Ray Collins

Emeritus Professor Collins was the Agribusiness Group Leader in the School of Agriculture and Food Sciences at the University of Queensland until 2014, and retained an appointment as Professor of Agribusiness until 2016, when he became Emeritus Professor. Professor Collins has 30 years’ experience working with new industries with a special interest in linking small independent farmers with markets and consumers. He developed one of the first research programs that adopted an integrated view of the production, marketing and human resource challenges of new industries. Along with Associate Professor Tony Dunne, Professor Collins codeveloped the “Walking the Chain” participatory research and training method. He has applied this method in developing country projects in Pakistan, the Philippines, China and Vietnam. Currently, he is the Course Director of the annual Australia Awards Africa Agribusiness short course, member of the International Advisory Panel to the New Zealand government’s Our Land and Water Science Challenge, and Chair of the external reference group to a $16m Australian research program investigating innovative technologies for tracking horticultural produce quality through export chains. He has published over 100 refereed papers and book chapters, supervised approximately 20 PhD and 30 Masters students, and has been a recipient of University of Queensland and National Excellence in Teaching Awards.