Dianne Davidson, commonly known as Di Davidson, is an Australian agricultural scientist and author. Di is the current Chair of the South Australian Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board.

Career

The primary focus of Di's career has been

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

, culminating in her authorship of two books: ''A Guide to Growing Winegrapes in Australia'' (1992) and ''The Business of Vineyards'' (2001). She owns properties at Langhorne Creek and in the Adelaide Hills and manages a consultancy firm called Davidson Consulting. Di has served on a number of boards throughout her career. Previously she has been a director Horticulture Australia Limited, which manages research and development funding for Australia's horticultural sector, and has also served on the Premier's Climate Change Council in South Australia. She has worked closely on water policy reform since 2006, having served as a member of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority for 9 years, with responsibility for crafting the Basin Plan, and being a Presiding Member of the former South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resources Management Board in 2019-20. Di has had strong involvement in higher education administration. She has been a Fellow of both the

Australian Academy of Technological Sciences The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) is a learned academy that helps Australians understand and use technology to solve complex problems. It was founded in 1975 as one of Australia's then four learned academies (now five) ...

and the Australian Institute of Agriculture, Science and Technology. She was a councillor of the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

for 12 years, four of which she was Deputy Chancellor. In 2015, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her services to the wine industry, horticulture management, and higher education administration.

Education

Di obtained her Bachelor of Agricultural Science Degree from the University of Adelaide in 1969. She holds a Master of Science from

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairn ...

where she previously worked in the

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

department. She also holds a Graduate Diploma in

Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

from the

South Australian Institute of Technology The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...

. She was a student of

Seymour College (I will grow by serving) , established = 1922 , type = Independent, single-sex, day & boarding , denomination = Uniting Churchpreviously Presbyterian Church of Australia , slogan ...

where she later served on the Board in her adulthood.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Di Academic staff of James Cook University Living people Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Year of birth missing (living people)