Centre for Plant and Water Science

Message from the Director

Welcome.

You have arrived at the web pages of the Centre for Plant and Water Science at CQUniversity Australia, and we hope that you will be rewarded through your browsing.

Our centre's aim is to undertake research, post-graduate training and undergraduate teaching in the water and plant sciences, and to do this effectively we draw upon a number of full-time academic and research only staff, a healthy number of higher degree students, an enthusiastic complement of technical and administrative staff, and many volunteers too.

The tangible outputs of our endeavours are put on the www and are open for scrutiny, and we welcome comments, suggestions and of course compliments. We have a focus on the tropical environment given our geographic locations, but we undertake basic research as befits the expectations of an academic institution.

We are home to research that developed the commercial use of NIRS for non-invasive fruit quality assessment, of simple filters for waste and saline water treatment and for research that led to the approval by FSANZ of the use of steviol glycosides [from Stevia rebaudiana, a plant with natural sweeteners] as intense sweeteners in foodstuffs. Ongoing projects with commercial potential include amongst others the use of the beauty leaf tree as a biodiesel resource, of aeration of irrigation water for drip irrigation systems, of organic hydroponics using vermiculture and the definition of biochar properties for defined uses as filters and soil amendments.

Web pages are always in a state of flux, and ours are no exception, so bear with us as we continuously update the information contained herein. Should you be looking for something that you cannot find, do not hesitate to contact us.

Happy browsing.

Prof David J Midmore                                                    

Director of the Centre for Plant and Water Science and
Foundation Professor of Plant Sciences