Sharon Aarons

Sharon R. Aarons is a Senior Research Scientist, in the Agriculture Resources Sciences unit at the Ellinbank Dairy Centre, Agriculture Victoria Research of the Victorian State Government, Australia. In 2020 Sharon was appointed an Honorary Senior Fellow, in the Centre for Agricultural Innovation, The University of Melbourne. Sharon is a soil scientist undertaking nutrient management research for the dairy industry.
Early life and education
Sharon Rose Aarons was born in Jamaica in 1961 and completed her primary and secondary education in Suriname, St. Lucia then Trinidad and Tobago, before completing her Bachelor of Science (Hons.) at the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine (UWI-STA; Trinidad and Tobago). She then returned with her family to Jamaica where she commenced and completed her MPhil (Biochemistry) at the University of the West Indies at Mona. On completion of her masters Aarons then moved to the Department of Soil, Water and Climate, University of Minnesota, USA to complete her PhD in soil science, specialising in soil biology and soil chemistry, which was awarded in December 1990. Sharon Aarons commenced working in Victoria after migrating to Australia in April 1992. She married Cameron J. P. Gourley, another soil scientist who works at Ellinbank Dairy Centre. They have three children, Katherine H. A. Gourley, Andrew D. P. Gourley and James W. P. Gourley.
Career
In Aarons' early career, her Master's and PhD research focused on understanding survival of cowpea rhizobia and tolerance of bean rhizobia to low pH respectively. This research aimed to improve agricultural productivity in tropical regions. After completing her PhD, Aarons undertook a Post-Doctoral position in the Plant Pathology Department at the University of Minnesota between 1990 and 1992. In her research there, she used molecular techniques to understand resistance of tomatoes to bacterial wilt as this disease significantly reduces crop production in tropical regions.
Since commencing work with the Victorian state government in 1994, Aarons' research has focused on nutrient cycling and improving nutrient management in grazed dairy systems and landscapes in high rainfall regions of south-eastern Australia. Her research aims to improve productivity while minimizing environmental consequences through an understanding of the return and cycling of nutrients by grazing animals through the plant and soil. Aarons initially quantified phosphorus cycling in Victorian grazed dairy pastures, including the role of animal excreta in soil and microbial transformations of phosphorus. She has also investigated the cycling of phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, nitrogen and other macro nutrients in a range of dairy production systems across Australia, quantifying the impact of animals on the heterogeneous distribution of nutrients in dairy systems. In addition to the farm scale, Aarons' research has also occurred at landscape scales where she quantified the impact of dairy management on water quality and biodiversity, as well as understanding farmer management of riparian areas. Aarons' current research is quantifying at a regional scale the health of dairy soils in Victoria, including the identification of dominant Victorian dairy soil types. She is also investigating the interaction of phosphorus and potassium on a range of dairy soil types across the state and quantifying the soil and pasture responses to encourage better management of these nutrients.
Through her research Aarons has aimed to identify strategies that assist farmers to effectively integrate management of the environment within productive enterprises. To this end, communication and extension of research results to farmers and extension providers, via a range of media, has been an integral part of project activities. Aarons has collaborated with many scientists, both within the Victorian Department as well as nationally and internationally. Aarons also been committed to supporting the development of young scientists and has co-supervised four undergraduate honours students and three PhD students.
Research contributions
Aaron's research has three main focus areas: Dairy Soil Health, Nutrient Management in Grazing Dairy Systems, and Riparian management.
Dairy soil health
* 2020: "Climate-resilient and smart agricultural management tools to cope with climate change-induced soil quality decline"
* 2015: "Can soil change be assessed for the Victorian dairy industry?"
* 2014: "Regularities in soil nutrient concentrations on dairy farms in Australia"
* 2014: "Quantification and visualisation of soil porosity using a CT scanning technique"
* 2014: "Evaluation of X-ray computed tomography for quantifying macroporosity of loamy pasture soils"
* 2004: "Dung decomposition in temperate dairy pastures. I. Changes in soil chemical properties"
Nutrient management in grazing dairy systems
* 2018: "Spatially and temporally variable urinary N loads deposited by lactating cows on a grazing system dairy farm"
* 2017: "Between and within paddock soil chemical variability and forage production gradients in grazed dairy pastures"
* 2015: "Soil phosphorus, potassium and sulphur excesses, regularities and heterogeneity in grazing-based dairy farms"
* 2012: "Determinations of feed-milk-manure relationships on grazing-based dairy farms"
Riparian management
* 2013: "Dairy farm impacts of fencing riparian land: Pasture production and farm productivity"
* 2011: "Dairy farm impacts of fencing riparian land: An analysis of farmers' perceptions of the costs and benefits"
* 2002: "Productive grazing, healthy rivers: Improving riparian and in-stream biodiversity"
Early research
* 1987: "Examining growth and survival of cowpea rhizobia in Jamaican peat"
* 1994: "Acid pH tolerance in strains of Rhizobium and Bradyrhizobium, and initial studies on the basis for acid tolerance of Rhizobium trpici UMR1899"
* 1994: "Genetic dissection of oligogenic resistance to bacterial wilt in tomato"
Awards and honours
• Organization of American States (OAS) Research Fellow; 1983 to 1985
• International Student Work Opportunity (ISWOP ) financial awards; 1988 to 1989; 1989 to 1990
• Agriculture Victoria Executive Award in Internal Partnerships; 2002

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