POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES WITH SRA - HANNAH GREEN

POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

WITH SRA

To help encourage young scientists into our industry, SRA makes available a number of Sugar Industry Postgraduate Research Scholarships (SPRS) every year, undertaken at Australian universities and institutions for postgraduate research study.

SRA is currently supporting Hannah Green, Ian Peterson and Angela O’Keeffe. Cane Matters checked in with these students to find out what drew them to the work and how their research is tracking.

Graduating with a Bachelor of Advanced Science, Hannah had majored in Earth Science, Zoology and Ecology with a strong focus on advanced statistics and ecological modelling. Research was always going to be the next step.

“I'm really passionate about living and working in the tropics; and as sugarcane is one of the major agricultural industries up here and lots of people depend on it, I’m especially keen to understand more about it,’ she said.

Hannah explains that one main part of her PhD research is the potential for mill by-products to be used as materials for enhanced weathering, a technique to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in the soil; and potentially move it from the soil and store it in the ocean.

“This technique has been previously investigated with mined rocks like basalt. And there have been suggestions that mill by-products like mill-ash could be used to achieve the same results,” she said.

Hannah is only six months into her research, currently leading up to her PhD confirmation and planning her schedule for the next three years but she has already carried out some exciting work.

“I've collected samples of mill-ash from different regions and I've measured a range of chemical and physical properties,” she said. “And I’m parameterising these models that have previously been used to assess the carbon dioxide removal potential of basalt, and so through that we'll be able to compare the potential of mill-ash – I'm excited to be able to do that so soon in my project.

“I treat my research just like a job, coming to work every day. Being awarded scholarships like this one from SRA takes a lot of the pressure off financially and lets me focus on the work that I need to do.

“I’m also getting a lot of first-hand invaluable advice. One of my PhD supervisors is also a Wilmar staff member and I’ve had help accessing their field trials.”

Hannah hopes that one day her work will form the basis for establishing the use of mill-by products for a carbon sequestration technique.

“Maybe a carbon credit scheme for cane growers,” she said. “If we can prove that it is feasible, then that would be really exciting.

“In the future, my goal is to work as a research scientist in the fields of agricultural and soil science. I want my research to be applied and to contribute to improved productivity, efficiency, profit and environmental outcomes for Australian agriculture. I specifically hope to strengthen the major industries in North Queensland, which is home for me and my family.”

Mill ash and mud have high potential to sequester carbon through enhanced weathering better than basalt, due to their liming effects. These products are known to be beneficial for crop growth. However, little is known about their effects on soil including their liming and carbon sequestration abilities.

One outcome of this project will be a carbon sequestration methodology. Additional outcomes for the sugar industry include improved runoff water quality through increased nutrient use efficiency and increased crop productivity through improved nutrient supply.

Hannah Green