Overview
Background
Dr Millicent Smith is a Senior Lecturer in Crop Physiology at The University of Queensland. Her research is focused on understanding the physiological mechanisms that underpin yield stability and quality in grain legumes. Millicent works closely with breeders, both in Australia and overseas, to develop improved knowledge on abiotic stress adaptation and tools to accelerate genetic gain. Dr Smith leads a national research project funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation focused on deploying novel phenotyping and genomics approaches to fast-track the development of new chickpea varieties that display lower yield loss in response to high temperature. Millicent is passionate about training the next generation of plant scientists. She leads a growing research team of postdoctoral scientists, postgraduate and undergraduate research students and has been awarded for her innovative teaching approaches applied to large undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
Availability
- Dr Millicent Smith is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor (Honours), University of Sydney
- Doctor of Philosophy, University of Sydney
Works
Search Professor Millicent Smith’s works on UQ eSpace
2026
Conference Publication
Integrating field and controlled environment phenotyping to fast-track heat tolerance in chickpea
Smith, Millicent, Van Haeften, Shanice, Jamie, Callum, Meijer, Lotus, Hickey, Lee, Dinglasan, Eric, Papin, Victor, Chenu, Karine, Lake, Lachlan, Sadras, Victor, Chauhan, Yash, Sands, Douglas, Donaldson, Cassandra, Hobson, Kristy, Clifton, Mitch and Dron, Nicole (2026). Integrating field and controlled environment phenotyping to fast-track heat tolerance in chickpea. International Legume Society Conference, Dubrovnik, Croatia, 8-12 June 2026.
2026
Conference Publication
Trait stability of diverse kabuli chickpea germplasm from delayed sowing in a rainfed environment
Jamie, Callum, Van Haeften, Shanice, Papin, Victor, Kelly, Alison, Chenu, Karine, Jeffrey, Cara, Ziems, Laura, Trethowan, Richard, Hickey, Lee and Smith, Millicent (2026). Trait stability of diverse kabuli chickpea germplasm from delayed sowing in a rainfed environment. 5th International Legume Society Conference, Dubrovnik, Croatia, 8-12 June 2026.
2026
Conference Publication
Dissecting genetic and environmental regulation of flowering to enable climate-resilient mungbean breeding
Dudley, Caitlin, Van Haeften, Shanice, Alahmad, Samir, Dinglasan, Eric, Hickey, Lee, Robinson, Hannah, Beveridge, Christine, Udvardi, Michael, Noble, Thomas, Massel, Karen, Dun, Elizabeth and Smith, Millicent (2026). Dissecting genetic and environmental regulation of flowering to enable climate-resilient mungbean breeding. 5th International Legume Society Conference, Dubrovnik, Croatia, 8-12 June 2026.
2026
Conference Publication
Breeding beyond the plot: leveraging rotational genetics to improve wheat performance and farming system sustainability
Smith, Millicent, Van Haeften, Shanice, Brunner, Stephanie, Dinglasan, Eric, Fabreag, Edward, Eyre, Joe, Mens, Celine, Hayes, Ben, Udvardi, Michael, Alahmad, Samir, Eglinton, Mitchell, McQuinn, Ryan, Ryan, Merrill, van der Meer, Sarah and Hickey, Lee (2026). Breeding beyond the plot: leveraging rotational genetics to improve wheat performance and farming system sustainability. 4th International Wheat Congress, Bologna, Italy, 25-29 May 2026.
2026
Journal Article
The dark side of stress response: night temperature regimes drive distinct abiotic pathways in legumes
Hauser, Charlotte, Mudke, Ashwini, Arshad, Kamran, Alatrash, Hiba, Dudley, Caitlin, Smith, Millicent and Schiessl, Sarah (2026). The dark side of stress response: night temperature regimes drive distinct abiotic pathways in legumes. Plant Cell and Environment, 49 (2), 925-939. doi: 10.1111/pce.70276
2025
Journal Article
Spatial probabilistic patterns of joint heat and water stress of chickpea in Australia
Lake, Lachlan, Manson, James B., Severini, Alan D., Chauhan, Yash, Chenu, Karine, Smith, Millicent R. and Sadras, Victor O. (2025). Spatial probabilistic patterns of joint heat and water stress of chickpea in Australia. Annals of Applied Biology, 188 (3) aab.70085, 698-713. doi: 10.1111/aab.70085
2025
Journal Article
Unmanned aerial vehicle phenotyping of agronomic and physiological traits in mungbean
Van Haeften, Shanice, Smith, Daniel, Robinson, Hannah, Dudley, Caitlin, Kang, Yichen, Douglas, Colin A., Hickey, Lee T., Potgieter, Andries, Chapman, Scott and Smith, Millicent R. (2025). Unmanned aerial vehicle phenotyping of agronomic and physiological traits in mungbean. The Plant Phenome Journal, 8 (1) e70016, 1-18. doi: 10.1002/ppj2.70016
2025
Conference Publication
Envirotyping of drought and heat stress to support barley improvement
Heidariask, Bita, Alahmad, Samir, Hickey, Lee, Smith, Millicent, Severini, Alan, Baraibar, Silvina, Moody, David, Gansealingam, Dini and Chenu, Karine (2025). Envirotyping of drought and heat stress to support barley improvement. InterDrought VIII, La Serena, Chile, 17-21 November 2025.
2025
Conference Publication
Characterising genotypic stability and environmental responsiveness in Australian chickpea
Van Haeften, Shanice, Hobson, Kristy, Waters, Dominic, Hickey, Lee, Smith, Millicent and Tolhurst, Daniel (2025). Characterising genotypic stability and environmental responsiveness in Australian chickpea. TropAg 2025 Conference, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 11 - 13 November 2025.
2025
Conference Publication
Haplotype stacking unlocks the potential of arid-adapted germplasm for higher yield
Papin, Victor, Barmukh, Rutwik, Dinglasan, Eric G., Shaffer, Will, Smith, Millicent, Hayes, Ben J., Hamwieh, Aladdin, Instanbuli, Tawffiq, Maalouf, Fouad, Aklinade, Oluwaseun J., Varshney, Rajeev K. and Hickey, Lee T. (2025). Haplotype stacking unlocks the potential of arid-adapted germplasm for higher yield. 5th TropAg Conference, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 11 - 13 November 2025.
2025
Conference Publication
Characterising abiotic stresses to enhance barley productivity across Australia
Heidariask, Bita, Alahmad, Samir, Hickey, Lee, Smith, Millicent, Severini, Alan and Chenu, Karine (2025). Characterising abiotic stresses to enhance barley productivity across Australia. TropAg Conference, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 11-13 November 2025.
2025
Journal Article
Time to flowering and flowering duration in mungbean are unrelated physiological traits with independent genetic controls
Dudley, Caitlin, Van Haeften, Shanice, Alahmad, Samir, Dinglasan, Eric, Hickey, Lee T., Robinson, Hannah, Beveridge, Christine, Udvardi, Michael, Noble, Thomas, Massel, Karen, Dun, Elizabeth A. and Smith, Millicent R. (2025). Time to flowering and flowering duration in mungbean are unrelated physiological traits with independent genetic controls. Journal Of Experimental Botany, 76 (18) eraf222, 5528-5541. doi: 10.1093/jxb/eraf222
2025
Other Outputs
Mungbean wheat farming systems dataset
Hickey, Lee, Smith, Millicent and Van Haeften, Shanice (2025). Mungbean wheat farming systems dataset. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/cee8b66
2025
Conference Publication
Leveraging local adaptations for crop improvement
Thulaseedharan, Aparna, James, Maddie, Smith, Millicent, Hickey, Lee and Ortiz-Barrientos, Daniel (2025). Leveraging local adaptations for crop improvement. Australasian Evolution Society Conference, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 1-3 October 2025.
2025
Conference Publication
Characterising genotypic stability and environmental responsiveness in Australian chickpea
Van Haeften, Shanice, Hobson, Kristy, Waters, Dominic, Hickey, Lee, Smith, Millicent and Tolhurst, Daniel (2025). Characterising genotypic stability and environmental responsiveness in Australian chickpea. 19th Meeting of the Eucarpia Biometrics in Plant Breeding 2025, Edinburgh, Scotland, 17 - 19 September 2025.
2025
Journal Article
A chickpea MAGIC population to dissect the genetics of complex traits
Akinlade, Oluwaseun J., Robinson, Hannah, Kang, Yichen, Thudi, Mahendar, Samineni, Srinivasan, Gaur, Pooran, Smith, Millicent R., Voss‐Fels, Kai P., Costilla, Roy, Varshney, Rajeev K., Dinglasan, Eric and Hickey, Lee T. (2025). A chickpea MAGIC population to dissect the genetics of complex traits. The Plant Genome, 18 (3) e70096, 1-17. doi: 10.1002/tpg2.70096
2025
Journal Article
Decoding PDI diversity: insights into structure, domains, and functionality in sorghum
López-Gómez, Carla F., Morris, Marc T., Massel, Karen, Smith, Millicent, Crisp, Peter, Schenk, Gerhard and Godwin, Ian D. (2025). Decoding PDI diversity: insights into structure, domains, and functionality in sorghum. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, 27, 3328-3336. doi: 10.1016/j.csbj.2025.07.035
2025
Conference Publication
Envirotyping to assist crop improvement in barley
Heidariask, B., Alahmad, S., Hickey, L. T., Smith, M., Severini, A., Baraibar, S., Moody, D., Ganesalingam, D. and Chenu, K. (2025). Envirotyping to assist crop improvement in barley. Breeding Horizons, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 21-25 July 2025.
2025
Conference Publication
Leveraging local adaptation for improving Australian mungbean
Thulaseedharan, Aparna, James, Maddie, Smith, Millicent, Hickey, Lee and Ortiz-Barrientos, Daniel (2025). Leveraging local adaptation for improving Australian mungbean. Breeding Horizons, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 21-24 July 2025.
2025
Conference Publication
Genotype x environment interactions affecting flowering time and flowering duration in mungbean
Dudley, Caitlin, Van Haeften, Shanice, Dun, Elizabeth, Alahmad, Samir, Dinglasan, Eric, Massel, Karen, Udvardi, Michael, Beveridge, Christine, Robinson, Hannah, Hickey, Lee and Smith, Millicent (2025). Genotype x environment interactions affecting flowering time and flowering duration in mungbean. Society of Experimental Biology Conference, Antwerp, Belgium, 8-11 July 2025.
Funding
Current funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Millicent Smith is:
- Available for supervision
Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on how to choose a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Multi-omics prediction to increase chickpea yield potential
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Alison Kelly, Professor Lee Hickey, Professor Karine Chenu, Dr Shanice Van Haeften
-
Doctor Philosophy
Exploring the physiological and molecular basis of flowering in mungbean
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Elizabeth Dun, Professor Christine Beveridge, Professor Lee Hickey, Dr Karen Massel, Professor Michael Udvardi
-
Doctor Philosophy
Investigating root-shoot dynamics to improve water-use efficiency of barley
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Alex Wu, Professor Karine Chenu, Dr Hannah Robinson, Dr Dongxue Zhao, Professor Lee Hickey
-
Doctor Philosophy
Evaluating Diverse Taro (Colocasia) Germplasm to Enhance Food Security and Climate Resilience in the Pacific Islands
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Scott Chapman, Professor Ian Godwin, Dr Eric Dinglasan, Dr Bradley Campbell
-
Doctor Philosophy
Nitrogen use dynamics in high protein gene edited sorghum
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Karen Massel, Dr Peter Crisp, Professor Ian Godwin
-
Doctor Philosophy
Data-Driven Crop Breeding: Enhancing Disease Resistance through Vision-based Digital Phenotyping
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Scott Chapman, Professor Helen Huang, Dr Ruihong Qiu, Dr Shanice Van Haeften, Associate Professor Sen Wang
-
Doctor Philosophy
Physiological traits and environmental characterisation to improve yield stability in barley
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Lee Hickey, Dr Alan Severini, Professor Karine Chenu
-
Doctor Philosophy
Integrating Agricultural Landscape Genomics and Abiotic Stress Resilience in Mungbean
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Lee Hickey, Dr Maddie James, Professor Daniel Ortiz-Barrientos
-
Doctor Philosophy
AI-accelerated breeding of high-protein mungbean
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Lee Hickey, Dr Eric Dinglasan, Professor Ben Hayes
-
Doctor Philosophy
Natural variation and optimization of symbiotic nitrogen fixation via predictive breeding in mungbean
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Lee Hickey, Dr Estelle Grundy, Dr Will Shaffer, Professor Michael Udvardi
Completed supervision
-
2025
Master Philosophy
Understanding G × E Interactions for Yield and Protein Content in Australian Chickpea: From Phenotyping to Genetic Analysis
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Bradley Campbell, Associate Professor Daniel Cozzolino
-
2025
Doctor Philosophy
New insight and tools to increase yield potential and reliability in mungbean
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Lee Hickey, Associate Professor Andries Potgieter, Dr Hannah Robinson
-
2025
Doctor Philosophy
Assessing plant growth and utilisation of phosphorus fertiliser with contrasting placement strategies and soil fertility
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Michael Bell
-
2024
Doctor Philosophy
Advancing genetic knowledge and breeding tools to improve chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Eric Dinglasan, Dr Hannah Robinson, Honorary Professor Kai Voss-Fels, Professor Lee Hickey
-
2022
Doctor Philosophy
Physiological determinants of potential yield in mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek)
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Vijaya Singh
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Millicent Smith directly for media enquiries about:
- chickpea
- crop science
- grain legumes
- mungbean
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