30 Centre members from The University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, Western Sydney University, and the University of Tasmania had the pleasure of visiting colleagues at the Hermitage Research Facility in Warwick this month. Chief Investigator David Jordan and Associate Investigator Emma Mace put together a thorough agenda including research presentations, field visits, and equipment demonstrations from the Hermitage team. When asked about the trip, attendees gave glowing responses:
“The best part of the trip for me was getting the chance to meet the amazing scientists at the research facility and seeing the fascinating work they are doing to improve crop performance. I also really enjoyed the chance to walk through the diversity panel and see the diversity of the plants there. And of course, I loved checking out their cool tech (drone, Gecko, and seed counter) which has given me some ideas on how we could easily quantify some hard-to-measure traits using new technology.” – Vinod Jacob
“I loved seeing sorghum’s amazing phenotypic diversity, chatting with Centre colleagues, and learning about the high-tech planting and phenotyping equipment Hermitage has to offer.” – Maddie James
“The best part was that I was able to see real sorghum tillering in a wild condition. I had learned about tillering and had analysed some relevant datasets, but it was difficult for me to illustrate it as I had not seen the actual one before. After the visit, it became clear to me.” – Shunichiro Tomura
“I loved hearing about how they automate a lot of their phenotypic data collection and how they have organised their databases to connect this phenotypic data with genotypic data.” – Melanie Wilkinson
“It was fascinating to see and walk through the ridiculously diverse Sorghum diversity panel and experience how beautiful their genetic diversity is. The loss of crop genetic diversity caused by contemporary farming practices is a common and enduring issue for future food security. Professor David Jordan and team have been doing an outstanding job maintaining this diverse population for facilitating research resources in genetics and breeding, crop physiology and management.” – Akila Wijerathna Yapa
“It was a good experience to get out in the country and see the field trials and the applicable side of the research. It was good to see the variety between different Sorgum species and get an in-the-field education.” – Astrid Welvaert
“The trip to Warwick was amazing as it was an opportunity to see the direct field application of techniques you hear so often about in literature for the study of landraces for domesticated cereal crops, to see the different coloured heads of grain swaying in the fervid breeze like terrestrial pearls atop long fibrous stalks which bore them was a magical experience. I was particularly impressed by the incorporation of AI mechanisms which have led to far greater efficiency than ever before.” – Wil Harris
“I thought the seed counter was great! But I found seeing the diversity panels of sorghum in the fields quite fascinating too. Oh and the barcode scanners, they were also great.” – Candice Bywater
“The last time I visited Hermitage with Centre colleagues, I was impressed by its idyllic scenery. Without the hustle and bustle of the city, it quickly let me be in tranquility of mind.” – Yang Liu
Thank you to the team at Hermitage for hosting and to UQ Node Administrator Claire Fuller for coordinating!
