Ms Michelle Gane

Biography

As a Knowledge to Innovation Broker,  Michelle brings together the relevant researchers to facilitate effective partnerships to solve real world problems. The Institute for Future Environments (IFE) delivers transdiciplinary and collaborative research with scale and focus.   QUT's Blueprint 5 sets ambitious goals to be a globally leading university that delivers solutions to the challenges of today.  Achieving QUT’s vision will require that university’s do things different and the role of the Knowledge to Innovation team is to connect our partners to the right people, to solve real world problems and deliver significant outcomes. Michelle has background in environmental science and has long history in the agricultural sector.  With nearly 20 years of experience from private consulting, State  Environmental Protection Agency, AgForce and more recently a university, she is able to develop research strategy in a consistently evolving and competitive environment, specifically focusing on areas of new transdisciplinary research collaborations. An example of Knowledge to Innovation The K2I team has played a pivotal role in many of the Institute’s strategic research initiatives. The Institute's, Managing for Resilient Landscapes Research Theme provided science leadership and coordinated the National Agricultural Nitrous Oxide Research Program (NANORP).  NANORP was a major initiative with $50M cash and in-kind investment across 23 separate projects. The NANORP involved federal government, all state governments (except SA), CSIRO, multiple universities from across Australia and RDCs with major investments by grains and dairy and supported by the cane, horticulture and cotton industries. This was the largest coordinated nitrogen R&D program ever funded by the federal government focusing on nitrogen cycling in agricultural systems.  http://www.n2o.net.au

The real world impact - The practical management strategies to increase nitrogen use efficiency developed as a direct result of the QUT managed NANROP research equated to $114M in annual savings to Australian producers, and an additional $13M in carbon credits.  This work is also engrained in Australia’s national greenhouse inventory.