Ian Wright

Biography

Ian Wright is Distinguished Professor of Plant Functional Ecology, and Chief Scientist, at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University. His research spans from detailed mechanistic studies to cost:benefit theory for plant function, to global-scale analyses. His work on the leaf economics spectrum has become foundational, featuring in textbooks from plant ecology to ecological climatology; “least-cost theory” has led to new understanding of environmental controls on photosynthetic traits and also leaf lifespans. Recent work focuses on adaptive strategies underpinning productivity and resilience of Australian native grasses in relation to drought and heat, investigating the physiological understanding of these strategies, and translating this knowledge towards crop improvement. Ian has published > 210 peer-reviewed papers, mostly in leading journals (including 40 papers in New Phytologist!). He has been a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher for “Plant & Animal Sciences” or “Ecology and Environment” every year since 2014 and was elected to the Australian Academy of Science in 2019. Ian enjoys the challenges of mentoring early career researchers. He has lead-supervised 13 PhD and/or Research Masters students and 22 postdoctoral researchers, and co-supervised many more. His current lab group consists of three postdocs and five PhD students.