UWA PhD student and SW WA Hub bursary recipient, Huyen Pham, has been selected for the fourth cohort of innovators in the Drought Resilience Lab, led by Beanstalk Agtech and funded by the Future Drought Fund.
Over the next 12 weeks, Huyen will work alongside 15 other innovators developing solutions in soil diagnostics, wastewater management, plant coatings, and more. Beanstalk’s Venture Builders will guide the cohort in refining their ideas, testing solutions, and preparing for scale across the agtech ecosystem.
Huyen’s project focuses on a high-throughput phenotyping platform to help plant breeders and dryland farmers quickly identify wheat lines with stronger root-soil contact under drought and acidic soils. Her PhD research, supported by the Hub bursary, investigates a natural root trait known as rhizosheath (the soil layer that sticks to plant roots), which helps wheat access water and nutrients more efficiently, especially under dry conditions.
