Michael Ashworth

Michael Ashworth is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia's School of Agriculture and Environment, specializing in herbicide resistance and integrated weed management. He leads agronomy research at the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative (AHRI), focusing on optimizing integrated weed management techniques and developing novel herbicide resistance assays. His work addresses herbicide resistance evolution, no-till farming systems, and sustainable crop protection strategies.

Education & Background: Trained as an Agronomist with practical experience on a Western Australian family farm. Previously worked with Elders agronomists and the Western Australian No-Till Farmers Association.

Research Focus:

• Herbicide resistance mechanisms and mitigation strategies
• No-till farming systems and conservation agriculture
• Weed seed bank dynamics and lifecycle adaptations
• Precision agriculture applications in weed control

Grants & Projects:

• Managing herbicide resistance research (GRDC-funded)
• Development of field assays for herbicide resistance screening
• Seed bank persistence under integrated weed management

Affiliations:

• Principal Investigator in GRDC-funded projects
• Member of the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative (AHRI)