Science to inspire Central QLD students

Central Queensland secondary school students will gain valuable insights into the crucial role agricultural science plays in the region when they visit CSIRO Livestock Industries’ Rendel Laboratory in Rockhampton this Thursday and Friday (8 & 9 May, 2008).

Weeding out the risk of pest plants

This two-page information sheet is about CSIRO's latest framework for assessing the weed risk of new disease-resistant plants.

CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences

CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences (CES) conducts research and development across a range of disciplines, targeting social, economic and environmental sustainability.

Mr Mic Julien: defending Australia against weed invasion

Mr Mic Julien is researching the control of invasive plant species in Austalia through field surveys for potential biological control agents, and taxonomy and biology studies of insects and pathogens.

Gauging the effectiveness of biocontrol programs

How CSIRO researchers have been examining the effectiveness of biological control programs against some plant pests as very little is known about their long-term impacts is described in this article. (3 pages)

Modelling Climate Change Impacts on Sleeper and Alert Weeds final report

This report details how CLIMEX modelling software is being used to help predict the potential spread of 41 sleeper and alert weed species in Australia as a result of climate change. (44 pages)

Dr Deborah Middleton: improving Australia's biosecurity

Dr Deborah Middleton is a registered specialist in veterinary pathology. She is working to protect Australia against animal and zoonotic diseases (those that can pass from animals to people).

Dr Alan Andersen: uncovering the secrets of ant diversity

Dr Alan Andersen is a Chief Research Scientist with CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems in Darwin, where he studies ant community ecology, the use of ants and other invertebrates as indicators of ecosystem health, and fire ecology and management in tropical savannas.

Are moths choosy about their sexual partners?

Dr Sharon Downes will use her Australian Government Science and Innovation Award for Young People in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to investigate, through careful mating and DNA fingerprinting, whether female bollworms choose which of their sexual partners father their offspring.

Monitoring for the establishment of leaf rolling moth

This brochure discusses research into conditions affecting the low establishment rate of the bitou bush leaf-rolling moth and how to monitor for population establishment. (2 pages)

Aphids teach scientists a thing or two

In recently unravelling the genome of the pea aphid, an international consortium of researchers has taken a major step towards understanding how to better control that bane of farmers and gardeners around the world.

Ecology and management of Australian weeds

Integrated weed management research by CSIRO Entomology is helping control some of the introduced plant species that have become weeds in Australia.

Thrips (Thysanoptera)

Thrips are often little known by most people, but some species are considered major agricultural pests.

Dr Sukumar Chakraborty: fighting wheat disease

Dr Sukumar Chakraborty researches wheat diseases including head blight and crown rot.

Tackling pests: it’s neighbour joining neighbour

This article from Farming Ahead discusses how the results of a CSIRO study into silverleaf whitefly control have broad implications for cost-effective strategies across a spread of farming environments. (3 pages)

Climate change: the science, impacts and solutions

Leading climate researcher Dr Barrie Pittock revisits the effects that global warming is having on our planet.

Dr Michael Ayliffe: improving rust resistance

Dr Michael Ayliffe aims to improve rust resistance in cereals by using transgenic (gene technology) approaches.

Dr John Lowenthal: Research Program Leader, Novel Strategies for Disease Control

Dr John Lowenthal aims to develop innovative solutions to limit the spread of major animal diseases that threaten Australia’s biosecurity. In 2002, he led a team awarded a CSIRO medal for developing a new health product for commercial poultry.

Dr Hazel Parry: modelling insect pest population dynamics and dispersal

Dr Parry works in the Spatial Ecology team at CSIRO.

Going viral: CSIRO vs Contagion (Podcast 28 Oct 2011)

A reference to research undertaken by CSIRO's 'bat pack' team in Hollywood's latest disaster flick Contagion highlights the role CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) would play in a real-world version of the pandemic. (11:12)

Eye-in-the-sky helps pinpoint prickly problem

CSIRO research on a tool to track the spread of the devastating weed prickly acacia across Australia’s northern grasslands is described in this article from Farming Ahead. (3 pages)

Pollinator decline not reducing crop yields just yet

The well-documented worldwide decline in the number of bees and other pollinators is not, at this stage, limiting global crop yields, according to the results of an international study published in the latest edition of the respected science journal, Current Biology.

Mesquite biocontrol with the leaf-tier, Evippe sp. #1

This fact sheet describes research on Evippe sp. #1, a leaf tying-moth from Argentina that was released in Australia as a biological control on the introduced invasive weeds species mesquite.

Removing the smell of industry

CSIRO’s new catalytic technology can remove foul industrial odours and waterborne pollutants more effectively and more economically than in the past.

Foot & Mouth Disease outbreak model takes shape

Researchers have completed the first stage of development work on a comprehensive model of the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in cattle to evaluate policy surrounding the management of FMD and other exotic diseases should an outbreak occur in Australia.