Allison is a post-doctoral research fellow with PEB currently working on an International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP) project. The project looks at the energy use efficiency of a plant to establish if it is possible to divert energy used for growth into yield.
“My role in this project has been to perform extensive phenotyping experiments as well as construct a genetic map to determine the regions of the genome that may be involved the plant energy use, and how we can use this to improve wheat’s ability to divert energy from biomass and into yield.”
Allison is also involved with other research falling within her speciality of wheat genetics, such as improving salinity tolerance of wheat for Australian soils.
“Since starting with PEB I have been fortunate to receive 2 South Australian Grains Industry Trust (SAGIT) grants, in 2017 and 2018. These grants are being used to develop a Recombinant Inbred Line population which will be screened using high throughput phenotyping under salinity stress as well as develop a genetic map to determine QTL for tolerance.”
A focus on using science to benefit farmers comes as a natural extension of Allison’s childhood growing up in a farming family.
“I grew up in Mildura in the upper North West of Victoria on the Murray River, on the border of New South Wales and only one hour from South Australia. Being a part of a farming family I hope that the research we do as scientists will make a difference so the prosperity of Australian farming can continue.”
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