Dr TJ Higgins interviewed by Professor Hans Bachor
TitleDr TJ Higgins interviewed by Professor Hans Bachor
Reference240000144
Date2021
Scope and ContentDigital audio recording and transcript of interview.
Dr TJ Higgins is a plant biotechnologist with background training in agricultural science. He is internationally recognised for his distinguished contribution to the application of gene technology for plant improvement, with a particular focus on improving the nutritive value of food legume grains and their resistance to pests and diseases. He strongly advocates for effective science communication and regularly discusses gene technology in public forums.
In this interview, Higgins recalls his childhood in Ireland, the impact of his fluency in Gaelic on his early education and eventual training in agricultural science at the National University of Ireland.
He gained a PhD from the University of California, Davis and moved to Australia as a post-doctoral Fellow at the Australian National University. Higgins worked for many years for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) as a leading researcher in plant biotechnology and has substantially improved our knowledge of viral and plant gene expression.
Dr Higgins has a long history of strong international scientific collaboration. He works closely with colleagues in Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Malawi, and India, where he has mentored colleagues in agriculture and food security by working alongside them on projects of interest to those countries. Higgins has also helped build capacity in African and Indian scientists involved in risk assessment and in the establishment of regulatory systems for the oversight of genetically modified organisms. He also collaborates with scientists in the USA and Europe.
He talks here about the challenges and opportunities he has encountered in his long career, the application of his research on international food security, his contribution as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and thoughts on the future of science in Australia.
Dr TJ Higgins is a plant biotechnologist with background training in agricultural science. He is internationally recognised for his distinguished contribution to the application of gene technology for plant improvement, with a particular focus on improving the nutritive value of food legume grains and their resistance to pests and diseases. He strongly advocates for effective science communication and regularly discusses gene technology in public forums.
In this interview, Higgins recalls his childhood in Ireland, the impact of his fluency in Gaelic on his early education and eventual training in agricultural science at the National University of Ireland.
He gained a PhD from the University of California, Davis and moved to Australia as a post-doctoral Fellow at the Australian National University. Higgins worked for many years for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) as a leading researcher in plant biotechnology and has substantially improved our knowledge of viral and plant gene expression.
Dr Higgins has a long history of strong international scientific collaboration. He works closely with colleagues in Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Malawi, and India, where he has mentored colleagues in agriculture and food security by working alongside them on projects of interest to those countries. Higgins has also helped build capacity in African and Indian scientists involved in risk assessment and in the establishment of regulatory systems for the oversight of genetically modified organisms. He also collaborates with scientists in the USA and Europe.
He talks here about the challenges and opportunities he has encountered in his long career, the application of his research on international food security, his contribution as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and thoughts on the future of science in Australia.
LanguageEnglish
External document
Persons keyword Hans Bachor, T. J. V. Higgins
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LevelItem
