Matthew is Director of the Waite Research Institute, the University of Adelaide’s flagship for agriculture, food and wine innovation. As Director he is stimulating and supporting research initiatives across the spectrum of agricultural research (from policy and economics, to animal, soil, crop and food sciences).  As Professor of Crop Molecular Physiology, he also has a track record of research excellence with notable discoveries in plant stress signalling and salt and drought tolerance, and the deployment adapted crops into agriculture.

In recent years he has turned his attention to optimising plants for extra-terrestrial and controlled environments, which is required to enable long-term space habitation, and to improve sustainability outcomes on Earth. He is leading a large multi-national collaboration between academia, government, and industry to build international capability in Plants4Space.

Matthew is a current Clarivate Highly Cited Scientist, and he and his group have received honours, awards and funding which include SA Tall Poppy Awards, ARC Future Fellowships, Training Centres, and Centres of Excellence. Matthew is also convenor for the Adapting to abiotic stress and climate change special interest group of the Society for Experimental Biology, UK, and recent member of the South Australian Premier’s Science and Innovation Council.