Rate My Professor David Francis

Associate Professor David Francis is a prominent aquaculture nutritionist at Deakin University’s School of Life and Environmental Sciences. He earned a BSc (Hons) in Fisheries Management and Aquaculture and a PhD in Aquaculture Nutrition. His career includes research positions at Deakin University’s Warrnambool campus from 2006 to 2011 and the Australian Institute of Marine Science from 2011 to 2015. Currently, he is Head of the Nutrition and Seafood Laboratory (NuSea.Lab) at the Queenscliff Campus and Associate Head of School, Regional, for Warrnambool and Queenscliff. Francis leads research on protein, lipid, and carbohydrate nutrition, emphasizing sustainable aquafeed development from agricultural by-products, nutritional biomarkers of organism health, and nutrition strategies for emerging aquaculture species including finfish, crustaceans, and corals.

With over 150 publications and nearly 5,000 citations, key works include “Fatty acid metabolism (desaturation, elongation and β-oxidation) in rainbow trout fed fish oil- or linseed oil-based diets” (Turchini & Francis, 2009, British Journal of Nutrition; 294 citations), “Genes for de novo biosynthesis of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are widespread in animals” (Kabeya et al., 2018, Science Advances; 261 citations), “Fish oil replacement with different vegetable oils in Murray cod” (Turchini et al., 2011, Aquaculture; 242 citations), “Are fish what they eat? A fatty acid’s perspective” (Xu et al., 2020, Progress in Lipid Research; 219 citations), and “Effects of dietary oil source on growth and fillet fatty acid composition of Murray cod” (Francis et al., 2006, Aquaculture; 187 citations). His innovations in lipid replacement and feed efficiency have advanced sustainable aquaculture. Francis spearheads a $9.8 million research centre for aquafeed innovation and has received international awards and fellowships for facilitating industry growth to support global seafood production.