Dr Michele Dale ~ Head, Academic Excellence

My academic background is plant pathology - after completing my Ph.D. at The University of Queensland, looking at phythophthora root rot in chickpeas (a new and exciting crop at the time in Australia), I spent a couple of years at one of the newly created Cooperative Research Centres, working closely with DPI and CSIRO staff investigating the implementation of pest management practices. I then returned to my alma mater for several years as a lecturer where I focused on research into cultural and biological control of plant diseases, but not before being inculcated into the digital revolution by the advent of public access to the emerging World Wide Web in the 90s.

I relocated to far north Queensland in 2005, furthering my interest and expertise in the online environment as I successfully guided organisations in the community sector to adopt digital technology, through the development of appropriate policies and procedures, to individual and group mentoring and support.

I honed my project and stakeholder management skills, delivering the Cairns Digital Economy Strategy for the planned NBN rollout and its subsequent implementation. In my most significant project to date, I managed the local chapter of the Digital Enterprise Program FNQ&TS, an initiative of the Department of Communications, as a result of my successful application for funding for the region from Ingham to Thursday Island and west to Normanton. Over a 2-year period, I worked closely with the key regional stakeholders such as councils, chambers of commerce and community banks, to plan and deliver a training program to help businesses and not-for-profit organisations improve their engagement with and ability to make use of online technology. Managing a small team of contractors, I organised and presented workshops and one-on-one mentoring sessions and was responsible for the associated reporting, monitoring and evaluation, social media and promotion requirements that supported the project. Formal evaluation showed the project was very successful and over-delivered, with more than 1100 participants attending 60 workshops across the region, and over 180 receiving follow-up individual sessions.

In 2015, I returned to the university sector as an Educational Designer with the Learning, Teaching & Student Engagement team at James Cook University (Cairns). In my current role as Academic Developer for the Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, I facilitate contemporary curriculum design, embracing the digital disruption of education through blended and online learning.

Interests

Professional

• Project management
• Workshop facilitation
• Board membership

Research

• Digital disruption of education
• Design for online delivery
• Blended learning
• Academagogy, heutagogy

Teaching

• Online delivery
• Workshops and professional development
• Collaborating online

Experience

• 2022 to present - Associate Dean of Education and Equity, James Cook University (Smithfield, Queensland)
• 2017 to present - Academic Developer, James Cook University (Smithfield, Queensland)
• 2015 to 2017 - Educational Designer, James Cook University (Smithfield, Queensland)
• 2013 to 2015 - Project Manager, Digital Enterprise Program FNQ&TS, Advance Cairns (Cairns, Queensland)
• 2013 - Digital Economy Project Manager, Cairns Chamber of Commerce (Cairns, Queensland)
• 2009 to 2013 - Website Manager, Terrain Natural Resource Management (Innisfail, Queensland)
• 2012 - Project Manager, Cairns Digital Economy and Community Engagement Strategy, Rutten Technology Services (Cairns, Queensland)
• 2006 to 2009 - Education Resource Officer, Terrain Natural Resource Management (Innisfail, Queensland)
• 1994 to 2000 - Lecturer in Plant Pathology, The University of Queensland (St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland)
• 1992 to 1994 - Integrated Pest Management Facilitator, Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Plant Pathology (Brisbane, Queensland)

Research Disciplines

• Development studies (4404)
• Climate change impacts and adaptation (4101)
• Curriculum and pedagogy (3901)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Terrestrial systems and management (1806)
• Teaching and curriculum (1603)

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Self N, Aitken E and Dale M (2002) Susceptibility of provenances of spotted gums to Ramularia shoot blight. New Zealand Plant Protection, 55. pp. 68-72
• Martin H and Dale M (2001) Potential of Cactoblastis cactorum as a vector for fungi pathogenic to pricklypear, Opuntia inermis. Biological Control, 21 (3). pp. 258-263
• Wang B, Dale M, Kochman J, Allen S and Obst N (1999) Variations in soil population of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum as influenced by fertiliser application and growth of different crops. Australasian Plant Pathology, 28 (2). pp. 174-181
• Wang B, Dale M and Kochman J (1999) Studies on a pathogenicity assay for screening cotton germplasms for resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum in the glasshouse. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 39 (8). pp. 967-974
• Wang B, Dale M, Kochman J and Obst N (1999) Effects of plant residue, soil characteristics, cotton cultivars and other crops on fusarium wilt of cotton in Australia. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 39 (2). pp. 203-209
• Dale M and Irwin J (1991) Stomata as an infection court for Phytophthora megasperma f. sp. medicaginis in chickpea and a histological study of infection. Phytopathology, 81 (4). pp. 375-379
• Dale M and Irwin J (1991) Glasshouse and field screening of chickpea cultivars for resistance to Phytophthora megasperma f. sp. medicaginis. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 31 (5). pp. 663-667
• Dale M and Irwin J (1990) Estimation of inoculum potentials of Phytophthora megasperma f. sp. medicaginis in chickpea fields and the development of a glasshouse resistance assay. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 30 (1). pp. 109-114
• Cox M and Irwin J (1988) Conidium and appressorium variation in Australian isolates of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides group and closely related species. Australian Systematic Botany, 1 (2). pp. 139-149

Conference Papers

• Dale M and Carlisle M (2008) Familiarity breeds context: delivering environmental education through local awareness. Environmental Education up the Track: Hot Topics for our Community. In: 15th Biennial National Conference of the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE), 9-12 July 2008, Darwin, NT, Australia

Other research outputs

• Dale A and Dale M (2022) Chapter 31: Strengthening national governance systems to support local self-reliance. In: Building global sustainability through local self-reliance: Lessons from landcare. ACIAR monograph series. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, Australia, pp. 379-388
• Hennecke B, Chakraborty S and Dale M (2001) Control of Mimosa pigra by Phloeospora mimosae-pigrae: liquid culture production and application technique. Plant Protection Quarterly, 16 (3). pp. 111-113

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 19+ research outputs authored by Dr Michele Dale from 1988 onwards.