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CANBERRA ACT 2601 AUSTRALIA
Biography
Dr Mark Peoples completed his undergraduate degree as a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (1st-class honours, awarded the Law Somner Prize for Crop Physiology) in 1975 and his PhD in plant biochemistry and physiology in 1980, at the School of Agriculture & Forestry, University of Melbourne. He then undertook a post-doctoral fellowship at the Botany Department, University of Western Australia, Perth (1980-1985) before joining CSIRO, Canberra in 1985, where he remained until his retirement in 2021. Currently he is an Honorary CSIRO Fellow.
During his 35-year scientific career at CSIRO Dr Peoples’ focused on improving the productivity, profitability, resilience and sustainability of agriculture. His research was marked by a comprehensive network of national and international collaborations and a close engagement with leading Australian farmers and agri-consultants. His systems-based approach encompassed a unique blend of basic, applied and strategic research that aimed at providing growers with solutions to overcome various constraints to the growth of major agricultural crops while simultaneously tackling significant environmental issues associated with inefficiencies in plant use of soil nitrogen (N) and water, the main drivers of productivity and yield. Adoption by farmers of the strategies delivered by Peoples and his collaborators has led to more environmentally responsible and profitable patterns of land use.
His pioneering research in the development and application of techniques to quantify biological N2 fixation (BNF), and his studies in crop nutrition, the global N-cycle and systems science resulted in >250 publications cited >8,200 times (H-index = 46) which led to his inclusion in the Clarivate Analytics Top 1% Cited Researchers list in 2018. He is frequently invited to speak at national and international conferences and farmer meetings, and to provide expert advice on regional and global research issues in agriculture. His international contributions to legume research and global food production were recognised with an Honorary Doctorate from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in 2012.
From 2004 Dr Peoples progressively took on more responsibilities for science and capability leadership in CSIRO in addition to maintaining an active research output. He was Deputy Chief (2004-2014) and Science Theme Leader (2006-2014) in CSIRO Plant Industry, a Program Research Director in CSIRO Agriculture & Food (2014-2019), and co-ordinator of CSIRO genetic plant improvement (2019-2020). He is currently the independent chair of the Advisory committee for the Melbourne University Australian Research Council Research HUB for Smart Fertilizers.
Throughout his scientific career and retirement Dr Peoples maintained an on-going role in nurturing the next generation of farming systems and crop nutrition researchers. In addition to running many training courses and ‘Master-classes’, he has hosted 16 visiting students and scientists from 13 different countries for extended periods in his CSIRO lab in Canberra, assisted or supervised 20 post-graduate and post-doctoral fellows, and mentored numerous early career scientists from various institutions across Australia and overseas.
Professional Areas
- • Strategies to improve the sustainability and productivity food, forage and fibre production systems.
- • Development of technologies to quantify biological N-fixation by legumes, and the identification of the key genetic, environmental and management factors regulating inputs of fixed N in agriculture.
- • The application of isotopic techniques to improve understanding of N-cycling, the factors influencing the efficiency of uptake of legume and fertiliser sources of N by cereal crops, and the different pathways of N loss from irrigated and rainfed farming systems.
- • The quantification of the agronomic impact of crop choice and management strategies on soil N dynamics, crop water use and control of herbicide-resistent weeds, grain production and systems profitability.
Fields of Research
Current Roles
-
Research Director
Crop Improvement for Novel Plant Products - AGRICULTURE & FOOD
Academic Qualifications
-
1975
Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Hons)
Uinversity of Melbourne -
1979
PhD
University of Melbourne -
2012
Honorary Doctorate
SLU, Sweden
Professional Experiences
-
1980-1985
Post-doctoral Fellow
University of WA -
1985-present
Research Scientist
CSIRO
Achievements and Awards
-
1975
Law Somner Prize for Crop Physiology
University of Melbourne -
2021-2026
Independent Chair of the Advisory Committee - Australian Research Council Research HUB for Smart Fertilizers
Melbourne University -
1999
International Fertilizer Association Award
10th Nitrogen Workshop, Copenhagen, Denmark -
1998-1999
Chief’s award for team excellence in technology uptake
CSIRO Plant Industry -
2002
Team member - Gold award in the Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence in Public Sector Management to the GRDC Sustainable Farming Systems Program team
Australian Government -
2003
Finalist Eureka Prize for Research to Improve the Environmental Sustainability for Graingrowing
Australia Museum -
2012
Elected Doctor Honoratiorus
Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet (SLU, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences), Sweden -
2012-2013
Team member – Winner of Southern Farming Systems Rural Finance Inverleigh Crop Challenge
Southern Farming Systems -
2018-2018
Highly Cited (top 1%) Researchers list
Clarivate Analytics.
Other highlights
-
2004-2004
Invited speaker: Gordon Conference on Industrial Ecology - Oxford University, Oxford, UK
-
2004-2004
Invited speaker: Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) International Nitrogen Initiative meeting - Kampala, Uganda
-
2005-2005
Invited speaker: 4th International Food Legumes Research Conference - New Dehli, India
-
2007-2007
Invited speaker: 6th European Grain Legumes Conference - Lisbon, Portugal
-
2009-2009
Invited Plenary speaker in the opening session: 16th International Congress on Nitrogen Fixation - Big Sky, Montana, USA
-
2008-2008
Invited speaker: 8th European Nitrogen Fixation Conference -Ghent, Belgium
-
2021-2021
Invited Plenary speaker: 14th European Nitrogen Fixation Conference, Aarhus University, Denmark
-
2011-2011
Invited speaker: German Research Foundation expert-workshop on “Estimating the amount and fate of below-ground derived N” – University of Höhenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
-
2012-2012
Invited speaker: The Australian Legume Symposium (Australian Grasslands Assoc.) – Melbourne, Vic
-
2013-2013
Invited speaker: International Research Programme on Agricultural Nitrogen (IRPAN) – Rothamsted, Harpenden, UK
-
2014-2014
Invited speaker: New Roots for Ecological Intensification, Estes Park, Colorado/Land Institute, Salina, Kansas, USA
-
2017-2017
Invited speaker: Nutrient Use Efficiency Expert Working Group workshop – (Wheat Initiative/BBSRC) Rothamsted, UK
-
2017-2017
Invited speaker: Advances in Grain Legume Breeding, Cultivation and Uses for a More Competitive Value-chain – Novi Sad, Serbian Republic
-
2019-2019
Invited to participate in Gates Foundation N2Afrcia project meetings & workshops, Tanzania.
-
2019-2019
Invited speaker: 2nd Annual Meeting of the EU DiverIMPACTS Project: Addressing challenges of crop diversification, SLU, Alnarp, Sweden
-
2020-2020
Invited speaker & participant: Novel multi‐scale synthesis of N fixation rates and drivers across the terrestrial biosphere, US Geological Survey Powell Center, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
Community and Corporate Citizenship
-
1998-1998
Invited expert: Biological Nitrogen Fixation - Bellagio Center Meeting, Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Committee, Como, Italy
-
2021-2026
Independent Chair of the Advisory Committee - Melbourne University Australian Research Council Research HUB for Smart Fertilizers
-
2004-2004
Invited expert: International Nitrogen Initiative meeting - Kampala, Uganda, Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE)
-
2008-2008
Invited expert:Gates Foundation convening meeting on opportunities for improving biological nitrogen fixation in sub-Saharan Africa - Seattle, USA
-
2009-2009
Invited expert: Gates Foundation convening meeting Mombasa, Kenya
-
2010-2010
Invited expert: Scientific visit to advise INIA on the development of a legume R&D program – Chillán, Chile
-
2013-2013
Key expert speaker: International Research Programme on Agricultural Nitrogen (IRPAN) inaugeral meeting - Rothamsted, Harpenden, UK
-
2015-2015
Peer review panel: BBSRC/NERC Newton Fund Agricultural Nitrogen Virtual Joint Centres, UK
-
2013-2020
Adjunct Professor: University of Tasmania
-
2014-2020
Science Committee member: G20 Wheat Initiative Research Committee to provide a global coordination platform for wheat improvement
-
1996-2018
GRDC-Update seminar series for grains consultants and farmers (75 occasions)
-
2016-2020
member CSIRO Agriculture & Food Inclusion & Diversity Team
-
2017-2020
Sydney University ARC Industrial Transformational Research HUB – Legumes for Sustainable Agriculture: Steering Committee
-
2014-2020
Member - Cotton Innovation Network Committee
-
1999-2001
Topic Editor - Encyclopedia of Soil Science, Marcel Dekker, New York, USA
-
2000-2002
Journal Editorial Board: Biology and Fertility of Soils
-
2003-2009
Journal Editorial Board: Plant and Soil
-
2008-2010
Conference Committee member: 15th Australian Agronomy Conference: Food Security from Sustainable Agriculture (Lincoln, New Zealand 2010)
-
2009-2010
Stella Ennin, CSIR-Crops Res Institute, Ghana : CSIRO hosted African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) from Gates Foundation
-
2001-2011
Member of GRDC Southern Panel annual decision-making on $100M investment in grains R&D
-
2011-2014
Chair CSIRO Plant Industry Gender Equity Committee
-
2011-2014
National co-ordinator GRDC Crop Sequence Initiative
-
2013-2015
Conference Committee member: 9th International Society of Root Research Symposium: Roots Down Under (Canberra 2015)
-
2013-2016
Conference Committee member: 7th International Nitrogen Initiative Conference: Solutions to Improve Nitrogen Use Efficiency for the World (Melbourne 2016)
-
2015-2017
Conference Committee member: Australian Cotton Researcher Conference (Canberra 2017)
Related links
Publications
ORCID 0000-0001-6060-3290
We have publications by Dr Mark Peoples