to accelerate breeding for multiple disease resistance

2024

Journal Article

Mapping quantitative trait loci for seminal root angle in a selected durum wheat population

Kang, Yichen, Alahmad, Samir, Haeften, Shanice V., Akinlade, Oluwaseun, Tong, Jingyang, Dinglasan, Eric, Voss‐Fels, Kai P., Potgieter, Andries B., Borrell, Andrew K., Makhoul, Manar, Obermeier, Christian, Snowdon, Rod, Mace, Emma, Jordan, David R. and Hickey, Lee T. (2024). Mapping quantitative trait loci for seminal root angle in a selected durum wheat population. The Plant Genome, 18 (1) e20490, e20490. doi: 10.1002/tpg2.20490

Mapping quantitative trait loci for seminal root angle in a selected durum wheat population

2024

Journal Article

Seminal root angle is associated with root system architecture in durum wheat

Kang, Yichen, Rambla, Charlotte, Haeften, Shanice V., Fu, Brendan, Akinlade, Oluwaseun, Potgieter, Andries B., Borrell, Andrew K., Mace, Emma, Jordan, David R., Alahmad, Samir and Hickey, Lee T. (2024). Seminal root angle is associated with root system architecture in durum wheat. Food and Energy Security, 13 (4) e570. doi: 10.1002/fes3.570

Seminal root angle is associated with root system architecture in durum wheat

2024

Journal Article

Characterizing stay-green in barley across diverse environments: unveiling novel haplotypes

Brunner, Stephanie M., Dinglasan, Eric, Baraibar, Silvina, Alahmad, Samir, Katsikis, Christina, van der Meer, Sarah, Godoy, Jayfred, Moody, David, Smith, Millicent, Hickey, Lee and Robinson, Hannah (2024). Characterizing stay-green in barley across diverse environments: unveiling novel haplotypes. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 137 (6) 120, 120. doi: 10.1007/s00122-024-04612-1

Characterizing stay-green in barley across diverse environments: unveiling novel haplotypes

Past funding

  • 2019 - 2022
    Designing roots to enhance durum and bread wheat yield under drought and crown rot environments (postdoc aligned with Project UOQ1801-002RTX-Rooty)
    Grains Research & Development Corporation
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2022
    Rooty: a root ideotype toolbox to support improved wheat yields
    Grains Research & Development Corporation
    Open grant

Availability

Dr Samir Alahmad is:
Available for supervision

Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.

Supervision history

Current supervision

Completed supervision

Enquiries

Contact Dr Samir Alahmad directly for media enquiries about:

  • Breeding technologies
  • Drought addaptation
  • Plant Physiology
  • Quantitative Genetics
  • UAV phenotyping

Need help?

For help with finding experts, story ideas and media enquiries, contact our Media team:

communications@uq.edu.au