I Studied a Bachelor of Natural Science (Earth Science) with Honours Class 1 at the Open University, Milton Keynes, UK. Recently I obtained a Graduate Certificate in Spatial Science Technology from UniSQ.
I have worked at Sugar Research Australia (SRA) for seven years. During my first three years at SRA, I worked in Tully as an agronomy technician. In this role I worked mostly on research projects that studied farming system and nutrient management practices. For the past four years I have been working within the plant breeding program at SRA Meringa. My experience spans from early-stage through to final-stage selection activities, variety promotion, and cross-pollination activities. Overall, this experience has provided me with a holistic understanding of the practical aspects of plant breeding research and the dynamics of the sugarcane farming system. Further, I have gained an intimate understanding of the Australian sugar industry having worked with both growers and millers through variety promotion.
My research aims to use genomic data from SRA’s breeding population to develop genomic prediction models that identify the best possible cross combinations of sugarcane parents. Traditionally progeny performance has been used to identify elite parents and cross combinations, however this process is slow and does not factor in non-additive genetic effects. This project will be the first use of progeny performance data to create a training data set for predicting parental performance that exploits both additive and non-additive genetic effects in sugarcane. This will allow SRA Sugarcane Breeders to refine their crossing strategies to make more efficient use of their limited resources, including space in their climate-controlled photoperiod facilities for really targeted crossing.
The ultimate goal is to support a profitable and sustainable sugarcane industry. My part will be to contribute to improvements in genetic gain through the optimisation of parent selection and cross combination strategies that will ultimately result in the development high performing sugarcane varieties for commercial release.
Studying at UQ and working remotely from SRA Meringa has me in a unique position where I have access to a wealth of knowledge and experience both from the University and the breeding team at SRA. I am looking forward to working with my team of supervisors and the other students at the ARC Training Centre in Predictive Breeding, whom I am confident will provide me with valuable support and guidance throughout my academic journey. I’m also quite motivated by being in the position of having first-hand understanding of the potential impact my work may have on the SRA Crossing Program, having been involved in the cross-pollination activities.
I’m very lucky to live in Cairns, where there are so many opportunities to get out into nature. I love going out to the reef, swimming in the creek or even a day at the beach. I wouldn’t say I have any unique hobbies, just usual cliché ones such as reading, cooking, and travelling to name a few. I do love trying different experiences. Though I must admit I tend to try something once, tick it off the bucket list and then move on to the next one.
