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CeRDI Newsletter Spring 2023

Message from the Director

Professor Helen Thompson  

Professor
Helen Thompson

 
   

Stories to mark CeRDI’s 25-year anniversary feature heavily in this newsletter.

From humble but defined beginnings in 1998, our Centre has grown to be one of the most successful research Centres at Federation University.

Hard work, passion and commitment to research and technology are at the core of our success. I am delighted to have led CeRDI over so many years, supporting our development and expansion towards new opportunities in technology and eResearch. These have moulded CeRDI to what it is today: a successful research centre of national and international reputation.

The stories in this issue document some of the history of CeRDI, our projects and team. It’s great to reflect, celebrate and together, with our partners, showcase and commemorate this important anniversary.

As usual we also include updates and commentary about new projects which includes The Yarrowee River: Peel to Prest project with David Waldron, Senior Lecturer in History at Federation University, and the Soil Indicators project which is supported by the Soil CRC (Cooperative Research Centre for High Performance Soils).

It is on this celebratory note that I share this newsletter - the final issue for 2023. We wish you all the very best for the festive season and we look forward to reconnecting with you early in 2024.


Professor Helen Thompson
Director, CeRDI

December 2023

 
 

 

CERDI 25 YEAR ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

CeRDI 25: A story of growth and success

CeRDI 25: A story of growth and success  
   

CeRDI is a thriving Research Centre, one of six across Federation University, and certainly one of the most successful. Its history spans 25 years, from small but important beginnings, to a research Centre of national acclaim and with a robust reputation for innovative research and technology. CeRDI’s ‘can do’ attitude provides the foundation from which new opportunities for research - across a range of key industries and core partnerships - has led to its ongoing success, evident, more than ever in the CeRDI of today.

A timeline has been developed to mark CeRDI’s achievements, celebrating many milestones since 1998. The timeline is available via our website: https://www.cerdi.edu.au/CeRDI25#timeline

 


CeRDI 25: 5 of our best projects

CeRDI 25: 5 of our best projects  
   

We’re commencing a series of stories to demonstrate the unique and important research and technology achievements that have occurred throughout CeRDI’s eResearch journey. 

In this issue we present five projects, showcasing a little about each project and what has made them so successful, and highlighting the progressive expansion of skills linked to research and technology.


CeRDI 25: A new professor and an enduring team

Professor Helen Thompson presenting at CeRDI 25-year anniversary forum  

Professor Helen Thompson presenting at
CeRDIs 25-year anniversary forum

 
   

CeRDI success is demonstrated through the sustained growth of the CeRDI team. Much like the Centre itself, the CeRDI team has grown and evolved, resulting in a unique team of multidisciplinary researchers, research support staff and technologists. All have contributed to the successes of the Centre.

CeRDI Director, Helen Thompson, and Technical Manager, Andrew MacLeod, both joined the Centre in 1999. Although commencing on short-term contracts, they spearheaded many of the subsequent projects that became the hallmark of the Centre’s contribution and achievements and often introduced new technologies to support organisations that had the interests of community in focus.


CeRDI 25: Celebrating CeRDI

Associate Professor Peter Dahlhaus presenting at CeRDIs 25-year anniversary forum  

Associate Professor Peter Dahlhaus presenting at
CeRDIs 25-year anniversary forum

 
   

In November, CeRDI’s 25-year anniversary was commemorated with a special forum showcasing research and technology achievements over the years. The forum included participation from industry partners, senior leadership at Federation, the CeRDI team and members of the Federation University community.

Guest speakers presenting at the forum included: Keith Russell, Director Outreach, Australian Research Data Commons; Bret Ryan, CEO Southern Farming Systems; Chris Pitfield, Investigations & Program Development Manager, Corangamite Catchment Management Authority; and Dr Michael Crawford, CEO, Soil CRC. Federation’s Prof Chris Hutchison and CeRDI’s Prof Helen Thompson, Assoc Prof Pete Dahlhaus and Dr Birgita Hansen each spoke about the Centre’s history and its research, data and technology achievements.

CeRDI’s anniversary will continue to be celebrated in different ways over the coming months. We’ll keep you posted about these through our socials, website, and our newsletter.

Details about the event and photos from the forum are available here: www.cerdi.edu.au/cb_pages/news/CeRDI-25-years.php.


CeRDI 25: Commemorative video

CeRDI 25: Commemorative video  

CeRDI 25-year anniversary video

 
   

A commemorative video has been produced to mark the Centre’s 25th anniversary.

The video showcases CeRDI, it’s staff and projects and features Helen Thompson and Pete Dahlhaus sharing the CeRDI story, from its earliest beginning to becoming a global leader in data interoperability. Some of the Centre’s many award-winning, web-based spatial information and knowledge portals are highlighted and celebrated in the video, shining a strong light on the centre’s achievements leading to the provision of public access for data sets often hidden from view.

Helping agricultural organisations and communities adopt new technologies is at CeRDI’s core. As  such, the video showcases CeRDI’s leadership across a range of projects and partnerships in digital agriculture. Similar approaches have also been applied widely across all our research themes, in areas including citizen science, the natural environment, and disaster preparedness and recovery. 

CeRDI aims to help organisations understand how new technologies can solve or make things easier in the real world. By applying eResearch and developing innovative digital solutions, the research centre’s expertise bridges the gap between academic research and government, industry and community needs.

To view the video: https://www.cerdi.edu.au/CeRDI25#videos

federation.edu.au/news/articles/bridging-the-gap-between-research-and-real-world-needs


Soil Indicators project: Making sense of soils

Soil Indicators project: Making sense of soils  
   

Farmers, agronomists and researchers are invited to participate in a project that looks at the factors influencing their decisions about soil indicators – the tools that evaluate soil performance and help farmers make informed decisions about soil health on their property.

Soil indicators are observations, assessments and measurements farmer-producers use to get essential information about the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils. These indicators help farmers understand how soil performs for different enterprises and regions.

Soil health plays a crucial role in the success of farming. While the application of soil indicators within agriculture is widespread, little is known about the factors farmers use to make decisions about soil indicators on their farms.


Latest news from Visualising Australasia’s Soils

Latest news from Visualising Australasia’s Soils  
   

Visualising Australasia’s Soils  (VAS) is providing farmers, agronomy practitioners, agricultural researchers and agribusinesses with place-based information via an online platform with access to data, information and knowledge on Australasian soils. The VAS web portal  facilitates the discovery and sharing of soils information, activities and research from Australia and New Zealand.

The VAS team recently circulated its latest newsletter  of project updates, information, and useful links:


Yarrowee River History: From Peel to Prest

Yarrowee River History: From Peel to Prest  
   

CeRDI has been working with Federation University historian Dr David Waldron on a web portal to map key points of cultural and historical interest along the Yarrowee River. The project, "Yarrowee River History: Peel to Prest", offers a comprehensive exploration of the historical and cultural significance associated with the Yarrowee River, encompassing the influences of the Wadawurrung Indigenous people and subsequent settlement.

The project was funded by the City of Ballarat and the Victoria Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub. It focuses on enhancing the environmental quality, local habitat, and overall enjoyment for residents and trail users. It supports opportunities for the telling the multifaceted and diverse histories along the linear stretch of the river, from Ballarat’s CBD to the beginning of the unchanneled river course.


CeRDI Writing Retreat

CeRDI Writing Retreat  

CeRDI Writing Retreat

 
   

A two-day writing retreat for CeRDI researchers was held in October to facilitate the preparation of research manuscripts. The retreat was held at the Ballarat-SMB campus of the University and attended by six staff and HDR students, including Aakansha Chadha, Alison Ollerenshaw, Ben Fest, Birgita Hansen, Nathan Robinson, and Pramod Gautam. Participants identified their writing goals prior to attendance and included substantial progress towards journal manuscripts.

Feedback from attendees following the event confirmed that all writing goals had either been achieved or significant progress made. Successful outcomes included:

•    One manuscript finalised and subsequently submitted for publication, another paper well progressed and the structure of two papers were developed with Introductions and a Method section completed.
•    Data cleaning tasks completed ready to write the final sections of a manuscript. 
•    Structures were in place for report writing translating to manuscript preparation.


Staff Profile: Richard MacEwan

Research Associate: Richard MacEwan  

Research Associate:
Richard MacEwan

 
   

Richard MacEwan is a soil scientist who carried out teaching and research on soils and land management in Victoria for 28 years before retiring in 2017. Richard has a BSc in Ecology from Edinburgh University (1973) and a MSc in Pedology and Soil Survey (Reading University 1986). Richard's Australian research began at Rutherglen Research Institute with a focus on subsoil drainage, waterlogging and soil structure management. This was followed by a 10-year stint coordinating the Graduate Diploma in Land Rehabilitation at the University of Ballarat (now Federation University). The time at Ballarat was seminal with many advances made by working in partnership with Peter Dahlhaus focussing on landscape hydrology, land degradation and land management. Returning to the Victorian Government in 2001 Richard worked with Nathan Robinson and others on soil and land survey, soil health and soil information. Richard has in depth understanding of soil quality and soil health as it relates to pedology, landscapes and land management practices. Richard lives on a small rural property near Bendigo on soils derived from the Harcourt granodiorite where he battles with rabbits and weeds on his mission to leave the land more ecologically enchanting than when he moved there in 2003. Richard was coaxed out of retirement in a part-time capacity by Peter Dahlhaus to help define practical applications of the data accessible through the Soil CRC Visualising Australasia’s Soils platform.
 


News snippets

Digital Agrifood Summit : CeRDI’s Gabi Ceregra was one of 40 experts participating in the Summit in Wagga Wagga in October, in which there were 450 delegates. Gabi was a panel respondent discussing how data sharing and knowledge can achieve industry ambition to become $100bn industry by 2030. Gabi also participated in a session about “Ambition into Action” which focused on examining how Australian Agriculture can turn ambition into action.  

Gabi is the Data Policy Manager in CeRDI. In this role she supports the Food Agility CRC and the National Farmers' Federation in increasing the uptake of digital technologies in agriculture, by putting in place appropriate data management policies and procedures to encourage trust and data sharing between farmers, ag tech business, and research. Rob Clark, PhD Candidate in CeRDI, also attended the Summit. The Conference wrap up available at: DAS23 Wrap Up: Money never moves - unless there’s profit to be made | Blog | Food Agility CRC 


HDR news

Recent Publications led by CeRDI PhD Candidate Peter Weir:

Weir, P., & Dahlhaus, P. In search of pragmatic soil moisture mapping at the field scale: A review. Smart Agricultural Technology, 6, 100330. doi.org/10.1016/j.atech.2023.100330 
 


About CeRDI

The Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation (CeRDI) is a research centre at Federation University Australia focused on:

  • the application of information and communications technology (ICT) and the development of innovative, world class knowledge management systems;
  • significantly advancing the digital literacy and knowledge management capabilities of partner organisations;
  • fostering partnerships for the development and implementation of eResearch with industry, government and academia; and
  • measuring the impact of eResearch and digital innovation through longitudinal research.

Contact CeRDI

For further details about CeRDI’s diverse portfolio of research please visit our website: www.cerdi.edu.au, or contact Director, Associate Professor Helen Thompson: h.thompson@federation.edu.au

Mailing Address

Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation
Federation University Australia
PO Box 691
Ballarat Vic 3353

Office Location

Suite 15, Greenhill Enterprise Centre
Ballarat Technology Park
University Drive
Mount Helen Vic 3350

Phone: +61 3 5327 9314
Email: support@cerdi.edu.au


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