Visiting Scientist Seminar – Professor Paul Gauthier

Abstract

Building a sustainable and reliable food production system represents one of the biggest challenges of the 21^stcentury. While global population is increasing and expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, climate change and world’s turmoil have threatened the resilience of our global food supply chain and solutions need to be found. Failing to address these issues may lead to dramatic consequences both globally and locally. To tackle these challenges, farming needs to adapt to be more resilient to climate driven extreme events such as drought, floods, fires or pests. Protected Cropping offers solutions to produce more nutritious crops independently of weather or climate, sustainably all year round for decades to come. Current advancements in protected cropping technologies and research will be presented as well as its potential application for tropical and subtropical crops.

About the speaker

Professor Paul Gauthier is one of the world leading experts in vertical farming with many years of experience both in academia and industry managing research teams. After working at Princeton University and Bowery Farming as Director of R&D, he has recently joined the University of Queensland and Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovations to shape the future of farming in the APAC region. His research focusses on developing advanced economical solutions to grow a wide range of tropical and sub-tropical crops.