Announcing the 2026 Crawford-in-QLD International Engagement Awards
May 6, 2026
The QLD Committee for the Crawford Fund for Food Security supports targeted training and mentoring of overseas scientists and extension officers in QLD’s near region, by experienced QLD counterparts working on similar agricultural research challenges. This year, they are proud to announce four International Engagement Awards to researchers in Biosecurity Queensland at the Queensland Department of Primary Industries (QDPI), in CSIRO Agriculture & Food, and in the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) at the University of Queensland (UQ).
“The diverse activities undertaken through these four awards will see collaboration with scientists, technicians and students at the Biodiversity Agency of New Caledonia (ANCB), the Solomon Islands National University (SINU), the Fijian Ministry of Agriculture, Waterways & Sugar Industry (FMAWSI), the Fiji National University (FNU) and the University of the South Pacific (USP)” said Professor Bob Lawn, honorary coordinator of the Crawford Fund QLD Committee.
“Supporting QLD scientists to work with scientists from our near region not only promotes technology exchange and collaborative research, it is a win-win approach that also strengthens QLD expertise and delivers direct and indirect benefits to QLD industry through enhanced knowledge of regional food security challenges including biosecurity risks,” said Professor Lawn.
“We are very pleased to have experienced researchers ready to share their expertise and broaden their networks by delivering these training and mentoring opportunities. We congratulate the successful applicants receiving these highly competitive awards,” he said.
The four 2026 Crawford-in-QLD International Engagement Awards are:
Mr Jason Callander, Senior Scientist and his colleague Mr David Comben, in Invasive Plants & Animals at Biosecurity Queensland, QDPI have received an award for their activity Sharing and building biological control expertise in Fiji and Queensland to work with FMAWSI colleagues from the Koronivia Research Station in Fiji. The Plant Protection Section at FMAWSI is expanding its weed biological control program and is keen to have mentorship from the more established QDPI research group. The project will include reciprocal visits to Australia and Fiji.
In Brisbane, the Fijian researchers will visit QDPI biological control facilities at the Ecosciences Precinct in Dutton Park to receive hands-on training in culturing, rearing, and host-testing of insect and fungal biological control agents. Methods and protocols will be compared and refined through joint discussion. For their part, the QLD scientists are keen to visit Fiji to review Fijian progress in controlling Miconia crenata (Koster’s curse) a fast-growing, invasive shrub severely impacting rainforests, pastures and plantations in part of QLD. Eradication in QLD has been deemed not feasible, and the species has been approved as a biocontrol target. In Fiji, Liothrips urichi was successfully released as a control agent in the 1930s with no reported non-target effects despite the presence of related species.
Mr Jason Callander, also received a second award to work with his colleague Zachary Shortland for their proposed activity Building biological control capacity for invasive cactus management in New Caledonia. This activity aims to strengthen biological control capacity of the ANCB in New Caledonia for invasive cactus management. The ANCB has identified prickly pear (Opuntia spp.) as a priority invasive cactus species within the National Invasive Species Strategy coordinated by the ANCB and has sought support to strengthen biological control capacity by building capability to safely import, rear, release, and monitor cochineal agents, in partnership with QDPI.
The activity will focus on experiential learning and a “train-the-trainer” approach with mentoring to support the co-development of quarantine and rearing capability, as well as operational protocols required for the safe importation, rearing, release, and monitoring of cactus biological control agents, particularly cochineal. Training will be delivered through reciprocal visits and in-country mentoring, ensuring approaches are practical and appropriate for local facilities and conditions. For their part, the QDPI researchers are keen to develop a better understanding of the phylogeny of Opuntia spp. by accessing the biological diversity available in New Caledonia. By strengthening institutional capability and regional collaboration, the project aims to deliver durable benefits for invasive cactus management in New Caledonia and QLD, supporting long-term agricultural productivity, biodiversity protection, and regional food security.
Dr Alison Kelly, Senior Research Fellow in Statistics with QAAFI based at Warwick and a UQ PhD student colleague will deliver a training course in statistics at Fiji National University in Suva in her project Building Capability in Data Analytics for Crop Research in the Pacific Islands. Participants in the training course will include students from the University of the South Pacific and Fiji National University including post-graduate students enrolled in the Pacific Agriculture Scholarships, Support and Climate Resilience (PASS-CR) program, which is funded by ACIAR, and draws students from several Pacific Island nations.
The participants in the training course are the region’s research and development staff of the future and the training aims to empower them with the statistical knowledge to produce high quality agricultural research by providing formal statistical training and one-on one consultations. There are also spin-off benefits for QLD: improving the statistical rigour and quality of tropical agriculture research coming from the South Pacific region ensures that QLD growers and industry are provided with scientifically valid information. This training will also develop and strengthen collaborative linkages between UQ, ACIAR, USP and FNU.
Dr Dianne Mayberry, Principal Research Scientist with CSIRO Food in Brisbane has received an award for her proposal Building nutrition laboratory capacity in Solomon Islands livestock teams which aims to strengthen the analytical capacity of SINU livestock and aquaculture research groups to assess the nutritional value of local feed resources being used in pig, poultry and aquaculture production. Growth of the Pacific region’s small livestock and aquaculture industries is constrained by access to nutritious and affordable feed resources.
Researchers from CSIRO and SINU, with support from the SI Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, are conducting a regional feedbase assessment to understand how local feed resources are being used in pig, poultry and aquaculture production, to formulate cost-effective and nutritionally balanced diets for smallholder farmers based on currently available ingredients, and to prioritise future research activities to fill feed gaps and develop a local feed processing industry. In this activity, three SINU scientists will visit CSIRO nutrition laboratories in Brisbane and Bribie Island where they will receive hands on training in safe, best-practise laboratory processes, nutritional analyses using several methods and instruments, animal feed manufacturing and documentation of results.
