Matthew Nelson

Matthew Nelson is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia's Institute of Agriculture and a Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO Agriculture & Food in Perth. He leads national canola improvement programs and has expertise in crop genetics, genome evolution, and marker-assisted selection. Previously, he was Research Leader for Crop Plants at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2015–2018).

Education: PhD in Molecular Genetics from the John Innes Centre (UK, 2000). Professional roles include Team Leader - Adaptive Traits at CSIRO and editorial board member of Theoretical & Applied Genetics.

Research focuses on canola adaptation, legume domestication, and genetic diversity. Major grants include AUD 9.1M+GBP 406K in competitive funding, including projects like 'Accelerating development of long-hypocotyl canola' (GRDC, 2023–2028) and 'Ethiopian Lupins for Food and Feed' (Innovate UK, 2017–2018).

Advisory contributions include co-supervising 6 PhD, 1 MSc, and 3 Honours students. Active in labs/teams: CSIRO's Adaptive Traits program and UWA's crop genomics initiatives.