Gulbali Institute

03/06/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1B62DzQrXZ/

01/06/2026

🌾 What happens when a rice crop fails — and a whole rural community runs out of drinking water?

That's the reality facing farmers in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, where rising sea levels and salty soils are destroying crops that millions of families depend on.
In the latest episode of Gulbali Stories, Dr Wes Ward sat down with Dr Brooke Kaveney — soil scientist at the Gulbali Institute — to talk about nearly a decade of research in Vietnam, and what it's teaching us about climate-resilient farming everywhere.
Here's what we found: 👇
🔴 Saline intrusion is worsening every dry season. In 2020, farming families in the Mekong Delta didn't just lose their crop — they lost access to fresh drinking water.
🌱 Red beet offers a cash crop when it is not viable to grow rice. Saline-tolerant, high-yield, and fast-growing — it proved one of the most promising alternatives in the dry season.
💧 A traffic-light soil sensor halved water use with zero yield loss — and the design is so simple it crosses all language barriers. It can even be checked using a mobile phone!
🎓 The real legacy? PhD and Masters students in Vietnam now lead this research themselves. Capacity is built. Knowledge stays local.

The bigger lesson isn't about beetroot. It's about the process — how you find, test, and adapt a new crop in a community that's never grown it before, especially with global climate change. That process matters just as much in Australia as it does in the Mekong Delta.

🎧 Full podcast episode now in The Gulbali Report.
Find us ~ Gulbali Institute on popular podcast channels
https://soundcloud.com/csu-gulbali-institute/addressing-growing-soil?in=csu-gulbali-institute/sets/the-gulbali-report&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)
Brooke Kaveney
Wesley Ward







Charles Sturt University - TEQSA Provider Identification: PRV12018 (Australian University). CRICOS Provider: 00005F.

20/05/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18bAacgkTn/

🦠 Hantavirus cases in the news are a reminder that some of the biggest health threats can start with a jump between animals and humans.

At our Gulbali Institute, Charles Sturt researchers are working to better understand these pathways, focusing on how and why transmission occurs across species, and how these risks can be identified and managed earlier.

This research plays an important role in strengthening how we respond to emerging health threats across Australia and the wider region.

Learn more via the link in the comments.

TEQSA PRV12018 (Australian University) CRICOS 00005F.

19/05/2026

For the first time, the Yindyamarra Fireside Oration will be held outside Canberra, coming to Charles Sturt University's Albury-Wodonga campus during NAIDOC Week.

This year’s oration, 60 Long Years of Agricultural Truth-Telling, marks the 60th anniversary of the Gurindji walk-off at Wave Hill Station and reflects on the question:

How can conversations about Country, culture and history strengthen the future of Australian agriculture?

We’re honoured to welcome Worimi man Joshua Gilbert, author of Australia’s Agricultural Identity: An Aboriginal Yarn, as this year’s speaker, with Distinguished Professor Stan Grant serving as MC.

At Gulbali Institute, we spend a lot of time thinking about the future of agriculture, water and regional communities. Strong futures require good science and innovation, but also meaningful conversations about people, history, connection and community.

We would love to welcome people from across the region, industry, government and community to join us during NAIDOC Week for this important conversation.

July 9, 5:30pm
Charles Sturt University, Albury-Wodonga

This is an outdoor fireside event, so bring a blanket, a thermos, and settle in for what promises to be a thoughtful evening.

Registrations are now open, with tickets limited:

11/05/2026

Australia's energy transition is moving faster than our regulations can handle — and that gap is costing communities dearly. 🌏⚡

In a recent Gulbali Stories conversation, Dr. Simon Wright Wright put it bluntly: our electricity regulatory framework hasn't kept pace with a world where consumers are generating their own power, councils are investing in large-scale solar, and wineries are underwriting their businesses by selling clean energy back to the grid.

We've gone from 25% to 50% renewables in just a handful of years. The technology is ready. The communities are ready. The policy environment? Still catching up.

One of the most exciting examples of what's possible is the Bega Circular Valley on NSW's south coast — a whole-of-valley approach to sustainability that goes well beyond renewables. Think:

→ Dairy farmers reducing emissions with locally grown seaweed as cattle feed
→ Seafood waste composted and returned to the land
→ First Nations knowledge embedded in place-based planning
→ Industry, government, banking and community all at the same table

This is what regional resilience actually looks like. Not a single silver bullet, but a whole system reimagined.

And the signals of change are everywhere. Last month, 1 in every 7 cars sold in Australia was an EV. Chinese manufacturers have overtaken Japanese brands for the first time in 30 years.

The transition is happening — with or without us. The question is whether our regions lead it or get left behind.
Listen now - Search for Gulbali Institute on all major Podcast Channels
Sturt Research
https://soundcloud.com/csu-gulbali-institute/policies-and-business-for?in=csu-gulbali-institute/sets/the-gulbali-report&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Charles Sturt University - TEQSA Provider Identification: PRV12018 (Australian University). CRICOS Provider: 00005F.

How can government policies and private enterprise better enable regional communities to advance their transitions to renewable energy? Energy expert Dr Simon Wright discusses options and a working ex

22/04/2026

Today is 🌍

This international day draws attention to the environment and promotes conservation and sustainability. At Gulbali Institute, our researchers devote their time to understanding and protecting our agricultural systems, water, and environment — from biosecurity and sustainable aquatic systems to cultural connection and environmental stewardship.

So here's a question worth sitting with today:

What if ecosystems could look perfectly healthy — right up until they collapse?

That's not a hypothetical. It's what preserved orchid specimens are now telling us.

Dr Joanne M Bennett, Gulbali researcher and Heidi Zimmer, Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research, have analysed over 10,000 dried orchid flowers collected across Australia and found something alarming: pollination has dropped by more than 60% since the 1970s — and most of us had no idea.

Orchids are uniquely sensitive. Many rely on a single insect to reproduce. No backup. No alternative. When that insect disappears, the orchid quietly stops reproducing — sometimes for years before anyone notices.

Which raises an even bigger question: what else is failing silently right now? What are your observations?

https://theconversation.com/preserved-orchids-show-pollination-has-fallen-60-since-the-1970s-280819

Orchids aren’t just beautiful or rare – they’re ecological time capsules that offer clues to the long-term health of ecosystems.

15/04/2026

Researchers at Gulbali Institute Insitute, Charles Sturt University have built an AI tool that can listen to bird calls and tell you EXACTLY which species are living on a piece of land — automatically, for free, without needing a single expert on the ground.
Want to know more? Professor David M. Watson breaks it all down on the Gulbali Report podcast — it’s a great listen and genuinely exciting stuff.

You can download the episode wherever you listen to podcasts!
https://soundcloud.com/csu-gulbali-institute/gulbali-report-david-watson

Charles Sturt Research


Charles Sturt University - TEQSA Provider Identification: PRV12018 (Australian University). CRICOS Provider: 00005F.

Bird ecologist David Watson discusses how a new AI system that listens to and identifies birds 24/7 across southeastern Australia could change the face of environmental monitoring and conservation acr

01/04/2026

A lone king penguin named Hope washed up on a remote WA beach last weekend — 4,000 km from her sub-Antarctic home. The novelty of an unexpected species arriving in Australia points to a possible threat of something much bigger.

Hope travelled from the same frozen neighbourhood as Heard Island, where H5N1 bird flu was confirmed in elephant seals just last November. Australia is the last mainland continent where this devastating virus hasn't taken hold. The operative word is yet — Hope's arrival exposed another pathway through which it could arrive.

This is why the One Health research of Dr Ariful Islam at the Gulbali Institute, is so vital. Dr Islam tracks how viruses cross the boundaries between animals, humans and the environment — from avian influenza threatening our wildlife and billion-dollar agriculture industry, to Nipah virus (fatality rate up to 70%, no vaccine, no treatment) and Australia's own Hendra virus, lurking in our flying fox populations. The next pandemic threat may already be circling in our skies.

Want to hear Dr Islam explain it in his own words? Wes Ward sat down with him for a fascinating Gulbali Stories podcast episode — find the link in the comments. 🎧
Wishing Hope a speedy recovery and return home. 🐧

Charles Sturt University - TEQSA Provider Identification: PRV12018 (Australian University). CRICOS Provider: 00005F.

Charles Sturt University Research

26/03/2026

Paddle steamers needed clear channels, so we desnagged the Murray–Darling—destroying fish habitat and refuges. Commercial fishing that at its peak in the 40's and 50's gutted populations, the dam and weir construction era 100 years ago and mass fish kills that keep happening.
"What drives me is where I want to see the Basin and fish populations in 20 years time" Dr Ivor Stuart Gulbali Institute Fisheries Scientist

Listen to Dr Ivor Stuart’s insights on
- what’s changed since British settlement,
- where are the fish doing ok,
- where native fish are struggling
- and how we can fix it.
Soundcloud https://shorturl.at/N8Chr
Spotify https://shorturl.at/e0v0F
Apple Podcasts https://shorturl.at/YF1uw


Charles Sturt University - TEQSA Provider Identification: PRV12018 (Australian University). CRICOS Provider: 00005F.

11/03/2026

🌾 Australian Sheep Producers — you can help shape the future of detecting grass seeds!

Grass seed contamination costs the Australian sheep industry around $100 million each year — from carcass downgrades and wool defects to serious impacts on animal health. But what if producers had access to early‑detection technology that could identify seeds in sheep before the damage is done?

UNSW and Charles Sturt University are working to make that future a reality. And we need the people who know the industry best — you — to help drive it.

🚀 We’re launching a national survey to understand:
• How producers now manage grass seed contamination
• Where are the biggest challenges?
• Would early‑detection technology be valuable to farmers?

Your insights will directly influence the design of new technology and guide future research and extension efforts to reduce contamination across the sector.

🗓️ Survey open now until 30 April 2026
💻 Click on this link to start the survey https://csufobjbs.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1NhmBxT2weFJoEu?Q_CHL=qr
🎁 First 50 respondents receive a $20 supermarket voucher

This is your chance to help shape solutions that could transform flock management, improve animal welfare and protect your profits. If grass seeds are impacting your business, tell us now.









Charles Sturt University - TEQSA Provider Identification: PRV12018 (Australian University). CRICOS Provider: 00005F.