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Dr Jose Barrero Sanchez

Research Scientist

https://people.csiro.au/b/j/jose-barrero

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Contact details:

GPO BOX 1700
CANBERRA ACT 2601 AUSTRALIA

Biography

Current activities: Jose is leading the Legume Engineering Team, within the Pests and Diseases Group, where he is developing GM cowpea with in-built protection against insects (USAID Pod-Borer Resistant cowpea project) and with enhanced photosynthetic capacity (RIPE project), following on TJ Higgins' research. His team was awarded with the 2023 CSIRO Chair’s Medal for Science and Engineering Excellence, for developing the Pod-Borer Resistant cowpea, an insect resistant variety now available to farmers in Nigeria and Ghana, bringing food security for smallholder farmers.

Previously, his research focussed on Seed Biology topics, in particular on the molecular and environmental mechanisms controlling seed dormancy and germination in a variety of crop species including wheat, barley and canola, and model species such as Arabidopsis and Brachypodium. Understanding seed dormancy is important as low dormancy of commercial wheat varieties is a key factor contributing to pre-harvest sprouting in wheat, a major problem in agriculture. He has also led two large projects funded by Bayer and by BASF that aim to deliver tools for hybrid wheat production and for the high-throughput screening of wheat mutants with optimal yield components.

Background: Jose completed his Doctorate in the Miguel Hernandez University, Spain, where he worked in leaf development and salt-resistance using the model plant Arabidopsis. He came to Australia in 2006 to join the CSIRO seed dormancy group lead by Dr Frank Gubler as a Postdoctoral fellow. He became Team Leader in 2015.

Academic qualifications: Dr Barrero was awarded a Bachelor in Environmental and Marine Biology from the University of Alicante, Spain in 2000. In 2005, he obtained his Doctor of Philosophy in Plant Genetics from the Miguel Hernandez University.

Other Interests

Editorial Board Member for Seed Science Research

Editorial Board Member for Agronomy

Current Roles

  • Team leader
    Legume Protection Team

Academic Qualifications

  • 2005

    PhD
    Univerisity Miguel Hernandez, Elche, Spain

Achievements and Awards

  • 2022-2023

    2023 Chair’s Medal for Science and Engineering Excellence
    CSIRO

  • 2019-2022

    Julius Career Award
    CSIRO

  • 2017-2018

    Directors Award: Breakthrough Innovation Award
    CSIRO Agriculture and Food

  • 2014-2015

    Directors Award: Breakthrough Innovation Award
    CSIRO Agriculture

  • 2011-2012

    ACORN Project
    Transformational Capability Platform

Other highlights

  • 2014-present

    Representative for Australia and New Zealand in the International Seed Science Society

  • 2014-2017

    CSIRO Representative at the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium

We have publications by Dr Jose Barrero Sanchez