Wine 2030 Researcher
Dr Cameron Grant

Current position

Lecturer

Special Expertise

• Soil physics, soil and water conservation, soil water management.
• Collaborator in Project UAD25: Long-term sustainability of precision irrigation

Academic and Industry Interests

My research is broadly in the area of soil physics. It deals with how soils store and transmit water for plant use. I am particularly interested in using soil water retention curves and other physical attributes of viticultural soils (eg. penetrometer resistance, salt load, aeration status, etc) to predict limitations to water movement in the root zone. Postgraduate students are currently evaluating my model-predictions of soil water availability by measuring real-plant response to soil physical limitations. Our work will lead to more efficient soil water management in vineyards and thus contribute to greater sustainability of the wine industry.

Awards, recognitions and societal memberships

• Editorial Board, Soil & Tillage Research, since 2004.
• Member, Australian Society of Soil Science Inc (ASSSI), since 1985.
• Certified Professional Soil Scientist, CPSS Stage 3. Member of CPSS Accreditation Board.
• President of ASSSI 2002-2004.
• Convener of 2006 ASSSI National Soils Conference, run jointly with the Australasian Soil & Plant Analysis Council, and the Australian Clay Minerals Society
• Member, International Soil Tillage Research Organization (ISTRO) since 1988.
• Member, International Union of Soil Science (IUSS) since 1986.

Current Research

Three main projects in progress at present:

• An overseas colleague and I are developing a model to predict the soil hydraulic conductivity function from the water retention curve. This will provide tools to better understand the supply of available water in soils as they drain and become drier.
• One postgraduate student is using plant response to various (imposed) water stresses to develop weighting functions to help predict soil water availability from the water retention curve.
• Another postgraduate student is using soil physical measurements to predict water availability in soils as they are reclaimed from a saline state. He is using plants to evaluate the predictions and to suggest better reclamation strategies to bring saline soils back into horticultural production.

Contact Details

Dr Cameron Grant