Australia

Hear from invited speakers and Centre members on their research and discuss opportunities for collaboration. Topics will include genomic prediction for varied environments, phylogenetic comparative analysis, advanced water status measurements for field and lab, and how the Nagoya protocol affects plant research in Australia.

This free event will be held in person at The University of Queensland St Lucia, and online via Zoom. 

Speakers include:

Dr Greg Rebetzke, CSIRO

Greg is a Chief Research Scientist at CSIRO Agriculture and Food, where he contributes to the understanding of genetic and physiological factors affecting water productivity and adapting to changing climates in rainfed winter cereals. His goal is then to deliver elite trait-containing germplasm, and improved phenotyping and genetic methods for trait enrichment in commercial breeding programs.

Professor Jacqueline Batley, University of Western Australia

Jacqui has expertise in the fields of plant molecular biology, genetics and genomics, gained from working in both industry and academia. Her research applies breakthrough biotechnological advances for canola crop improvement, through identification of genomic regions controlling traits, which are being translated to commercial outcomes. Her work had led to new canola cultivars, with enhanced productivity, profit, and yield stability through identification of genes linked to shatter tolerance, blackleg disease resistance and oil quality. She is currently focussing on blackleg resistance in the Brassicaceae and investigating evolution of resistance genes across the plant kingdom. 

Professor Charlie Messina, University of Florida

Carlos (Charlie) Messina is a professor of predictive breeding in the Department of Horticultural Sciences. Charlie works with breeders to improve the nutritional value of Florida produce and to reimagine agriculture as a solution to climate change. He also specializes in developing AI for plant breeding, which he believes will enable society to harmonize crop improvement efforts for regenerative agricultural systems that improve human health, nutrient security and adaptation to climate change.

Professor Christine Beveridge, The University of Queensland

The focus of Christine’s research has been the role of plant hormones in regulating and coordinating plant development, particularly shoot architecture. She discovered the plant hormone strigolactone and that sugar signalling is a driver of shoot branching. More recently her focus has shifted to identifying how different genetic and physiological networks work together to control plant productivity. Christine is the Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture.

Botanic Gardens Day is an annual day of celebration to highlight the role of plants in our lives and the important work botanic gardens and arboreta undertake every day to conserve them for future generations.

THIS YEAR’S THEME IS ‘MORE THAN A GARDEN…PROTECTING OUR PLANTS AND LANDSCAPES’

The theme reflects the fact that botanic gardens and arboreta are not only nice places to visit — they also conduct ecological research, safeguard plant diversity through living collections and seed banks and educate and empower communities in environmental sustainability.

Botanic gardens are known as vital green spaces of social, cultural and heritage value within communities, but are also increasingly being recognised as the frontline in tackling the biggest challenges facing our future — biodiversity loss, adaptation to a changing climate, food security and pest and disease management.

Events are planned at many botanic gardens in Australia and New Zealand. See https://www.bganz.org.au/botanic-gardens-day-2024/

WEBINARS HOSTED BY COSTA GEORGIADIS

In the lead up to Botanic Gardens Day on 26 May, Botanic Gardens Australia and New Zealnd will hold four online webinars every Thursday evening in May at 7pm–8pm AEST, hosted by Costa Georgiadis, highlighting members and other experts, and their amazing knowledge.

To watch the webinars live, head to Costa’s Facebook, LinkedIn or YouTube pages at 7pm AEST (9pm NZST) on the dates below! They will also be recorded so don’t worry if you can’t make it on the night.

2 May: Science Saving Species, with Maurizio Rossetto (Botanic Gardens of Sydney), Emma Simpkins (Auckland Council) and Russell Larke (Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria).

9 May: Connecting to Country, with Renate Johnny (Alice Springs Desert Park), and Jade Smith, Blake Poletti and Amanda Shade (Kings Park & Botanic Garden).

16 May: Conservation Beyond the Garden Gate, with Emma Cutting (the Melbourne Pollination Corridor project) and  Alex Wall (the VegeMap project).

23 May: The Role of Friends Groups in Botanic Gardens, with Tracey Whitby (President, Friends of Lismore Rainforest Botanic Gardens), John Bentley (President, Friends of Melton Botanic Gardens) and Viv Canham (President, Friends of Auckland Botanic Gardens).

Visit https://www.bganz.org.au/botanic-gardens-day-2024/ for more details.

Join us for a fascinating presentation from Dr Alex Wu, a crop modeller from The University of Queensland.

An increasing global food demand begs new strategy for crop yield improvement. Leaf CO₂ assimilation is an important driver of crop growth and yield. However, the translation of leaf photosynthetic manipulation to crop yield performance is less straightforward. Yield is a complex emergent property driven by instantaneous leaf CO₂ assimilation, summed over the whole canopy of the crop and across the entire crop life cycle, all interacting with environmental effects on growth and development of the crop. Here, I will present a ‘cross-scale’ crop modelling effort used to develop integrative leaf-to-field modelling tools, offering new predictive capabilities to aid photosynthesis and yield improvement. This: (i) enables in silico field testing of putative strategies for leaf photosynthetic manipulation in target population of environments; (ii) offers a platform for the dissection of crop growth components and identification of key photosynthetic properties for growth enhancement. The two-pronged, but complementary pathways are generating new information on the value proposition of photosynthetic manipulation and informing fundamental and applied research directions, helping to discover and support new strategies for crop yield improvement. Potential synergies with other crop research technologies are discussed.

2024 Urban Eucalypts Photography Competition

We encourage anybody with a love of eucalypts to enter and share their favourite urban eucalypt photos.  It may be a tree in your garden, in a streetscape, in a park, in Botanical gardens or in any other urban setting.

All levels of ability are welcome and there is no need for expensive equipment.

Theme: 

Urban Eucalypts

Prizes:

3 Prize packs will be awarded with some fun eucalypt-inspired goodies.

To enter:

Post your best urban eucalypt shots on Instagram with the competition hashtag  #UrbanEucs2024.

Eligibility:

• You must be following @rememberthewild and @EucalyptAus
•  Competition commences 10/04/2024 and final entries close 10/05/2024. Photos must be uploaded to Instagram between these dates.
• Photos must be the original artwork of the entrant
• Photos must be able to be identified with a place and time taken.
• Eucalypts for these purposes include the genera eucalyptus, corymbia and angophora.
• Shortlisted entrants (notified by DM before 17/05/2024) must provide a high-quality copy for our websites and agree to Eucalypt Australia using the photos across our social media platforms and websites.  Photos will all receive attribution.
• We will notify winners by DM and announce in our stories on Fascination of Plants Day Day 18 May 2024.
• This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered or associated with Instagram

Image shown from James Harris the 2021 winner with a stunning photo of Snow Gums (E. pauciflora subsp. acerina)