A research scientist and a beef extension specialist are the two relatively new ARS members to benefit from Australian Rangeland Society Grants for 2020.

Douglas Lawton, an ARS member in the USA, is an Environmental Life Sciences PhD student at the Arizona State University. His studies focus on human-insect-plant interactions in agricultural landscapes. Currently, Douglas is investigating the ecological causes of Australian plague locust swarms in Australia. His primary research question is ‘How does landscape structure degradation impact locust outbreaks?’ With this scholarship from the Australian Rangeland Society, Douglas will be able to uncover potential mechanisms connecting land degradation with abundance and distribution of Australian plague locust outbreaks.

Lindsey Perry is a beef extension officer with the Qld Dept of Agriculture & Fisheries in Cloncurry. After seeing the large numbers of weaner cattle that are moved between properties across northern Australia on an annual basis, Lindsey is keen to quantify the effects of this practice on herd production and business profitability.  This will form the basis of a conference paper ‘Optimising herd production across dissimilar properties and beef businesses in northern Australia – is transferring weaners between properties profitable?’ Lindsey will use this travel grant to take her paper to the 2020 International Grassland and Rangeland Congress in Kenya.

The Australian Rangeland Society Council congratulates Douglas and Lindsey on obtaining their scholarship and travel grant respectively, and wishes them every success with their future pursuits in the rangelands. Look for updates from Douglas and Lindsey in future editions of the Range Management Newsletter.

Latest information on ARS Grants can be found here.  Note, applications close end of November each year.