2005: Belgium bound

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Tags: discovery, Science, winter-2011

Amanda Rasmussen

Amanda Rasmussen, Bachelor of Science (honours), Graduate Certificate Higher Education, PhD

PhD graduate Amanda Rasmussen is making her mark in the international science world after receiving the prestigious Marie Curie Fellowship, which funds a 24-month research project anywhere in Europe.

Dr Rasmussen is currently working with research collaborators at the University of Ghent in Belgium.

After completing an undergraduate degree with honours in botany and ecology, Dr Rasmussen took a position with the Department of Conservation and Land Management in Western Australia.

This was followed by a research officer position at the then Department of Primary Industries (DPI), now known as the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation.

It was her work with DPI teamed with the encouragement from her honours advisor Associate Professor Christine Beveridge that led her back to UQ.

Dr Rasmussen’s research aims to improve plant root formation in stem cuttings in order to enhance propagation.

“Propagation of plants is extremely important for lots of industries from forestry to horticulture and my research aims to ensure these techniques will improve and increase the production of plants for a variety of reasons; even to the point of assisting keen backyard gardeners,” Dr Rasmussen said.

While completing her doctorate, Dr Rasmussen said she embraced every opportunity, participating in multiple skills training activities, UQ’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, and attending UniQuest’s commercialisation workshop.

She also won UniQuest’s Trailblazer competition, was a postgraduate student representative, and completed a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education concurrently.

“During my PhD at UQ, I spent seven months in Europe on travel grants attending very specific conferences, working in key laboratories and visiting the French National Institute of Agricultural Research,” she said.

“The people I met at universities and conferences were instrumental in attaining the Marie Curie.”

It was through a travel grant that Dr Rasmussen met Professor Danny Geelen, her current advisor at the University of Ghent.

By Carly Dengate

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