WANTFA is excited to welcome Curtin University professor Mark Gibberd to the board in 2016.
Professor Gibberd, a director of the Curtin University and GRDC supported Centre for Crop and Disease Management (CCDM), said his decision to join the WANTFA board came from his respect for the organisation, what it had achieved over its 25 years and what it had the potential to still achieve.
Born in the Wheatbelt town of Quairading, and having maintained strong links with regional WA, Professor Gibberd said he had fond memories of WANTFA.
"I have watched the establishment of no-till practices and conservation farming in Western Australia with a great deal of respect for the way WANTFA has facilitated the industry to make change," Professor Gibberd said.
"It's a model of enormous success, probably one of the best, and a great example of how an idea can become new practice if it's industry-driven and communicated well."
Professor Gibberd completed his degree in agricultural science at UWA and went on to complete his PhD on ecophysiology in pastures in 1997.
Following that he worked at CSIRO in a post-doctoral position in agronomy and physiology of large-scale irrigated agricultural production.
From 1998 Professor Gibberd moved across to the CSIRO in Mildura working on issues farmers had in the Murray-Darling Region, including water use efficiency in viticulture and other crops.
He also ended up managing the CSIRO's Post Harvest Horticulture Group, a role which included the commercialisation of research project outputs.
"This was an interesting time," Professor Gibberd said.
"It involved interacting with a broad range of companies as we commercialised new discoveries through patents, industry development trials and shipments."
Professor Gibberd decided to return to WA in 2004 to be closer to family and so he took up the new leadership position at Curtin University's Centre for Wine Excellence at Margaret River.
In this role he continued his work on industry-focused research with an emphasis on water and wine quality.
Professor Gibberd agreed to take on the leadership role of head of department for the Department of Environment and Agriculture in 2010.
"This was a period of rapid change in agriculture and agribusiness programs at Curtin, since then the undergraduate teaching and research programs have grown rapidly," he said.
"Our strategy was to prioritise our research effort, which meant we stopped doing some things and focused more on crop disease management, agronomy and agribusiness.
"With strong support from GRDC we initiated and built the CCDM from existing strength in the Australian Centre for Necrotrophic Fungal Pathogens (ACNFP) and co-investment from Curtin in people and physical infrastructure."
Professor Gibberd said there was a huge opportunity for WANTFA to continue to contribute to key areas of research in WA.
"WANTFA has in many ways met many of its initial challenges but there are always new challenges left to face," he said.
"Looking ahead I think WANTFA needs to look at potential areas of new impact and continue to work together with industry to make further change, and I'm looking forward to being a part of that process."
