The prize was awarded on 10 February 2014 to Distinguished Professor Graham Farquhar AO and CSIRO Fellow Dr Richard Richards, for 'pioneering the understanding of isotope discrimination in plants and its application to breed wheat varieties that use water more efficiently'. The award relates to a discovery in the 1980’s, where the pair found a way to predict the amount of water needed to best grow different types of wheat.
The UK-based Rank Prize Funds is a charitable organisation which seeks to recognise excellence in specific fields of research and reward innovators for their dedication and outstanding contribution, and have as their objectives the advancement and promotion for the public benefit of knowledge, education and learning in sciences of nutrition and optoelectronics.
The pair each received a prize of $150,000 prize from the Rank Nutrition Fund (Human and Animal Nutrition and Crop Husbandry). The only other Australian to be awarded the rank prize was a CSIRO plant scientist, 33 years ago.
Links
- 2014 Prize recipients The Rank Prize Funds
- Top rank for plant scientists reproduced from ANU Media
- Australian plant scientists receive international accolade for drought-proof wheat ABC News online.
Top rank for plant scientists »
Distinguished ANU Professor Graham Farquhar AO and CSIRO Fellow Dr Richard Richards have won a coveted international science prize for their ground-breaking research into more water efficient wheat.
They received the 2014 UK-based Rank Prize in human and animal nutrition and crop husbandry.
The award relates to a discovery in the 1980’s, where they found a way to predict the amount of water needed to best grow...