The TNQ Hub is pleased to announce the names and provide the research abstracts of four James Cook University students that are being awarded scholarship funding to support their drought resilience research during 2023.

Students were asked to submit their research topic and discuss how it aligned with the TNQ Hub priorities to ensure it would contribute to the current and future agricultural needs of Tropical North Queensland.

As part of their scholarship milestones, students will be providing summary reports/videos and overviews of any identified practical applications that can be shared with the sector and industry representatives.

The scholarships are proudly funded by the Transformational Agricultural Systems Program and facilitated by the Building Human Capacity Program.

• Elora Baird – Research Topic: Systematic interrogation of groundwater sampling techniques, equipment, and analytics to constrain their impact on water metrics and refine best practice sampling for North Queensland. Academic Supervisor: Dr Brandon Mahan

• Damon Colman – Research Topic: The effects of beef stocking strategies on ant community composition and seed removal in northern Australia: a study from the Wambiana experiment. Academic Supervisors: Professor Susan Laurance and Dr. Peter Yeeles

• Fredrick Holden – Research Topic: Carbon dioxide removal and sugarcane yield improvement through enhanced weathering of basalt in acidic soil. Academic Supervisor: Associate Professor Paul Nelson
• Jacob Vallely – Research Topic: Bush food enterprises and business opportunities for Indigenous community development. Academic Supervisor: Professor Rosita Henry