the 2006 -2007 year saw a strong expansion of the PhD program with 16 new students starting with the Cotton CRC, 14 continuing studies and eight completing their theses. The Cotton CRC now has 38 postgraduate students enrolled, working in areas across all of the four research programs. Almost all of them have joint supervisors from non-university research organisations in the Cotton CRC and many are jointly supervised by industry personnel. Among the PhD students who graduated were:
• Michael Rose from The University of Sydney, who studied the use of artificial wetlands for pesticide bioremediation
• Leonie Whiffen from The University of Sydney, who studied sequestration of carbon below ground in cotton fields by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and cotton roots
• Ingrid Rencken from The University of New England who studied the role of native vegetation in harbouring beneficial insects and reducing insect pest damage in cotton
• Kylie Dodd from The University of New England, who studied cotton production on sodic soils
• Andrew Davies from The University of Queensland who studied the role of parasites in integrated pest management in cotton in northern Australia.
The Cotton CRC works hard to make students feel part of a Cotton CRC research community. This is achieved by ensuring that they have adequate opportunities to present their work at scientific forums, by facilitating training in communication and leadership, including IP management, and by conducting meetings and teleconferences across all Cotton CRC programs to ensure that student needs are met. The Cotton CRC provides students with cheap accommodation while they are in Narrabri.
Nicola Cottee continues her PhD studies with CSIRO, The University of Sydney and the Cotton CRC. Nicola’s project explores new methodologies for screening cotton cultivars for high temperature tolerance and is funded by CRDC
Sam Buchanan, a young University of NSW scientist working on a Cotton Catchment Communities CRC water project, was named the 2006 Water Forum CRCs “Young Water Scientist of the Year”. A national competition open to all Cooperative Research Centres students undertaking research into a water-related topic. Sam was presented the $2500 award at the ninth International River Symposium held in Brisbane.
His research has developed new technology that accurately predicts groundwater depth at a very high resolution (every 100m) using ancillary data sources (e.g. satellite data and geophysical data). The research took place in a 300 sq km area of the Bourke Irrigation District in Western NSW, a region which has highly saline sub-soils, hence a crucial need for management of groundwater depth.
“The high-resolution groundwater maps will help farmers to provide enough water to sustain their crop while minimising the chances of bringing salts into the root zone” Sam Buchanan
