This Postdoctoral Research Fellow position offers an exciting opportunity to join a multi-disciplinary research team at the forefront of developing sustainable weed management strategies for Australian agriculture. The position will play a vital role in leading a 5-year program on ‘Next Generation Weed Management’ and related projects funded through Hort Innovation Australia and the Grains Research and Development Corporation. Working closely with the project leader, Dr. Ali Bajwa (https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/abajwa), the successful candidate will develop, optimise and demonstrate the ‘Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation (ASD)’ as a sustainable weed management technique for Australian Horticulture sector. In addition, the successful candidate will lead research and extension activities in related weed ecology and IWM focused projects.

The candidate will be responsible for generating multiple scientific and industry-ready outputs and communicate those through traditional scientific publications and industry platforms. They will also lead the extension of the project outcomes through scientific conferences, industry communication networks and extension activities.

The candidate is expected to contribute toward other ongoing and future research projects within Weed Science group as relevant to their skill set and within their workload plans. They will be provided with the opportunity to co-supervise Honors, Master and PhD students and mentor junior research and technical staff within the group.

Duties at this level will include:
a) Conduct and publish high-quality research on weed biology and management.
b) Undertake advanced experimentation on the interface of Weed – Crop – Soil interactions. It is expected they will learn and use innovative analytical techniques in weed science and soil microbiology as well as advanced statistical procedures as relevant to the project goals.
c) Coordinate and conduct laboratory, glasshouse and field experiments in collaboration with other team members and relevant growers.
d) Undertake necessary travel within Victoria and interstate for field surveys, field trial setup, data collection and extension activities. The candidate will be required to undertake extensive travel for fieldwork at certain times.
e) With guidance from the project leader, prepare and publish peer-reviewed scientific journal articles, extension/popular press articles, project milestone reports and factsheets as per the project deliverables.
f) Coordinate day-to-day activities and related milestones with key members of the research teams at La Trobe and partner organisations and liaise with other stakeholders including growers, extension networks etc.
g) Contribute in a proactive and positive way to the academic and cultural life of the Department and School.

Capabilities required to be successful in the position
• Ability to demonstrate self-awareness, see things from another person’s perspective and actively seek out and act on feedback to improve knowledge, skills and behavior.
• Ability to work collaboratively, recognize the value of diversity and model accountability, connectedness, innovation and care.
• Ability to think creatively, explore new ideas and respectfully challenge existing practices in order to improve current ways of working.
• Ability to enable a safe, inclusive, high-performing team culture, prioritizing staff mental health and well-being.

Essential Compliance Requirements
To hold this La Trobe University position the occupant must:
• hold, or be willing to undertake and pass, a Victorian Working With Children Check; AND
• take personal accountability to comply with all University policies, procedures and legislative or regulatory obligations; including but not limited to TEQSA and the Higher Education Threshold Standards.

Other Information
• The position description is indicative of the initial expectation of the role and subject to changes to University goals and priorities, activities or focus of the job.
• The position will require extensive field work away from the campus, involving multi-night stays in rural locations.
• Field work will be conducted on farms in rural regions. Experience in rural environments, an appreciation of issues related to on-farm biosecurity, and the capacity to communicate effectively with members of the rural community will be beneficial.
• Demonstrated capability and a positive attitude toward learning new techniques, advanced analytical and statistical procedures and communication methods will be greatly considered.