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CAREERS IN PLANT BIOSECURITY

Current Opportunities

NSW Department of Primary Industries & Regional Development

Technical Officer, Plants play a key role in delivering laboratory testing and processing work for Plant submissions received by the Citrus Pathology team. Location: Menangle, Sydney NSW Applications Close: Sunday 8 June 2025, at 11:55pm

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ARC Training Centre in Plant Biosecurity is seeking expressions of interest for the PhD project 'Natural and synthetic antibodies to identify spider mite eggs during import'

This project is now open to both international and domestic applicants. This project aims to develop a new and novel method for identifying whether eggs found on fresh produce belong to spider mites of the family Tetranychidae. You will be based in Canberra, the capital of Australia, as a student at The Australian National University. There will also be placements at the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency.

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ARC Training Centre in Plant Biosecurity is seeking expressions of interest for the PhD project 'Water sampling for detection of vegetable pathogens'

This project is open to Australian citizens and permanent residents. This project aims to develop surveillance methodology to detect and diagnose pathogen(s) of vegetable crops in drain water and irrigation systems on farm to inform day to day management options and biosecurity response strategies. You will be based in Melbourne, Australia, as an off-campus student at the University of Canberra. Most of the PhD will be conducted in the labs of Agriculture Victoria, at the AgriBio Centre in Bundoora. You will also work with AUSVEG, the peak industry body for the Australian vegetable, potato and onion industry, and visit farms in the region.

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Join our network

Everyone working in plant biosecurity diagnostics in Australian or New Zealand is encouraged to join NPBDN. Relevant disciplines include bacteriologists, botanists, entomologists, general plant pathologists, molecular biologists, mycologists, nematologists, phytoplasmologists, virologists and weed scientists.

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Hear from diagnostics professionals

There are a number of different and exciting pathways in a plant biosecurity career.