Treasury Wine Estates supports wine research; Dr. Lin Lin Low, Dr. Marcos Bonada to speak at University of Adelaide's Graduate Research Information Night on September 4

There’s a kaleidoscope of careers in the wine industry – lab technician, engineer, marketer, viticulturalist, winemaker, sustainability specialist, and more. And at Treasury Wine Estates we’re fortunate to have some of the industry’s most innovative thinkers in the fields of sustainability, innovation, engineering, winemaking and viticulture.

Many of them have postgraduate qualifications, and welcome the next generation of researchers who are ready to make a difference through graduate research. Meet Dr. Lin Lin Low and Dr. Marcos Bonada, two distinguished University of Adelaide alumni who exemplify the impact of postgraduate research in the wine sector at the University’s Graduate Research Information Night on Wednesday 4 September, and read on to find out more.

Dr. Lin Lin Low, a University of Adelaide alum and member of its advisory board committee in the School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials, completed her PhD in alternative technologies for wine stabilisation. Part of our global sustainability team, she’s actively involved in South Australia’s wine industry – including nurturing the next generation of talent as a PhD student industry supervisor, recently overseeing PhD scholarship recipient Yijia He’s research in the field of biochar-based nutrient recycling technology in vineyard soils. The project aims to enhance nutrient retention and grapevine productivity, critical for sustainable viticulture practices.

The initiative is part of the South Australian Government's Industrial Doctorate Training Centre scheme, helping give students hands-on industry experience to complement their theoretical work in the lecture theatre. Lin Lin has been in the wine industry for 20 years, and is particularly interested in wastewater management, process efficiency and winemaking innovations. She’s a nature fan, and recently visited South Australia’s Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary.

Dr. Marcos Bonada is one of our resident vilticulture experts, having completed his PhD on the interactions between the impact of elevated temperature and water stress on grape quality and wine composition. Findings from his research were recognised by the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology’s prestigious Dr Peter May award.

In his role as a technical viticulturist in our vineyard operations team, Marcos oversees trials like our Koonunga Hill canopy targeting climate adaptation, where we’ve installed a netting structure over a 14-hectare planting of luxury Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in South Australia’s Barossa Valley. The experiment has delivered promising results in its first season.