Dr Tim March
Each year the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry supports Science and Innovation Awards for Young People in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. These awards recognise innovative scientific projects proposed by 18-35 year olds that will contribute to the ongoing success and sustainability of Australia’s agricultural, fisheries and forestry industries.
This year eleven scientists from across Australia were successful and the awards were presented at the ABARES Outlook Conference Dinner in Canberra on Tuesday 1 March. Of the eleven awards, two were to scientists from the Waite Campus.
Dr Timothy March of the Barley Group in the School of Agriculture, Food & Wine won the Grains Research and Development Corporation Award, and Dr Matteo Marangon from the Australian Wine Research Institute won the Grape and Wine Research Development Corporation Award. The awards are worth up to $22,000.
Tim March has been instrumental in the development of a new genotyping assay called Hi-SELECT, intended to be an open-source, user-customisable assay, capable of genotyping up to 386 plants with 1526 genetic markers simultaneously. He will use his award to present his findings at the 2011 Barley Technical Symposium in September and internationally at the 2012 Plant and Animal Genome Conference in San Diego in January 2012.
Matteo Marangon is working on developing a better understanding of the cause of protein haze formation in white wines, thereby allowing wine makers to refine and reduce their use of betonite fining in the winemaking process, leading to more economically and environmentally sustainable practices. Working with a French laboratory, Matteo will use his award to examine the interactions between proteins and other components responsible for forming protein haze, and to develop a predictive model for protein instability in white wines. He will share his findings through publication in scientific and industry journals, and through the AWRI Road Show.
Congratulations to both of these fine scientists on their recognition through these prestigious awards.
Waite Watch 