Capacity & Expertise
The Waite employs more than 1700 of Australia’s best researchers and technical people in a wide range of plant and agriculture-related disciplines.
These disciplines include microbiology, genetics, phenomics, entomology, molecular biology, plant physiology, soil, water, climate and biosecurity specialists, precision agriculture and remote sensing, weed management and others.
Between them, they cover the full spectrum of fundamental to applied research in a wide range of crops and specialisations. If you can’t find the expert you are looking for, call the general enquiries number on our Contact page and we’ll put you in touch with the right group or person.
Capability directory
Agronomy & Farming Systems
- Crop Physiology: Glenn McDonald, The University of Adelaide
- Agronomy and Farming Systems: Kenton Porker, CSIRO
- Agronomy: Rhiannon Schilling, SARDI
- Agronomy: Gurjeet Gill, The University of Adelaide
- Agroforestry & Extension: Ian Nuberg, The University of Adelaide
- Legumes and Nitrogen: Matt Denton, The University of Adelaide
- Integrated Agricultural Systems Group: Rick Llewellyn, CSIRO
- Mixed Farming & Cropping Systems: Therese McBeath, CSIRO
Biochemistry
- Herbicide and Antimicrobial innovation: Tatiana Soares da Costa, The University of Adelaide
- Biofuels and Biomaterials: Jenny Mortimer, The University of Adelaide
Biometry
- Applied Statistics: Olena Kravchuk, The University of Adelaide
- Advanced Statistical modelling: Julian Taylor, The University of Adelaide
- Statistical modelling and programming for genetics of plant breeding: Beata Sznajder, The University of Adelaide
- Software and database development: Mario Fruzangohar, The University of Adelaide
Carbohydrates
- Cell Walls: Jenny Mortimer, The University of Adelaide
- Cell Walls: Rachel Burton, The University of Adelaide
Cereals
- Durum Wheat Breeding: Jason Able, The University of Adelaide
- Cereal agronomy: Rhiannon Schilling, SARDI
- Cell Walls: Rachel Burton, The University of Adelaide
- Genetics: Diane Mather, The University of Adelaide
- Genetics: Melissa Garcia, The University of Adelaide
- Salinity Tolerance: Stuart Roy, The University of Adelaide
- Pathology: Tara Garrard, Plant Health & Biosecurity, SARDI
- Eco-Physiology: Victor Sadras, Climate Applications, SARDI
- Wheat Grain Biochemistry, Genetics and Quality: Daryl Mares, The University of Adelaide
Environment and Sustainability
- Life Cycle Analysis: Kieran Hirlam, AWRI
- Environmental certification (Sustainable Winegrowing Australia ): Mardi Longbottom, AWRI
- Contaminant Biogeochemistry & Environmental Toxicology: Anu Kumar, CSIRO
- Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry: Jason Kirby, CSIRO
- Managed aquifier recharge, Joanne Vanderzalm, CSIRO
- Wastewater and stormwater recycling: Declan Page & Joanne Vanderzalm, CSIRO
- Environmental Tracers, Noble Gas Laboratory, Geochronology: Axel Suckow, CSIRO
- Environmental Tracers & Applications: Dirk Mallants, CSIRO
- Food Waste: Tristan Butt, End Food Waste CRC
- Ecological monitoring: Ben Sparrow, TERN, Adelaide University
- Ecological monitoring: Sally O’Neill, TERN, Adelaide University
- Ecological monitoring, Climate change adaption: Greg Guerin, TERN, Adelaide University
- Ecological monitoring, restoration Ecology: Nick Gellie: TERN, Adelaide University
- Fish ecology: Brenton Zampatti, CSIRO
Extension
- Winemaking problem-solving, wine education, winemaking and viticulture extension:
Food & Nutrition
- Nutrigenomics: Tina Bianco-Motto, Adelaide University
- Food Sciences: Maria Saarela, SARDI
- Food Microbiology: Valeria Torok, SARDI
- Food Waste: Tristan Butt, End Food Waste CRC
- Food & Nutrition: Lenka Malek, Adelaide University
- Food & Nutrition: Matthew Wilson, Adelaide University
- Food Product Development: James Cowley, Adelaide University
- Food Product Development: Bill Hirt, Adelaide University
Genomics
- Drought tolerance in cereals: Stuart Roy, Adelaide University
- Alien introgression, cereal cytogenetics and chromosome engineering: Ian Dundas, Adelaide University
- Next generation sequencing, Metagenomics: Anthony Borneman, AWRI
- Bioinformatics: Michael Roach, AWRI
- Cell biology: Harley Smith, CSIRO
Horticulture
- Almond Breeding: Cass Collins, Adelaide University
- Eucalypt Breeding: Kate Delaporte, Adelaide University
- Native Foods: Carolyn Schultz, Adelaide University
- Agricultural resource management: Ian Nuberg, Adelaide University
- Wine Grape & Horticulture, Rob Walker, CSIRO
- Grapevine Breeding & Irregular Bearing, Harley Smith, CSIRO
- Almond pathology: Brittany Oswald, SARDI
- Horticulture Pathology: Mark Sosnowski, SARDI
- Diagnostics and biosecurity: Cathryn Todd, SARDI
- Horticultural systems: Tim Pitt, SARDI
Hydrology
- Regional Scale Groundwater Analysis: Russell Crosbie, CSIRO
- Environmental Tracers, Noble Gas Laboratory, Geochronology: Axel Suckow, CSIRO
Insects
- Bees: Katja Hogendoorn, Adelaide University
- Insect behaviour and ecology, modelling, insects as food: Camille Buhl, Adelaide University
- Insect behaviour and ecology: Mike Keller, Adelaide University
- Grains, malacology, data science: Kym Perry, Adelaide University
- Horticulture and pest management: David Logan, Adelaide University
- Slug behaviour and management: Tom Heddle, Adelaide University
- Entomology: Peter Crisp, SARDI
Metabolomics
- Natoiya Lloyd and Markus Herderich: The Australian Wine Research Institute
- Bioinformatics: Luca Nicolotti, The Australian Wine Research Institute
Molecular Genetics
- Molecular genetics for plant breeding – Diane Mather, the University of Adelaide
- Molecular genetics for cereal breeding – Kenneth Chalmers, the University of Adelaide
- Crop Improvement: Janine Croser, SARDI
- Wine Grape & Horticulture, Rob Walker, CSIRO
- Harley Smith, CSIRO
Natural Resource Management
- Managed aquifier recharge, Joanne Vanderzalm, CSIRO
- Wastewater and stormwater recycling: Declan Page & Joanne Vanderzalm, CSIRO
- Environmental Tracers & Applications: Dirk Mallants, CSIRO
- Environmental Tracers & Applications, Groundwater: Sebastien Lamontagnè, CSIRO
- Ecological monitoring: Ben Sparrow, TERN, The University of Adelaide
- Ecological monitoring: Sally O’Neill, TERN, The University of Adelaide
- Ecological monitoring, Climate change adaption: Greg Guerin, TERN, The University of Adelaide
- Ecological monitoring, restoration Ecology: Nick Gellie: TERN, The Univeristy of Adelaide
- Ecological and socio-economic systems modelling: Martin Nolan and Darran King, CSIRO
Nematology
- Nematode management: Katherine Linsell, SARDI
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Pastures
- Crop Improvement: Alan Humphries, SARDI
Plant Cell Physiology
- Matt Gilliham, The University of Adelaide
- Ion and water transport: Steve Tyerman, The University of Adelaide
- Plant hormones: Philip Brewer, The University of Adelaide
- Plant ecophysiology and remote sensing: Tanya Doody and Steve Gao, CSIRO
Plant Pathology
- Cereal Diseases: Tara Garrard, SARDI
- Pulse and Oil Seed Diseases: Jenny Davidson, Plant Health & Biosecurity, SARDI
- Soil Diagnostics: Alan McKay, SARDI
- Viruses: Nuredin Habili, AWRI
Plant Phenomics
- Bettina Berger, Australian Plant Phenomics Facility
Plant Protection
- Weeds and Microbes: Tatiana Soares da Costa, The University of Adelaide
- Entomology: Camille Buhl, The University of Adelaide
- Integrated Pest Management: Kym Perry, SARDI
- Quarantine: Pauline Glocke, Plant Health & Biosecurity, SARDI
- Soil-borne diseases: Alan McKay, Soil Biology & Diagnostics, SARDI
- Snails: Helen Brodie, SARDI
Plant Reproductive Biology
- Matt Tucker, The University of Adelaide
- Dabing Zhang, The University of Adelaide/Shanghai Jiao Tong University
- Scott Boden, The University of Adelaide
Precision Agriculture
- Rob Bramley, CSIRO
Pulses
- Improvement: Tim Sutton, Crop Improvement, SARDI
- Pathology: Jenny Davidson, Plant Health & Biosecurity, SARDI
- Faba Bean Breeding, Melissa Garcia, The University of Adelaide
- Agronomy: Penny Roberts, SARDI
Soil Science
- Soil biogeochemistry: Luke Mosley, Adelaide University
- Organic matter characterisation: Han Weng, Adelaide University
- Nutrient cycling: Bahareh Bicharanloo, Adelaide University
- Contamination, fertilisers: Mike McLaughlin, Adelaide University
- Mixed Farming & Cropping Systems: Therese McBeath, CSIRO
- Nutrient Cycling: Mark Farrell, CSIRO
- Biological Processes: Lynne MacDonald, CSIRO
- Soil ecology & biological function: Paul Harvey, Gupta Vadakattu, CSIRO
- Agronomy, Soil constraints: Rhiannon Schilling, SARDI
Water
- Irrigation and water use efficiency: Paul Petrie, SARDI
- Wastewater management: Jim Kelly, Arris
- Managed aquifier recharge: Joanne Vanderzalm, CSIRO
- Wastewater and stormwater recycling: Declan Page & Joanne Vanderzalm, CSIRO
- Groundwater dependent ecosystems: Jodie Pritchard and Tanya Doody CSIRO
Weed Science
- Tatiana Soares da Costa, The University of Adelaide
- Chris Preston, The University of Adelaide
- Rhiannon Schilling, SARDI
- Gurjeet Gill, The University of Adelaide
- Peter Boutsalis, The University of Adelaide
- Jenna Malone, The University of Adelaide
- Mahima Krishnan, The University of Adelaide
Wine Chemistry
- Aroma, flavour and phenolic compounds, tannins: David Jeffery, The University of Adelaide
- Grape berry metabolism of acids: Chris Ford, The University of Adelaide
- Oak-derived flavours, ‘green’ characters, smoke taint chemistry: Kerry Wilkinson, The University of Adelaide
- Flavour and aroma Chemistry: Leigh Francis, Markus Herderich, The Australian Wine Research Institute
- Analytical chemistry, natural products chemistry, oenology: Markus Herderich, The Australian Wine Research Institute
- Polyphenols, proteins, polysaccharides: Keren Bindon, The Australian Wine Research Institute
- Colloids, surfaces, materials, particle mesurements: Agnieszka Mierczynska-Vasilev, The Australian Wine Research Institute
- Metals, Authenticity: Eric Wilkes, The Australian Wine Research Institute
- Authenticity: Martin Day, The Australian Wine Research Institute
- Flavour & Aroma, Paul Boss, CSIRO
Wine Microbiology and Fermentation
- Winery wastewater: Paul Grbin, The University of Adelaide
- Microbial genetics, next-genome sequencing: Anthony Borneman, The Australian Wine Research Institute
- Yeast nutrition: Simon Schmidt, The Australian Wine Research Institute
- Wine Microorganism Culture collection: Simon Dillon, The Australian Wine Research Institute
Wine Sensory
- Quantitative descriptive analysis, wine quality assessments, multivariate data analysis, consumer testing: Leigh Francis, The Australian Wine Research Institute
- Sue Bastian, The University of Adelaide
- Kerry Wilkinson, The University of Adelaide
- David Jeffery, The University of Adelaide
Wine Supply Chain
- Winery engineering: Richard Muhlack, The University of Adelaide
- Winemaking technologies, winery refrigeration, wine transport, lees management, tank design: Simon Nordestgaard, The Australian Wine Research Institute
- Sensors, packaging solutions: Neil Scrimgeour, The Australian Wine Research Institute
Viticulture
- Grapevine physiology, adaptation to climate warming: Steve Tyerman, The University of Adelaide
- Grapevine ecophysiology, advanced sensing technologies: Vinay Pagay, The University of Adelaide
- Fruit quality, vine balance: Cassandra Collins, School of Agriculture, Food & Wine, The University of Adelaide
- Grapevine Physiology: Everard Edwards, CSIRO
- Wine Grape & Horticulture: Rob Walker, CSIRO
- Precision Agriculture: Rob Bramley, CSIRO
- Flavour & Aroma: Paul Boss, CSIRO
- Breeding & Meristem Function: Harley Smith, CSIRO
- Greenhouse gas emissions from viticulture, viticulture extension: Mardi Longbottom, AWRI
- Agrochemicals, viticulture extension: Marcel Essling, AWRI
- Quality markers: Keren Bindon, AWRI
- Climate research: Peter Hayman, Climate Applications, SARDI
- Grapevine Trunk disease: Mark Sosnowski, SARDI
- Vine Resilience: Paul Petrie, SARDI