Rengel Zdenko
Academic titles:
- full professor in tenure
Membership in the Academy:
- corresponding member – Department of Teshnical Sciences (5/18/2006 – …)
Curriculum Vitae
Zdenko Rengel, a Croatian molecular biologist, was born on May 6, 1957, in Osijek. He graduated from the Faculty of Science in Zagreb with a degree in biology in 1980 and a master’s degree in molecular biology in 1984. He holds a Doctorate in Agronomy from Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, USA. He worked in Pliva and at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb. Since 1991, he has lived in Australia and worked at the University of Western Australia in Perth, where since 2000 he has been a full-time university professor and head of the Nutrient Uptake and Toxic Stress Group and holds the title of Winthrop Professor, the University’s highest title.
His research interests are in nutrient uptake and ion toxicity in the soil-plant-water-microbe continuum. He has been working on natural and managed ecosystems in the field as well as studying specific mechanisms and relationships in the glasshouse and the lab. Among nutrients, he has been working on nitrate, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and calcium as well as micronutrients (zinc, copper and manganese). Among toxic ions, aluminium, arsenic, zinc and sodium feature prominently. The approaches and techniques used range from ion imaging using confocal laser microscopy, to ion-specific microelectrodes, to enzyme assays and radioisotope tracking, to fiddling with bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere, to chemical analysis of root exudates, to optimising fertilisation of crop and pasture plants, to computer modelling of root growth and nutrient uptake, and digging pits and holes in the field to access soil, roots and groundwater.
He has received 26 awards and recognitions for scientific and teaching work, including fellowships of Humboldt, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Organization of Economically Developed Countries (OECD), Commonwealth, Japanese Science and Technology Agency, French Government and others, and is a member of the Australian Research Council College of Experts, honorary professor of four universities and visiting professor at a further six universities in the USA, Japan, Germany, Denmark, Poland, China and Chile.
He is the lead researcher on 79 scientific projects. He published 254 papers in reference journals that were cited 3,784 times, and some articles more than 180 times. He is the author of 25 chapters in books and has edited and published 10 books. He was an invited lecturer at 40 universities and institutes in 17 countries around the world and an invited lecturer-editor at 32 world congresses. In the field of scientific publicist, he made his great contribution to the editorial boards of scientific journals and reviews of scientific papers.
Zdenko Rengel is a world-class scientist with a huge influence on the development of plant biotechnical science, who has contributed to both basic and applied knowledge in the field of plant biology/biotechnology.
He was elected as a corresponding member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2006.