Research Week 2019

The Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences (FVAS) has been awarded funding to provide 18 Destination Australia Scholarships at its Dookie campus by the Australian Department of Education.

Professor Joanne Devlin, Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow and Deputy Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, has been invited to join the ARC’s College of Experts (CoE) in 2020.

Laureate Professor Marshall Lightowlers reveals the path he and his team took to achieve what had seemed like an impossible task: developing a vaccine against a parasite which would greatly reduce epilepsy in developing countries.

In this Dean's Research Seminar, Professor Ruth Nettle, Agriculture Domain leader and Leader, Rural Innovation Research Group, discusses the imperative for engaged research along with insights into engaged research approaches and impacts from the work of the Rural Innovation Research Group.

In a public lecture and editorial, eminent agricultural scientist Emeritus Professor Lindsay Falvey says the historic contributions of agricultural research shows the important role a new generation of scientists will play in international development.

Associate Professor Lee Skerratt has been awarded a 2019 Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship that will aid his biotechnology research into disease immunity. The research aims to save dwindling frog populations while proving the value of synthetic biology in restoring threatened wildlife populations.

University of Melbourne staff have helped to establish a laboratory with advanced diagnostic tests to detect poultry diseases at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Indonesia as part of a recently-completed project.

Agricultural research and development organisation the Crawford Fund has selected Professor Lindsay Falvey as the awardee for the prestigious 2019 Crawford Fund Medal for his practical and passionate commitment to the international contributions agricultural science makes to food security.

Researchers from the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences will collaborate with India’s ICAR-National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology to host workshops on mitigation of heat stress in cattle, sheep, goat, and pigs.

In this Dean’s Research Seminar Professor Richard Eckard, Director of the Primary Industries Climate Challenges Centre, explores how grazing industries including wool, dairy and beef are adapting to climate change.

Health and environment concerns mean people are switching to a plant-based diet, but University of Melbourne experts say they may miss out on key micronutrients

New technology developed by a University of Melbourne researcher uses microwaves to zap weeds in the ground, and has potential to reduce the need for herbicides

Farmers are interested in sustainability and enduring profitability, with a particular emphasis on regenerative production systems, writes Dookie campus Professor in Residence Timothy Reeves in September’s Dookie Diary.

Professor Caroline Mansfield explores the potential to alleviate disease in companion animals by manipulating the gastrointestinal microbiome in this research seminar.

Coal is almost never considered a way to reduce our climate impact, but a new $7 million Cooperative Research Centres Project will seek to prove the agricultural and economic viability of using brown coal to process agricultural waste into fertiliser, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and costs to farmers.

First year Animal Welfare Science Centre graduate researcher Carmen Glanville has won third place in the international Visualise your Thesis (VYT) competition for her presentation, “Protecting Pets by Changing People."

University of Melbourne research has developed a new technique to keep mine detection dogs clearing landmines in Cambodia free of deadly tropical diseases.

Water was the focus of Professor in Residence Timothy Reeves’ latest Dookie Diary, a monthly column for the Country News covering activities at the University of Melbourne’s Dookie agricultural campus.

Bushfires can ruin wine grapes with smoke contamination, but new digital tools developed at the University of Melbourne could help winemakers reduce the damage.

The One Health PhD Program will provide graduate researchers with a training and support framework to develop the skills to apply an interdisciplinary focus to solve issues affecting health of humans, other species and the environment.

Professor Timothy Reeves has been awarded the William Farrer Memorial Medal by the Farrer Memorial Trust for distinguished service in agricultural science.

In this seminar Professor Anna Meredith, Head of the Melbourne Veterinary School, shares examples of her wildlife surveillance and emerging infectious disease research and discusses her aspirations for future wildlife health research in the School.

Bacchus Beef founder Victoria Green loved being able to apply what she was learning in her Master of Agricultural Sciences degree to grow her business.

Three Faculty staff received awards, and many more shared their knowledge through presentations, at Science Week in July.

Three new Australian Research Council Linkage Projects will allow Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences staff to explore new approaches to protect livestock from disease and improve our understanding of and protection against socioeconomically important parasites.

The excellence of industry-engaged research by the School of Agriculture and Food’s social science research group has been recognised with the Award for Excellence in Industry-Engaged Research.

In the latest Dookie Diary, Professor in Residence Timothy Reeves discusses the Dookie agricultural campus’ 270-hectare bush reserve, the latest Dookie careers event and research to protect Australian lentils from disease.

We regret to announce the death of Associate Professor Philip Francis Markham, who passed away on Monday 8 July, 2019.

Professor Rebecca Traub is applying innovative solutions to improve public health of both humans and animals in developing nations, and conducting research that has earned her the Bancroft-Mackerras Medal for Excellence in parasitology.

Dr Vito Colella received the Odile Bain Memorial Prize at the 27th Conference of the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology, which took place 7-11 July 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin, the United States.

Professor Paul Hemsworth has been announced as the 2019 winner of the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science.

Professor Jim He discusses how molecular biotechnology methods are shedding light on the secret world beneath our feet.

The Foodprint Melbourne research project is helping government to secure Melbourne’s fresh food supply while increasing public awareness, earning the team the University of Melbourne’s Award for Excellence in Engagement – Research.

Help improve our understanding of wildlife health in Victoria by completing this survey on sarcoptic mange for the Wildlife Health Victoria: Surveillance group.

Dr Natalie Courtman has been awarded the Veterinarians in Education Research and Academia (VERA) Excellence in Teaching Award, the premier teaching award of the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA).

Professor Ted Whittem has succeeded Professor Peter Mansell as President of Victoria’s veterinary regulatory body.

The AgriFutures Horizon Scholarship supports students studying agriculture degrees with a bursary, work placements, professional development and networking opportunities.

Professor Paul Hemsworth has been named a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen’s Birthday 2019 Honours List for significant service to agricultural science, and to animal welfare.

Packaging is the first impression consumers have of food products that influences the likelihood of purchasing.

In this story, Drs Charlie El-Hage and Dr Peta Hitchens share their experience providing veterinary care and veterinary training on the Gili Islands and Lombok, Indonesia.

In his latest column, Dookie Professor in Residence Timothy Reeves explores how rainfall has changed over time, and adaptations to a drier climate.

Wine vintages in Australia and internationally are maturing earlier, at around one day per year over the last 25 years.

Professor Mike Mendl is developing new ways of assessing animal welfare that work to improve the wellbeing and conditions of all animals.

It isn’t only the probiotics, but the way they are produced and the food we eat with them that are important for our health, say University of Melbourne experts

Overconsumption is the single biggest driver behind our environmental crises, and plastic maybe the rallying call we need, says a University of Melbourne expert

A new column showcases the teaching, research and people at our Dookie campus.

University of Melbourne research shows how we can produce the best wine by combining climate predictions and vineyard records to predict for the next vintage.

The American Society of Agronomy (ASA) has announced that Professor Deli Chen will be the recipient of the Kingenta Agricultural Science Award.

Rice, one of the world’s most common dietary staples and has been identified as an important crop requiring a collaborative approach to maintain global food production.

Melbourne University experts analyse the impact of Australia's 2019 Federal budget for farmers, young people, affordable housing and foreign aid.

Dr Babatunde Ayodele is part of a team researching the bones of racehorses. Now, his research has inspired the façade of a new University of Melbourne building.

An inaugural science day was recently held for all postgraduate and doctoral scholars at the University of Melbourne’s agricultural campus.

Xia (Emma) Liang has received a prestigious 2018 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad from the China Scholarship Council.

44 Year 11 and 12 students explored how science is applied to benefit agriculture, veterinary medicine and land management at the University of Melbourne’s Dookie campus on Tuesday 26 February.

From Monday 11 March – Friday 15 March, four academics from the University of Manchester will be visiting the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences (FVAS) and the Melbourne School of Engineering (MSE).

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine students from the University of Melbourne hosted delegates from around Australia and overseas at the 58th Australasian Veterinary Student Conference (AVSC).

Microbiologist Anne Watt has received the Australian Pork Ltd Award at the 2019 Science and Innovation Awards for Young People in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

Professor Duncan Maskell says the agricultural teaching and research campus provides fantastic opportunities for students interested in the industry.

The University of Melbourne, Australasian Pork Research Institute Limited (APRIL), SunPork Solutions and Rivalea Australia have successfully secured an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage grant to support a million dollar research project to improve pig welfare by modulating stress resilience.

Professor Anna Meredith, Head of Melbourne Veterinary School, has been appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s New Year 2019 Honours List for services to Animal Welfare.

An enthusiastic group of veterinary students led by Dr Charles El-Hage and Dr Peta Hitchens recently headed to the Gili Islands, Indonesia to volunteer their time to the local pony colony in need of assistance.

Precision agriculture is harnessing the power of new technology and ‘big data’ to improve production.

Four staff in the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences have been promoted to Professor in 2018 in recognition of their contributions to veterinary public health, cattle medicine, gastroenterology and agricultural extension and engagement.

On 12-16 November 2018, researchers in the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences came together at the University of Melbourne’s Parkville campus to celebrate research impact and share lessons on collaborating within and across disciplines at Research Week 2018.

At the 2018 Professor GW Leeper Memorial Lecture, Professor G. Philip Robertson from Michigan State University explored the sustainability promise of switchgrass as both a biofuel and a carbon sink.

Australia’s first peoples practised agriculture for thousands of years prior to the continent’s European colonialization. Despite these practices being recorded by early explorers, they have been almost absent from Australian historical records until recently.

A panel of experts in science, industry and public policy delivered advice for academic researchers on collaboration across disciplines on projects, working with industry and managing intellectual property in a panel discussion.

Australian Indigenous people, like so many peoples around the world, enjoy the companionship and other benefits of dog ownership. Many people in remote Indigenous communities are dog owners, and say their dogs are valuable for hunting, that they keep their home safe at night from intruders and that they are playmates for their children.

The Wildlife Disease Association’s Australasian section (WDA-A) has awarded Dr Pam Whiteley the prestigious Dave Spratt Award in recognition of her long-term service and commitment to wildlife health.

On Thursday 18 October, the work of our third year Bachelor of Agriculture students was on display at their Capstone Project Showcase.

The University of Melbourne’s More Profit from Nitrogen (MFfN) dairy team have successfully secured a prestigious Marie Sklodowska Curie Global Fellowship under the EU’s Horizon 2020 Programme.

In a special lecture, Professor Timothy Reeves argues sustainable agriculture must be considered as part of a nexus with food, nutrition and human health.

Each year, the University of Melbourne hosts a range of wellbeing events across its campuses to mark R U OK? Day.R U OK? Day is Australia’s national day of action to remind everyone that any day is the day to ask: ‘Are you OK?’ and be mindful of the physical and mental health of others.In 2018, this awareness-raising day celebrated its milestone tenth anniversary of promoting healthy conversations.

The Faculty has awarded over $600,000 worth of scholarships to coursework and graduate research students this year.

Seven projects proposed by staff at the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences were funded for almost $160,000 in the 2018 Learning and Teaching Initiatives (LTI) grants round at the University of Melbourne.

A single gram of soil contains seven billion microorganisms, as many as there are people on Earth – the soil under our feet is a complex world unto itself with wide-ranging implications for our lives, and especially for how we grow our food.

The University of Melbourne will open its gates to the community and local industry for Dookie Day 2018 on Sunday 9 September 2018.

On a crisp Sunday morning in July, Melbourne Veterinary School staff members led a group of eager students on an outing to the Werribee Open Range Zoo.

Do you know of a dog with a spinal cord injury that has resulted in severe neurological issues like loss of hindlimb mobility or paraplegia, loss of feeling or bowel and bladder dysfunction? We are exploring a new treatment for dogs based on the latest human medicine research, and you may be able to help.

On Thursday 2 August 2018, Professor Norman Williamson delivered the 2018 DC Blood Oration, part of the Faculty's Dean's Lecture Series.

Professor Glenn Browning has received one of the University of Melbourne’s highest recognitions of academic excellence, the title of Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor.

Participate in our University of Melbourne U-Vet Hospital research study and learn how to perform CPR on your dog for free

A substantial number of Melbourne Veterinary School staff sat membership examinations, delivered presentations or otherwise contributed to Science Week, the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists' (ANZCVS) annual education conference.

Ongoing uncertainty around the long term future of Melbourne’s surrounding agricultural land limits investment in Melbourne’s foodbowl and fuels speculative investment in farmland, driving up land prices and undermining farm viability, a new report has found.

The Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences has appointed Professor Timothy Reeves as its first Professor in Residence at the Dookie agricultural campus in the Goulburn Valley.

The next Head of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at the Melbourne Veterinary School will be equine infectious disease expert Professor Josh Slater.

What happens after you leave university? Will you end up doing exactly what you trained for, or something else entirely?

Vets at the University of Melbourne’s U-Vet Hospital in Werribee say an emergency dog-to-cat blood transfusion highlights the need to have cat blood on hand for cats like Rex, who would have died waiting an hour for the next available feline donor.

3010 is now more than a magazine – it’s a podcast too. The 3010 podcast will take you into the lives of some of our amazing alumni, revealing the fantastic – and, occasionally, surprising – places their Melbourne degree has taken them.

A breakthrough that lead to better health programs for cattle launched Norm Williamson’s multi-faceted career

Dr Shu Kee (Raymond) Lam, a Research Fellow in Climate Change and Biogeochemistry in the School of Agriculture and Food, has received an ICM Agrifood Award from the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE).

Equine veterinarian Dr Angus McKinnon has received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to veterinary science, particularly equine reproduction.

Professors Glenn Browning and Amir Noormohammadi conducted veterinary student seminars, workshops and round-table meetings in Indonesia with researchers and their poultry industry partners as part of an ongoing project led by Dr Nadeeka Wawegama.

Leading plant scientist Professor Herbert Kronzucker has joined the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences as Head of the School of Agriculture and Food.

The University of Melbourne’s U-Vet Animal Hospital in Werribee has launched a life-saving new feline blood bank.

More than 180 first and second-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) students took a welcome opportunity to unwind, relax and enjoy canine companionship as part of the 2018 University Mental Health Day.

The Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences hosted 190 secondary school students from northern Victoria at its Dookie campus on Friday 25 May, giving them the opportunity to explore careers in agriculture and its support industries.

Look out for the apple truck near Union House, Parkville Campus on Thursday 24 May, 10am-4pm (unless sold out).

Diet has a significant impact on pet health, just as it does in humans.

On Thursday 26 April, Professor Mark Howden delivered a public lecture to a full auditorium on how agriculture is changing in the 21st century, and what changes are still needed to limit and adapt to climate change.

The University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences has sponsored two murals in Goorambat, a town between Dookie and Benalla in the Goulburn Valley, as part of an art project celebrating the local environment and heritage.

Professor Eleanor Mackie has been selected as Chair of the Biological and Biotechnological Sciences Research Evaluation Committee by the Australian Research Council (ARC).

A new program designed to improve animal welfare standards on Australian farms is being launched tomorrow at the Australian Cattle Veterinarians conference in Fremantle, Western Australia.

For the first time, Australian frog cells have been successfully frozen and re-grown in culture, offering hope of a new technique to safeguard endangered amphibians.

The Faculty is now ranked 15 in the world for veterinary science, and 28 for agriculture.

Melbourne Veterinary School researcher and tutor Christina Marth received the Dairy Australia Award at the ABARES Outlook 2018 conference for research to help producers identify cows that may have difficulty falling pregnant.

The Gili Islands, a growing tourist destination, lie just off the coast off Bali. Part of their appeal lies in the fact that there is no motorised transport.

With an employment rate near 90 per cent for graduates, there’s a career for everyone in agriculture.

Professor Anna Meredith will assume the role of Head of the Melbourne Veterinary School in July 2018.

The Goulburn Valley Equine Hospital has been purchased by the University of Melbourne to enhance the clinical experience in equine medicine, surgery and reproduction for students completing the internationally recognised Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program.

A new research project aims to reduce food waste while decreasing the economic and environmental cost of lamb and sheep meat production.

Whether you are a student, farmer, corporate person, or policy maker, you are most likely aware that the Earth is changing, and not always for the better. Take the rise of the Earth’s global surface temperature since 1880 through today as an example. Our Earth is “redder” and “most of the warming has occurred in the past 35 years”.

Tony O'Donnell explained the unusual character of Western Australia's Yilgarn Craton – one of the world’s oldest land masses and the site of the state's wheat belt – and its effects on the soil microbiology in the 2017 Professor G.W. Leeper Memorial Lecture. Listen to the lecture below.

Three staff of the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Melbourne have been promoted to full professor.

The "Bertie" 2016 Shiraz, made by students under the supervision of experienced viticulturists at the Dookie campus winery, has taken the gold medal at the 2017 Rutherglen Wine Show.

An internship is an opportunity for both the company and the intern. That has been the lesson for both Lisa Boyle, a senior scientist in Mondelēz Australia's Consumer Science division, and her intern-turned-employee, Mei Kuang.

On 27 September 2017, a dynamic panel of experts explored whether food labelling could help create more sustainable food systems through case studies of food labelling for sustainably sourced fish, free range animal products and products containing palm oil.

In a new project, staff at the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, will collaborate with Indonesian poultry experts to develop diagnostic technologies that can be transferred from the Faculty into Indonesian laboratories.

Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor Robin Gasser gave a well-attended Dean’s Lecture on Thursday 26 October at Trinity College Gateway Building, titled Molecular Biology of Parasites and its Implications.

The Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences hosted a community open day at the Dookie campus on Wednesday 18 October 2017 to engage the local community, industry and stakeholders in the Goulburn Valley.

A $63 million redevelopment will enhance facilities for pet treatment and training for future veterinarians at the University of Melbourne’s U-Vet Werribee Animal Hospital and Werribee campus.

Alumnus Adrian Utter finds treasure underground.

Over 70 people attended a seminar day on investment in agriculture hosted by the Mackinnon Project at the University of Melbourne’s Werribee campus on 28 September.

In this DC Blood Oration, Professor Michael Lairmore, the Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine at University of California - Davis, examines how an emerging approach termed One Health is uniting veterinarians, physicians, scientists, and other health and environmental professionals to address complex problems that recognise the vast interrelationships between human, animal and environmental health.

The Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences hosted key agricultural stakeholders on Tuesday 22 August to provide an update on the new Bachelor of Agriculture and seek support for further industry engagement in the curriculum.

Staff in the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences were successful in four Learning and Teaching Initiative (LTI) grant applications in the 2017 round.

Professor Robin Gasser has been awarded the title of Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor for his outstanding contribution to research at the University of Melbourne.

The Board of the Animal Welfare Science Centre (AWSC) is pleased to announce that Professor Andrew Fisher has accepted its invitation to become Director and is confident the Centre will continue to thrive and grow in esteem under his leadership.

They are the figures behind the Faculty’s important research work. Marshall Lightowlers, Robin Gasser and Rebecca Traub and their teams have worked for years to develop effective treatments and strategies to control parasites. Each of them has a distinctive story.

Alumni from the Faculty's Melbourne Veterinary School and School of Agriculture and Food received Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Over 40 University of Melbourne Bachelor of Veterinary Science (BVSc) and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) alumni met in Melbourne for a reception during the 2017 AVA Annual Conference

A new research centre led by University of Melbourne scientists aims to solve the challenges pollution and soil degradation poses to food production around the world.

A family’s commitment to helping others has enabled a young student to focus on her studies

Dr Julie Barnes always liked working with Australian animals, but these days, she's concentrating on conserving endangered North American species.

Two breadth subjects at the University cover a fair bit of beer-making and drinking territory, with help from alumni Paul and Natasha Holgate.

Dr Stephen Cutter and Dr Ella Richardson run The Ark animal hospital in Darwin, treating over 1000 wildlife cases a year.

The Cain siblings drew inspiration from the wine industry in their journey from paddock to plate.