ProfessorLuciano Gonzalez

Prof González is interested in improving the sustainability, profitability and productivity of livestock enterprises along with animal welfare and rural life. Luciano believes this can be achieved with the development of new and innovative technologies and methodologies to improve farm management.

Prof González is the leader of The Livestock in Future Landscapes Program which seeks to understand how livestock interact with the environment and how these interactions determine the efficiency of production (growth, reproduction), environmental sustainability, animal health and welfare. New information of livestock in landscapes can be used to improve grazing land management, livestock productivity, animal breeding, and to develop management systems that optimise the efficiency of resource utilisation and adapt to climate variability and climate change. The 'landscape' includes extensive grazing systems (rangelands, pastoral), intensive high-rainfall grazing systems, mixed crop-livestock production systems, and intensive feeding enterprises (feedlots). The Livestock in Future Landscapes Program aims to contribute new knowledge on natural resource management, sustainability, and adaptation and mitigation to climate change. Luciano also works towards improving animal welfare of production animals through remote monitoring and management of animals, automatic detection of diseases, improving survival or livestock, and management of invasive husbandry procedures such as castration.

Some of the technologies under development by Luciano include: automatic weighing stations to measure animal production and welfare, sensors to remotely monitor animal location, movement and behaviour across the landscape to study animal-environment-management interactions, infrared thermography to measure body temperature of animals, sensors to measure greenhouse emissions from livestock, technologies to measure feed intake, and 3D scanners and lasers to measure body condition in relation to animal welfare, meat quality and reproduction. Environmental sensors include weather stations, soil and water sensors, satellite imagery and optical sensors to measure vegetation type and abundance.

Data collected by animal and environmental sensors are integrated through mathematical models, machine learning and data analytics to develop decision support tools that improve the precision of decision-making and the efficiency of utilization of natural resources. These technologies also help Luciano to understand underlying mechanisms and function of livestock production systems.

Other areas of research of Luciano Gonzalez include livestock metabolomics for applications to understand and improve animal nutrition, management and biology of livestock diseases, inform genetic selection of animals, develop objectives measurements of animal stress, health and welfare.

Prof Gonzalez's research aligns with the Faculty of Science Research Strengths - Understanding Our Planet, Understanding Life on Earth, Complex Systems, Fundamental Laws of Nature, Preventing and Treating Disease & Disorder, Healthy Animals, Precision and Digital Health, Climate and Environmental Change, Food Security, Sustainability, Healthy Ecosystems, Decision-Making for a Sustainable Future, Data and Decisions, Earth and Space Exploration and Technologies, Net Zero Technologies, Future Foods.