Associate Professor Harrison is a biochemist with extensive basic, applied, and commercial research experience, and is a foundation member of the QUT Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy (https://www.qut.edu.au/institute-for-future-environments/research/centre-for-agriculture-and-the-bioeconomy). Mark also provides consulting services to the Australian food and bio-industrial sector. Research in his group is focused on the conversion of agricultural wastes and residues into more valuable food, feed, fibre, fine chemical, and fuel products, (https://research.qut.edu.au/biorefining/) and his current research projects include:
- fibre modification to enhance digestibility in ruminants and non-ruminants
- production of soluble sugar products from plant biomass
- production of single cell protein using crop residues as substrates
- isolation of natural plant products, bioactives, and nutraceuticals
- biomass pretreatment chemistry
Post-doctoral, research assistant, PhD, masters and undergraduate research project opportunities are available in Mark’s laboratory.
Background Mark obtained an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Queensland in 1992. He completed his PhD (2001) at the University of Queensland, researching the molecular mechanisms by which cells transport, store, and detoxify essential metal ions. He then undertook post-doctoral work at Newcastle University (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK) in the laboratories of Professors Nigel Robinson and Christopher Dennison, researching the biological chemistry of metalloproteins and their role in essential metal ion homeostasis. Mark returned to Australia in 2003 and was awarded a 3 year Queensland State Government Smart State Fellowship in 2004 to produce enzymes in a model plant. The development of this technology in sugarcane was a key part of the $3.8 million research collaboration between Syngenta, one of the world’s largest integrated agribusiness companies, and QUT. He has also lead research projects on integration of transgenic sugarcane into the global sugarcane production system, understanding protein stability under extreme conditions, and practical integration of enzymes into industrial systems.
This information has been contributed by Associate Professor Mark Harrison.
