Rate My Professor Nicholas George

Dr Nicholas George serves as a Senior Lecturer in Agricultural Sciences in the School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, at Curtin University. He obtained his Bachelor of Horticultural Science and PhD in Crop and Pasture Sciences from The University of Western Australia, completing his doctorate in 2005 with a thesis entitled 'Koojong (Acacia saligna), a species with potential as a human food source.' Following his PhD, George held postdoctoral positions in the United States, including in the Horticultural Sciences Department at North Carolina State University, where he gained experience across diverse farming systems.

Since February 2019, George has contributed to Curtin University through teaching and research focused on sustainable agriculture, particularly the de novo domestication and cultivation of edible Australian native plants as novel food crops to enhance farming resilience. His academic interests include underutilised crops, crop simulation modelling using APSIM, yield drivers for wheat and barley based on National Variety Trials data, native Australian legume species as grain crops, and native Solanum as rootstocks for horticultural production. Key publications encompass 'A review of the de novo domestication and cultivation of edible Australian native plants as food crops' (Journal of Agricultural Science, 2024), 'Rain and potential evapotranspiration are the main drivers of yield for wheat and barley in southern Australia: insights from 12 years of National Variety Trials' (Crop & Pasture Science, 2024), 'Evaluating the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) wheat module for California' (Crop & Pasture Science, 2024), 'The Use of Australian Native Solanum as Rootstock for Tomato and Eggplant Production: A Case Study with Solanum symonii' (HortTechnology, 2025), and 'Phenolic, antioxidant capacity, and antinutritional compounds variation in Acacia seeds' (International Journal of Food Science & Technology, 2025). George earned the Research Supervisor Award in the 2024 Curtin University Student Guild Excellence in Teaching Awards for the Faculty of Science and Engineering and was a member of the F3AST team awarded the 2025 Australasian University Agriculture Education Award for Excellence in Teaching: Producing Industry Ready Graduates by the Australian Council of Deans of Agriculture. His work supports student readiness for agricultural challenges and promotes diversified cropping for climate adaptation.