AFTER only a few words with the woman responsible for guiding South Australian agricultural research through a bleak budgetary environment, it becomes clear she draws upon experiences obtained right across the southern hemisphere.
SARDI executive director Pauline Mooney's hybrid accent betrays a life divided almost cleanly into thirds, from her native South Africa to New Zealand and Australia.
Born in Durban, Pauline lost her parents at a young age and was raised in a children's home.
Her passion for science was forged from further tragedy, when her best friend at the home died of cancer aged 13.
At first, Pauline was set on becoming an oncologist, but then she realised that particular field would involve plenty of work with laboratory animals - a scenario at odds with her animal welfare sensibilities.
"I stayed in science, but worked with plants instead - they stay where you put them and they don't bite you, usually," she said.
Her studies ventured through subjects as diverse as marine seaweed and psychology, which all served as the launching pad into a multi-faceted career that would span continents.
After 15 years working for HortResearch in New Zealand, Pauline finally landed in Adelaide, joining SARDI as director of research and development in 2005.
Describing former executive director Prof Rob Lewis as an "amazing mentor", she applied for and won his position when he retired in 2010.
She says the broad mandate of the organisation – which encompasses everything from marine science to cropping systems – fitted in perfectly with her wide range of interests.
From the 2012-13 to 2014-15 state budget, there have been 90 job losses at SARDI, and this year's budget cut funding by $3 million.
The overall outlook for the research sector appears even tougher, with the Abbott Government controversially choosing not to appoint a Minister for Science.
Government is not the only source of money for SARDI, which draws about 70 per cent of research funding from rural industries research and development corporations, and commercial receipts.
Although Pauline insists that the impact has been minimal, she concedes the working environment for research institutes is tough.
"The whole global crisis impacted on everybody in science, because unfortunately science is often seen as a discretionary spend," she said.
Pauline says SARDI was particularly well-placed to handle the new environment.
She says SA has always had to be nimble and focused in its research agenda due to its small size relative to the eastern seaboard states.
Since taking on the executive director position, Pauline has focused on moving into a more commercial setting and honing in on the organisation's core strengths.
"We did a review of the organisation and identified the areas in which SARDI wanted to be the last man standing in the country," she said.
The core strengths the review recognised include research into grain pests and diseases, molecular diagnostics and farming systems.
One new project SARDI is undertaking is the Safe & Saved Food Initiative.
According to Pauline, for too long the food industry has focused on cutting costs at the production end and making business uneconomic for farmers.
What SARDI will instead focus on is examining the entirety of the food chain to identify savings from reducing and reusing waste products.
"If you waste half your product you are wasting half your inputs like water and electricity, so if we can make savings we don't have to force the system to produce unrealistic levels per hectare, and can manage everything so we don't have negative effects on soil, water, salinity levels or other issues," she said.
* Full report in Stock Journal, July 17, 2014 issue.
