Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation

Future protein foods: plant versus animal sources, nutrient release rates, and gateway products.

#UQ's Professor Mike Gidley shares his views. Read the article in Frontiers in Science.

https://bit.ly/4odUNDs

UQ Giving Day is nearly here! Join us in celebrating across two events on the 15 Oct:

🌱 Level 7, Queensland Bioscience Precinct (St Lucia) - Join us for a special morning tea. bit.ly/4nHOnwo

🚜 Gatton AgTech Showcase – Visit our QAAFI stall. bit.ly/4q1tEVP

🍽️ Webinar happening today: Waste to Taste
Join Dr Jiahua Shi from QAAFI’s Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences as she showcases innovative ways to transform surplus produce and industry by-products into premium food ingredients.

📍uqz.zoom.us/j/85219171771
🕒 12:00pm AEST

A Pacific perspective on food security. Insights from TropAg 2025 plenary speaker Dr Seeseei Molimau-Samasoni, Head of International Development for the Plant & Food Research Group at the Bioeconomy Science Institute of New Zealand.

https://bit.ly/42o4eaU

A breakthrough in cattle genetics 🐮
Prof Ben Hayes is leading research to give northern beef producers a new tool to breed cattle with lower methane emissions — without losing productivity. 📖 Read more: https://ow.ly/p3b650X5osj

Seminar next week: Waste to Taste🍽️
How can surplus produce and food by-products become premium ingredients?

📅 7 October | 📍bit.ly/4nPsXgh

Close up view of bottle brush (Callistemon) flower which is native to Australia By popovj2 on Adobe images

Could the best housemate you’ve ever had be a houseplant? Dr Alice Hayward gives some suggestions to #UQ's Contact.

https://bit.ly/3Il0tfB

Cattle standing in a field with sunset behind them in colours of blue and pink

Calf Alive delivers flexibility for northern cattle producers. Find out more about this project on reproductive efficiency and attend the conference in Longreach in November.

https://bit.ly/3VxoaUT

Co-designing biology and technology to unlock automated plant breeding. Some thinking about ways to reshape the future in crop breeding from Dr Yasmine Lam and Professor Lee Hickey.

bit.ly/48x1mfq

Reimagining agriculture by unlocking genetic potential is the key to addressing the problems in agriculture caused by climate change, says TropAg speaker and University of Florida Prof Charlie Messina.

FInd out more about his plans for change:

bit.ly/423f0Di

🌍 Don’t miss it — today’s seminar with Prof Catherine Propper dives into how pollution impacts everything from cells to ecosystems.

🕑 12:00pm AEST | 📍http://uqz.zoom.us/j/81069386984

The climate-resilient crop breadfruit is the focus of a collaboration between The University of Queensland and the University of the South Pacific looking into its health benefits. It could be the start of a bigger collaboration.

bit.ly/4grA1gN

Macadamia nuts still within green-coloured husk handing from a branch in a field of macadamia trees. Image: Megan Pope, UQ.

A new project from Hort Innovation led by QAAFI's Dr Mobashwer Alam will create trees that can withstand climate change, produce bigger and better-quality nuts earlier, and reduce the production cost burden for Australian growers.

bit.ly/46DSfZ6

Congrats to Prof Lee Hickey for winning the UQ Award for Excellence in Promoting Industry Engagement in Graduate Research. bit.ly/4nsXUa7

His ARC Training Centre in Predictive Breeding bridges academia & industry and helps PhD grads to land top roles. 👏

A spread of food including fish, fruit, grains, vegetables, eggs all bunched up together in a colourful array

Building confidence in food from farm to fork.
@Cargill's Global Vice President of Food Safety, Quality and Regulatory Affairs Sean Leighton is a plenary speaker at
TropAg 2025 in November.
Find out more about what he sees as a chance to lead:

bit.ly/4phWvF1

Two men standing in a field of pigeon pea, waste deep in the crop, which has yellow flowers

As we kick off Research and Innovation Week at #UQ, have you thought about pigeonpea as an alternative legume? Here's a story about 5 Australian varieties developed in association with Woods Group. Listen to ABC's Qld Country Hour. Listen from 47:44.

ab.co/4g9lCWe

@tropag.bsky.social

🍌 Did you know a single disease wiped out the world’s main banana variety in the 1950s? 4ZZZ’s Eliot Rifkin spoke with Prof Andrew Geering from QAAFI about how protecting bananas from threats could save Australia over $52 million.🎙️ Listen here: bit.ly/47Z3e0g

🌱 QAAFI Science Seminar: Curation of Multi-Source Genotypic and Phenotypic Data for Global Genomic Prediction in Tree Crops with QAAFI's Dr Shashi Goonetilleke.

📅 9 September, 12:00pm AEST
🔗 uqz.zoom.us/j/87149886323

QAAFI's Professor Ala Tabor has been named a finalist for the 2025 GENE – QIMR Woman of Influence Award! This recognition highlights her significant impact and leadership within Queensland’s life sciences sector.

Prof Christine Beveridge has been announced as the winner of the Women in Technology Award for Excellence in Research!

The annual WiT awards showcase and recognise the impact of women in STEM and the important contributions they make🌱🧪
More: wit.org.au/awards/2025-...

@qaafi.bsky.social

Field of Mitchell grass with blue sky behind

The surprising role of grass in shaping who we are. Listen to proud Gamilaraay man, #UQ PhD candidate and Churchill Fellow Jacob Birch on Soul Search on ABC Radio National, outlining his work.

ab.co/4fSxmfF

Science, skills and collaboration are essential to transforming Africa’s livestock systems for the future, according to scientist, advisor, and farmer Professor Lindiwe Majele Sibanda. She'll outline her case at TropAg 2025 Nov 11-13.

bit.ly/45xTvMZ
@tropag.bsky.social

Celebrating the life’s work of Professor Graeme Hammer Pioneer and visionary are some of the words colleagues choose to describe crop scientist and climate modeller, Professor Graeme Hammer from The University of Queensland.

As Prof Graeme Hammer heads into retirement, colleagues are paying tribute. His work will be celebrated next week.
📅 Thursday 28 August | 12:00–6:30pm
🔗 Tickets are sold out, but there is a waiting list: bit.ly/3GRCeok
Read some of the tributes below:
bit.ly/41gOYMk

YouTube video by ABC News (Australia) Cryopreservation helping to save critically endangered Queensland tree | ABC NEWS

Researchers are using cryopreservation to save critically endangered Gossia gonoclada or angle-stemmed myrtle in south east Qld. ABC News highlights #UQResearch with Jingyin Bao and Dr Alice Hayward in cooperation with the City of Logan.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkJn...
ABC Online: bit.ly/3Jso4Lg

QAAFI is hosting a special symposium in honour of Professor Graeme Hammer’s retirement, celebrating his remarkable contributions to crop science and modelling.

📅 Thursday 28 August | 12:00–6:30pm
🔗 Tickets are sold out, but there is a waiting list: bit.ly/3GRCeok

Vaccinations defend the nation’s vegetables A groundbreaking new research project is putting science at the heart of defending our nations produce, by developing “plant vaccines” to protect Australia’s vegetables from viral diseases.

Vaccinations defend the nation's vegetables. Research led by UQ's Dr Mark Jackson and funded by Hort Innovation, and the Department of Primary Industries, will explore how peptides can be used to prime plants to defend themselves against viruses.

bit.ly/41cDOYX
Image: Adobe

It's Chicken Feed: Growing more robust chickens ABC Rural News provides authoritative coverage of the business and politics of Australian farming, livestock, forestry, agriculture and primary production

Making chickens more robust and improving the sustainability of the chicken meat industry. #UQResearch featured on ABC's Landline program with Prof Eugeni Roura and Dr Ellie Assadi Soumeh.

ab.co/45yurVV
@agrifuturesau.bsky.social

QAAFI's Shelley Gage is bringing her work on macadamia to Brisbane Soapbox Science 2025
on 9 Aug from 10-1 at Queen's Plaza Wintergarden, near Edward St . She's one of 12 female scientists presenting as part of Science Week. Get along and support her!
bit.ly/4lY74Lr

Dodging banana diseases is value for money A report commissioned by the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation found that a banana research program has the potential to save the industry more than $52.2 million.

Value for money on banana diseases. A report commissioned by QAAFI shows UQ's banana research program saved the industry more than $50 million. More information on the research program and its success is available via the link:
bit.ly/3IZKaVl
Image:Adobe

From waste to energy - asssessing weeds suitability as a source of biofuel. This research found several species that can be converted into market grade pellets, creating a sustainable energy source that solves multiple problems.

bit.ly/3GSTEBe