JA Prescott Medal

The JA Prescott Medal is awarded annually to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to soil science. The JA Prescott recipient receives a medal and a certificate. The Award is open to financial members of Soil Science Australia and other Australian soil scientists.

Nomination Process

Nominations must be made via email before the closing date in the year in which the Medal is to be awarded.  

  • The candidate needs to be a financial member of the Society.
  • Submission of the candidate for the Award shall be accompanied by a case in support of the candidate.
  • Nominations should be prepared in each case by a nominator and a seconder and be supported by three additional financial members of the Society.
  • Nominations are confidential to the Awarding Committee.

Medal Presentation

The JA Prescott medal is presented by the Federal President or their proxy at a Soil Science Australia national conference or another event determined by the Federal Council.

Award Winners

1972 C.G. Stephens 1990 K.G. Tiller 2008 R. Dalal
1973 not awarded 1991 R. Gilkes 2009 M. McLaughlin
1974 T.J. Marshall 1992 W.W. Emerson 2010 D. Chen
1975 J.P. Quirk 1993 J.N. Ladd 2011 not awarded
1976 R.G. Downes 1994 R. French 2012 S.E. Smith
1977 K. Norrish 1995 G. Aylmore 2013 J. Churchman
1978 J.K. Taylor 1996 not awarded 2014 A.J. Baldock
1979 N. Collis-George 1997 K. Northcote 2015 V.V.S.R. Gupta
1980 R. Brewer 1998 R.W. Fitzpatrick 2016  Rai Kookana
1981 B.E. Butler 1999 A. Rovira 2017 Neil McKenzie
1982 C.H. Williams 2000 M.J. Mulcahy 2018 D. McKenzie
1983 G.D. Hubble 2001 B.E. Clothier 2019 N.W. Menzies
1984 C.G. Hallsworth 2002 J.W. Holmes 2020 not awarded
1985 J.R. Freney 2003 J.M. Oades  
1986 K. Lee 2004 A.B. McBratney  
1987 M. Raupach 2005 not awarded  
1988 P.H. Walker 2006 R.E. White  
1989 O.T. Denmead 2007 P. Rengasamy  
James Arthur Prescott (1890 – 1987) was born in England, moving to Australia in 1924 as Professor of Agricultural Chemistry at the University of Adelaide. From 1929 he was Chief of the Division of Soils CSIR, and from 1938 to 1955 he was the Director of the Waite Agricultural Research Institute, South Australia.When Prescott came to Australia he was just beginning to make some impact on the scientific world. Prescott was to further the development of agricultural science in a revolutionary manner that attracted international attention. In 1951 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London for his fundamental pedological researches and his pioneering work in climatology.

Soil Science Australia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land and we pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future.