Australia is among the countries with the largest areas of salt-affected soils globally. Soil rehabilitation is essential to allow future use of such salinity affected land. Some options are available for remediation, including utilisation of salt tolerant plant species and biochar, a carbon-rich soil amendment, that has showed some success in rehabilitating salinity affected areas. Yet, local soil conditions will require targeted solutions for remediation including matching type of biochar (biomass type, production temperature) to soil and salinity issue. Palatability of rehabilitation plants, including salt levels in their tissues, can also be an important consideration given many salinity- affected areas are more suited to grazing than cropping. 

In this project, high throughput hyperspectral plant phenotyping, iomics (elemental levels in soil and plant tissue) and soil metagenomics (microbial composition) will assess key soil and plant parameters in glasshouse trials to identify suitable plants and plant-biochar combinations for rehabilitation of salinity-affected soil. The performance of a diversity of salt tolerant plant species (e.g., fescue, Phalaries varieties, hyperaccumulators) and biochars will be tested. Palatability of plants will also be analysed chemically. A secondary goal for this project is to adapt/develop an easy-to-use technique (e.g., based on hyperspectral analysis) to measure soil salinity, alkalinity (bicarbonate) and soil inorganic carbon to accelerate field measurements. 

How to apply

Expressions of interest outlining your interest in the project along with a brief CV should be sent to Wolfram Buss Wolfram.Buss@anu.edu.au no later than 13 June 2025. 

An ANU PhD scholarship is available to support a qualified domestic applicant this project.