Dr Robyn Cowley – 20 years service

The Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Biosecurity team is filled with long serving, forward thinking experts.

Dr Robyn Cowley is one of them, recently marking 20 years in the Northern Territory public sector.

The highly respected scientist is part of DITT’s Livestock Industries team, currently working across the Territory as a Senior Rangelands Scientist.

Dr Robyn Cowley completed her PhD in Rangeland Ecology and Management in 2000 from the University of Queensland, the same year she joined the department in Katherine as a Rangeland Research Officer. Robyn has been instrumental in delivering important collaborative projects including the Pigeon Hole Project, the NT Carrying Capacity project and the Shruburn long-term fire project at Kidman Springs. Robyn is a member of the Australian Rangelands Society Publication Committee and is on the program committee for the International Rangeland Congress in 2025.

Robyn has dedicated many years of her NT Government career to seeing through the NT Carrying Capacity project from on ground pasture data collection through to the calibration of the GRASP pasture growth model for many important NT land types.

Robyn won the Departmental Science award in 2016.

Robyn currently leads the Sweet Spot project, which investigates the links between pasture utilisation rates and breeder herd productivity using almost 100 datasets from across Northern Australia.

An inspiring and enthusiastic member of the Livestock Industry Team, Robyn is always looking for innovative and robust ways to promote the sustainability and productivity of the pastoral industry while maintaining a highly respected scientific rigour.

Robyn is a regular contributor to this newsletter, so keep an eye out for her details and well-researched pieces in upcoming editions of NT Rural Review.