Dr Neil McKenzie leads one of the nation's largest land and water research teams.
Current activities
Dr McKenzie is Chief of CSIRO Land and Water Division.
Dr McKenzie’s major contribution has been through his leadership of the Australian Collaborative Land Evaluation Program (ACLEP). This program coordinates soil survey and monitoring activities across Australia.
Dr McKenzie has been responsible for several national standards on measurement, monitoring and survey and has led major projects for the Natural Heritage Trust and National Land and Water Resources Audit.
His most significant recent contributions have been the highly acclaimed book Australian soils and landscapes: an illustrated compendium and release of the Australian Soil Resource Information System (ASRIS).
ASRIS is a comprehensive online system for soil and land resource information across Australia.
Background
Dr McKenzie has 23 years of research experience in pedology (soil science). His research has focused on quantitative methods for mapping soil and land resources.
Dr McKenzie joined CSIRO in 1987. He achieved Principal Research Scientist prior to being appointed as Deputy Chief in 2006 and has undertaken several research group leadership roles.
Dr Neil McKenzie's contributions include developing new methods for digital soil mapping and negotiating a coordinated and scientific approach to land resource assessment in Australia.
Academic qualifications
Dr McKenzie has been awarded a:
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Bachelor of Natural Resources from the University of New England, Armidale, Australia, in 1980
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Master of Natural Resources, also from the University of New England, in 1983
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Doctor of Philosophy, from the University of New England in 1987.
Achievements
Dr McKenzie's work on ASRIS was recognised in 2005. The ASRIS website won the ESRI Australia's 2005 Web GIS Challenge from a field of 21 candidates.
His other recent achievements include:
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publication of the comprehensive Guidelines for surveying soil and land resources in 2007
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CSIRO representative on the National Committee on Soil and Terrain and its predecessors, 1992-present
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established, with Mr David Jacquier and Ms Linda Karssies, the CSIRO National Soil Archive to support research on measurement and environmental monitoring.
Dr McKenzie is actively involved in shaping public policy through his membership of committees, particularly the National Committee on Soil and Terrain.
He leads CSIRO’s involvement in the forthcoming Global soil information system and chairs the Working Group on Digital Soil Mapping for the International Union of Soil Science.
Dr McKenzie is also a member of the Editorial Board for Geoderma.
Find out more about the work of CSIRO Land and Water.
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