Rate My Professor Jeff Powell

Professor Jeff Powell obtained his PhD from the University of Guelph, Canada in 2008, where he studied the biological impacts of genetically-modified crops on soils, including mycorrhizas, rhizobia, and soil fauna. His postdoctoral research at the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, examined the role of fungal traits in the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis and factors controlling the predictability of microbial community assembly. He joined the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment at Western Sydney University in 2011 and took up the role of Interim Dean of Graduate Studies and Researcher Development in 2025. Professor Powell holds an MSc from Simon Fraser University and a BSc.

His research focuses on the processes underlying the assembly of microbial communities and how these can be manipulated to achieve beneficial outcomes, with particular emphasis on the contributions of microbial biodiversity, including mycorrhizal fungi and rhizobia, to the productivity of managed and natural systems and their responses to environmental change. He has received several awards and fellowships, including the Science and Innovation Award from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in 2012, the ProSPER.Net-Scopus Young Scientist of the Year award in 2011, a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship in 2009, an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2008, and a Humboldt Research Fellowship in 2007. He was elected Western Sydney University’s Environment Sustainability Research Theme Champion in 2016. Professor Powell serves as Editor-in-Chief of Pedobiologia: Journal of Soil Ecology and as Section Editor for Plant and Soil, and he is an editorial board member of FEMS Microbiology Ecology. He has secured numerous research grants from bodies such as the Australian Research Council and leads projects on topics including soil carbon, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem responses to climate change.

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