Guest Authors
Roger Mandel PhD
Roger is Lecturer in Agronomy & Farming Systems in the Department of Agribusiness & Wine Science at Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia.
He is currently involved in a GRDC funded project investigating emerging weeds in the WA Wheatbelt, and in two GRDC projects trying to increase the uptake of precision agriculture in WA.
LandWISE met Roger at the 2009 Australian Controlled Traffic Farming Association Conference in Canberra and again at the 2009 Australiasian Precision Agriculture Symposium in Armidale, NSW. We were most impressed by his presentation “Demystifying Precision Agriculture”, and his cut through the rubbish attitude.
Roger combines scientific education with 25 years of experience on his 1200 hectare family farm in Southern Alberta, Canada. He has experience with dryland cereal and canola production as well as forage production for a 150 head cow/calf operation.
It was no surprise to find that Roger has received a number or awards for teaching. He is committed to teaching that stimulates students to develop a deep knowledge of the subject area and also develop learning skills which can be used in their future careers. “I love teaching.” My goal as an educator is to present material in such a way that the students themselves want to know more using real world examples and explaining the relevance and importance of material in their careers.
Contact Email: R.Mandel@curtin.edu.au
John is an engineer and researcher at the Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research (TIAR) and the Department of Primary Industries. His research focus is Controlled Traffic Farming.
His association with LandWISE extends back several years when, along with Tasmanian vegetable grower, John McKenna were guest speakers at the LandWISE Conference in Gisborne. Since then he has hosted NZ growers visiting Tasmania to view CTF sytems in potatoes, onions and other crops.
John’s pragmatic approach and sense of humour makes him a popular speaker, and he joined us again in 2009 for the LandWISE conference in Havelock North. We value the link, and the opportunity for growers here to be exposed to John’s experience with challenges, opportunities and problem solving in CTF in Tasmania.
John doesn’t claim to have all the answers. But he and his colleagues – researchers, farmers and industry poeple – are certainly making strong progress. And they are showing us that, with enthusiasm and a little lateral thinking, plus some engineering nous, problems can be overcome and gains realised.
Contact Email: John.McPhee@dpiw.tas.gov.au
