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David Jordan

Professor David Jordan was a co-leader of program 3, which focused on exploiting photosynthetic variation in C3 and C4 plants. His research within the Centre focused on using crop genetic models, particularly sorghum, to understand the genetics and genomics of variation in photosynthetic efficiency.

David is an expert in sorghum breeding, exploiting genetic diversity, genetic mapping and genomics, drought adaptation, breeding program information systems and the use of crop modelling in breeding.

One of the main focuses of his research was to produce sorghum lines with enhanced resistance to problems such as drought, disease and insect pests. The ultimate goal of this research was to improve the profitability of Australian farmers and the lives of resource poor farmers in Africa that rely on sorghum.

David was awarded a Bachelor of Rural Science with Honours from the University of New England. He obtained a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Queensland in 1998.

David is internationally known for his research on genetic improvement in grain sorghum and understanding the genetics and genomics of its adaptive traits. For the last decade he has led the public sorghum pre-breeding program in Australia which is a partnership between the University of Queensland (UQ), The Queensland Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and the Grains Research & Develop Corporation (GRDC).

David was part of the Centre from 2014 to 2021