The WAARC Web

WA Agricultural Research Collaboration

0.0 (0)
SCIENCE

Welcome to The WAARC Web, the official podcast channel of the WA Agricultural Research Collaboration. Enabling open, honest, inclusive and impactful collaboration - this is your gateway to the conversations shaping the future of the agrifood sector in Western Australia.

4D AGO

Cultivating the Future: Tarkjot Kaur

Guest: Tarkjot Kaur Host: Ben Camer-Pesci In this episode of Cultivating the Future, Ben Camer-Pesci speaks with Tarkjot Kaur, a PhD student at Murdoch University, about advancing grain yield potential in barley and oats through genetics and data-driven breeding. Growing up in a Punjabi agricultural family in India, Tarkjot developed an early connection to farming systems and crop production, experiences that continue to shape her research perspective today. Her current PhD focuses on translating knowledge of grain-yield genetics from major cereal crops such as rice, wheat and maize into barley and oats, helping unlock new opportunities to improve productivity in these important grains. The discussion explores how integrating genetic insights with machine-learning-based prediction models could enable breeders to more accurately identify high-yielding varieties and accelerate breeding progress. By combining traditional plant breeding approaches with advanced analytics, this work aims to support the development of more productive, resilient cereal crops for future farming systems. Stay up-to-date with WAARC: Website LinkedIn Facebook X

13 min
FEB 10

Cultivating the Future: Mohitul Hossain

Guest: Mohitul Hossain Host: Celia Spyridaki In this episode of Cultivating the Future, Celia Spyridaki speaks with Mohitul Hossain, a PhD student at the Centre for Crop and Disease Management (CCDM) at Curtin University, about the next generation of genome-enabled tools for crop disease surveillance. Mohitul shares his international academic journey, completing forestry studies across Bangladesh, Finland and Germany, before moving into plant pathology and ecophysiology research in Australia. His work now focuses on developing genome-based decision-support systems that help researchers, breeders and growers better anticipate disease risks and make more informed cultivar choices. The conversation explores how automated screening for pathogenicity effectors, combined with region-specific effector-based cultivar recommendations, could transform how crop diseases are monitored and managed. By integrating genomics, surveillance data and decision-support technologies, this research aims to deliver faster, more precise responses to emerging disease threats and strengthen the resilience of cropping systems. Stay up-to-date with WAARC: Website LinkedIn Facebook X

15 min
JAN 27

Cultivating the Future: Chris Reed

Guest: Chris Reed Host: Ali Zahid In this episode of Cultivating the Future, Ali Zahid sits down with Chris Reed, a first-year PhD candidate and WAARC Scholar based at Murdoch University’s Western Crop Genetics Alliance. Chris’s research tackles a persistent challenge for Western Australian barley growers: black point, a grain defect that reduces quality and causes significant economic losses for the malting, brewing and distilling industries. Through his PhD, Chris is working to better understand the causes of black point and support the development of new malting barley varieties with improved resistance. Supervised by Professor Chengdao Li and Dr Yong Jia, Chris discusses why black point remains such a difficult problem to solve, what success would mean for growers and industry, and how applied genetics research can deliver real-world outcomes for WA agriculture. Beyond the lab, Chris reflects on balancing PhD life with family responsibilities, sharing how he juggles study and research alongside raising two young daughters with his wife, a cardiothoracic anaesthetist at Fiona Stanley Hospital. He speaks candidly about the challenges, the support systems that make it possible, and his appreciation for the opportunity to contribute to an important research gap while building new skills. Stay up-to-date with WAARC: Website LinkedIn Facebook X

20 min
JAN 13

Cultivating the Future: Yunlong Huo

Guest: Yunlong Huo Host: Angelia Tanu In this episode of Cultivating the Future, Angelia Tanu sits down with Yunlong Huo, a PhD candidate at Murdoch University, to explore his journey from industry back into research. With two Master’s degrees in animal nutrition and a decade of experience in the cattle industry, Yunlong is now focused on strengthening the downstream side of beef production. His PhD project is developing a national protocol for using CT scanning to accurately measure beef lean meat yield, creating a gold standard to train and calibrate faster, lower-cost technologies used on abattoir production lines. The work has the potential to deliver benefits right across the supply chain, from genetic selection and on-farm decision-making through to processors and end consumers. Stay up-to-date with WAARC: Website LinkedIn Facebook X

15 min
12/17/2025

Cultivating the Future: Angelia Tanu

Guest: Angelia Tanu Host: Yunlong Huo In this episode of Cultivating the Future, Yunlong Huo chats with Angelia Tanu. Angelia is a CSIRO and The University of Western Australia (UWA) PhD student whose journey into agricultural science began far from the paddock, growing up in Indonesia and discovering a passion for research after moving to Western Australia. A former tennis athlete who represented UWA at UniNationals, Angelia completed both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at UWA and has worked across DPIRD, Murdoch University, CSIRO, InterGrain and UWA. Angelia’s current PhD tackles one of Australia’s most costly crop constraints - poor canola establishment - by investigating the genetics and physiology behind longer hypocotyls to enable more reliable deep sowing. Drawing on genomics, breeding, bioinformatics, and physiology, her work aims to improve canola resilience as climates become more variable and input pressures increase. Follow Angelia on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/angelia-tanuStay up-to-date with WAARC: Website LinkedIn Facebook X

12 min
12/02/2025

Cultivating the Future: Ali Zahid

Guest: Ali Zahid Host: Chris Reed In this episode of Cultivating the Future, Chris Reed chats with Ali Zahid. Originally from Pakistan, Ali is a PhD student at Murdoch University where he is looking into the training of generalist predators by investigating how dietary experience influences predatory behaviour of ladybird beetles. Stay up-to-date with WAARC: Website LinkedIn Facebook X

19 min
08/22/2025

Cultivating the Future: Saira Azmat

Guest: Saira Azmat Host: Montana Baddeley In this episode of Cultivating the Future, Montana Baddeley chats with Saira Azmat, who grew up in Pakistan and completed her early education and Masters there before moving to Western Australia for her PhD at The University of Western Australia. Saira’s research is focused entirely on agriculture, addressing some of Western Australia’s most pressing challenges, including saline soils and phosphorus-deficient landscapes that limit cereal crop production. She works specifically with barley, a key crop in the region, investigating how phosphorus affects root morphology and how plants adapt to salinity stress. Her work aims to inform better management practices and breeding strategies that are tailored to WA’s unique conditions. Stay up-to-date with WAARC: Website LinkedIn Facebook X

11 min
08/08/2025

Cultivating the Future: Ruby Wiese

Guest: Ruby Wiese Host: Hitashi Aggarwal In this episode of Cultivating the Future, Hitashi Aggarwal chats with Ruby Wiese, who grew up on a cropping and livestock farm near Narrogin, WA, and is now completing her PhD in agricultural science at The University of Western Australia. Ruby’s research is part of a project developing a new method for harvesting subterranean clover, a key pasture legume that buries its seeds just below the soil surface. With current vacuum harvesting methods facing challenges like inefficiency and soil disturbance, she’s exploring a swathing-based alternative. Her work focuses on finding the optimal timing for swathing to maximise seed recovery and minimise losses. It’s innovative research with the potential to reshape how this vital pasture seed is harvested. Swathing subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) does not suck: a promising alternative to vacuum seed harvestingBuilding New Technologies for Sustainable and Profitable Sub Clover Seed HarvestingConnect with Ruby on LinkedInStay up-to-date with WAARC: Website LinkedIn Facebook X

12 min

Welcome to The WAARC Web, the official podcast channel of the WA Agricultural Research Collaboration. Enabling open, honest, inclusive and impactful collaboration - this is your gateway to the conversations shaping the future of the agrifood sector in Western Australia.

Creator

WA Agricultural Research Collaboration
Years Active

2025 - 2026
Episodes

13
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© 2026 The WAARC Web
Show Website

The WAARC Web