Agricultural & Wine Sciences
Staff Research Interests and Activities
Mr Basil Baldwin
Senior Lecturer, Sustainable Agriculture
BScHon(Agric) (Nott), MAgSci (Adel), GradDipEd (SACAE), CPAg
Research Interests
Sustainable agriculture practice and education. Practice interests include assessment and design of sustainable farming systems, salt management and new tree crops, particularly the establishment of an Australian hazelnut industry.
Educational interests include the role, development and use of case studies in learning.
Current Activities
- Salinity assessment and management at Boorowa, NSW.
- Evaluation of the field productivity of hazelnut varieties in NSW and Victoria.
- Development of property and catchment plans with Landcare groups.
- Farmers' approaches to the development of more sustainable farming systems.
- Farmer participation in assessing dairy farm sustainability (supervision of postgraduate research student project).
- Native pasture management in the NSW Central Tablelands
Mr Kerry Cochrane
Lecturer, Sustainable Agriculture
BScAgr, MA Lanc., GradDipSocComm (H'sbury Ag Col.), DipEd (Syd Teach Col.)
Research Interests
Values, learning styles and right brain–left brain approaches in management and education. Capability education. Experiential learning. Action research.
Current Activities
- Assessment in a capability education program.
- Innovative business development in the dairy industry.
Judith Crockett
(Part time)Lecturer in Management and Sustainability, Faculty of Rural Management
(Part time) Project Officer, Faculty of Pharmacy
PhD (CSU) MA BA DipEnvSt GradCertAgronFarmSys (Adel)
Research Interests
Rural, environmental and natural resource sociology, sociology of religion, management and sustainability, agricultural sustainability, community development, rural health, qualitative research methods
Associate Professor Geoff Gurr
Associate Professor, Applied Ecology
BSc(Hons) (Plymouth Poly Tech), DipImpColl(Zoology) Imp Coll, GradCert EdStudies, PhD (Lond), FRES
Research Interests
Integrated pest management (IPM) with a major focus on horticultural and field crops. Evaluation of 'soft' pesticides. Biological control using food bearing plants as resources for natural enemies. Tritrophic studies of host–plant/herbivore/natural enemy interactions.
IPM education.
Measuring and enhancement of ecosystem services (e.g. natural pest regulations) by functional agricultural biodiversity.
Current Activities
- Conservation of natural enemies by habitat management: investigations with vineyards, soybeans and tree shelterbelts.
- Investigation of the compatibility of trichome–based host plant resistance and biological control.
- Biology and management of pests & diseases in apples, vineyards & herbage crops.
Mr Dennis Hodgkins
Senior Lecturer, Land Management
BSc(Agric), DipEd (W Aust), MA (Murdoch), GradDipEnvMgt (C Sturt)
Research Interests
Integrative environmental management strategies.
Policy aspects of integrated catchment management and conservation.
Remnant vegetation on farms.
Social aspects of remnant vegetation management in Central West, NSW.
Current Activities
- Land–holder attitudes to remnant vegetation management in the NSW Central West.
- Evaluation of landholder responses to remnant vegetation management education materials.
Professor David Kemp
Professor of Farming Systems
Director: Centre for Rural Sustainability
Leader: Farming Systems Group
BScAgr (Hons), MScAgr Sydney, PhD Western Australia, FAIAST, CPAg
Research Interests
Sustainable agriculture to improve the long term viability of farms and rural communities while rehabilitating and, or maintaining the environment.
Development of processes for the analysis of results that bridge the gap between science and end users.
The use of research techniques to analyse and improve the management of farms.
Current Activities
- Development of research at the University of Sydney in Orange and the Centre for Rural Sustainability.
- Development of the Centre for Education in Orange.
- Developing a new curriculum in Agronomy and related applied plant studies.
- Improving the analysis and management of farming systems, including developing the disciplines of farm management/farming systems through a better linkage of biology and economics, indicators for sustainable systems and international farm comparisons
- Sustainable grazing systems through better management of grasslands including biodiversity of grasslands, with current emphasis on plants, insects and microbes and its relationship to management and profitability. Ecology and management of serrated tussock, integrated management of broadleaf weeks in grasslands. Agronomy, management and use of chicory for sustainable systems.
- Transfer of better management practices to Australian and third–world farmers. Methodology for the analysis of on–farm demonstrations.
Dr Cilla Kinross
Lecturer, Environmental Management
BA(N.E.), AssocDipWildlife & Park Man (SCAE), GradDipResMan(Canb), PhD (CSU)
Research Interests
Wildlife conservation, with special emphasis on bird habitat relationships in fragmented rural landscapes.
Current Activities
- Evaluation of farm windbreaks and shelter plantings as surrogate bird habitats.
- Biodiversity in native tree plantations on farms.
- Revegetation and regeneration strategies to improve ecological sustainability on farms
Mr Chris Morgan
Senior Lecturer, Business Management and Head, Educational Services.
BScAgr (Syd), MEd (Hon) (N.E.), GradDipEd (Canberra CAE)
Research Interests
Improvement of teaching and learning processes.
Barriers to educational participation in the rural community. Flexible delivery and educational convergence.
Development and management of flexible education systems. Factors affecting learner persistence.
Current Activities
- Peer review of distance education learning materials.
- Re–conceptualising distance education within educational frameworks.
- Developing systems to utilise emerging technologies to assist student learning.
Dr. Anantanarayanan Raman
Lecturer, Sustainable Land Management
BSc, MSc, PhD (Madras)
Research Interests
Analysis of remnant vegetation, vegetation regeneration in disturbed lands.
Insect and plant biodiversity studies.
Natural resource management in relation to development initiatives.
Land management through agroforestry, biological control of weeds.
Community and population studies of arthropods infesting trees.
Current Activities
- Soil health study in Wellington, NSW and Cadia mine area.
- Bioecology of wattle–investing thrips.
- Bioecology of Parthenium–infesting Lepidoptera and Coleoptera.
- Agroforestry and sustainable development.
Ms Amanda Warren–Smith
Associate Lecturer in Equine Business Management
BAppSci(Equine) Hons, (CSU), MAppSci (A&RD) (UWS), NCAS (IG)
Research Interests
Professional horse management
Improving teaching and learning
Equine behavior
Current Activities
- Equine exercise physiology PhD
Mr Warwick Wheatley
Lecturer, Agronomy
WDA (Wagga Ag Col)
Research Interests
Integrated pasture management. Tall fescue/perennial ryegrass endophyte/livestock associations.
Current Activities
- PhD thesis write–up
- Endophyte working groups at national and international levels.
- Inhibition of foliar leafspot by substances produced by the perennial ryegrass/endophyte association.
- Effects of novel endophyte on the persistence and production of tall fescue in eastern Australia.
- Quality Assurance issues relating to perennial ryegrass and tall fescue seed in the marketplace.