Renowned cotton scientist Greg Constable has been named ‘2015 Researcher of the Year’ by the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC).

The announcement was made during ICAC’s 74th plenary meeting and recognised Constable for the advancements he has made in cotton breeding and crop management systems, according to an ICAC press release.

“His knowledge of cotton physiology has been instrumental in the development of many new cotton varieties, several of which are used extensively in cotton-producing countries around the world,” the committee added.

Constable has spent much of his 46-year career working for The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), one of Australia’s primary scientific research organisations.

During this period he has been the inaugural chair of the first World Cotton Research Conference, which was held in Brisbane in 1994.

He was the first and is also the current chairman of the International Cotton Researchers Association, and is the key organiser of the first meeting of cotton breeders and molecular biologists in Australia.