Developing Drought Resilience in Horticulture
As a key team player, the PhD candidate will work to develop and apply models that enhance drought resilience in horticultural systems.
The project focuses on building resilience in Australia's viticulture and horticultural regions, addressing vulnerability to declining rainfall and rising water demand.
The modelling will test practices to increase yield during and after drought by improving use of rainfall-derived soil water, focusing on enhancing root system performance, canopy and floor management strategies.
Additionally, the PhD project will examine methods for improving the delivery and scheduling of limited supplementary irrigation, leveraging data from long-term trials established in the Australian States of NSW and Tasmania with wine grapes, apple, and cherry.
The PhD project aims to quantify economic, environmental, and agrifood production under varying intensities of drought and extreme weather events, then scale findings to applicable zones across Australia.
Skills or experience in integrated assessment modelling, coding (e.g. MatLab, R, Python), and understanding of agricultural systems are desirable.
The successful applicant will be part of a collaborative team and expected to co-design mitigation and adaptation interventions in consultation with industry stakeholders and other researchers within the consortium.
This role may require domestic and international travel from time to time.
The scholarship provides financial support for living expenses, relocation assistance, and tuition fees offset.
Selection Criteria
* The successful applicant must demonstrate skills in farm systems modelling or agricultural systems through industry experience and/or peer-reviewed publications.
Application Process
* Select your project and check eligibility criteria;
* Copy and paste the title into your application;
* Submit a CV including contact details of 2 referees and your project research proposal.