Dr Peter Thorburn an agricultural scientist with strong multidisciplinary interests in the dynamics of soil-plant interactions and a strong commitment to enhancing the sustainability of agricultural systems. With a background in soil science and plant physiology, his work focuses on developing and applying simulation models to understand soil and plant interactions in agricultural production systems, aiming to determine management systems that can reduce detrimental environmental impacts while, still continuing to produce significant economic and social outcomes in current and future climates. His research has won international awards and has had substantial policy impact.

Dr Thorburn is a Senior Principal Research Scientist within CSIRO's Agriculture and Food Business Unit. He is the CSIRO representative on the APSIM Imitative, the joint venture that owns the APSIM farming systems model. He also coordinates research on agriculture’s effect on the Great Barrier Reef across CSIRO’s Agriculture and Food Business Unit, and co-leads the strategic collaboration between CSIRO Agriculture and Food and AgResearch (New Zealand).

Dr Thorburn’s international activities include co-leading, with Professor Boote from the University of Florida, the Crop Modelling stream of the Agricultural Modeling Improvement and Intercomparison Program (AgMIP), an international collaboration with American and European institutions developing increased capacity for quantitatively assessing climate change impacts on global food security. He is also on the Science Advisory Group of New Zealand’s OVERSEER agricultural nutrient management model.