Paul Nelson is an agricultural/environmental scientist with research, education and leadership experience in industry, government and university sectors. He does research and teaching in land and water science, and coordinates the Sustainable Tropical Agriculture Flagship of James Cook University’s Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science.

Paul's current research focusses on how human management and natural processes influence the sustainability and environmental impact of agriculture and aquaculture, including productivity, soil condition, water quality, carbon and nutrient cycling, greenhouse gas emissions, and other biogeochemical processes.

Prior to joining James Cook University, Paul led the Agronomy program of the Papua New Guinea Oil Palm Research Association. He has also worked with CSIRO, the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations, the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines, the Australian Centre for Water Treatment and Water Quality Research, the French National Agricultural Research Institute (INRA) and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

 

 

Teaching

• EA2007: Soil Properties and Processes for Management (Level 2; CNS & TSV)
• EA3207: Soil Properties and Processes (Level 3; CNS & TSV)
• EA5017: Soil Properties and Processes (Level 5; CNS)
• EA5018: Field Studies in Tropical Land and Water Science (Level 5; CNS)
• EA5026: Special Studies (Level 5; CNS & TSV)
• EV1005: Environmental Processes and Global Change (Level 1; CNS)
• EV2401: Australian Landscape Processes and Evolution (Level 2; CNS)
• SC5900: Special Topic (Level 5; CNS)
• SC5901: Special Topic 1 (Level 5; CNS)
• SC5902: Special Topic 2 (Level 5; CNS)
• SC5903: Literature Review (Level 5; CNS)
• SC5909: Minor Project and Seminar (Level 5; CNS)

Interests

Research

• Carbon sequestration in agricultural soils, particularly through enhanced mineral weathering
• Reducing nutrient and contaminant export from agriculture and aquaculture using novel techniques such as denitrifying bioreactors
• Understanding and managing effects of soil physicochemical conditions on soil biological health, particularly suppressiveness/ conduciveness to Panama disease in bananas
• Modelling and managing water and nutrient cycling in tropical agriculture and aquaculture

Teaching

• Soil matters: it is the most biologically diverse and active part of the earth, where minerals, water, air and living things interact in complex and fascinating ways that are critical for human well-being and ecosystem functioning. Having a good grasp of soil properties and processes is invaluable for graduates in environmental science and management.

Experience

• 2015 to present - Associate Professor, James Cook University (Cairns, Australia)
• 2010 to 2014 - Senior Lecturer, James Cook University (Cairns, Australia)
• 2004 to 2009 - Lecturer/Senior Lecturer (50%), James Cook University (Cairns, Australia)
• 2004 to 2009 - Senior Scientist (50%), Department of Natural Resources and Mines (Mareeba, Australia)
• 2001 to 2003 - Senior Agronomist, PNG Oil Palm Research Association (Papua New Guinea)
• 1999 to 2001 - Research Scientist, CSIRO (Townsville, Australia)
• 1997 to 1999 - Research Officer, BSES/CRC Sugar (Ayr, Australia)
• 1993 to 1996 - PhD candidate, University of Adelaide (Adelaide, Australia)
• 1991 to 1992 - Research Officer, INRA (Dijon, France)
• 1991 - Technical Officer, Swedish Uni of Agricultural Sciences (Uppsala, Sweden)
• 1987 to 1990 - Research Officer, Australian Centre for Water Treatment and Water Quality Research (Adelaide, Australia)

Research Disciplines

• Soil sciences (4106)

Awards

• 2012 - Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (Australian Office for Learning & Teaching and JCU)

Fellowships

• 2015 - Fellow, The Cairns Institute

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Lewis A, Sarkar B, Wade P, Kemp S, Hodson M, Taylor L, Yeong K, Davies K, Nelson P, Bird M, Kantola I, Masters M, DeLucia E, Leake J, Banwart S and Beerling D (2021) Effects of mineralogy, chemistry and physical properties of basalts on carbon capture potential and plant-nutrient element release via enhanced weathering. Applied Geochemistry, 132, Article: 105023, DOI:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2021.105023.
• Munksgaard N and Nelson P (in press) Coupled polymer-membrane equilibration and cavity ring-down spectrometry for the highly sensitive determination of dissolved methane in environmental waters. Analytical Letters, , DOI:10.1080/00032719.2020.1767122.
• Orr R, Pattison A, Northfield T and Nelson P (2021) Iron chelates have little to no effect on the severity of Fusarium wilt of bananas in soils of the humid tropics. Journal of Plant Pathology, 103, pp. 595-604, DOI:10.1007/s42161-021-00816-2.
• Oliver D, Li Y, Orr R, Nelson P, Barnes M, McLaughlin M and Kookana R (2020) Sorption behaviour of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in tropical soils. Environmental Pollution, 258, Article: 113726, DOI:10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113726.
• Orr R, Hocking R, Pattison A and Nelson P (2020) Extraction of metals from mildly acidic tropical soils: interactions between chelating ligand, pH and soil type. Chemosphere, 248, Article: 126060, DOI:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.126060.
• Pardon L, Bockstaller C, Marichal R, Sionita R, Nelson P, Gabrielle B, Laclau J, Pujianto , Caliman J and Bessou C (2020) IN-Palm: an agri-environmental indicator to assess nitrogen losses in oil palm plantations. Agronomy Journal, 112 (2), pp. 786-800, DOI:10.1002/agj2.20109.
• Rakhsh F, Golchin A, Agha A and Nelson P (2020) Mineralization of organic carbon and formation of microbial biomass in soil: effects of clay content and composition and the mechanisms involved. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 151, Article: 108036, DOI:10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.108036.
• Bowen A, Orr R, McBeath A, Pattison A and Nelson P (2019) Suppressiveness or conduciveness to Fusarium wilt of bananas differs between key Australian soils. Soil Research, 57 (2), pp. 158-165, DOI:10.1071/SR18159.
• Dickinson G, O'Farrell P, Ridgway K, Bally I, Masters B, Nelson P and Pattison T (2019) Nitrogen and carbon management in Australian mango orchards to improve productivity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Acta Horticulturae, 1244, pp. 49-60, DOI:10.17660/ActaHortic.2019.1244.10.
• Oliver D, Li Y, Orr R, Nelson P, Barnes M, McLaughlin M and Kookana R (2019) The role of surface charge and pH changes in tropical soils on sorption behaviour of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). Science of the Total Environment, 673, pp. 197-206, DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.055.
• Orr R, Pattison A, East D, Warman N, O'Neill W, Czislowski E and Nelson P (2019) Image-based quantification of Fusarium wilt severity in banana. Australasian Plant Disease Notes, 14, Article: 14, DOI:10.1007/s13314-019-0344-7.
• Beerling D, Leake J, Long S, Scholes J, Ton J, Nelson P, Bird M, Kantzas E, Taylor L, Sarkar B, Kelland M, DeLucia E, Kantola I, Müller C, Rau G and Hansen J (2018) Farming with crops and rocks to address global climate, food and soil security. Nature Plants, 4, pp. 138-147, DOI:10.1038/s41477-018-0108-y.

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ResearchOnline@JCU stores 145+ research outputs authored by A/Prof Paul Nelson from 1990 onwards.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Influence of Elevated Carbon Dioxide on the Defensive Chemistry of Tropical Tree Leaves (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• The Impacts of Soil Physicochemicol Properties on Suppression of Fusorium wilt of Bananas in North Queensland, Australia. (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Automatic Generation of Geometry for Simulation and Games (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Application of modelling tools to study role of water sensitive urban design (wsud) technology to mitigate flooding in tropical cities (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)

Completed

• Modelling of the nitrogen budget of oil palm plantations to help reduce losses to the environment. Case study in Sumatra, Indonesia (2017, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Biochar, compost and biochar-compost: effects on crop performance, soil quality and greenhouse gas emissions in tropical agricultural soils (2017, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Carbon cycle processes in tropical savannas of far North Queensland, Australia (2017, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Soil carbon dynamics under oil palm plantations (2018, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Maximizing nutrient utilisation and soil fertility in smallholder coffee and food garden systems in Papua New Guinea by managing nutrient stocks and movement (2017, Masters , Primary Advisor)
• Nitrous oxide emissions from soil in mango and banana fields: effects of nitrogen rate, fertiliser type, and ground cover practices (2019, Masters , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)

These are the most recent metadata records associated with this researcher. To see a detailed description of all dataset records, visit Research Data Australia.

• Nelson, P. (2013) Tree-scale lateral variation in root mass, throughfall and soil respiration in mature oil palm plantations in Papua New Guinea. James Cook University
• Nelson, P. (2012) Nutrient contents and associated parameters for cocoa tree leaves, ripe cocoa pods and soil from 63 cocoa farms in Papua New Guinea in 2007. James Cook University

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.