NUE Team
Heads of Laboratory and Research
Prof. Susanne Schmidt
Susanne’s passion for plant nutrition has resulted in a diverse research portfolio at the intersect of agriculture and ecology. Her research focusses on tropical plants, soils and microbes – from fundamental to applied.
As an educator, she coordinates and teaches undergraduate courses in plant science and ecology. Students graduating from her team work in industry, academia and government.
Dr. Nicole Robinson
Nicole’s research interests span natural and agricultural systems dissecting how plants, microbes and soils interact with the aim for improved nutrient use efficiency to maximise production and reduce off-site environmental impacts.
A major research focus has been characterising nitrogen use efficiency in sugarcane across broad germplasm and the impact of nitrogen source availability and plant nitrogen use.
Current projects with sugar and cotton industry focus on soil health and nutrient cycling and the impact of crop management and resultant effects on productivity and stability of yield.
Ph.D. Students
Lemuel Precados
Ph.D. Student
Lemuel’s project involves measuring relative technical efficiency and total factor productivity in rice cultivation in the Philippines using data envelopment analysis. Lemuel aims is to work out cost-saving potentials for an efficient utilization of critical input resources for smallholders in the Philippines and its associated implications for reducing environmental pollution.
Taleta Bailey
Ph.D. Student
Taleta’s research centres around improving management of nitrogen in agricultural systems. I have a growing interest in the role of soil carbon for linking plant and microbial processes, sustaining productivity and mitigating environmental impacts. My PhD focuses on the interactions between carbon and nitrogen cycling in soils and using a better understanding of nitrogen transformations between organic and inorganic forms to improve fertiliser use.
Anoma Ranagalage
Ph.D. Student
Anoma’s research focuses on evaluating genotypic variation for biomass accumulation, N accumulation and (Nitrogen Use Efficiency)NUE over the sugarcane crop cycle in response to N supply. Moreover, underpinning physiological and agronomic traits associate with NUE and the dynamics of the traits in sugarcane crop classes also focused as other key aspects.
Michael Walsh
Ph.D. Student
Michael’s research centres around improving the sustainability and sovereignty of Australia’s agricultural industry through the understanding and use of recycling waste into fertilisers. Michael’s Ph.D. involves analysing novel recycled-based fertilisers and how they can be improved as a fertiliser.
Mary Addae
Ph.D. Student
Mary’s research focuses on the cost-benefit analysis and environmental impact assessment of composting food and organic waste to turn Australia’s food waste problem into gains. The study aims to analyse the economic feasibility and assess the potential environmental impact to optimise the benefits of converting Australia’s food and organic waste into compost, specifically ‘smart compost formulations’ that are optimised for specific crops and biophysical conditions.
Recent Alumni
Dr. Bianca Das
Graduated 2023
Bianca is a soil scientist specialising in nutrient management and nutrition security worldwide. Her Ph.D. is focused on using agricultural systems models such as APSIM to increase phosphorus efficiency in tropical and subtropical cropping systems.
Dr. Vithya Krishnan
Graduated 2022
Vithya’s research focuses on improving tropical forest restoration by enhancing tree seedling resilience using organic sources of nutrients
Dr. Aiden Chin
Graduated 2022
Using novel technologies such as microdialysis, Aiden’s research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of soil nutrients
Dr. Shleby Berg
Graduated 2021
Shelby’s thesis focused on environmental microbiology more broadly, studying both bacterial and fungal communities, of agricultural ecosystems.
Rhys Pirie
Graduation pending
Rhys’ research focused on turning ‘waste’ glass into sodium silicate, a valuable industrial feedstock used in the manufacture of thousands of consumer goods. Further research has explored new uses for the end-products; assuming a step-change decrease in production costs. Research areas include: supply chain analysis, chemical engineering, soil science and plant nutrition.