Rate My Professor Ivanah Oliver

Dr. Ivanah Oliver is a Lecturer in Soil Science in the School of Environmental and Rural Science at the University of New England. She earned her PhD from the University of New England, with a thesis titled ‘The quantity, spatial distribution and stability of root carbon inputs from pasture species into soil’, examining soil organic carbon processes. Oliver also holds a Bachelor of Agriculture (Honours) from the University of Melbourne. Before joining UNE as a lecturer, she served as a researcher at the Victoria Department of Primary Industries, where she contributed to soil carbon and nitrous oxide research programs. In her current role, she teaches undergraduate and postgraduate units specializing in soil formation, landscapes, and classification, including SOIL222 Soil Science and SOIL500 Soils in Landscapes. As coordinator of UNE's soil science units, she advances soils education and has been involved in events such as Sci-Flicks and field workshops on soil health and carbon.

Oliver's research focuses on the characteristics and distribution of soils in Alpine regions, root-soil interactions, and carbon dynamics in agricultural landscapes. She is a member of the Terrestrial Carbon Research Group at UNE. Her peer-reviewed publications include ‘Demonstrating the value of soil testing to support Australian farmers’ local soil knowledge through a digital tool and action learning’ (2024, with L.L. de Bruyn et al.), ‘Australian priorities for soil research and land manager engagement to improve sustainable soil management’ (2022, with L.A.L. de Bruyn et al.), ‘Rhizosphere legacy: plant root interactions with the soil and its biome’ (2020, with O.G.G. Knox et al.), ‘Soil organic carbon in cropping and pasture systems of Victoria, Australia’ (2016, with F. Robertson et al., cited 35 times), and ‘Effect of cropping practices on soil organic carbon: evidence from long-term field experiments in Victoria, Australia’ (2015, with F. Robertson et al., cited 45 times). Additional works cover alpine humus soils surveys (2021) and root reoccupation in soil pores (2019). In 2018, as a PhD candidate, she won the Individual Champion at the Australian Soil Judging Competition, captained UNE's team to second place, earned the CSIRO Best Overall Presentation award, and received Soil Science Australia’s Most Meritorious Oral Presentation for early career researchers. She served as convenor for the 2025 Australian Soil Judging Competition and holds memberships in Soil Science Australia and the Soil Science Society of America. Her work impacts soil management, education, and carbon research in Australia.