CSIRO at the Waite Campus, Urrbrae

Land and Water Seminars are held at the Waite Campus, Urrbrae.

Waite Campus, Adelaide, South Australia

CSIRO at the Waite Campus undertakes a range of research in land and water management, sustainable farming systems, precision agriculture, plant science and mathematics and statistics.

  • 22 November 2010

Five CSIRO divisions are represented at the Waite Campus:

  • CSIRO Land and Water
  • CSIRO Plant Industry
  • CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
  • CSIRO Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics
  • CSIRO Process Science and Engineering.

Land and water management

Our researchers support the development of innovative solutions to Australia's land and water management challenges. Major research areas based in Adelaide include:

  • groundwater and surface water hydrology
  • soil and landscape science
  • contaminant chemistry and ecotoxicology
  • catchment biogeochemistry and aquatic ecology
  • water reuse and environmental process engineering
  • natural resource management policy and economics
  • identification of opportunities and policy options for improving the use of land and water resources.

Plant science

CSIRO plant science on the Waite Campus aims to improve the performance of horticultural crops across the production, processing and marketing chain by developing improved genetic material from molecular and conventional breeding, and by generating better plant management techniques.

An important focus is research for the Australian grape and wine industry, targeting aspects such as fruit quality (berry colour and flavour), disease control and flowering and fruit set. Much of this work contributes to the Food Futures Flagship.

Sustainable farming systems

CSIRO farming systems research at Waite is focused on the biophysical performance of farming systems and agricultural land with the aim of identifying management solutions that improve production along with environmental and economic performance. 

The science is often framed against the background of soil and climate variability, resource use efficiency, production risk and farm-level decision making.

Our farming systems research integrates expertise in field experimentation, plant-soil sciences, ecology, soil microbiology, simulation modelling, spatial technologies and bio-economics and contributes to the Sustainable Agriculture Flagship.

Mathematics and statistics

CSIRO mathematicians and statisticians at Waite Campus are involved in:

  • managing risk for the finance industry
  • designing ophthalmic lenses
  • discovering early biomarkers of diseases like colorectal cancer
  • protecting Australian agricultural industries from the impact of pests and diseases
  • identifying drivers of wine quality to support sustainable viticulture.

Mineralogy

CSIRO plays a key role in both International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and Australian Standards development for the international iron ore trade through development of Standard XRF and related methods.

Testing and services

CSIRO in Adelaide provides access to state-of-the-art soil, plant and water testing and analytical services and facilities. Find out more information on Testing and analytical services: CSIRO Land and Water.

South Australian research initiatives

CSIRO is also a partner in significant South Australian research initiatives including:

  • The Wine Innovation Cluster, a group of research agencies aiming to improve wine science and to make viticulture more sustainable and more suited to our changing climate.
  • The Goyder Institute for Water Research, which will provide independent scientific advice on South Australia’s water system.


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