Neal Menzies

Neal Menzies has a passion for agriculture and the environment, and has used his role as a teacher and research leader to bring others into this highly rewarding field. He believes that agricultural and environmental scientists must go further than identifying where human activity is harming the environment, they must also deliver workable solutions to the problems they identify. While his research spans a range of agricultural issues, he considers himself primarily a soil chemist, and sees soil science as a central discipline in the solution of a broad range of problems. Neal’s main research interests are plant mineral nutrition, bio-toxicity of trace metals, and the development of sustainable but highly productive tropical farming systems.

Following his PhD at the University of Queensland, Neal worked at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Cameroon, and then as an academic at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK, before returning to Australia to take a position at the University of Queensland. He moved to the role of Pro Vice Chancellor (Sciences) at Griffith University in 2022.

Neal has undertaken many leadership roles in his discipline area of soil science and in agriculture more generally. He is a Past President of the Australian Society of Soil Science, and Past Vice-President of the International Union of Soil Science. He currently serves on the National Research and Innovation Committee, the New South Wales Planning Commission, the Australian Soils Network, and is the immediate past President of the Australian Council of Deans of Agriculture.