THE Australian cotton industry owes a huge debt to many dedicated researchers who, over the past 50 years, have helped take Australian growers to the top of the

international cotton production tree. The quality of the research has helped keep Australian farmers in business when faced with challenges such as droughts, floods and plagues of resistant insects.

Some of those researchers are relatively unknown, working away in labs and undertaking some fairly monotonous tasks – planning, planting and picking trials, then analysing results and writing reports. Others have achieved almost legendary status in the industry, not only for their research efforts, but their ability to communicate with growers and consultants to maximise the value of their efforts.

Unfortunately, one of the best of this latter group has decided to call it quits at the ripe old age of 59. As one CRDC Board member put it, “when Lewis Wilson put up a research proposal, there was no need for discussion – it was just approved.”

Lewis decided to exit quietly at the end of April, but his colleagues had other ideas. They managed to keep a testimonial dinner with over 100 guests secret, which is no mean feat in a small town like Narrabri. Either Lewis is a very good actor or he was genuinely surprised by the attention. Apart from those present, there were plenty of written and video testimonials from colleagues and friends from around Australia.

The genuine respect and admiration for Lewis was evident from the team at the Australian Cotton Research Institute, his various PhD students and all parts of the industry.

His co-workers, led by Simone Heimoana, put together a comprehensive “This is your life” styled show, which forms the basis of much of the following. From a personal viewpoint, Lewis has been a wonderful contributor to The Australian Cottongrower over a period of 30 years or so. He’s also spent many hours talking to large and small groups of farmers in fields and meeting rooms in all cotton areas of Australia.

He quickly recognised that consultants were key players in getting information to growers and cultivated a great relationship with the CCA (Crop Consultants Australia) and was always willing to address their meetings or just be on the end of a phone call to answer a question.

He has a natural rapport with growers with a down-to-earth attitude and a great sense of humour. Unfortunately for us, Lewis has other interests in life apart from cotton insects – interests such as 4WD adventures, trail bike riding and spending time with his family. Hopefully he will still find a bit of time to give advice and guidance to the research team he leaves behind.

Lewis Wilson: This is your life

O By Simone Heimoana et al

The early yearsLewis was born in Brisbane on April Fools’ Day in 1959. His

father’s job as an industrial chemist meant the family moved frequently and Lewis spent a free and eventful childhood in Brisbane, Port Moresby, Darwin and Cairns. During a brief stint at a Southport boarding school he learned to row and sail, a passion he carried over to sailboarding, often on local Namoi dams.

In Darwin, Lewis was given his first dirt bike and bikes have remained an obsession to this day.

Getting a higher educationIn 1977 Lewis enrolled in Marine Biology at James Cook

University in Townsville. This involved a few trips on the University boat to collect samples, some of which were labelled as “new species” but were in fact Lewis’ burley. He soon realised that a propensity for seasickness was not ideal for a career at sea, and so – fortunately for us – changed over to Entomology.

After a less-than-stellar academic record in his first year, his marks improved dramatically – possibly due to the intervention of cupid and the influence of his future wife and partner, Helen.

Lewis went on to do an honours degree and made a living by working part time at the university, a 24 hour truck stop and at the Yabulu nickel refinery outside of Townsville.

Working lifeIn 1981 Lewis got his first full time job with the CSIRO in

Rockhampton studying the possibility of using Stylosanthes plants in pastures to trap ticks.

While this sounds like an interesting job (for an entomologist), at that stage he was also still a keen windsurfer and as soon as the trees outside the office indicated a breeze, he’d pick up a sampling tool (a surfboard) and head out to do some field work…at the beach, 20 minutes away.

18 — The Australian Cottongrower June–July 2018

Industry farewells one of its finest researchers

O By David Dowling

Lewis Wilson checking the progress of a trial.

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Lewis shared office space with a great friend, Angus MacQueen who was working on dung beetles, and who christened him “Groover” – as in youthful, hippy clothing, long hair and a casual attitude to life.

Moving to NarrabriIn 1985, Lewis moved to Narrabri and started with the

CSIRO at the Australian Cotton Research Institute, working with Angus Wilson on mites. The drought of the early 1980s had

just finished, so Narrabri was a green and pretty place at the time, which Lewis misguidedly thought reminded him of the Queensland coast!

With regards to windsurfing, moving away from the coast was difficult, but was compensated for by trips to Nelson Bay and applying his windsurfing skills to local reservoirs and farm storages.

Marriage and childrenHelen came to Narrabri at the end of 1985 and they married

in Rockhampton in 1986.They settled in Narrabri and welcomed the first of their three

children, Emily, in 1989.Lewis started a PhD and was in the final editing stages of the

thesis in 1991 when their second child, Jeremy, was born, after Helen helped proofread the thesis in hospital. Josh arrived on Christmas day, 2004, and their family was complete.

Cotton projects and collaborationsLewis’ work in cotton has encompassed most sucking pests

including mites, thrips, aphids, jassids, green vegetable bugs, mirids and whiteflies and of course all the beneficials that may control them. He has also investigated interactions between pests and water stress, agronomic inputs and farm hygiene as well as pest ecology, damage evaluation, plant compensation and cotton bunchy top virus.

In the early days Lewis’s experience in sampling in heavily sprayed crops led him to believe that beneficial species were scarce and would struggle to significantly control pests. But in 1998 he hosted a sabbatical visit by the late Professor Tom Leigh, a world recognised pioneer in integrated pest management (IPM) from the US. Tom has been instrumental in showing the key role of beneficial species in helping to prevent pest build-up in Californian cotton. Through a series of experiments he and Lewis found that the same occurred in Australian cotton as well. Research to support the development of IPM become the focus of his efforts.

In 1992, a young African-Australian man from The University of Tasmania was appointed as Cotton Entomologist at ACRI by NSW Agriculture. Dr. Robert Mensah was keener to work on beneficial insects instead of the synthetic chemistry project that he was assigned to, but he had no experience in cotton cropping systems.

20 — The Australian Cottongrower June–July 2018

This is what happens when you ride into a tree flatout in second gear. The end result of a 4WD adventure to Cape York.

Helen and Lewis on a remote northern beach.

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June–July 2018 The Australian Cottongrower — 21

Lewis realised that Robert’s idea to use a yeast based food spray to attract beneficial insects to cotton fields to manage pests would be hard to sell to an industry committed to insecticide use. Nevertheless, he supported Robert, and in 1999, Lewis, Robert, Peter Glennie, Chris Lehman, John Barber and Iain MacPherson gathered in Peter Glennie’s farm office to discuss and develop the first Australian Cotton Industry IPM guidelines. The ‘IPM Guidelines for cotton production systems in Australia’ were launched by Bruce Pyke at the CCA AGM in August 1999. The IPM Guidelines quickly became a practical framework extension

staff, growers and consultants could use to move toward a more integrated approach to pest management and to reduce insecticide use. These guidelines were revised and expanded in 2005 and the second edition launched by the Honourable John Anderson MP, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia at Mullaley. This initiative promoted cotton farmers’ belief in beneficial insects and supports IPM to this day.

Lewis was also a valued member of the TIMS Committee and the TIMS Technical Advisory Panels which advise on the scientific merits of all permits and resistance management plans to the TIMS Committee, which functions as a cotton industry stewardship group.

The importance of resistance monitoring brought Lewis and Grant Herron together, and over the years they collected mites, aphids and mirids from most cotton growing regions for testing. This work resulted in a very important paper demonstrating the effectiveness of insecticide resistance management strategies and IPM in reversing resistance to pirimicarb and reducing resistance to the neonicotinoids in cotton aphids.

Lewis also developed a strong working relationship with Rob Eveleigh at CSD – testing seed treatments for their effects on thrips and beneficials.

Interaction with industryEarly in his career, Lewis realised the importance of interacting

with the crop consultants to get the IPM message across. He soon began a long term involvement with the cotton consultants – a collaboration which became a major driver for the adoption of IPM across the industry.

At his farewell dinner in May, Lewis was presented with a CCA Honorary Membership Award.

22 — The Australian Cottongrower June–July 2018

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The launch of the second Australian Cotton Industry IPM guidelines – Deputy PM John Anderson with Lewis, Sandra Williams and Robert Mensah.

The CRCsLewis played a pivotal role in the various Cotton CRCs. His

technical knowledge across the cotton production system and personal style in fostering partnerships and collaboration across organisations was a key reason the Cooperative Research Centres thrived. Lewis has the ability to communicate with students, technical staff, peers, growers, advisers and managers and is interested in people as well as in cotton.

The 4WD ChroniclesHaving divested himself of most roles in the cotton industry,

Lewis is looking forward to more 4WD adventures with Helen and their travelling friends. His friends rate him as a great travelling companion who, in desperate situations and remote locations, can always be relied upon to produce a bottle of the wine of the month from the extensive Prado wine cellar.

He is also an excellent trip planner and together with Helen and a detailed spreadsheet, manages to come up with a “What to do and see” agenda for each trip.

True to character he is always a scientist and uses a science based approach to four wheel driving, motorcycling and life in general. At work, he used the BDI or Beneficial Disruption Index to rate the effect of chemicals on beneficial insects, while he rates his 4WD experiences, such as inclines, declines and water crossings, using the STI or Sphincter Tightening Index, with 10 being the highest.

Behind every good adventurer is a great co-adventurer and together, Lewis and Helen make an awesome team. They may not always agree on directions, but they do manage to stay friends and have fun on their trips and eventually end up where they were supposed to be.

After the presentation at the farewell dinner Lewis was invited to say a few words. “Well, what a surprise,” he said. “I’m amazed Helen managed to keep this a secret from me! Looking around the room I realised all of you have influenced my career or social life in some way. I’ve really enjoyed working with all of you, it’s been great fun and along they way we’ve really had a strong positive influence on the cotton industry.

“I’ve been blessed with great support from the industry and with many great partnerships and collaborations. I’d especially like to thank my ‘team’, Simone Heimoana, Tanya Smith, Dee Hamilton, Ammie Foster, Tianne Parker and Matt Nott, not only for their dedication and friendship but also for putting on this fabulous night. I’m looking forward to retirement but also to keeping a connection with CSIRO and the industry as an Honorary Retirement Fellow.”

June–July 2018 The Australian Cottongrower — 23

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Lewis with his research team at ACRI (Simone Heimoana on the left).