Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Zhanglong Cao — Statistician · Bayesian & Spatial Methods · Agricultural Data Analytics

CV of Dr. Zhanglong Cao — Lecturer in Statistics (EECMS, Curtin University). Bayesian methods, experimental design, on-farm experimentation, teaching and supervision.

Academic Appointments

Aug 2025 – Present
Lecturer in Statistics — School of Electrical Engineering, Computing and Mathematical Sciences (EECMS), Curtin University

Unit coordinator for STAT2001 (Semester 1, 2026) and STAT2004 Analytics for Observational Data (Semester 2, 2026)
Supervision of PhD, honours, and master’s project students in Bayesian, spatial, and applied statistics
Leading statistical research in the GRDC on-farm experimentation (OFE) research portfolio

Nov 2018 – Aug 2025
Research Fellow / Research Associate (Biometrician) — SAGI West → Curtin Biometry & Agricultural Data Analytics (CBADA), Curtin University

Led statistical components of large multi-institutional GRDC projects
Developed optimal design and spatial analysis methodology for on-farm strip trials
Built interactive decision-support and analysis tools for growers and industry partners

Sep 2014 – Nov 2018
Researcher, Tutor & Teaching Fellow — University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

Statistical modelling of vehicle trajectories from noisy GPS data (joint project with Physics)
Taught STATS 110 summer school (2016–2018); tutored statistics and mathematics undergraduates

Education

PhD, Statistics (Sep 2014 – Aug 2018), University of Otago, New Zealand. Thesis: Inference and Characterization of Planar Trajectories
Master in Science, Complex Analysis (Sep 2008 – Mar 2011), University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, China
Bachelor in Science, Mathematics and Applied Mathematics (Sep 2003 – Jun 2007), Jiangsu Normal University, China

Current Research Projects & Collaborations

GRDC On-Farm Experimentation Portfolio (OFE 2C) — statistical lead; Milestone 3 achieved (2026). Design, spatial analysis, and simulation evaluation of large strip trials.
OFE simulation & modelling methods — simulation studies comparing trial designs and analysis methods (GWR, LMM, GAM, Gaussian processes) for on-farm experiments.
Bayesian ordinal models for crop development — cumulative logit models for growth-scale (Zadoks) and disease-severity data from WA field trials, with the Facey Group and DPIRD colleagues.
Weed control & crop protection analytics (AHRI) — statistical analysis for Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative studies, including long-term no-till (WANTFA) and pasture–crop rotation trials, with UWA collaborators.
Economics of crop protection & genetic improvement — meta-analysis and economic modelling of fungicide inputs and crop genetic improvement with Curtin collaborators.
CSIRO Industry PhD Program — co-supervision and industry engagement with CSIRO and Australian Grain Technologies (AGT).

Teaching

STAT2001 — Unit Coordinator, Curtin University, Semester 1, 2026
STAT2004 Analytics for Observational Data — Unit Coordinator, Curtin University, Semester 2, 2026
Principles of Statistics — Unit Coordinator, Yanshan University (China), November 2026
STATS 110 Summer School — Teaching Fellow, University of Otago, 2016–2018

Supervision

PhD co-supervision — PhD candidate (MPhil upgraded to PhD) in on-farm experimentation statistics; a second PhD candidate commencing in 2026
Honours co-supervision — one-year honours project in actuarial science (ongoing)
Master’s project supervision (COMP6019) — two master’s computing project students, completed 2026
Student team project (ICTE3002/5001, Human Computer Interface) — supervised a student team building a mobile calendar & scheduling app, completed 2026
Honours examination — external examiner for an honours thesis, 2026

Publications

In Press / Under Review (2026)

Ashworth, M., et al. (incl. Cao, Z.) Crop protection and weed competition study (AHRI). Crop Protection — accepted, 2026.
Ashworth, M., et al. (incl. Cao, Z.) Companion crop protection study (AHRI). Crop Protection — under review.
Ashworth, M., et al. (incl. Cao, Z.) Weed management study (AHRI). Crop & Pasture Science — in revision.
Olita, T., et al. (incl. Cao, Z.) Crop genetic improvement analysis — submitted, June 2026.

Published

Olita, T., Sung, B., Sharma, A., Cao, Z., Mapulanga-Hulston, J., Gibberd, M. (2025). Fungicide Resistance Management in West Australia’s Wheatbelt. Scientific Data, 12(1), 502. DOI:10.1038/s41597-025-04840-0
Cao, Z., Brown, J., Gibberd, M., Easton, J., Rakshit, S. (2024). Optimal design for on-farm strip trials—systematic or randomised? Field Crops Research, 318, 109594. DOI:10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109594
Olita, T., Cao, Z., Gibberd, M. (2024). Economic analysis of crop protection strategies: Comparing the value of increased fungicide inputs and crop genetic improvement in managing Ascochyta Blight in Australian Chickpeas. Pest Management Science. DOI:10.1002/ps.8319
Stefanova, K.T., Brown, J., Grose, A., Cao, Z., Chen, K., Gibberd, M., Rakshit, S. (2023). Statistical analysis of comparative experiments based on large strip on-farm trials. Field Crops Research, 297, 108945. DOI:10.1016/j.fcr.2023.108945
Olita, H. T., Sung, B., Hooper, B., Cao, Z., Lopez-Ruiz, F., Gibberd, M. (2023). The socio-economic impact of fungicide resistance in West Australia’s Wheatbelt. Advances in Agronomy, 180, 1. DOI:10.1016/bs.agron.2023.03.005
Phong, W. N., Sung, B., Cao, Z., Gibberd, M., Dykes, G. A., Payne, A. D., Coorey, R. (2022). Impact of different processing techniques on the key volatile profile, sensory, and consumer acceptance of black truffle (Tuber melanosporum Vittadini). Journal of Food Science, 00, 1–14. DOI:10.1111/1750-3841.16275
Cao, Z., Stefanova, K., Gibberd, M., Rakshit, S. (2022). Bayesian inference of spatially correlated random parameters for on-farm experiment. Field Crops Research, 281, 108477. DOI:10.1016/j.fcr.2022.108477
Cao, Z., Bryant, D., Molteno, T. C., Fox, C., Parry, M. (2021). V-spline: An adaptive smoothing spline for trajectory reconstruction. Sensors, 21(9), 3215. DOI:10.3390/s21093215
Rakshit, S., Baddeley, A., Stefanova, K., Reeves, K., Chen, K., Cao, Z., Evans, F., Gibberd, M. (2020). Novel approach to the analysis of spatially-varying treatment effects in on-farm experiments. Field Crops Research, 255, 107783. DOI:10.1016/j.fcr.2020.107783
Shankar, M., et al. (2020). Targeting improved partial resistance using yield-loss response curves for foliar diseases of wheat. GRDC Updates.
Cao, Z., Bryant, D., Parry, M. (2018). Adaptive Sequential MCMC for Combined State and Parameter Estimation. arXiv preprint: 1803.07734
Cao, Z., Bryant, D., Parry, M. (2018). V-Splines and Bayes Estimate. arXiv preprint: 1803.07645

Conference Presentations & Invited Seminars

December 2025 — Australian Statistical Conference (ASC), Perth: Design and Spatial Analysis of On-Farm Strip Trials: From Principles to Simulation Evaluations
November 2025 — International Biometric Society (IBS) Meeting, Canberra: Bayesian Ordinal Regression for Crop Development and Disease Assessment
October 2025 — Australian National University (ANU) Seminar Series: Design and Spatial Analysis of On-Farm Strip Trials
September 2024 — Australian Applied Statistics Conference, Rottnest: Case Studies in Advanced Analysis of Large Strip On-farm Experiments
August 2024 — AAGI Mini-Symposium: A Bayesian Workflow for Spatially Correlated Random Effects in On-farm Experiment
May 2024 — Pawsey Centre: Analytics Innovations in On-farm Experiments
December 2022 — Australian Applied Statistics Conference, Inverloch: Optimal design for OFE: systematic or randomised?
November 2022 — StatsPD@Waite: A Bayesian Workflow for Spatially Correlated Random Effects in On-farm Experiment
September 2020 — SAGI Symposium: On-farm Strip Trials: going beyond small plot experiments
December 2019 — IBS, Adelaide: Model selection and principle of parsimony in statistical modelling in agriculture
May 2019 — SAGI Symposium, Rottnest: Early Career Statistician

Professional Service & Engagement

Professional societies — International Biometric Society Australasian Region (IBS-AR) committee member and Young Statisticians organising committee; International Society of Precision Agriculture — OFE community member and Australia representative
Peer review — reviewer for Spatial Statistics and the Journal of Agricultural Science (2026), among others
Mentoring — mentor in the NZSA–Australia early-career mentoring program (one-year program, 2026); short-term mentor for the WA Government Student Startup and Innovation Challenge 2026 (mentored a school team selected as Grand Finalists)
Assessment panels — Curtin Scholarship Assessment Panel (2026, assessed 11 applicants); Wheatley Family Foundation Scholarship assessment; invited assessor for IBS-AR scholarships (2026)
Competitions & outreach — contributor to the Simon Marais Mathematics Competition; Curtin Open Day volunteer and developer of the interactive “Data to Decision” demo (2026)
Workshops — EECMS–CCDM Collaborative Workshop (March 2026), fostering cross-school collaboration in agricultural data analytics

Software & Applications

Journal Suggester — web app recommending suitable journals for a manuscript from its title & abstract using semantic similarity and domain heuristics
Stats Journey — interactive learning platform with visual explanations of statistical concepts, from sampling to Bayesian inference
Data to Decision — game-based web experience teaching data-driven decision making, built for Curtin Open Day 2026
MenuMate · AI点菜助手 — AI-powered menu scanner giving personalised dining recommendations (iOS)
V-Spline — R package for adaptive V-splines and Bayesian estimates

Technical Skills

Statistical analysis — Bayesian methods, experimental design, spatial statistics, machine learning
Programming — R, Python, SQL, JavaScript, Git
Software development — R Shiny, web development, API design, containerisation
Data visualisation — ggplot2, D3.js, interactive dashboards, scientific plotting

More projects on GitHub.