Distinguished Professor David Tissue
View David's Researcher Profile
Distinguished Professor David Tissue is an international expert on the effects of climate change on ecosystems. His current research on plant response to changes in global climate primarily considers the interactive effect of elevated CO2 and associated environmental factors (e.g. temperature, nutrients and water) on leaf level physiology and its implications for plant growth.
He has worked at Free Air CO2 Exchange (FACE) sites in forest and desert environments around the world. He operates a precipitation manipulation experiment in the desert at Big Bend National Park in Texas and is a close collaborator with the USDA working on water stress response in crops including peanut.
In addition, he was a founding member of PrecipNet, an international consortium of scientists studying the impact of variable rainfall on native and agricultural ecosystems.
His goal is to determine the mechanisms that regulate and integrate the developmental and physiological processes that influence leaf level carbon balance and plant growth from the cell to the ecosystem level. This information will determine the impact of climate factors on carbon and water flux and ultimately, on growth and in natural and agricultural ecosystems.
David is currently principal supervisor to the following PhD students:
- Anthea Challis
- Vinod Jacob
- Xin He
The following students have graduated under David's supervision:
- Honglang Duan (graduated)
- Guomin Huang (graduated)
- Ximeng Li (graduated)
- Josephine Ontedhu (graduated)
- Anita Wesolowski (graduated)
- Danielle Creek (graduate)
Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise
Tree Nutrition and Physiology; Global Change Biology; Ecological Physiology; Plant Physiology; Ecosystem Adaptation to Climate Change; Ecosystem Adaptation in Australia; Ecosystem Adaptation in the World; Forest and Woodland Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity
Awards and Recognition
- Appointed to the executive board of the James Martin Institute for Public Policy, 2021
- Recognised by The Australian as the top researcher in the Forests and Forestry field, 2021
- Nominated Discipline Lead for Agriculture and Food Sciences, 2019
- Recognised as Distinguished Professor, 2018
- Member of the editorial advisory board Tree Physiology
- Member of the editorial advisory board New Phytologist
- Member of the editorial review board Global Change Biology.
Grants / Current Projects
Silicon: a novel solution to reduce water use and pest damage in wheat
Co-Researchers: Scott Johnson and Yolima Carrillo
Partner/funding body: Australian Research Council Linkage
Period: 2023-2027
Automated crop monitoring for protected cropping systems
Co-Researchers: Oula Ghannoum, Rob Sharwood, Chris Cazzonelli, and Zhonghua Chen (SoSc)
Partner/funding body: Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC)
Period: 2023-2028
Synthetic biology opportunities in the cotton industry
Co-Researcher: Robert Sharwood
Partner/Funding Body: Cotton Research and Development Corporation
Period: 2021
Climate-proofing Australia's cotton industry through improving crop water use and photosynthetic carbon assimilation (Climate-proof cotton)
Co-Researcher: Robert Sharwood
Partner/Funding Body: Cotton Research and Development Corporation
Period: 2021-2023
Benefits from below: using silicon to alleviate drought and salinity stress in wheat
Co-Researchers: Scott Johnson and Zhonghua Chen
Partner/Funding Body: Agripower Australia and Western Sydney University
Period: 2021
Smart glass film impacts on energy use and productivity in greenhouse lettuce
Co-Researchers: Oula Ghannoum, Chris Cazzonelli, Robert Sharwood, and Zhonghua Chen
Partner/Funding Body: Future Food Systems Cooperative Research Centre
Period: 2021-2022
Determining the physiological underpinnings of eucalypt dieback in NSW
Co-Researchers: Matthias Boer, Belinda Medlyn, Sebastian Pfautsch, Rachael Nolan, Brendan Choat, Paul Rymer and Mark Tjoelker
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Environmental Trust
Period: 2021-2024
Review of current techniques and technologies in protected cropping
Partner/Funding Body: Future Food Systems Cooperative Research Centre
Period: 2020
Quantifying adaptive capacity to climate change through a multi-faceted approach: habitat suitability, functional traits, physiological tolerance and genetic adaptation
Co-Researchers: Paul Rymer, Brendan Choat and Belinda Medlyn
Partner/Funding Body: NSW Office of Environment and Heritage
Period: 2018-2021
National Vegetable Protected Cropping Centre
Co-Researchers: Ian Anderson and Zhonghua Chen
Partner/funding body: Horticulture Innovation Australia
Period: 2017-2022
Stingless bees as effective managed pollinators for Australian horticulture
Co-Researchers: James Cook, Robert Spooner-Hart, Markus Riegler, Sally Power, Brajesh Singh and Ian Anderson
Partner/Funding Body: Horticulture Innovation Australia
Period: 2017-2022
People
- Professor Matthias Boer
- Associate Professor Yolima Carrillo
- Associate Professor Chris Cazzonelli
- Professor Brendan Choat
- Professor James Cook (Theme Leader - Plants Animals and Interactions)
- Doctor Eleonora Egidi
- Professor David Ellsworth
- Doctor Manuel Esperon
- Doctor Adam Frew
- Associate Professor Rachael Gallagher
- Professor Oula Ghannoum
- Doctor Christopher Gordon
- Professor Scott Johnson
- Associate Professor Catriona Macdonald
- Doctor James Makinson
- Doctor Jessica Meade
- Distinguished Professor Belinda Medlyn (Theme Leader - Ecosystem Function and Integration)
- Associate Professor Ben Moore
- Professor Uffe Nielsen (Theme Leader - Soil Biology and Genomics)
- Associate Professor Rachael Nolan
- Associate Professor Alexie Papanicolaou
- Professor Elise Pendall
- Associate Professor Jonathan Plett
- Professor Jeff Powell
- Professor Sally Power
- Doctor Renée Marchin Prokopavicius
- Professor Markus Riegler
- Associate Professor Paul Rymer
- Doctor Demi Sargent
- Associate Professor Robert Sharwood
- Distinguished Professor Brajesh Singh
- Professor Ben Smith (Director of Research)
- Distinguished Professor David Tissue
- Professor Mark Tjoelker (Interim Director)
- Doctor Bin Wang
- Doctor Jun-Tao Wang
- Professor Justin Welbergen
- Distinguished Professor Ian Wright (Chief Scientist)
Honorary and Adjunct Appointments
