August and September feature an exciting lineup of speakers. Save the dates and join us for these upcoming seminars.

06.08 – Professor Zhong-Hua Chen, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Adelaide University

• Title: Genome Evolution and Functional Analysis of Abiotic Stress Response in Ferns

Zhong-Hua Chen is Professor in Plant Physiology at School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Waite Research Institute, Adelaide University. He is Deputy Program 2 Leader of CRC Future Food Systems and Education & Training Director of the National Vegetable Protected Cropping Centre.

20.08 – Professor Jenny Mortimer, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Adelaide University

Title: Sweet green tales: biosynthesis and engineering of plant complex

Jenny Mortimer is Professor of Plant Synthetic Biology in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine at Adelaide University (AU), where she is also Deputy Director of the AU Waite Research Institute. She holds an Affiliate Staff Scientist position at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA, where she is Director of Plant Systems Biology at the US Department of Energy Joint BioEnergy Center (JBEI).

03.09 – Professor Kerry Wilkinson, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Adelaide University

Title: Waiter, there’s a black soldier fly in my wine!

 Professor Kerry Wilkinson is an engaging wine educator and a world-renowned wine scientist. For nearly two decades, she has led a multi-disciplinary program of research on ‘smoke taint’, building the wine industry’s capacity to predict, mitigate and respond to risk associated with vineyard smoke exposure. As an ARC Industry Fellow, she explores winemaking applications of membrane filtration, but she also leads insect-related research, concerning consumer acceptance of insects as food, feed and pet food.

24.09 – Doctor David G Schmale III, Fulbright AUKUS Scholar; Professor and Director, Translational Plant Sciences Center Virginia Tech University

Title: Atmospheric Incursions of Plant Pathogens: From Leaf Surfaces to Continental Transport

Dr. Schmale is the recipient of the 2026-2027 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) Award. He was named one of Popular Science’s Brilliant Ten in 2013, and his work was featured in Scientific American in 2017. That article was later selected for the “Top 21 Wild Ideas in Science that Just Might Save the Planet and Us.”