For more than a decade, Professor Jim Pratley has been identifying and diminishing significant service gaps in agricultural higher research.
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"I've been focused on increasing agricultural students for 13 years now," Professor Pratley said.
"We pulled through 2012, that was our lowest point. There was just such low student numbers that it meant a lot of universities were at risk of losing their agriculture subjects.
In all his years of solving problems, there remained one he did not even see until 18 months ago.
Looking around his classroom at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga in NSW's Riverina, he began to realise just how few Indigenous Australian students he was meeting.
"At CSU, we have more Indigenous students than any other university, we're up there with Newcastle Uni in that respect," Professor Pratley said.
"We're also one of the largest agriculture studies providers. So we have those two pillars but we just haven't put it together yet."
Reaching out to his colleagues in other institutions, Professor Pratley found it was an endemic problem.
"We only put out five Indigenous agricultural graduates each year across this country," he said.
"That seemed to me to be appalling."
Recognising Indigenous people as this nation's first farmers, Professor Pratley set out to address the cultural divide in the classroom.
"We've tended to just not consider what they have been doing on the land for all of history, but we need a better understanding of how our cultures can overlap and synergise," he said.
"During the bushfires, there was a lot of commentary saying that had we heeded the land practices they have been using, this may not have happened. People are starting to listen."
Despite his years of academic research into agricultural practices, Professor Pratley expects he will be able to learn as much as he teachers from the Wiradjuri elders he's engaged in the program.
Wagga's Uncle James Ingram is among the consultants in the initiative.
"Aboriginal people have a lot of knowledge about how the environment works," Uncle James said.
"There's a very common way to know if there's going to be a drought or a lot of rain in a year by watching what the kookaburras are doing."
Uncle James describes his people as "this nation's first pastoralists" and "natural conservationists" with enormous wisdom to impart to the agricultural industry.
"We have a natural connection to the land and we want to give our people the opportunity to get back onto the land," he said.
The initiative, now in its infancy, has already attracted its first student.
Two weeks ago, Worimi man Joshua Gilbert signed on to become the first higher research student in the program.
Mr Gilbert has already proven himself a strong advocate for land practices, having received the 2016 Australian Geographic Young Conversationalist of the Year Award, among a host of other notable achievements.
He has also had a long history of farming. From their home on the mid-north coast, Mr Gilbert's family have been "involved in ag in every possible way" for centuries.
"My family had very early contact with colonial ag from about 1825 to 1836 and Dad's family have farmed ever since," Mr Gilbert said.
"My parents still have their farm in the Gloucester area. Originally it was thought that this area was good sheep land, but it's more conducive to beef and dairy."
In 2014, Mr Gilbert completed his bachelor degree in commerce and accounting at Newcastle University.
But his strong connection to country pulled him back into his family's business.
"I started a law degree, but the connection to ag draws me back," he said.
"Those [commerce, accounting, law] skills are important especially around the conversation of setting up Indigenous-run business in ag, but the land will always bring me back."
While his sister studied at Charles Sturt University, Mr Gilbert worked in commerce in the Riverina, which first opened him up to the prospect of connecting long-term to the region.
Now beginning his post-graduate studies the Wagga campus, Mr Gilbert sees his role as bridging the divide between agricultural research and Indigenous land practices.
"In the past, there has been a lot of discussion from non-Indigenous people about what Indigenous ag is, but we have never really had that opportunity to tell our story ourselves," he said.
Although Mr Gilbert's project is still emerging, he has already joined forces with a formidable Indigenous rights voice, with Stan Grant junior signing on as his co-supervisor.
"His storytelling ability will help me convey the importance of my research as it unfolds," Mr Gilbert said.
"His ability to share Indigenous narratives in all areas is absolutely crucial in ensuring that we can have this discussion around Indigenous agricultural practices."
The university is now seeking more Indigenous students to join Mr Gilbert in signing on to the program, which has so far received up to $100,000 in private donations.