ACBC Vic is proud to partner with CSIRO to bring you an insightful series on the flourishing Australia-China scientific relationship

Drought has direct, substantial impact on the Australian economy. Drought reduces livestock numbers, destroys crops, and results in soil erosion with flow-on effects to regional employment, local processing, food prices and export earnings.

It is a major hazard for Australia and is becoming a growing challenge as demand for water rises and the climate changes. It is estimated that between 2006 and 2009, the drought reduced national GDP by roughly 0.75% and was accompanied by a temporary loss of 6,000 jobs.

Likewise, China has been frequently and heavily affected by drought disasters along with soil, air and water pollution. Severe droughts have struck both nations, causing considerable social, economic, and ecological losses.

Join this online seminar to hear CSIRO scientists and industry leaders discuss topics such as water management, developments in drought resistant crops and soil quality along with strategies and technologies being used to mitigate the adverse effects of drought.

Our Guests will gain exclusive access to sector experts in both research and industry and have the opportunity to ask our speakers questions during Q & A.

Join this online seminar to:

• Learn about key CSIRO technologies and capabilities to improve drought resilience.
• Gain a better understanding of smart agriculture.
• Take away a comprehensive review on social, urban and farm drought resilience.
• Hear from key players in Australia’s water management sector and learn what they are doing to succeed.
• Gain insight into the investment opportunities and collaboration efforts in this industry.

Our Speakers:

Dr Jean-Philippe Ral

Principal Research Scientist and Team Leader – Crop New Market Quality group, CSIRO Agriculture and Food

Dr Ral is a Principal Research Scientist and Team Leader in the Cereal Quality group at CSIRO Agriculture and Food. He received a PhD from the University of Science and Technologies of Lille in France.

Dr Ral joined the CSIRO Plant industry in 2005 as Post-doctoral fellow to work on starch phosphorylation in Wheat. During the past 6 years, his research interests have expanded to investigate broader aspects of cereal starch degradation during grain development and germination and how crops deal with energy partitioning between starch, non-starch polysaccharide and oil.

Bruce Rodgerson

CEO, Rubicon Water

Bruce is a founding director and current CEO of Rubicon. Previously, as Operations Manager Bruce was responsible for the establishment of Rubicon’s manufacturing and project delivery business units. He also had a significant role as part of Rubicon’s marketing and business development team and managed Rubicon’s research and development programs.

In 2010 Bruce took over from founding Chief Executive David Aughton to lead the company through its next stage of growth. Prior to the establishment of Rubicon in 1995, Bruce spent six years with the Victorian Rural Water Corporation. Bruce has a degree in Civil Engineering from RMIT.

Dr Fouad Abo

Senior Technical Director – Environment, GHD

Dr Abo is an International Environmental professional with more than 30 years of local, national, and international expertise. He has had multiple roles both in projects and leading global teams to technical excellence, growth, and success.

International experience includes capacity building, environmental, health & safety management systems, hydropower & other green energy, remediation & management of contaminated sites/water, lecturing & supervision PhD students, training, mine rehabilitation, environmental audits and expert witness.

Moderator – Dr Anne Rae

Group Leader – Resilient Crops, Agriculture and food, CSIRO

Anne completed a PhD in the Plant Cell Biology Research Centre at the University of Melbourne and then moved to the UK, where she spent five years as a postdoctoral researcher at the John Innes Centre, investigating Rhizobium-legume interactions.

Since moving into sugarcane research with CSIRO over 15 years ago, Anne has lead a series of collaborative projects aimed at increasing sucrose content, developing alternative products from sugarcane, and defining traits for improved productivity. Anne currently leads CSIRO’s Resilient Crops Group, whose work enables sustainable and profitable agriculture by delivering innovative crop breeding and management technologies.

See below for full speaker bios

Event Details:

Date: Wednesday 18 November 2020

Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm AEDT

Format: Zoom Webinar, Presentation + Q&A

Cost: Free for ACBC Members ($25 value) and $35 General Admission (+GST +Booking Fee)

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