Professor Mark Tjoelker (Director)
Professor Mark Tjoelker is an internationally recognised research leader in sustainable ecosystems and climate change whose work spans forestry, horticulture, and agricultural systems. He leads the Australian Plant Phenomics Network node at Western Sydney University and advances the use of digital technologies in greenhouse, crop, and forestry research. His research focuses on understanding how forests, crops, and urban green spaces respond to climate change, with particular emphasis on nature-based solutions for climate mitigation and adaptation. A Highly Cited Researcher, Professor Tjoelker ranks among the top 1% of scientists worldwide and has published more than 200 papers, including influential studies in Nature and Nature Climate Change. In 2019, he was appointed to the Australian Research Council's College of Experts, supporting research excellence through Australia's competitive grants process. His contributions to climate resilience were recognised with Western Sydney University's 2024 Excellence in Research Impact Award.
Quotation
“The Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment is uniquely positioned to address the global challenges of food security, climate change, and sustainability through collaborative, discovery-driven research and innovation.”
Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise
Plant Biology, Ecological Impacts of Climate Change, Forestry Sciences, Forest Ecology, Ecosystem Function
Awards and Recognition
- Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research, Enterprise and Global Research Award, Excellence in Research Impact, Urban Forestry Team, Western Sydney University, 2024
- Assessor for the Commonwealth Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment Drought Fund, 2021
- Nominated Discipline Lead for Environment and Ecology, 2019
- Awarded the horticulture industry’s Award of Merit for the excellent work done in the two Tree Stock Projects that started in 2015 and concluded in April 2019. The award reflects the deeply-engaged work to build data on Australian trees and then work alongside the industry to produce a formal Australian quality standard AS2303:2018 that is now being used by industry to grow the trees, 2019
- Appointed to the prestigious ARC College of Experts commencing 2019. The College plays a key role in identifying research excellence in the ARC National Competitive Grants Program, moderating external assessments and recommending applications for funding. The College also assists the ARC in recruiting and assigning assessors and in implementing peer review reforms in established and emerging disciplines, as well as interdisciplinary areas, 2018
- Appointed Associate Director, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, 2018
- Advisory Panel on Arboriculture, Standards Australia, Inc., 2017 – present
- Outstanding Graduate Professor Award, Texas A&M University, 2011
- Forestry Research Advisory Council to the US Secretary of Agriculture, 2010 – 2012
- Student-Led Award for Teaching Excellence, Texas A&M University, 2009
- Outstanding Young Faculty Award, Molecular and Environmental Plant Sciences, Texas A&M University, 2009
- Clarivate Highly Cited (HiCi) Researcher ranked in the top 1% of researchers globally – identifying them as the world’s most influential scientists – Plant and Animal Science and Ecology and Environment 2002-2014
- Professor of the Year, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M University, 2002
- J. William Fulbright Fellowship, Poland, 1995
- Co-Editor, New Phytologist, 2009 – present
- Associate Editor, Functional Ecology, 2006 – present
- Editorial Board, Dendrobiology, 1999 – present
- Board of Advisors, New Phytologist, 2007 – 2009
- Editorial Review Board, Tree Physiology 1999, 2001 – 2016
Grants / Current Projects
Quantification of carbon sequestration in urban forests
Co-Researcher: Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Decarbonisation Hub Land and Primary Industries Network
Period: 2024-2025
Climate change and the long-term health and sustainability of Australia's urban forests
Co-Researchers: Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez, Sally Power, and Matthew Brookhouse (ANU)
Partner/Funding Body: Herman Slade
Period: 2022-2023
Stories hidden in tree rings: Exploring climate change impacts on urban trees in Australia
Co-Researcher: Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez
Partner/Funding Body: DPE
Period: 2022-2023
NSW Decarbonisation Innovation Hub
Co-Researchers: Ben Smith, Brajesh Singh and Belinda Medlyn
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Office of the Chief Scientist and Engineer/NSW Environmental Trust (via UNSW)
Period: 2022-2030
Mitigating climate change in Western Sydney by maintaining green tree canopies
Co-Researchers: Paul Rymer and Renee Prokopavicius
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment [via Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils Ltd (WSROC)]
Period: 2021-2022
Hawkesbury urban forest experiment
Co-Researcher: Paul Rymer
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment [via Hawkesbury City Council]
Period: 2021-2022
Determining the physiological underpinnings of eucalypt dieback in NSW
Co-Researchers: Matthias Boer, Belinda Medlyn, Sebastian Pfautsch, Rachael Nolan, David Tissue, Paul Rymer and Brendan Choat
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Environmental Trust
Period: 2021-2024
Pushing the envelope: does range size limit eucalypt response to warming? Co-Researchers: Kristine Crous and Peter Reich
Partner/Funding Body: Australian Research Council Discovery
Period: 2020-2022
Climate Risk Ready NSW - Development of a Climate Change Risk Management Framework, Guidance and Training Course for NSW Government
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Office of Environment and Heritage
Period: 2019-2020
Bushfire Risk Management Research Hub - Burning for a healthy future: People and their environments
Co-Researchers: Matthias Boer, Brendan Choat, Belinda Medlyn and Elise Pendall
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Office of Environment and Heritage
Period: 2018-2022
Evaluation of nursery tree stock balance parameters
Co-Researchers: Sebastian Pfautsch and David Thompson
Partner/Funding Body: Horticulture Innovation Australia
Period: 2017-2018
Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration and its components
Co-Researchers: Elise Pendall, Stephan Arndt, Eva van Gorsel, and Eric Davidson
Partner/Funding Body: Australian Research Council Discovery
Period: 2017-2019
Sustainable pasture systems under climate extremes
Co-Researchers: Sally Power, David Tissue, Elise Pendall, Jeff Powell, Jonathan Plett, Ian Anderson, Ben Moore, Catriona Macdonald, Brajesh Singh and Yolima Carrillo
Partner/Funding Body: Meat & Livestock Australia Donor Company and Dairy Australia
Period: 2017-2020
Which plant where, when and why database for growing urban green space
Co-Researchers: David Ellsworth, Ian Anderson, Sally Power, and Paul Rymer
Partner/Funding Body: Horticulture Innovation Australia
Period: 2016-2021
Evaluation of nursery tree stock balance parameters
Co-Researchers: Michael Aspinwall, David Thompson, Sebastian Pfautsch, and Remko Duursma
Partner/Funding Body: Horticulture Innovation Australia
Period: 2015-2017
Identifying regions of high drought mortality risk for tree species in NSW
Co-Researchers: Belinda Medlyn, Linda Beaumont, David Tissue, Tony Auld, Brad Evans, Remko Duursma and Paul Rymer
Partner/Funding Body: Australian Research Council Linkage [via Macquarie University]
Period: 2015-2017
An assessment of root to shoot balance in tree stock for landscape planting in Australia
Co-Researchers: Paul Rymer, Sebastian Pfautsch and Mike Aspinwall
Partner/Funding Body: Horticulture Innovation Australia
Period: 2015-2017
Is physiological flexibility of forest trees constrained by home climate in a rapidly warming world? Co-Researchers: Oula Ghannoum, John Drake, David Tissue and Peter Reich
Partner/Funding Body: Australian Research Council Discovery
Period: 2014-2016
REU site proposal: Eco-hydrology of a tropical montane cloud forest
Co-Researchers: Chris Houser and Tony Cahill
Partner/Funding Body: National Science Foundation
Period: 2010-2013
Leaf respiration under drought: A global perspective
Co-Researchers: Owen Atkin, John Evans, Steve Sitch, and Jon Lloyd
Partner/Funding Body: Australian Research Council Discovery
Period: 2010-2012
A Graduate Program in Forest Resources: Developing Integrated Expertise in Forest Resource Management, Conservation, and Restoration
Co-Researchers: Kostya Krutovsky, Jim Gan, Urs Kreuter, Carol Loopstra, Prudence Merton, Georgeann Moore, Sorin Popescu, William Rogers, Robert Washington-Allen, Brad Wilcox and Ben Wu
Partner/Funding Body: US Department of Agriculture - National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Period: 2009-2014
Climate warming, respiration and the terrestrial carbon cycle: Comparative research and synthesis in Australia
Partner/Funding Body: Texas A&M University
Period: 2009
Warming and rainfall redistribution effects on linkages between plant functional traits and ecosystem processes in oak savanna
Co-Researchers: David Briske and Astrid Volder
Partner/Funding Body: US Department of Energy, National Institute for Climatic Change Research Period: 2007-2010