Dr Ehsan Tavakkoli

Biography/ Background

Ehsan completed his BSc degree in Soil Science at Ferdowsi Uni of Mashhad, Iran and then continued with postgraduate studies in Australia where he completed a first-class MSc degree in soil chemistry and Plant Nutrition at University of New England, Armidale.

His PhD studies have focussed on responses at the whole plant and cellular level of two important grain crops (barley and faba bean) to soil salinity. This research has increased our understanding of salinity tolerance in crop plants at the whole-plant level both in controlled environments and in the field, especially concerning the relative importance of osmotic stress versus sodium and chloride toxicity on regulating crop growth under field conditions. Prior to commencing his PhD, Ehsan completed his Masters dissertation on the fate and behaviour of silicon and phosphorus in soil solution and development and use of silicon fertilisers for cereal production on weathered low-fertility soils, which represent a major proportion of global farming systems. The significant discoveries of that research also have contributed to wheat and barley production by increasing yield under stressed conditions.

Interactions between soil-water-plant under stressed conditions are Ehsan's main interests. Despite much research we still have a poor understanding of the mechanims which regulate plant growth under such conditions at farm level. The chemistry and physics of saline-sodic soils are still need to be characterised in relation to plant response under dryland farming systems. Our recent work in this area indicates there is plenty of room for improvement here (see recent publications) and with the new phenomics facilities we are hoping to close the gap of knowledge in this area.

In 2011 Ehsan made a strategic change in his research direction and is now working in the area of contaminant assessment and remediation, focusing on contaminant-nanoparticle associations, in the framework of an Australian Research Council Discovery Project in the Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation (CERAR) at UniSA Mawson Lakes campus. Ehsan is expanding his research in the field of molecular-scale studies of environmental science problems because of the need for fundamental information about the speciation or chemical form of environmental pollutants and the basic chemical and biological processes determining their behaviour and effects on human health. Since most soils suffer from one or more nutritional problems (deficiency and/or toxicity), this subject is of considerable importance for two of the great challenges confronting humanity: how to sustainably support over 6.5 billion people (increasing to around 9 billion in 2050), and how to deal with global environmental change.

Ehsan's particular focus is on the ways that agriculture makes its environmental management decisions. His work involves the invention and extensions of new techniques and processes that can help in this decision making for having a sustainable fertility and nutrition management in both soil and plant. Ehsan believes that education is not just about job skills but about teaching people to be good global citizens, building cohesive societies and caring for the environment and for each other.

More information:

http://www.une.edu.au/news/archives/000785.html

http://www.armidaleindependent.com.au/pages/2007062716.pdf

Qualifications

BSc(Hon)-Soil Science;Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran 2004.

MSc-Environmental Soil Chemistry/Plant Nutrition;The University of New England,Armidale, Australia 2006.

PhD-Plant physiology/Soil Chemistry, The University of Adelaide, Waite Research Institute, Australia, 2011.

Teaching Interests

Environmental Soil Chemistry

Fundamentals of Soil Science

Agricultural Crop Physiology

Mineral Nutrition of Plants

 

Research Interests

Contaminant assessment and remediation of nanoparticles

Colloidal characterisation and DGT analysis

Mechanisms of salinity tolerance in cereals and pulse crops

Sodium and chloride specific toxicity in broadacre crops

Chemistry and physics of saline-sodic soils

Plant photosynthesis and water use effieciency

High throughput plant imaging for the measurements of the phenotypes of plants

Silicon and phosphorus interactions in soil solution

Nutrient cycling in soil systems

Publications

Tavakkoli, E., Fatehi F., Coventry S., Rengasamy P., McDonald G.K. (2011) Additive effects of Na+ and Cl- ions on barley growth under salinity stress. Journal of Experimental Botany 62, 2189-2203.

Tavakkoli,E., Lyons, G., English, P., and Guppy C. (2011) Silicon nutrition of rice is affected by soil weathering, pH and fertilisation. Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition. 174 437-446.

Tavakkoli, E., English, P., and Guppy, C.(2011) Interactions of silicon and phosphorus mitigate manganese toxicity in rice (Oryza sativa) in a highly weathered soil. Communications in Soil Science and plant analysis. 42, 503-513.

Tavakkoli, E., Paul, J., Rengasamy, P., and McDonald, G. (2011) Comparing genotypic variation in faba bean (Vicia faba L) in response to salinity in hydroponic and field experiments. Field Crops Research. In Press.

Tavakkoli, E., Rengasamy, P. and McDonald, G. (2010) The response of barley to salinity stress differess between hydroponics and soil systems. Functional Plant Biology. 37, 621-633.

Tavakkoli, E., Rengasamy, P. and McDonald, G.K. (2010) High concentrations of Na+ and Cl- ions in soil solution have simultaneous detrimental effects on growth of faba bean under salinity stress. Journal of Experimental Botany. 61, 4449-4459

Tavakkoli, E., Lakzian, A.,Zare, M. and K. L. King. (2009) Use of nematodes as bioindicators of soil health status as influenced by agricultural management practices. Journal of Applied Ecology. In Press

Moussavi Nik, M., Faridvand, S., Lyons, G., and Tavakkoli, E. (2008) In-vitro assessment of the effect of plant growth regulators on substitution of potassium with sodium in tobacco plants. Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on in Vitro Culture and Horticultural Breeding, Brisbane, Australia.

Tavakkoli, E., Rengasamy, P. and McDonald, G.K. (2008) A critical analysis of osmotic and ionic effects of salinity in two barley cultivars, Global Issues Paddock Action. Proceedings of the 14th Australian Agronomy Conference. September 2008, Adelaide South Australia (Oral presentation) http://www.regional.org.au/au/asa/2008/concurrent/crop-growth/5703_tavakkolie.htm

Tavakkoli, E., Rengasamy, P. and McDonald, G.K. (2008) Soils Do It Differently: An Assessment of Comparative Response of Barley Genotypes to Salinity Stress in Hydroponic and Soil Systems. Proceedings of ANZ Soils Conference, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand from 1-5 December 2008 (Oral presentation)

Moussavi Nik, M, Lyons G, Safaee, M, Khazaee, M and Tavakkoli, E. (2008) Zinc and phosphorus interactions in three invred cultivars of Mazie (Zea mays L.) differing in P uptake efficiency grown in highly weathered soil. Proceedings of ANZ Soils Conference, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand from 1-5 December 2008 (Oral presentation)

Tavakkoli, E., English, P. and Guppy, C, (2008) Interactions of silicon and phosphorus mitigate manganese toxicity in rice (Oryza sativa) in a highly weathered soil   Proceedings of ANZ Soils Conference, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand from 1-5 December 2008 (Oral presentation)

Tavakkoli, E., Rengasamy, P. and McDonald, G.K. (2009) Phenomics-based screening for salinity tolerance: A case study for the evaluation of the impact of salinity on growth of barley and faba bean. 1st International Plant Phenomics Symposium : from Gene to Form and Function. Discovery centre, CSIRO, Canberra, Australia, 21 - 24 April 2009

Tavakkoli, E, Rengasamy, P. and McDonald, G.K. (2009) Screening for salinity tolerance of barley genotypes using destructive ad non-destructive techniques. The Genomics of Salinity. Nov 2009. Adelaide, Australia.

Tavakkoli, E., Cozzolino, D., Roumeliotis, S., Coventry, S. and McDonald, G.K. (2010) Application of near-infrared spectroscopy in analysis of chemical/physical characteristics of soil and plant mineral nutrients. The 14th ANISG conference. NIR in action: it makes economic sense. National Wine Centre of Australia, Adelaide, Australia.

Tavakkoli, E., Fatehi, F., Coventry, S., Rengasamy, P. and McDonald, G.K. (2010) The effects of high concentrations of Na and Cl ions on the growth of barley. Gordon Research Conference on salt and water stress in plants. Switzerland, LesDiablertes.

Tavakkoli E., Coventry S., Paull J., Jones B., Rengasamy P., McDonald G.K. (2010) On-farm assessment of sub-soil salinity and sodicity constraints to faba bean and barley production in areas of southern Australia. Proceedings of the 15th ASA Conference, 15-19 November 2010, Lincoln, New Zealand (Oral presentation) http://www.regional.org.au/au/asa/2010/crop-production/subsoil/7155_tavakkoli.htm

Professional Associations

Tree Crop Technologies, Pty Ltd (Environmental Scientist), 2011-Present

Australian Society of Soil Science Inc.(ASSSI) (Treasurer of SA branch in 2009-2010, member of committe since 2007)

The Australasian Soil and Plant Analysis Council (ASPAC)

International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS)

Iranian Society of Soil Science

Professional Interests

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Files

• Si and wheat - 2007062716.pdf [85.8K] (application/pdf)
• ASPAC award - aspac_digest__feb_2008_.pdf [301.5K] (application/pdf)

Entry last updated: Sunday, 17 Jul 2011