PhD (2014) and B.Ag.Sci Honours (XXXX)
PhD Research Overview
Water extraction and use of seedling and established dryland lucerne crops (PDF 4.1 MB)
Richard refined best management practices for dryland lucerne by quantifying differences in soil water extraction using two sites which differed in plant available water content (PAWC). The crop established at Ashley Dene had 130 mm of PAW to a soil depth of 2.3 m compared with the deeper soil at Lincoln University which had a PAWC of 360 mm. A detailed examination of lucerne physiology was undertaken to determine how lucerne extracts water from the soil to explain observed yield differences. Richard was supervised by Prof. Derrick Moot and Prof. Bruce McKenzie.
After one year conducting postdoctoral studies at CSIRO in Toowoomba, Richard then spent three years working for Agria Corp in China. He returned to New Zealand and is currently Programme Leader – Precision Agriculture at PGG Wrightson.
B.Ag.Sci Honours Research Overview
(Description pending)