When it came time for Professor Robbie Girling to choose his next career move, no distance was too far, and no challenge was too great.
In fact, it was Professor Girling’s “wise beyond her years” daughter who actually encouraged a move abroad.
“Why wouldn’t you do it?” had been the 11-year-old’s response when the British entomologist had put the suggestion to her.
And so it was that Professor Girling, his wife and their two young daughters packed up their lives in Reading, United Kingdom, and travelled more than 16,000 kilometres to the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) for a fresh challenge in a new country.
Within just four days of landing Down Under, Professor Girling was getting his boots on the ground in his new role as Director for the University’s Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Systems.
He was drawn to the University of Southern Queensland because of its excellent reputation in the agricultural space.
“There’s a lot of forward momentum with the ways both the University and the Institute of Life Sciences and the Environment are moving right now,” Professor Girling said.
“And we’ve got some amazing researchers in the Centre who are doing fantastic work across a diverse range of areas,” he said.
The University of Southern Queensland’s Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Systems had been without a Director for several years, so Professor Girling said he was looking forward to heading up the group.
“Part of my job now is to really bring everybody together and pull together as one unified Centre,” Professor Girling said.
“I think there are some huge areas we can be focusing on as one group– things like climate change, land use change and even understanding more about how we can be using Artificial Intelligence in ag,” he said.
Professor Girling said a primary focus would be increasing collaboration with the other Centres across the University, as well as other world-leading researchers right across Queensland, Australia, and the world.
“We need to be working together as a global community of scientists in order to address these global challenges” Professor Girling said.
Since moving to Toowoomba, Professor Girling said the Garden City had been holding its own against the UK.
“People here are really friendly, and they seem to have more time for you,” Professor Girling said.
“I think this is going to be a great place to bring the kids up.”
The University of Southern Queensland’s Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Systems conducts research and engagement to improve the productivity, profitability, and environmental sustainability of Australia’s agricultural sector.
