Title

Associate Professor, Centre Leader, Hermitage Research Facility, Warwick

Biography

Dr Borrell obtained bachelor and masters degrees in Agricultural Science at The University of Melbourne, focusing on the Green Revolution genes (Rht1 and Rht2) in wheat for his thesis. He then completed a PhD at The University of Queensland on improving the efficiencies of nitrogen and water use for rice in the semi-arid tropics. Dr Borrell was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study the impact of rice research in Asia and the US on rice production in the Australian tropics. Much of his post-doctoral research has focused on improving drought adaptation in sorghum.

Dr Borrell is a crop physiologist and Centre Leader of the Queensland Government’s Hermitage Research Facility, a centre of excellence for crop improvement in water-limited environments. For the past decade, Andrew has led an international project (Australia/US) aimed at discovering key drought adaptation genes in cereals, using sorghum as a model crop. Prior to this, he conducted research to better understand the physiological basis of the stay-green drought adaptation trait in sorghum. Dr Borrell began his career as a rice agronomist with the Queensland Government.

Dr Borrell co-leads projects in sub-Saharan Africa and India to develop drought-adapted sorghum germplasm. In addition to drought physiology in sorghum and wheat, Andrew supervises a research program aimed at discovering frost adaptation in winter cereals at heading stage. He has also worked extensively in South-East Asia for the past 20 years developing sustainable cropping systems. Dr Borrell has served as Secretary-General of the Asian Crop Science Association.

Research Interests

Dr Borrell’s primary research interest is in the physiological/molecular basis of drought and frost adaptation in cereals. Andrew’s other research interests include  the efficiency with which resources (radiation, water and nitrogen) are utilized by crop plants, and developing sustainable cropping systems.

His current ‘drought’ research is aimed at discovering the gene networks underlying the stay-green drought adaptation trait in sorghum, including the interaction of genes with management practices for particular target environments. The ultimate aim is to apply this knowledge on gene networks in sorghum to drought adaptation in other major cereals (wheat, rice and maize). The ‘frost’ research he currently supervises is aimed at developing phenotyping methodologies for assessing frost adaptation, with the objective of identifying post head-emergence frost resistance in wheat and barley.

Dr Borrell has strong international collaborations with partners to advance these areas of research.

For the past decade, Dr Borrell has led an international project (Australia/USA) aimed at discovering key drought adaptation genes in cereals, using sorghum as a model crop.

Andrew co-leads projects in sub-Saharan Africa and India to develop drought-adapted sorghum germplasm. Partner countries in Africa include Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya. Collaborating states in India include Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

In addition to drought physiology, Andrew supervises a research program aimed at discovering frost adaptation in winter cereals at heading stage.

Dr Borrell is also interested in the development of sustainable cropping systems in SE Asia, particularly in Indonesia, East Timor and Vietnam, and has collaborated on a number of ACIAR projects and other consultancies in this region over the past 20 years. 

Andrew is a Churchill Fellow and has served as Secretary-General of the Asian Crop Science Association.

Profiles

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Google Scholar Citations

Source: https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=QBXXwh8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao