Deli Chen
University of Melbourne
Title：Sustainable Nitrogen Management—Bridging Soil Science, Policy, and Practice
Biography:
Prof. Deli Chen (Australia) is the Discipline Leader of Soil and Environment Research in the School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences at the University of Melbourne, and Director of the ARC Research Hub for Smart Fertilizers. Elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (2025), he is also a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America, Soil Science Australia, and the American Society of Agronomy.
Prof. Chen received his PhD from the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on nitrogen dynamics in plant–soil systems, nitrogen fertilizer efficiency, animal waste management, and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. He leads a large multidisciplinary research program integrating plant science, soil science, chemistry, chemical engineering, and industry partnerships to develop a new generation of smart nitrogen fertilizers, which delivers transformational improvements in nitrogen use efficiency and environmental sustainability.
Prof. Chen is a highly prolific and influential scholar, with more than 360 peer-reviewed journal articles published in top-tier publications including Nature, Science, Nature Geoscience, Nature Water, Nature Food, Nature Communications, and PNAS. His work has been cited over 27,000 times, with an h-index of 84. He is recognized as a Clarivate™ Highly Cited Researcher, ranking in the top 1% globally by citations in his field.
His outstanding research excellence and distinguished service to sustainable agriculture have garnered numerous prestigious honors. These include the 2024 IFA Norman Borlaug Plant Nutrition Award, 2024 Lifetime Honorary Membership of the International Union of Soil Sciences, 2025 Lifetime Honorary Membership of Soil Science Australia, 2023 Frontiers Planet Prize, 2019 Kingenta Agricultural Science Award, and 2010 Soil Science Australia J.A. Prescott Medal. He was also appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) (2024) and Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor of the University of Melbourne (2018).