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Dr Meredith Leigh Mitchell an Australian
Dr Meredith Leigh Mitchell an Australian agronomist
An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...
. She is a Senior Research Scientist with the Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries
The Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) was a state government department responsible for protecting the environment, boosting productivity in Victoria's food and fibre sector, management of natural resources and managing wate ...
.
Career
Mitchell has worked for the Department of Environment and Primary Industries and been based atRutherglen
Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...
for the last 25 years. She is a pasture
Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...
agronomist and her research has focused on the selection of native grass cultivar
A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...
s for agricultural systems and the management of existing native pastures. Mitchell was part of the successful LIGULE native grass selection project, from which six native grass cultivars have been released.
Mitchell has participated in a number of multi-disciplinary teams, collaborating with agricultural scientists from different state departments and universities throughout Australia. This research has involved national germplasm
Germplasm are living genetic resources such as seeds or tissues that are maintained for the purpose of animal and plant breeding, preservation, and other research uses. These resources may take the form of seed collections stored in seed banks, tr ...
by environment trials on a range of both native (NLIGN) and introduced species
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...
. Mitchell was part of the CRC for Plant Based Management of Dryland Salinity and part of the Future Farm Industries CRC.
Mitchell has published an identification book on native grasses, which is currently in its third edition, and has co-authored two book chapters on native pastures.
Mitchell received her PhD in 2013 from Charles Sturt University
Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain Charles Napier Sturt, a British explorer w ...
. The research focused on Microlaena ('' Microlaena stipoides var. stipoides'') a native perennial grass that is widespread in native pastures of the temperate high rainfall zone (> 550 mm AAR) of south-eastern Australia. The thesis addressed the underlying ecology of the species and examines those attributes which allow it to be sustained and increased in grazed native pastures. A greater understanding of species ecology will allow better optimisation of its contribution to the provision of feed and ground cover
Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows over an area of ground. Groundcover provides protection of the topsoil from erosion and drought.
In an ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as t ...
. To undertake this postgraduate training, Mitchell was supported by a scholarship from Charles Sturt University, a top up scholarship from FFI CRC and a DPI postgraduate award. Mitchell also received a Fellowship from AW Howard Memorial Trust.
Mitchell was a Proof site leader on the EverGraze project.Mitchell M. EverGraze – Chiltern Grazing Experiment. 2013 6 May 2014 Available from: http://www.evergraze.com.au/library-content/chiltern-grazing-experiment/. EverGraze is seeking to develop new farming systems for the high rainfall zone (>550 mm) based on deep rooted perennial pastures that significantly increase wool and livestock producers' profits, while stabilising or enhancing natural resource management (NRM) outcomes. This research has focused on the effects of grazing management on the production, botanical composition and nutritive characteristics of perennial native pastures using a breeding merino
The Merino is a breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monopoly; exports of the bree ...
ewes.
References