astronomy

Neil Clifford Turner

Neil Clifford Turner is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Neil Clifford Turner rather than just read about it. In short: Neil Clifford Turner (born 13 March 1940) is an Australian agricultural scientist known for his contributions to agronomy and crop physiology, particularly in the adaptation of crops to dry lands. He was the recipient of the Humboldt Research Award and the Centenary Medal for service to Australian society in environmental science.

Key takeaways

Neil Clifford Turner belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Neil Clifford Turner to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Neil Clifford Turner from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Neil Clifford Turner (born 13 March 1940) is an Australian agricultural scientist known for his contributions to agronomy and crop physiology, particularly in the adaptation of crops to dry lands. He was the recipient of the Humboldt Research Award and the Centenary Medal for service to Australian society in environmental science. He is a member of the Order of Australia and his contributions spans physiological response of crops and trees to water deficits, rainfall-use efficiency, climate change implications for crop production, and various abiotic and biotic stress factors affecting plant growth and productivity. Turner has authored and co-authored over 400 refereed scientific papers and book chapters, and he has edited 12 books and special issues of journals.

Early life and education Turner was born in Preston, England. He pursued his undergraduate studies in agricultural science at the University of Reading, graduating with a BSc (Hons) in 1962. He later obtained his PhD in agronomy from the University of Adelaide, Australia, in 1968, and a DSc in Agriculture from the University of Reading, UK, in 1983.

Career Turner served as a Crop and Tree Physiologist at the Department of Ecology and Climatology, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, from 1967 to 1974. He then transitioned to roles in Australia, including positions at CSIRO Plant Industry in Canberra and Perth. Since 2005, Turner has been based at the University of Western Australia as Interim Director of the Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (2006–2007) and adjunct professor in the UWA Institute of Agriculture. Turner's leadership roles include being a Research/Program Leader and Officer-in-Charge at the Dryland Crops and Soils Research Unit, CSIRO Plant Industry, Perth, Western Australia, from 1984 to 1995. He has also held visiting research professor positions at University of Aberdeen (1973), Bayreuth University (1982), Würzburg University (1993), Lanzhou University, China (2007-), Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University, China (2017-).

Research Throughout his career, Turner's research interests have focused on agronomic and physiological responses of crops and trees to water deficits, adaptation of crops to water-limited environments, rainfall-use efficiency, climate change impacts on crop production, stomatal behavior, plant water relations, drought and salinity tolerance, osmotic adjustment, high and low temperature stress, and early vigor. He has worked extensively with crops and trees, including wheat, oats, lupin, chickpea, maize, rice, sorghum, tobacco, cotton, soybean, sunflowers, and several Brassica species.

Contributions Turner has served as a UNESCO/FAO consultant at the UNDP Centre for Soil and Water Management, Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India (1978), and as a Visiting Research Scientist at the International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines (1983). Turner contributed with organizations such as the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (now World Agroforestry Center) and the International Crop Science Congress.

Honors and awards Turner received fellowships from the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology and the Indian Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He was awarded the Humboldt Research Award, the Centenary Medal for service to Australian society in environmental science, and the Chancellor's Medal from The University of Western Australia, among others. In 2021, Turner was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his service to agricultural and environmental science, and to education.

Personal life Neil Turner is married with three adult married sons and eight grandchildren. He resides in Waterman's Bay, Western Australia.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Neil Clifford Turner

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Neil Clifford Turner claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Neil Clifford Turner before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Neil Clifford Turner ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Neil Clifford Turner

In research: Neil Clifford Turner appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Neil Clifford Turner in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Neil Clifford Turner is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1940 births, 20th-century agronomists, Alumni of the University of Reading, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Neil Clifford Turner outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Neil Clifford Turner in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Neil Clifford Turner means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Neil Clifford Turner out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Neil Clifford Turner in simple terms?

Why does Neil Clifford Turner matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Neil Clifford Turner?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Neil Clifford Turner.