Murdoch University’s new students. (L to R) Pushpendra Koli, Tracy Gu, Jason Gao and Han Yi Tao flanked by their supervisors, Dr Manjree Agarwal and Professor Yonglin Ren.
By Jeff Russell, WA Grains Biosecurity Officer
Over the last year, Murdoch University’s Post Harvest Laboratory has become home to four new research graduates who will be shedding light on a variety of issues impacting the Australian grains industry.
Jason Gao moved to Australia in 2015 with his family to study in preparation to attending university. He completed his tertiary studies in Crop and Pasture Science at Murdoch University with a focus on entomology, and started working on a master’s degree in early 2021.
Jason is investigating methods to fumigate grains using ethyl formate to control red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum), lesser grain borer (Rhyzopertha dominica) and weevils (e.g. Sitophilus oryzae). Flammability issues can occur when using ethyl formate at high concentrations. This is especially a problem when higher concentrations are required to control grain pests like weevils.
After completing a Master of Food Science at the University of Melbourne, Han Yi Tao moved to Western Australia in December 2020 to continue his study.
He is investigating the use of labelled stable isotopes as a unique marker or fingerprint to trace seed and grain related products, focusing on developing methods to trace products back to the farm. In this project, he will also be looking at using artificial intelligence to assist with modelling and data analysis.
Pushpendra Koli arrived last year at Murdoch University from India after completing his bachelor and master’s degrees and working for four years as a research scientist. He started study for his PhD in March 2020, looking at how annual ryegrass toxicity arises, and the chemical communication that takes place between the plant, nematode and bacteria involved.
This work has implications related to biosecurity and access to overseas markets for hay from Western Australia. So far, Pushpendra has collected plant samples from farms and is identifying the associated bacteria and nematodes.
After emigrating from China to Perth with her family in 2014, Tracy Gu completed high school and then a Bachelor of International Business and a Master of Biosecurity from Murdoch University.
Tracy is now embarking on a PhD that is a continuation of her master’s study, looking at the use of ethyl formate to control flat grain beetles (Crypotolestes spp.). Cryptolestes beetles can have a high level of resistance to phosphine, so this work is looking at using an alternate fumigant in situations where high resistance occurs. Tracy will also be working on residue and metabolite analysis of grains, post fumigation.