Tree breeding

While native to Australia and islands to its north, eucalypts are now grown in over 100 countries for diverse purposes ranging from bio-chemicals to pulpwood production. In Australia the major plantation eucalypts are Eucalyptus globulus and E. nitens and while initially established as a pulpwood resource there is now increasing interest in the use of these plantations for other purposes including bioenergy, timber and veneer production. We have been one of the major providers of research backing the breeding and deployment of eucalypts in Australia. We are a research member of Tree Breeding Australia (TBA) which is responsible for the Australian National Eucalyptus globulus breeding program. We work closely with their quantitative geneticists involved in genetic evaluation and providing breeding services who are research associates of UTAS. We have strong collaboration with Australia’s major plantation companies, including Sustainable Timber Tasmania and Forico Pty Ltd, who have provided many field sites for our genetic experiments in close proximity to UTAS. We also collaborate with the seed producers such as seedEnergy Pty Ltd, who have advanced seed production facilities close to UTAS. With national and international collaborators we work on the genetics of susceptibility of eucalypts to stresses, including diseases such as myrtle rust and Teratosphaeria leaf spot.

Key researchers in this theme include Jules Freeman, Peter Harrison, Brad Potts and René Vaillancourt.

Interested Honours, Masters and PhD students can contact the group using the contact form at the bottom of this page.