DR Samantha Edley hasn’t even been in her AgVic harness for a year but she’s already hard at work in orchards alongside northwest Victoria’s commercial almond producers.
As a key part of integrated pest management research to ensure Victoria’s almond industry remains competitive and resilient.
Dr Edley said IPM research follows a lab-to-field pipeline, which incorporates field work starting with small scale trials on AgVic SmartFarms, before running larger trials in commercial orchards.
She said the key is getting the message to everyone, everywhere.
“Being able to work alongside our partners in government, industry, academia and research institutions enables us to keep the wider industry at the cutting edge to better address the economic, environmental and other challenges it faces,” Dr Edley said.
“Much of Agriculture Victoria’s almond IPM research is working directly alongside growers in their commercial orchards.
“We always make sure we work closely with growers and the Almond Board Australia in designing and running field trials, so it is compatible with their day-to-day orchard management operations, ensuring we have their agreement to conduct the specific research that we’re intending to do.”
Dr Edley said the AgVic team plans its field or lab work well in advance, and make sure industry and individual growers are happy with the approach.
She also said field work usually lasts for several weeks or months over a season, depending on the questions being asked, and then may take several years if the researchers need to corroborate their findings.
“Before going into the field, we ensure we have all equipment ready and familiarise ourselves with the area, identifying locations we need to visit, and carrying out all appropriate OHS,” Dr Edley added.
“When you look at the lab-to-field pipeline, for example in the development of the carpophilus lure, the lure was designed using specialised equipment at Agribio (electrophysiology and GC-MS analysis) and tested in wind tunnels in the lab before the crucial fieldwork evaluating its effectiveness.
“Field work might start with small scale trials on our SmartFarms before running larger trials in commercial orchards.
“It’s vital to us that growers and industry are kept informed about what we’re doing and what our latest findings are.
“We also stay in close communication with the ABA, and also publish regularly in industry publications, as well as attending grower workshops and conferences (such as the Australian Almond Conference) to present our findings and get feedback from industry.”
The entomologist joined the AgVic research team in Mildura in July last year as a senior research scientist to work predominantly on the Hort Innovation almond integrated pest management project alongside senior research scientist – insect ecology and management of orchard pests David Madge.
They are undertaking field trials, lab testing, insect identifications and extension, across all aspects of the project, with a focus on almond carpophilus beetle and carob moth.
Originally from the UK, Dr Edley undertook a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in zoology and a Masters (MSc) degree in environmental management at Aberystwyth University in Wales before spending the next few years at the Natural History Museum in London working on parasitoid wasp taxonomy.
Completing a PhD in agricultural entomology at the University of Melbourne, she signed on at Cesar Australia, working on pests in grains with a focus on canola, where her research mostly involved aphids, their associated natural enemies, and their ability to transmit viruses.
It was after this when she moved to Mildura – which she had never seen – bringing with her a wealth of enthusiasm and new expertise in applied entomology and taxonomy to the almond IPM project.
