Outstanding in his field: WA soil scientist Chris Gazey earns national accolade after decades of service

Many decades of research, development and extension to investigate and manage soil acidity and soil constraints has earned national recognition for Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development soil scientist Chris Gazey. The senior research scientist and Soil Science and Crop Nutrition research manager was announced the national winner of Soil Science Australia’s LJH Teakle award in December. Soil Science Australia’s National Soil Science Awards celebrate and recognise excellence in soil science, with the LJH Teakle award presented for outstanding effort in promoting and raising the awareness of soil science. Mr Gazey, who is also co-director of SoilsWest, a WA-based research alliance with some of the State’s universities and CSIRO, is a strong advocate for addressing soil constraints with the rural communities of WA. DPIRD deputy director general Cec McConnell said Mr Gazey was a committed, enthusiastic and dedicated soil science professional who deserved to be acknowledged by the Australian soil science community. “Chris has developed and led key extension programs such as ‘Time to Lime’, co-developed bioeconomic modelling supporting optimal liming strategies and contributed significantly to the State Lime Strategy,” Ms McConnell said. “His career is characterised by strong collaborative projects that include universities, industry and growers. “Chris has managed several large multidisciplinary projects and now supports a large number of early and mid-career scientists within the Soils Constraints West II group of projects, which is a co-investment with the Grains Research and Development Corporation.” Ms McConnell also said Mr Gazey had made “great inroads” educating industry, growers and policymakers about soil, soil pH, acidification and the importance of sustainable soil management. “His work is a big contributor to the productivity, profitability and resilience we see in our current WA farming systems,” she said. On learning of his award win, Mr Gazey said it was a great honour to be recognised by his peers. “I want to acknowledge the great past and current teams I have been fortunate to work with and lead over the years,” Mr Gazey said. “It is their hard work and support that has certainly put WA broadacre soil-related research, development and extension on the national stage.”