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I undertake multi-disciplinary collaborative research developing mathematical, computational and visualisation approaches and techniques that facilitate the research and education in animal and plant systems.

My major research theme is development of mathematical, computer graphics and simulation approaches and techniques that facilitate the study of genetics, physiology, morphogenesis and ecology at the scale of cells, individual plants and insects and their components. These developments in computational biology are being used to increase our understanding of the dynamics of morphogenesis, and as a tool in applied research and education.

Associate Professor Craig Hardner holds a bachelor in Forest Science awarded by the University of Melbourne, and BSc (Hons) and PhD from the University of Tasmania. Prior to his PhD, A/Prof Hardner worked as a Research Fellow at Swedish Agricultural University 1988-1990 supporting willow breeding for energy production. Between 1996-2007, A/Prof Hardner lead the CSIRO macadamia breeding program. A/Prof Hardner joined the University of Queensland in 2007 and commenced a joint appointment with Queensland Government as a research fellow in horticulture breeding and genetics. He has an extensive collaboration network in horticulture breeding and conservation including domestic and international organisations and Universities.

A/Prof Hardner was lead author on a 128 page review of macadamia genetics and domestication published in 2009 and is curator of macadamia cultivar descriptions for HortScience. He was awarded a Churchill fellowship in 2012 to travel to Hawaii to trace the domestication pathway of macadamia.

Dr Sundar Kalaipandian obtained his BSc (Agriculture) and MSc (Plant Breeding and Genetics) from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India. He worked as a senior research fellows at Sugarcane Breeding Institute in India. He then went to undertake his PhD in Biotechnology at Academia Sinica, Taiwan. He received a postdoctoral fellowship from Academia Sinica. He got a postdoctoral position to work at Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and moved to Australia. He worked for University of Adelaide and Biosecurity Queensland. Then, he joined as a research fellow at the University of Queensland. Currently, he received an Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship project to develop a commercial tissue culture protocol on date plam.

Sundar has developed expertise in genetics, plant breeding, biotechnology, genomics, and bioinformatics during his career. He has specialized in the development of abiotic and biotic stress tolerant varieties. He has worked on several plant species including sugarcane, rice, maize, Arabidopsis, wheat, coconut, date palm, Australian native plant species and weeds. He has experience in developing strong collaborations with national and international organizations, and private industries. He is interested in commercialization of scientific technologies for farmers and bringing various technologies to field. He is also interested to work on Australian native plant species and environmental factors that affect their germination and growth. Apart from scientific skills, he is taking various roles in preparation of collaborative agreements, biosecurity documents, project and budget management activities.

Disrupting the status quo and closing the circular bioeconomy

Dr Jitka Kochanek is the founder and leader of the Plant Performance Laboratory at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. At the interface of biology and materials science, she utilises bioengineering to disrupt the status quo within the global bioeconomy. Specifically, her pioneering research aims to supersede dated industry practices with new, highly efficient products and to replace outdated materials (unsustainable, damaging etc) with cutting-edge biomaterials that close the circular economy.

Her latest scientific achievement has been the discovery of a new material that is a ‘technology platform’ upon which multiple technologies are being developed through tailoring of parent materials, such as for biomedical and food packaging applications, as well as for agriculture and environmental rehabilitation. In 2021 she gained private industry funding from a prominent Australian SME for translation and commercialisation is expected over a 2–5-year timeframe. Since parent materials are plant-based, the platform promises a closed circular economy.

In the agri-environmental space, Dr Kochanek’s vision is sustainable real-time plant regulation, using novel biomaterials and technologies. The most commercially advanced product promises to be a disruptive tool for better future-proofing agriculture and wild plant ecosystem restoration, having successfully delivered emerging growth regulators that assist plants to cope with climate-related stressors, such as heatwaves and drought. Additionally, classic chemistries have been delivered to plants at 100-10,000-fold lower dosages than current commercial practices, thus generating social licence and slashing chemical costs.

Dr Kochanek has collaborated with some of the world’s top organisations and researchers, such as conservation ecologists at Kew Gardens in the UK, natural product chemists via the Flematti Group at the University of Western Australia and materials scientists within the Rowan Group at the University of Queensland. She has had the pleasure of supervising/mentoring >30 research students and 2 postdoctoral researchers.

Other notable career achievements

Since 2010 Dr Kochanek has been principal chief investigator across 8 industry and government projects worth >$2.3M (Federal/Horticulture Innovation Australia, Local/Brisbane City Council, State/Qld Government and private industry projects), a research consultant for the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR, developing sustainable and cost-effective crop sanitation technologies in Papua New Guinea) and won the CSIRO ON-Prime accelerator program in 2019 for her visionary agri-technologies. Other notable achievements are that Dr Kochanek became a stand-alone researcher at <2 years post-PhD, after securing funding as principal CI ($302K, 2010); has developed a novel systematic framework to close the circular economy for waste recycling technologies; was among the first to confirm empirical evidence for epigenetics in plants or animals; and has developed a bioassay to rapidly ascertain plant responses for growth promoting/harming compounds. The bioassay provides the ability to predict chemical dosages for plants within 1 week.

Dr Vivian Rincon is a microbiologist from Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia . She joined the University of Queensland (UQ) in 2008 as RA to work in projects related to plant-pathogen interactions and soil microbiology. She obtained a scholarship from the Grain Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) to start her PhD on the effect of tillage on soil microbial communities in wheat fields. Following her studies, she joined Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) at UQ to work on different aspects of disease management in broadacre crops. Currently, she is a research fellow at the Centre for Horticulturals Science (CHS) working on an integrated disease management approach for the Macadamia industry.

Dr Karl Robinson joined QAAFI’s Centre for Horticultural Science (frm. Centre for Plant Sciences) in 2012 as a molecular biologist specialising in RNAi applications against animal and plant viruses. Karl received his doctoral degree from The University of Queensland, School of Veterinary Science in 2009 and was awarded the 2009 UQ Deans Award. Karl has held postdoctoral research positions within Queensland Government/The University of Queensland - Agricultural Biotechnology Centre and the Viral Pathogenesis and Vaccine Group at the Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Organisation, The University of Saskatchewan, Canada, before joining The Mitter Group. In 2017, Dr Robinson was awarded the Queensland State Government - Advance Queensland Reseach Fellowship to conduct research into alternative insect and virus control methods using RNAi and nanotechnology. Currently, a senior research fellow, supported by Grains Research Development Corporation and Horticulture Innovation Australia, Karl is leading research into spray-on RNAi applications for viruses and insects in high value grain and horticultural crops. Karl supervises a team of several higher degree research students and post doctoral researchers and delivers the plant virology lectures of the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences 3rd year virology course at UQ.

PhD Scholarship are available for domestic students.

My research is in the discipline of higher education and focuses on university teacher beliefs, thinking and practices in relation to the use of educational technologies in teaching & learning. I am also interested in learning designs to support authentic learning approaches using new and emerging technologies such as Web 2.0/3.0 technologies, mobile technologies and 3D immersive environments.

Caroline Steel’s research is in the use of current and emerging educational technologies primarily in university and more recently as applied to the field of Technology-Enhanced Language Learning. She is President and Executive Member of ascilite (Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education). Her research into educational technologies draws on teacher and learner beliefs and affordance theories to investigate learner and teacher preferences and current uses of technology in education. She was lead researcher on a large multi-university research project that investigated the transitional experiences, motivational factors, technology preferences and uses of language students across 3 universities.

Caroline has worked in education-related fields for nearly 20 years as a language teacher, curriculum designer, university teacher educator and now research fellow. Caroline's PhD investigated university teachers' pedagogical beliefs, beliefs about web technologies and how these are enacted in practice. In her research she draws on a number of qualitative research approaches and methods including stimulated recall and concept mapping. Caroline teaches the Masters of Education course ‘Creating classrooms of the future with educational technology' and an undergraduate course in ‘Languages and Technology’.

Professor Yasmina Sultanbawa's research is focused within the agribusiness development framework, specifically in the area of food processing, preservation, food safety and nutrition. Her current research includes the minimisation of post harvest losses through value addition and the search for natural preservatives to replace current synthetic chemicals. In addition, her research area also includes the challenge of nutrition security, in particular micronutrient deficiency (hidden hunger), lack of diet diversity and nutritional losses in the food supply chain, which are addressed by her work with underutilized Australian plant species and potential new crops. Her work on Australian native plant foods is focused on incorporation of these plants in mainstream agriculture and diet diversification Working with indigenous communities to develop nutritious and sustainable value added products from native plants for use in the food, feed, cosmetic and health care industries is a key strategy. The creation of employment, economic and social benefits to these remote communities is an anticipated outcome. She considers it a privilege to engage with these communities and is very passionate that her work will have a positive socio-economic impact.

Research Focus

• Functional ingredients (natural additives)

Functional food/feed/nutraceutical ingredients with enhanced nutritional and phytochemical profiles are obtained from specialty crops (Australian native plant foods) and industry co/by-products. Natural additives are obtained from raw materials of vegetable, fruit, herbs/spices or microbiological origin. An example is plant extracts which can provide e.g. antioxidants, shelf-life extension (natural antimicrobials), trace-nutrients (vitamins/ minerals) and novel flavours. Innovative technology solutions

• Novel packaging systems

Development of active, biodegradable packaging material with natural additives for shelf life extension, smart packaging with nanosensors for the effective detection of food contaminants, microperforated packaging systems with optimised modified atmospheres for fresh foods and high barrier packaging material for herbs and spices are practical objectives of her research. Engineered nano-delivery systems for plant bioactives Develop nano-platforms for targeted delivery and controlled release of plant bioactives including antioxidant and antimicrobial products, through testing of in vitro activities and shelf life under various conditions.

• Photodynamic treatment

Photodynamic treatment or photosensitization is a novel light and photo dye based approach which offers promising alternatives to conventional methods for the control of microorganisms. Plant bioactives such as curcumin has been successfully used to control mycrotoxigenic fungi. This technology has potential as a decontamination tool to reduce the microbial load in food and feed.

• Food safety

Her research focus in this field includes intervention strategies to inhibit and prevent food-borne pathogens and spoilage organisms in fresh food and beverages, elucidating mechanisms of antimicrobial action, shelf-life extension with natural antimicrobials, retaining bioactivity during processing and storage, search for natural inhibitors from Australian native plants, use of bioactive honey from Leptospermum polygalifolium (Jelly bush) in treating microbial wound infections.

Eva (Xiaoyi) completed her PhD in Viticulture and Horticulture from Adelaide University. Before starting her career at UQ, she did an industry-focused and collaborative research project at Adelaide University, working with the University of Melbourne, the University of Tasmania and NSW DPI on drought management in grapevine, orange and almond across the four Australian states.

Eva's research expertise includes plant physiology, particularly in grapevines, with a strong emphasis on advanced techniques such as micro-CT and image analysis for characterizing plant structures. Her work also includes studies on vine balance, canopy microclimate, early yield prediction, and canopy management. She also has significant experience in RNA-seq and data analysis.

Currently, Eva is engaged in projects that assess the performance of wine grape varietals in Queensland's wine regions, as well as exploring the use of hydroponic and aeroponic systems for the production of grapes and other crops.

Honours and Masters projects are available in all active projects. Please register your interest emailing xiaoyi.wang1@uq.edu.au.

My research focusses on soil health in cropping and pasture systems, specialising in soil carbon and soil organic matter dynamics, microbial ecology, and plant-soil interactions. I am interested in how agronomic interventions impact soil health and in developing methods to reverse soil fertility decline and build healthier, more productive soils. This includes understanding the impacts of tillage, cover cropping, crop rotational diversity, nutrient management, and organic amendments on soil functional processes and crop development and productivity.

I have extensive experience in designing and analyzing field and glasshouse experiments and implementing advanced statistical models using R. I have excellent verbal and written communication skills, maintain positive relationships with collaborators both nationally and internationally, and publish manuscripts in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

I have a keen interest in the evolutionary relationships that underpin symbioses, particularly those involved in plant disease. There are countless examples of how diseases have impacted on different crops throughout history, and this is an ongoing issue that deleteriously impacts food security. My research involves developing a better understanding of the epidemiology of plant diseases and pests, and delivering improved diagnostics and field management. Working with collaborators and international experts, my work involves research on a broad range of plants that are affected by bacteria, fungi, oomycetes and viruses. I have a strong interest in the biotic factors that govern soil health and the methods by which we can promote the development of beneficial microbial communities.