Dr Cristian Varela
Lecturer
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine
College of Science
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Dr Cristian Varela has 20 years of research experience in academia and the private sector having worked in Australia, Chile, South Africa, France and Canada in the fields of microbiology, bioprocess engineering, fermentation technologies, systems biology and sensory analysis.Past research activities include the development and characterisation of yeast strains to produce reduced-alcohol wines, evaluation of the effect of different environmental conditions, such as temperature and nutrient availability, on yeast metabolism and wine flavour and aroma; and the evaluation of gene modification techniques to shift yeast metabolism away from ethanol production. Dr Varela is recently interested in applying this knowledge in new areas within the food industry including coffee production, cacao (chocolate), brewing, distilling and kombucha.Dr Varela has coordinated and delivered workshops to wine industry members throughout Australia (Hunter Valley, McClaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Riverland, other) disseminating information on novel fermentation approaches aimed at decreasing alcohol concentration in wine. Dr Varela is member of editorial boards for peer-review journals: Applied and Environmental Microbiology; International Journal of Food Microbiology; and Food Microbiology. Reviewer for more than 20 peer-reviewed journals.Evaluator for grant-awarding bodies, including: ERANET (ERASYSAPP, Europe-wide initiative for Applied Systems Biology); FWO (Research Foundation Flanders); CONICYT (National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research, Chile).Recipient of Endeavour Award Fellowship in 2015. Four months of research as a visiting scientist at the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research at the University of Toronto.Media interviews for magazines/journals including Scientific American, Wine Spectator, Wine-Searcher, Microbe magazine, The Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker.
My research interests include:
- Investigating and reporting the microbial populations associated with the fermentation of Australian aboriginal beverages. This included way-a-linah made from sap from the cider gum, a Eucalyptus tree native to the remote Central Highlands of Tasmania, and the yeast microbiota associated with flowers, fruits and palm trees from Erub Island in the Torres Strait.
- Bioprospecting thousands of individual yeast isolates from grape must, determining their taxonomy, and evaluating their phenotype with the aim of providing novel yeast starter cultures for winemaking.
- Evaluating the effect of winemaking interventions, including sulfur dioxide addition, aeration and fermentation temperature, on yeast population dynamics during un-inoculated wine fermentations.
- Characterising Brettanomyces bruxellensis industry isolates and developing molecular tools to genetically modify this species.
- Development of a Systems Biology approach to study wine yeast fermentation.
- Evaluation of the ability of wine spoilage microorganisms to increase their tolerance to antimicrobial agents.
Recent funding awarded for a collaborative research project between the University of Adelaide and the Australian Wine Research Institute to characterise the microbial communities associated with coffee fermentation in Australia. This research will be commencing in the coming months.
I am available to supervise Honours projects in 2024-225. Contact me to discuss further but possible projects include:
1) Evaluating the genomic and metabolic diversity of Australian native yeasts.
In this project we will sequence the genome of several native yeasts (potentially 100 different yeasts), characterise their nutritional requirements, and evaluate the metabolites produced during yeast growth. We will link genome and metabolome data to characterise the diversity of Australian native yeasts populations.
2) Can Australian native yeasts be used for breadmaking?
In this project we will evaluate if Australian native yeasts have the required metabolic traits to be used for making bread. Promising strains will also be evaluated for aroma and flavour profile. This project is part of a collaboration with researchers from the University of Melbourne and may involve spending some time in their lab.
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 - ongoing | Lecturer | University of Adelaide |
| 2019 - 2023 | Principal Research Scientist | Australian Wine Research Institute |
| 2010 - 2019 | Senior Research Scientist | Australian Wine Research Institute |
| 2005 - 2010 | Research Microbiologist | Australian Wine Research Institute |
| 2004 - 2005 | Postdoctoral Research Fellow | Australian Wine Research Institute |
| Date | Type | Title | Institution Name | Country | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Award | Endeavour Award Fellowship | Australian Wine Research Institute | Australia | - |
| Language | Competency |
|---|---|
| Spanish - Latin American | Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 - 2004 | Pontifical Catholic University of Chile | Chile | PhD |
| 1996 - 1998 | Pontifical Catholic University of Chile | Chile | MSc |
| 1992 - 1995 | Pontifical Catholic University of Chile | Chile | Bachelor |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Li, R., Varela, C., Espinase Nandorfy, D., Borneman, A. R., Hale, L. J., & Jeffery, D. W. (2025). Insight into how fermentation might contribute to the distinctiveness of Australian coffee.. Food chemistry, 468, 142433. Scopus2 WoS2 Europe PMC1 |
| 2025 | Onetto, C. A., Ward, C., Varela, C., Hale, L., Schmidt, S. A., & Borneman, A. (2025). Genetic and phenotypic diversity of wine-associated Hanseniaspora species.. FEMS Yeast Res, 25, 16 pages. Scopus2 WoS2 Europe PMC1 |
| 2025 | Habiba, M. U., Augustin, M. A., Varela, C., Morris, H., Rahman, M. M., & Bozkurt, H. (2025). Probiotic Dairy Innovations: Exploring Buffalo Milk Potential for Food Product Development. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 24(4), 32 pages. Scopus1 WoS1 Europe PMC1 |
| 2025 | Knezevic, T., Villarreal, P., Cubillos, F. A., & Varela, C. (2025). The Southern Hemisphere yeast frontier: from nature dwellers to accomplished fermenters. FEMS Yeast Research, 25, 14 pages. |
| 2024 | Villarreal, P., O'Donnell, S., Agier, N., Muñoz-Guzman, F., Benavides-Parra, J., Urbina, K., . . . Cubillos, F. A. (2024). Domestication signatures in the non-conventional yeast Lachancea cidri. mSystems, 9(1), e0105823. Scopus9 WoS9 Europe PMC9 |
| 2023 | Varela, C., Alperstein, L., Sundstrom, J., Solomon, M., Brady, M., Borneman, A., & Jiranek, V. (2023). A special drop: Characterising yeast isolates associated with fermented beverages produced by Australia's indigenous peoples. Food Microbiology, 112, 104216-1-104216-11. Scopus6 WoS6 Europe PMC7 |
| 2022 | Villarreal, P., Villarroel, C. A., O'Donnell, S., Agier, N., Quintero-Galvis, J. F., Peña, T. A., . . . Cubillos, F. A. (2022). Late Pleistocene-dated divergence between South Hemisphere populations of the non-conventional yeast L. cidri. Environmental Microbiology, 24(12), 5615-5629. Scopus8 WoS9 Europe PMC9 |
| 2022 | Varela, C. (2022). KU80 deletion does not improve homologous recombination in Brettanomyces bruxellensis. |
| 2022 | Varela, C., & Borneman, A. R. (2022). Molecular approaches improving our understanding of Brettanomyces physiology. FEMS YEAST RESEARCH, 22(1), 1-15. Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC2 |
| 2021 | Varela, C., Bartel, C., Espinase Nandorfy, D., Bilogrevic, E., Tran, T., Heinrich, A., . . . Borneman, A. (2021). Volatile aroma composition and sensory profile of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon wines produced with novel Metschnikowia pulcherrima yeast starter cultures. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research, 27(3), 406-418. Scopus21 WoS20 |
| 2021 | Varela, C., Cuijvers, K., Van Den Heuvel, S., Rullo, M., Solomon, M., Borneman, A., & Schmidt, S. (2021). Effect of Aeration on Yeast Community Structure and Volatile Composition in Uninoculated Chardonnay Wines. Fermentation, 7(2), 1-17. Scopus10 WoS10 |
| 2021 | Bartel, C., Roach, M., Onetto, C., Curtin, C., Varela, C., & Borneman, A. (2021). Adaptive evolution of sulfite tolerance in Brettanomyces bruxellensis. FEMS Yeast Research, 21(5), 1-12. Scopus13 WoS11 Europe PMC9 |
| 2021 | Varela, C., Cuijvers, K., & Borneman, A. (2021). Temporal comparison of microbial community structure in an australian winery. Fermentation, 7(3), 15 pages. Scopus3 WoS3 |
| 2020 | Varela, C., Bartel, C., Nandorfy, D. E., Borneman, A., Schmidt, S., & Curtin, C. (2020). Identification of flocculant wine yeast strains with improved filtration-related phenotypes through application of high-throughput sedimentation rate assays. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 1-13. Scopus18 WoS16 Europe PMC10 |
| 2020 | Varela, C., Bartel, C., Onetto, C., & Borneman, A. (2020). Targeted gene deletion in Brettanomyces bruxellensis with an expression-free CRISPR-Cas9 system.. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 104(16), 7105-7115. Scopus9 WoS8 Europe PMC4 |
| 2020 | Varela, C., Sundstrom, J., Cuijvers, K., Jiranek, V., & Borneman, A. (2020). Discovering the indigenous microbial communities associated with the natural fermentation of sap from the cider gum Eucalyptus gunnii. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 14716-1-14716-13. Scopus19 WoS16 Europe PMC13 |
| 2020 | Cuijvers, K., van Den Heuvel, S., Varela, C., Rullo, M., Solomon, M., Schmidt, S., & Borneman, A. (2020). Alterations in yeast species composition of uninoculated wine ferments by the addition of sulphur dioxide. Fermentation, 6(2), 1-13. Scopus12 WoS10 |
| 2019 | Canonico, L., Solomon, M., Comitini, F., Ciani, M., & Varela, C. (2019). Volatile profile of reduced alcohol wines fermented with selected non-Saccharomyces yeasts under different aeration conditions. Food Microbiology, 84, 1-8. Scopus89 WoS82 Europe PMC44 |
| 2019 | Avramova, M., Grbin, P., Borneman, A., Albertin, W., Masneuf-Pomarède, I., & Varela, C. (2019). Competition experiments between Brettanomyces bruxellensis strains reveal specific adaptation to sulfur dioxide and complex interactions at intraspecies level.. FEMS yeast research, 19(3), 9 pages. Scopus14 WoS14 Europe PMC9 |
| 2019 | Varela, C., Bartel1, C., Roach, M., Borneman1, A., & Curtin, C. (2019). Brettanomyces bruxellensis SSU1 haplotypes confer different levels of sulfite tolerance when expressed in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae SSU1 null mutant. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 85(4), 16 pages. Scopus20 WoS21 Europe PMC16 |
| 2019 | Varela, J., & Varela, C. (2019). Microbiological strategies to produce beer and wine with reduced ethanol concentration. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 56, 88-96. Scopus64 WoS60 Europe PMC27 |
| 2018 | Varela, C., Lleixà, J., Curtin, C., & Borneman, A. (2018). Development of a genetic transformation toolkit for Brettanomyces bruxellensis. FEMS yeast research, 18(7), 1-6. Scopus10 WoS9 Europe PMC9 |
| 2018 | Varela, C., Schmidt, S. A., Borneman, A. R., Pang, C. N. I., Krömerx, J. O., Khan, A., . . . Chambers, P. J. (2018). Systems-based approaches enable identification of gene targets which improve the flavour profile of low-ethanol wine yeast strains. Metabolic Engineering, 49, 178-191. Scopus21 WoS16 Europe PMC13 |
| 2017 | Varela, C., Barker, A., Tran, T., Borneman, A., & Curtin, C. (2017). Sensory profile and volatile aroma composition of reduced alcohol Merlot wines fermented with Metschnikowia pulcherrima and Saccharomyces uvarum. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 252, 1-9. Scopus127 WoS113 Europe PMC58 |
| 2017 | Varela, C., & Borneman, A. R. (2017). Yeasts found in vineyards and wineries. Yeast, 34(3), 111-128. Scopus119 WoS108 Europe PMC65 |
| 2017 | Goold, H. D., Kroukamp, H., Williams, T. C., Paulsen, I. T., Varela, C., & Pretorius, I. S. (2017). Yeast's balancing act between ethanol and glycerol production in low-alcohol wines. Microbial Biotechnology, 10(2), 264-278. Scopus138 WoS126 Europe PMC72 |
| 2016 | Varela, C. (2016). The impact of non-Saccharomyces yeasts in the production of alcoholic beverages. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 100(23), 9861-9874. Scopus215 WoS198 Europe PMC121 |
| 2016 | Varela, C., Sengler, F., Solomon, M., & Curtin, C. (2016). Volatile flavour profile of reduced alcohol wines fermented with the non-conventional yeast species Metschnikowia pulcherrima and Saccharomyces uvarum. Food Chemistry, 209, 57-64. Scopus159 WoS129 Europe PMC74 |
| 2015 | Contreras, A., Curtin, C., & Varela, C. (2015). Yeast population dynamics reveal a potential ‘collaboration’ between Metschnikowia pulcherrima and Saccharomyces uvarum for the production of reduced alcohol wines during Shiraz fermentation. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 99(4), 1885-1895. Scopus109 WoS99 Europe PMC60 |
| 2015 | Chambers, P. J., Borneman, A. R., Varela, C., Cordente, A. G., Bellon, J. R., Tran, T. M. T., . . . Curtin, C. D. (2015). Ongoing domestication of wine yeast: Past, present and future. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research, 21, 642-650. Scopus16 WoS15 |
| 2015 | Curtin, C., Varela, C., & Borneman, A. (2015). Harnessing improved understanding of Brettanomyces bruxellensis biology to mitigate the risk of wine spoilage. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research, 21, 680-692. Scopus28 WoS27 |
| 2015 | Contreras, A., Hidalgo, C., Schmidt, S., Henschke, P., Curtin, C., & Varela, C. (2015). The application of non-Saccharomyces yeast in fermentations with limited aeration as a strategy for the production of wine with reduced alcohol content. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 205, 7-15. Scopus170 WoS144 Europe PMC92 |
| 2015 | Varela, C., Dry, P., Kutyna, D., Francis, I., Henschke, P., Curtin, C., & Chambers, P. (2015). Strategies for reducing alcohol concentration in wine. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research, 21(Suppl. 1), 670-679. Scopus131 WoS119 |
| 2014 | Jolly, N., Varela, C., & Pretorius, I. (2014). Not your ordinary yeast: non-Saccharomyces yeasts in wine production uncovered. FEMS Yeast Research, 14(2), 215-237. Scopus775 WoS695 Europe PMC425 |
| 2014 | Contreras, A., Hidalgo, C., Henschke, P., Chambers, P., Curtin, C., & Varela, C. (2014). Evaluation of non-Saccharomyces yeasts for the reduction of alcohol content in wine. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 80(5), 1670-1678. Scopus324 WoS274 Europe PMC165 |
| 2014 | Bindon, K., Holt, H., Williamson, P., Varela, C., Herderich, M., & Francis, I. (2014). Relationships between harvest time and wine composition in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon 2. Wine sensory properties and consumer preference. Food Chemistry, 154, 90-101. Scopus106 WoS99 Europe PMC43 |
| 2014 | Kutyna, D. R., Cordente, A. G., & Varela, C. (2014). Genetic Engineering of Industrial Saccharomycescerevisiae Strains Using a Selection/Counter-selection Approach. Methods in Molecular Biology, 1152, 157-168. Scopus6 Europe PMC3 |
| 2013 | Schmidt, S. A., Jacob, S. S., Ahn, S. B., Rupasinghe, T., Krömer, J. O., Khan, A., & Varela, C. (2013). Two strings to the systems biology bow: Co-extracting the metabolome and proteome of yeast. Metabolomics, 9(1), 173-188. Scopus14 WoS11 |
| 2013 | Krömer, J. O., Nunez-Bernal, D., Averesch, N. J. H., Hampe, J., Varela, J., & Varela, C. (2013). Production of aromatics in Saccharomyces cerevisiae-A feasibility study. Journal of Biotechnology, 163(2), 184-193. Scopus66 WoS58 Europe PMC47 |
| 2013 | Bindon, K., Varela, C., Kennedy, J., Holt, H., & Herderich, M. (2013). Relationships between harvest time and wine composition in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon 1. Grape and wine chemistry. Food Chemistry, 138(2-3), 1696-1705. Scopus188 WoS175 Europe PMC84 |
| 2013 | Bindon, K., Varela, C., Kennedy, J., Holt, H., & Herderich, M. (2013). Erratum: Relationships between harvest time and wine composition in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon 1. Grape and wine chemistry (Food Chemistry (2013) 138 (1696-1705) DOI:10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.09.146). Food Chemistry, 141(1), 147. Scopus7 WoS4 |
| 2012 | Kutyna, D. R., Varela, C., Stanley, G. A., Borneman, A. R., Henschke, P. A., & Chambers, P. J. (2012). Adaptive evolution of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to generate strains with enhanced glycerol production. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 93(3), 1175-1184. Scopus76 WoS69 Europe PMC48 |
| 2012 | Cordente, A., Curtin, C., Varela, C., & Pretorius, I. (2012). Flavour-active wine yeasts. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 96(3), 601-618. Scopus136 WoS123 Europe PMC71 |
| 2012 | Varela, C., Kutyna, D., Solomon, M., Black, C., Borneman, A., Henschke, P., . . . Chambers, P. (2012). Evaluation of gene modification strategies for the development of low-alcohol-wine yeasts. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 78(17), 6068-6077. Scopus90 WoS81 Europe PMC60 |
| 2012 | Vilanova, M., Siebert, T., Varela, C., Pretorius, I., & Henschke, P. (2012). Effect of ammonium nitrogen supplementation of grape juice on wine volatiles and non-volatiles composition of the aromatic grape variety Albariño. Food Chemistry, 133(1), 124-131. Scopus73 WoS67 Europe PMC7 |
| 2012 | Varela, C., Torrea, D., Schmidt, S., Ancin-Azpilicueta, C., & Henschke, P. (2012). Effect of oxygen and lipid supplementation on the volatile composition of chemically defined medium and Chardonnay wine fermented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Food Chemistry, 135(4), 2863-2871. Scopus104 WoS94 Europe PMC45 |
| 2011 | Torrea, D., Varela, C., Ugliano, M., Ancin-Azpilicueta, C., Leigh Francis, I., & Henschke, P. (2011). Comparison of inorganic and organic nitrogen supplementation of grape juice - Effect on volatile composition and aroma profile of a Chardonnay wine fermented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast. Food Chemistry, 127(3), 1072-1083. Scopus167 WoS147 Europe PMC66 |
| 2011 | Varela, C., Schmidt, S. A., Borneman, A. R., Kromer, J. O., Khan, A., & Chambers, P. J. (2011). Systems biology: a new paradigm for industrial yeast strain development. MICROBIOLOGY AUSTRALIA, 32(4), 151-155. |
| 2010 | Kutyna, D. R., Varela, C., Henschke, P. A., Chambers, P. J., & Stanley, G. A. (2010). Microbiological approaches to lowering ethanol concentration in wine. Trends in Food Science and Technology, 21(6), 293-302. Scopus119 WoS110 Europe PMC30 |
| 2009 | Varela, C., Siebert, T., Cozzolino, D., Rose, L., McLean, H., & Henschke, P. A. (2009). Discovering a chemical basis for differentiating wines made by fermentation with 'wild' indigenous and inoculated yeasts: role of yeast volatile compounds. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research, 15(3), 238-248. Scopus81 WoS70 |
| 2009 | Molina, A., Guadalupe, V., Varela, C., Swiegers, J., Pretorius, I., & Agosin, E. (2009). Differential synthesis of fermentative aroma compounds of two related commercial wine yeast strains. Food Chemistry, 117(2), 189-195. Scopus110 WoS89 Europe PMC17 |
| 2007 | Vilanova, M., Ugliano, M., Varela, C., Siebert, T., Pretorius, I., & Henschke, P. (2007). Assimilable nitrogen utilisation and production of volatile and non-volatile compounds in chemically defined medium by Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine yeasts. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 77(1), 145-157. Scopus228 WoS218 Europe PMC109 |
| 2007 | Bartowsky, E., Bellon, J., Borneman, A., Chambers, P., Cordente, A., Costello, P., . . . Pretorius, S. (2007). Not all wine yeast are equal. MICROBIOLOGY AUSTRALIA, 28(2), 55-58. WoS5 |
| 2007 | Pizarro, F., Varela, C., Martabit, C., Bruno, C., Pérez-Correa, J. R., & Agosin, E. (2007). Coupling kinetic expressions and metabolic networks for predicting wine fermentations. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 98(5), 986-998. Scopus39 WoS30 Europe PMC23 |
| 2007 | Molina, A. M., Swiegers, J. H., Varela, C., Pretorius, I. S., & Agosin, E. (2007). Influence of wine fermentation temperature on the synthesis of yeast-derived volatile aroma compounds. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 77(3), 675-687. Scopus258 WoS226 Europe PMC112 |
| 2006 | Malig, R., Varela, C., Agosin, E., & Melo, F. (2006). Accurate and unambiguous tag-to-gene mapping in serial analysis of gene expression. BMC Bioinformatics, 7(1), 17 pages. Scopus8 WoS7 Europe PMC8 |
| 2005 | Varela, C., Cárdenas, J., Melo, F., & Agosin, E. (2005). Quantitative analysis of wine yeast gene expression profiles under winemaking conditions. Yeast, 22(5), 369-383. Scopus99 WoS93 Europe PMC70 |
| 2004 | Varela, C. A., Baez, M. E., & Agosin, E. (2004). Osmotic stress response: Quantification of cell maintenance and metabolic fluxes in a lysine-overproducing strain of Corynebacterium glutamicum. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 70(7), 4222-4229. Scopus43 WoS41 Europe PMC28 |
| 2004 | Varela, C., Pizarro, F., & Agosin, E. (2004). Biomass content governs fermentation rate in nitrogen-deficient wine musts. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 70(6), 3392-3400. Scopus200 WoS191 Europe PMC130 |
| 2003 | Varela, C., Agosin, E., Baez, M., Klapa, M., & Stephanopoulos, G. (2003). Metabolic flux redistribution in Corynebacterium glutamicum in response to osmotic stress. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 60(5), 547-555. Scopus64 WoS57 Europe PMC41 |
| 2002 | Bobadilla, R., Varela, C., Céspedes, R., & González, B. (2002). Engineering bacterial strains through the chromosomal insertion of the chlorocatechol catabolism <i>tfd</i><sub>I</sub>CDEF gene cluster, to improve degradation of typical bleached Kraft pulp mill effluent pollutants. ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY, 5(2), 162-172. WoS2 |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Onetto, C., Ward, C., Varela, C., Hale, L., Schmidt, S., Anthony., & Borneman. (2025). Genetic and phenotypic diversity of wine-associated <i>Hanseniaspora</i> species. DOI |
| 2023 | Villarreal, P., O’Donnell, S., Agier, N., Muñoz-Guzmán, F., Benavides-Parra, J., Urbina, K., . . . Cubillos, F. A. (2023). Domestication signatures in the non-conventional yeast<i>Lachancea cidri</i>. DOI |
2023 - 2024 Understanding how fermentation can improve the distinctiveness of Australian coffee. Dr Cristian Varela, Dr David Jeffery. Funding: UoA/AWRI.
2022 - 2023 Co-innovation project wine production and quality. Dr. Keren Bindon, Dr Cristian Varela. Funding: Wine Australia.
2022 - 2023 Impact project No and Low (NoLo) alcohol wine. Dr. Wes Pearson, Dr Josh Hixson, Dr Cristian Varela. Funding: Wine Australia.
2017 - 2022 Bioprospecting Australia’s microbial genetic diversity. Dr Anthony Borneman, Dr Cristian Varela, Kate Cuijvers, Steven Van Den Heuvel, Laura Hale, Dr Cristobal Onetto. Funding: Wine Australia.
2017 - 2022 Understanding Brettanomyces and its adaptation to control measures. Dr Anthony Borneman, Dr Cristian Varela, Kate Cuijvers, Dr Darek Kutyna, Dr Cristobal Onetto. Funding: Wine Australia.
2019 - 2020 Mapping the microbial communities associated with Hickinbotham Roseworthy Winery. Dr Cristian Varela, Dr Anthony Bornema. Funding: AWRI
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Co-Supervisor | Managing vine nutrition to influence winemaking. | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Kate Elizabeth Henderson |
| 2024 | Principal Supervisor | No- and low-alcohol (NOLO) Wine | Master of Philosophy | Master | Full Time | Miss Andrea Pia Josefa Bustos Jarufe |
| 2024 | Co-Supervisor | Development of Novel Probiotic Dairy Foods and Risk Assessment | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Mst Umme Habiba |
| 2024 | Co-Supervisor | Varietal thiol precursor formation in grape and fate of thiols during alcoholic fermentation and wine storage | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Ruomeng Li |
| 2023 | Principal Supervisor | Selection of lactic acid bacteria for efficient malolactic fermentation in the presence of sulfur dioxide | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Yingxin Liu |
| 2023 | Co-Supervisor | Novel microbes from Australian plants: Characterisation and industrial potential | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Tea Knezevic |
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Location | Program | Supervision Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 - 2019 | Co-Supervisor | Characterising Yeast from Traditional Indigenous Australian Fermentations | University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Science | Honours | Full Time | Lucien Alperstein |
| 2016 - 2017 | Co-Supervisor | Controlling yeast flocculation via the manipulation of yeast promoters | University of Adelaide | Master of Viticulture and Oenology | Master | Full Time | Qiushuo Feng |
| Date | Role | Committee | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 - ongoing | Member | Crush: Grape and Wine Science Symposium Organising Committee | Wine Innovation Cluster | Australia |
| 2023 - ongoing | Member | Oeno Macrowine Scientific Committee | Bordeaux KEDGE Businnes School | France |
| 2022 - ongoing | Member | International Specialized Symposium on Yeasts Organising Committee | International Commission for Yeasts | Australia |
| 2022 - 2023 | Member | Crush: Grape and Wine Science Symposium Organising Committee | Wine Innovation Cluster | Australia |
| Date | Role | Membership | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 - ongoing | Member | The Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology | Australia |
| Date | Role | Editorial Board Name | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 - ongoing | Board Member | FEMS Yeast Research | Federation of European Microbiological Societies | United Kingdom |
| 2017 - ongoing | Board Member | Food Microbiology | Elsevier | Netherlands |
| 2016 - ongoing | Board Member | International Journal of Food Microbiology | Elsevier | Netherlands |
| 2016 - ongoing | Board Member | Applied and Environmental Microbiology | American Society for Microbiology | United States |
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