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Dr Rachelle Ward
BSc(Hons), PhD (both USyd)
Position Cereal Chemist
Location NSW DPI, PMB, Yanco, NSW 2703
Phone 02
6951 2656
Fax 02
6951 2719
Email rachelle.ward@dpi.nsw.gov.au
Career Brief
Dr Rachelle Ward completed her Bachelor of Science (Hons) in 1998. Rachelle then worked in the pharmaceutical industry for several years before joining NSW Agriculture as a Technical Officer with the Rice Cereal Chemistry laboratory between 2001 and 2003. During this period she initiated post graduate studies at The University of Sydney under the supervision of Dr Melissa Fitzgerald and Prof Bob Gilbert. In 2007, Rachelle was awarded a PhD on her thesis titled 'Impact of temperature and carbon dioxide on rice grain quality'. Rachelle commenced duties as Rice Cereal Chemist in January 2008. Rachelle is responsible for the delivery of sound quality data on rice breeding lines to the rice breeders and conducts a variety of rice quality based research.
Research and Teaching
- Understanding Head Rice Yield through tempering
- Understanding the interplay between nitrogen and temperature on grain quality
- Evaluating and developing SNPs to predict grain quality
Professional Links
- Member of the Australian Cereal Chemists Society
Interests
- Understanding abiotic stress on grain quality
- Improving the nutritional value of rice
- Understanding the drivers of Head Rice Yield
- Exploring the interface between instrumental and sensory analysis of rice qualities
FoR Codes
070305, 070307, 090801
Selected Publications
Effect of heat-moisture treatment on the formation and physicochemical properties of resistant starch from mung bean (Phaseolus radiatus) starch (2011). Li SuLing, Ward R & Gao QunYu. Food Hydrocolloids, 25: 7, 1702-1709.
Physicochemical properties and in vitro digestibility of resistant starch from mung bean (Phaseolus radiatus) starch (2011). Li SuLing, Gao QunYu & Ward R. Starch/Starke, 63: 3, 171-178. 38 ref.
Ward R , Gao Q, de Bruyn H, Gilbert R and Fitzgerald M, 2006, Improved methods for the structural analysis of the amylose-rich fraction from rice flour, Biomacromolecules, 7 (3), 866-876.
Castro J, Ward R , Gilbert R and Fitzgerald M, 2005, Measurement of the molecular weight distribution of debranched starch, Biomacromolecules, 6, 2260-2270.
Fitzgerald M, Martin M, Ward R , Shead H and Park W, 2003, Viscosity of rice flour: A rheological and biological study, J. Agric. Food Chem., 51, 2295-2299.