Plant ecologist Professor Mark Westoby of Macquarie University is the 2014 NSW Scientist of the Year.
Professor Westoby specialises in researching the evolution of plants, how species co-exist, and what type of trade-offs they face. The research combines the disciplines of genomics, palaeontology, functional ecology, earth system science, and informatics.
He summarises is work as:
“how plant species make a living and a plant’s investment strategy, which has become known as the leaf economic spectrum”
Professor Westoby is head of the Macquarie University Genes to Geoscience Research Centre, a federation of research labs.
More information at Macquarie University