Introduction

Dr John Passioura was born in Balranald on the Murrumbidgee River, New South Wales and grew up in Melbourne, where his family owned and operated a milk bar. He has a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Science (1958) and a PhD in soil chemistry (1963) from the University of Melbourne.
 

In this interview, Dr Passioura recalls his childhood influences, studies, and post-doctoral work in Europe and the UK. He returned to Australia in 1966 to take a position at CSIRO, where he eventually became Chief Research Scientist and Leader of the Crop Adaptation Program before holding an emeritus appointment. His research has encompassed soil chemistry and physics, biophysical chemistry, plant physiology and agronomy. He has made substantial contributions to understanding water relations in plants and was the first to show that roots sense water and osmotic relationships in the soil and relay inhibitory signals that modulate behaviour of the leaves. His work has contributed significantly to the breeding of plants adapted for effective water use and greater drought resistance.  
 

Passioura has conducted a number of high-level reviews, including several for the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and has undertaken sabbaticals with Scottish Crop Research Institute in Dundee and partial secondment with Australian Grains Research and Development Organization (GRDC), where he oversaw several projects on soil and water management that aimed at improving the environmental performance of Australian grain farms. He talks here about what inspired him to build a career in science, the development of CSIRO and Australian agricultural science, the global implications of this work, his time as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and possibilities for the future of scientific research.