The Soil CRC is pleased to announce that Dr Richard Bell, Emeritus Professor at Murdoch University, will deliver the keynote address at our 2025 Participants Conference in Perth next month. A prominent soil scientist, Professor Bell has been a leading researcher in Western Australia since the 1980s and is widely recognised both nationally and internationally.
Soil CRC CEO Dr Michael Crawford said Professor Bell’s innovative research, teaching and outreach have made a significant impact on soil science and on agriculture more broadly and makes him very well qualified to speak on the topic of soils and sustainable agriculture in Western Australia – past, current and future challenges.
“The Soil CRC is privileged to have Professor Bell as one of our research leaders and we are honoured that he has accepted our invitation to speak at our 2025 conference,” he said.
Professor Bell’s career began in Western Australia and has taken him overseas to work with researchers and farmers in less well-developed countries, improving the sustainability, productivity and profitability of farming both locally and internationally.
After completing his PhD, Professor Bell joined Murdoch University in 1984 as a Post-doctoral Fellow, working on an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) project to overcome micronutrient limitation in soils. In 1990, he commenced as a lecturer in land management in the environmental science program and later became a professor of sustainable land management.
“For most of my time at Murdoch University, I have been the main academic teaching in soils, land management, and mine rehabilitation, and in 2017 I started teaching new units in crop and pasture science,” Professor Bell said.
Professor Bell’s research expertise includes crop nutrition, conservation agriculture for smallholders, salinity management and managing and re-engineering of sandy soils. His Soil CRC projects are exploring new amendments for sandy soils, ameliorating subsoil constraints and building soil’s drought resilience.
“I see research as advanced problem solving. Problem solving is my motivation for research. This has taken me into applied, strategic and basic research,” he said.
“I enjoy in-depth research and seeing its application to farmers; I have a deep respect for farmers and their ability to produce crops. Being able to contribute to that through the study of soils keeps me engaged and motivated.
“As a scientist, I like to think about what we already know that could be of benefit to farmers and what are the questions and constraints that exist on farms that science and research could help to address,” he explains.
Professor Bell said he has endeavoured to pass on his problem-solving philosophy to the students he has supervised, mentored and trained, including 13 Postdoctoral fellows, 53 PhDs, 25 MSc/MPhil, and 30 Honours students.
In 2022, he was awarded the JA Prescott Medal by Soil Science Australia for outstanding contribution to soil science, recognising his impact in Australia and overseas.
“Through my work with Murdoch University, the Soil CRC, ACIAR, and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), I have built enduring research collaborations with other Australian universities, research organisations, state government agencies and grower groups,” Professor Bell said.
On an international level, Richard has collaborated with research institutes and universities in Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Fiji, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
“I am inspired by working on collaborative, community-minded projects that address the real-world problems that people have – this is where we can make a tangible and enduring difference in agriculture and in people’s lives,” he said.