Profile

Professor Robert Henry

• The University of Queensland

Professor Henry is a graduate of the University of Queensland, B Sc (Hons), Macquarie University, M Sc (Hons) and La Trobe University (Ph D). In 2000 Professor Henry was awarded a higher doctorate (D Sc) by UQ for his work on analysis of variation in plants.

He was Professor of Innovation in Agriculture at the University of Queensland (2010-2025) and Foundation Director of both the ARC Research Hub for Engineering Plants to Replace Fossil Carbon and the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation. He was Director of the Centre for Plant Conservation Genetics at Southern Cross University, a centre which he established in 1996. Other previous positions held by Professor Henry include Research Director of the Grain Foods Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) and Research Program Leader in the Queensland Agricultural Biotechnology Centre.

Professor Henry’s speciality research area is the study of agricultural crops using molecular tools and the chemistry of plant biomass. He is particularly interested in Australian flora and plants of economic and social importance and has had a strong focus in research on genome sequencing to capture novel genetic resources for the diversification of crops to deliver improved food, energy and biomateral products.