Convenor
Johannes Biala
Equipped with degrees in Agriculture and Environmental Science, Johannes Biala has worked in organics recycling, composting and the use of recycled organic products for over 35 years. He has extensive experience as consultant and researcher in all key areas of the organics recycling supply chain, including the beneficial use of urban and agricultural organic residues. In 2017, he established the Centre for Recycling of Organic Waste and Nutrients (CROWN) at the University of Queensland’s School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, where he works on improving organics processing, i.e. reduced GHG, ammonia and odour emissions and quantifying the agronomic, economic and environmental benefits of using organic soil amendments.
MANAGEMENT TEAM
The Management Team comprises, apart from the Convenor, the following distinguished academics:
Prof Nanthi Bolan
Nanthi is currently Professor of Soil Science at the University of Western Australia. His teaching and research interests include, nutrient and carbon cycling, GHG emission, soil remediation, and waste management. Nanthi is a Fellow of American Soil Science Society, American Society of Agronomy and New Zealand Soil Science Society. He served as the Program Leader of Soil CRC and ARC College of Expert. Nanthi supervised > 50 postgraduate students, contributed to >600 research outputs with a total citation of >54,800 and h-index 115, and is Clarivate’s Highly cited researchers for 2018 to 2022.
Dr Vilim Filipović
Vilim’s research focuses on soil physics, vadose zone hydrology, contaminant transport, and numerical modelling, applied to environmental sustainability, agriculture, and mine rehabilitation. He has published 85+ peer-reviewed papers, seven book chapters, and 60+ conference presentations. At UQ, he teaches in soil science and environmental courses and holds an Adjunct Associate Professor position at the University of Zagreb. He has led national and international initiatives, including a Critical Zone Observatory in Europe. He received the Soil Science Society of America Early Career Award in 2019.
Assoc Prof Beverley Henry
Beverley is a plant physiologist with over 30 years’ experience across academic, agricultural and government research and policy-relevant science areas relating to climate variability, climate change, land and soil management and greenhouse gas accounting. She is an adjunct Associate Professor at Queensland University of Technology and a consultant and holds positions on several Australian and International advisory and scientific groups, including as a Co-chair of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the ‘International 4 per 1000 Initiative’.
