Australia is being beaten at its own game.

The emblematic eucalyptus is grown in enormous quantities overseas, meaning Australia can no longer claim the title of the biggest eucalyptus oil producer.

Instead, David Kainer is trying to make us the best.

The PhD student from the Foley Lab at the ANU Research School of Biology is studying the blue mallee to see how the plant can be tweaked to become a high-quality oil producing behemoth.

Kainer condensed his PhD down to three minutes for the Three Minute Thesis competition. If you didn’t catch him presenting it live, watch this video to see how he plans to put Australia back on top with our iconic oil.

Related links

•  David Kainer explains his thesis in 3 Minutes - ANU YouTube Channel