Blogs and opinion pieces

Neil Young once sang "Got mashed potatoes, ain't got no T-bone". It was one of the saddest songs I have ever heard, mostly because the song went for over nine minutes and those were the only lyrics.

Life in lockdown. Plenty of time for contemplation and to consider the things that matter to us most. I've been at university now for 40 years (I think that's two life sentences). Admittedly only seven of those years were as an actual officially recognised student, but even the last 33 years have been a wonderful learning experiences.

Dr Parkinson, who researches pest and disease threats to avocados and is not a medical mask expert, said she was advised by her GP to begin wearing masks for her own safety during the pandemic.

Farmers around the world have recently experienced significant crop losses due to severe heat and drought. Such extreme weather events and the need to feed a rapidly growing population have raised concerns for global food security. While plant breeding has been very successful and has delivered today’s highly productive crop varieties, the rate of genetic improvement must double to meet the projected future demands. Here we discuss basic principles and features of crop breeding and how modern technologies could efficiently be explored to boost crop improvement in the face of increasingly challenging production conditions.

Dr Smita Chaliha, is a Research Officer for the Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences at QAAFI. She is originally from the North-eastern state of Assam in India, and has been living in Australia since 2006. She has been working on Australian native foods since 2010. She was also the first PhD student studying the nutritional and bioactive potential of Kakadu plum (Terminalia ferdinandiana), a well know Australian native fruit. This blog documents her experience while on a fieldtrip to the Kimberley regions of Broome, Western Australia from 26 January to 2 February, 2020.

Opinion piece - The Gauge - Professor Ian Godwin is the Director of the Centre for Crop Science at QAAFI at the University of Queensland. He is the author of Good Enough to Eat? Next Generation GM Crops.

Opinion piece by Ian Godwin. Climate change has been on all our minds for most of the past two years as we deal with bushfires the size of several European countries, prolonged drought, more regular heatwaves, and lethal floods.

QAAFI PhD student Selina Fyfe shares her experience visiting the Gove community in East Arnhem land as part of her involvement with the ARC Training Centre for Uniquely Australian Foods.

Blog post by Shannon Landmark on being awarded the Zanda McDonald Award, Less than 24 hours later she was driving to the hospital to give birth to her son Fred.

This is a blog about Louisa Parkinson's experience as a Filipino-Australian woman in research - detailing how affirmative action in relation to workplace diversity and inclusion has been important in helping shape my career.