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We're going behind the scenes to see and understand modern agriculture, because no matter whether you're in it or not, you probably don't know all the pieces to just how incredible, diverse and multi-layered agriculture is. We do this by uncovering the real stories, experiences and voices of modern agriculture.
Speaker 1 0:10
No, no, no, we've got one row Millie is obsessed with the football club. They we do not endorse them in any way, shape or form and they are not part of our conversation. Let's talk about Ivanka. Let's talk about future young leaders and our next feature young lady mil.
Unknown Speaker 0:26
Yes, here we go. Katya Tyler, from CSIRO. She's a postdoc, and welcome Cartier.
Unknown Speaker 0:33
Thanks. I really
Speaker 1 0:34
Hi, Oli. Hi, Katya. It's good to have you here. Tell us you've had two days pretty well of just worrying about the presentation. What's it like afterwards? Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 0:43
it feels good. keen to kind of focus on connecting with people. Now. There's been a lot of people come up to me after the talk as well. So want to capitalise on that? And yeah, just focus on those connections. Now.
Speaker 1 0:57
Have you got a few colleagues that you've never met that part of that CSRO stand? And
Unknown Speaker 1:01
there's a lot of CSIRO people here, like, I think 50 or something. So and I'm probably in the new 10 of the people that were coming there. Wow. Well, did you guys based in Canberra at the Black Mountain CSIRO site?
Speaker 1 1:14
Well, there you go. Yeah. Tony. So obviously, database, you spend a lot of your time research land. Yep. What you've been doing is probably if you're too young ladies, really into the communication space? Yeah. How's that transition been?
Unknown Speaker 1:26
I really enjoyed it. I think it's been super insightful, like going through that journey of how do you craft a story that a lot of people can access and kind of like coming from the science space, I guess, you know, we often just report on data. And that's sort of normal in science, like you go to a conference and you're very data heavy. So that probably would have been what I'd had done if I hadn't worked with Bryce. And, you know, and also presenting for agrifutures. Like, every time I did it, they were like, less science, please. Like it's not accessible enough. So yeah, it was just interesting, kind of getting that sweet spot between keeping the integrity of the science there. But then also being able to bring everybody in so that they could understand the science. I wanted to talk about such
Speaker 1 2:12
a skill now mill, you're in the audience. So you can tell us a little bit about what are your takeaways like what went from a let's talk, communications, not content, from a communications and in the audience perspective, what did you take away from Cardenas chat?
Unknown Speaker 2:24
Yeah, I think cardiac, you've probably had one of the most technical subjects out of all of us young leaders. And what I loved about yours is that you used a metaphor the whole way through, and you were speaking about things that I actually understood, like, I think you related it to like a crime show. And then you relate it to the spaghetti without the Bolognese sauce. And so whilst I'm sitting there going, Oh, my God, what is micro biomes? What is this carbon crop residue? I have no idea what she's saying. In that context, when you actually broke it down, I was able to follow. So firstly, well done, because that's far beyond me.
Unknown Speaker 2:58
What's the metaphor and analogy? Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 3:01
I've been struggling with this. Like it was an analogy or a metaphor, but I'm not really sure which one? Which one was
Unknown Speaker 3:09
really pretty me on this one.
Unknown Speaker 3:10
Let's call it a metaphor. It
Unknown Speaker 3:11
was a metaphorical analogy. Yeah. Oh, no, I
Unknown Speaker 3:17
hate that. Because that means that I'm correct.
Speaker 1 3:20
I think one of just practising my Spanish. Let's talk about, I guess, the area where you want to have impact. You're very scientific. Yeah. Wayanad.
Unknown Speaker 3:32
Can you tell
Speaker 1 3:35
this is interesting in climate and the role that agriculture has played? Like, from your perspective, like, Why do you care about the climate? Why is that something that you've decided to build a career around? Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 3:46
well, I guess that's what drew me to agriculture and research is I initially, was actually doing politics at university and then felt like I couldn't make a practical difference through politics. And so that's why I started doing science. And I think there's so many ways that we can apply science and technology to solve environmental issues. And I think definitely climate change is one of those environmental issues. So yeah, that's so why,
Unknown Speaker 4:13
like agriculture, in that research being the avenue to have impact for on issues like climate change and the environment,
Unknown Speaker 4:22
you went, Well, I think a lot of reasons, like one is if we're talking about managing our natural landscapes, you know, like 50% of our natural landscape is in farms. But also, I think agriculture is just a really interesting space where you have a lot of different issues intersecting like you have climate, you have biodiversity. You have a quality workforce, like it's just this fascinating space where everything is happening. And also we all eat, so it's sort of like, to me the most important industry.
Speaker 1 4:49
What do you reckon you've learned since you've been in CSR working in and around? I guess the specifics of what you guys do? Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 4:55
Well, I've been learning a lot about soil science. So I came from more of a A plant genetics background looking at the plant signalling pathway that controls route architecture and plant microbe interactions and it was sorry.
Speaker 1 5:15
Can you talk us through that a little bit more? Explain it like we're five years out. Okay.
Unknown Speaker 5:19
So yeah, my PhD research was basic research answering fundamental questions in biology, without a real sense of wanting to apply that to the real world. And the topic itself was looking at a signalling pathway, like, for example, you know, we have hormones in the human body. Plants also have hormones and signalling molecules. And so I was researching one specific pathway signalling pathway in plants. And it controls root architecture. So how deep the roots go, how wide they grow, whether or not they're sort of, yeah, shallow, like the angle that the roots come out that sort of thing, which is important in terms of nutrient acquisition from the soil and water acquisition.
Speaker 1 6:01
And then were you looking at, like, how you could potentially like genetically modify it to influence the structures of how those roots grow, whether it's down, across, up, etc?
Unknown Speaker 6:09
Well, yeah, like, I guess that's the idea is that one day that information could be useful for something like that. But also, it was a peptide signalling pathway. So a small proteinaceous soy protein molecule. So there's also potential for like, applying those peptides to plants. And I think I was in the biologicals panel directly after my talk. And Pam Marone. I think it was, she was saying that's definitely going to be an emerging space in the biologicals area is like a small RNAs or peptides as Yeah, biologicals. So, it definitely possible that it could lead to something like that. But in my case, it was, yeah, just basic research. So let's find out what this pathway is doing. And maybe one day it will be useful.
Unknown Speaker 6:54
Talking about like, I want to go back. So back to your own pathway. Do you feel that that that choice that you made to move out of that, I think was politics and economics? I think you were studying into science, agriculture, like has that been fulfilling for the impacts that you want to have? And what perhaps did you learn from those initial courses in politics that maybe has held you in good stead for this role? Now?
Unknown Speaker 7:18
Yeah, it's such a great question. I think, I really do love research. I love the intellectual freedom. And I love that, you know, you get to sort of try and answer a question and make a contribution in that way. But I think that science can be quite siloed from the rest of society, sometimes, like, we're often not part of the conversation. And you know, even when there's often research showing certain things, and it's just not adopted, because that something nobody's breached that sort of research to the rest of society gap. So I think I am really happy that I'm in research, but I would definitely like to continue yet trying to bridge that gap more and get good research findings out there to in the hands of the right people. Like, for example, the practice change that I talked about today, in my speech, like, you know, we've got pretty good data showing that at very little cost to the grower, you could build soil carbon from crop residues, and you wouldn't need to, you know, pay a company, anything for that. It's just a small practice change, and you could improve your soil health, and sort of make use of something that all growers have crop residues at the end of harvest, they've got this, this huge, massive crop residues that isn't really being used for anything except for soil cover, which is important. Yeah, so but that that research, I think, is hasn't widely been adopted yet. And our team is definitely sort of in the process of trying to go out to the field days, and disseminate that information and get it into the hands of what grows. As
Speaker 1 8:50
you're talking about that. I just think of Dr. Carl, and as maybe we need a Dr. Carl equivalent just for agriculture, because he is quite geeky, but he can take such complex things, but talk about it in ways which so many other people can understand. And I think that's where there's a huge gap in ag. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 9:05
that's so true. Definitely.
Unknown Speaker 9:07
Could you be the doctor? equivalent?
Unknown Speaker 9:08
Oh, definitely got the right first name. It's also okay starts with case.
Oli Le Lievre 9:16
The biological space, I would say it feels like only in the last few years, it's kind of, especially in agriculture coming in, but it's also the relationships around the microbiome and how that is impacting, I guess, human health and the different areas, whether it's mental health, physical, etc. How that has probably really come into the fall. What are you seeing in agriculture, I guess, specifically, in and around that piece of biomes? And how bacteria and fungi and stuff, influence health? Yeah, I
Unknown Speaker 9:43
think it's definitely a big emerging space like microbiome research is sort of the hot area to be in Jesus. But one thing that interests me is not just the development of like microbial amendments, so you know, products that can be applied. But the idea that we could just understand more. And then by understanding the microbiome and how those microbes interacting with one another and how they interacting with our environment, we can just do the right things that will keep getting the microbes working for us rather than against us. So I think there's a huge, the others huge leaps to be made in that space as well, not just in terms of the development of products, but just like, for example, in the human got lots of research now just saying, oh, you know, eat high fibre doesn't necessarily have to be a certain a particular product, but it's just like, how do we essentially manage our micro biomes? To get good outcomes? Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 10:36
Will there be a point in the research that you're doing right now that we tick that box and we move on to something else? Or is this something that will continue to evolve?
Unknown Speaker 10:46
I think it will continue to evolve, because microbial communities like they evolve super rapidly. So you're not ever really going to get to a point, I think what you've got like a perfect solution, like we can always be adapting our micro biomes to do better things for us. So I think it's sort of there's a limitless potential there to stay in the job. Yeah. dream
Speaker 1 11:06
project or something that you really see that? Yeah, if you could wave a wand, some something that you could work on right now? Is that something?
Unknown Speaker 11:13
I think like, I'm really loving my project at the moment. But I would love to take the project to a point where we do start developing like a product or that we can spin out into a company. I think there's definitely scope for that. I know, I just said that. We just need to understand the microbiome, and we don't necessarily need products, but I think, yep, it would be really cool to find a microbe that can improve. So carbon formation from crop residues. And yeah, that's definitely the area I want to go in with my research.
Speaker 1 11:43
Yeah, cool, really, but you might need to be healthier. And in your car, you're an example Bacardi, we talk about lemons and oranges and our business a little bit. Yeah, lemons, or something, maybe sour, oranges, or something sweet. Okay. If you were to look back on the feugiat latest journey that you've done alongside the others, what would you say is your lemon in the orange,
Unknown Speaker 12:02
I'm just gonna start with a negative. So it's I suppose the negative would be just my own imposter syndrome that I kind of had to confront during the process, like, I sort of almost didn't apply, because I was like, Oh, well, I'm not, you know, I'm not from a farm. Like, I probably shouldn't be applying for that. And then once I did get it, I really had this strong sense of like, Oh, sure. Am I in the right place here? So just working through that? And kind of going, Okay, no, I do have a contribution to make to the space. And I do have a story. I can tell. Yeah, I think that was probably the toughest thing, this hours thing. But then the sweetest thing. I think just the other future young leaders, like I feel like now I have, like a family within, like, you know, for all the future ag events we go to I'm sure, like maybe not every time but one of us will probably be there. And we'll have a friend to sort of, yeah, make the most of this industry together. So
Unknown Speaker 12:57
that has been such a common theme throughout talking to all of your future young leaders. And I think since you know, months ago, when you started, that was the first thing that a lot of you mentioned, and it's cool to see that up until now. It's still something that's been really rewarding.
Unknown Speaker 13:11
Yeah, it was. It's also just been so rewarding, like seeing everyone do their speeches, because, you know, we saw the first iterations of them. And then now to see where everyone's got to. It's just been incredible. Yeah, well, I
Speaker 1 13:23
reckon. Good luck to you and what you do, I think, the whole research side of things, the advancements that CSR has been involved in across all kinds of sectors, but especially in agriculture is so exciting. So yeah, good luck with everything ahead. And thank you. Yeah, we'll be following and cheering Yeah. Thanks.
Unknown Speaker 13:38
And I'll be listening to the podcast. Thanks, Cody. Okay, thanks. Bye.
Speaker 1 13:43
Well, that's it for another episode from us here at humans of agriculture. We hope you're enjoying these podcasts. And, Paul, if you're not, let us know. Hit us up at Hello at humans of agriculture.com. Get in touch with any guests recommendations topics, or things you'd like us to talk and get curious about. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend. Right, subscribe, review it. Any feedback is absolutely awesome. And we really do welcome that. So look after yourselves. Stay safe. stay sane. We'll see you next time.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai