Ambassadors for LIAF

The Ambassadors for LIAF are a group of passionate researchers exploring ways to feed the growing population. They have found ways to diagnose disease in the field in 15 minutes, develop vaccines, barcode billions of bugs in the soil and make cereals healthier for us.

Our researchers are keen to share their research stories and partner with you to solve real world challenges.

Register your interest in FREE workshops run at AgriBio, Bundoora to meet Ambassadors and develop learning resources based on research activities undertaken at La Trobe University.

Plants

Dr Kim Johnson wants to understand how plants can stay strong in the face of changing climates and how we can use all of the plant for food and bioenergy to reduce waste.

Dr Monika Doblin investigates how to make cereals better for your gut by increasing the amount of soluble dietary fibre in the grain.

Dr Marissa Collins wants to make pulses as popular as wheat and looks at how to adapt them to grow in the Australian environment.

Animals

Prof Travis Beddoe can diagnose foot rot in 15 minutes and is turning his attention from livestock to bees to keep our precious animals and insects free of diseases.

Prof Warwick Grant knows an awful lot about worm parasites in livestock, pets and humans and is working on ways to overcome their resistance to the drugs traditionally used to kill them.

Soil

Dr Gary Clark is interested in the lifeblood of agriculture, soils. Gary investigates how to make degraded soils better and their use more sustainable.

Dr Han Weng looks at the nutrients in the soil and their availability for plants and billions of bugs in the earth to use.

Food

Susan McLeod loves playing with food! As a lecturer in nutrition and PhD candidate studying bugs in the gut she is passionate about exploring what it is in food that makes it good, bad and delicious!