Dr Peter Thrall leads the Conservation and Restoration Sub-Program at CSIRO Plant Industry.
Current activities
Dr Thrall’s research centres on the ecology and evolution of natural plant-microbe interactions.
He has a long-standing interest in the spatial dynamics of host-pathogen systems. In recent years, he has expanded this interest to include the community ecology of native soil symbionts, and the benefits of using these to increase the cost-effectiveness of large-scale revegetation.
Dr Thrall currently supervises a PhD student who is using molecular markers to investigate how host-pathogen coevolution is influenced by mating system and life-history.
Background
Dr Thrall joined CSIRO Plant Industry in 1997 after completing a PhD and postdoctoral appointment at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, USA.
His research combines theoretical, experimental and comparative techniques to investigate the ecological and evolutionary interactions between hosts and pathogens in spatially structured situations.
Dr Peter Thrall investigates the ecology and evolution of natural plant-microbe interactions.
Dr Thrall's experience with plant-microbe interactions has led to his strong applied interest in soil symbionts, particularly with regard to their use in developing sustainable solutions to large-scale environmental problems such as dryland salinity.
Dr Thrall has a key interest in the development of a broad theoretical and conceptual framework for understanding disease dynamics and evolution in relation to host and pathogen life-history in both plant and animal systems.
Academic qualifications
Dr Thrall received a Bachelor of Arts (biology) in 1986 and a Masters of Science (plant ecology) in 1988, both from the University of Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.
He was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (Botany), in 1993 from Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
Achievements
Dr Thrall held an Australian Research Council's Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship between 1998 and 2003.
He is on the editorial board of Ecology Letters and he has published more than 70 papers in refereed journals.
See Dr Thrall's academic papers in his publishing history.
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