Rate My Professor Nick Collins

Dr Nicholas Collins is an ARC Grant-Funded Research Fellow and Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine at The University of Adelaide. His research focuses on the genetics and physiology of heat tolerance in wheat, along with cereal tolerance to other abiotic stresses and resistance to viral and fungal diseases. Collins completed a Bachelor of Science and Honours at Monash University, followed by a PhD at the University of Adelaide on barley yellow dwarf virus. He conducted postdoctoral research at CSIRO Plant Industry in Canberra and the Sainsbury Laboratory in the United Kingdom before returning to Adelaide in 2003 to join the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics.

Throughout his career at the University of Adelaide, Collins has held successive Research Fellow positions since 2004. He leads a research group investigating the impacts of short heat waves during reproductive stages of wheat development, using growth chamber experiments, molecular markers such as DArTseq, field trials, and physiological studies to identify genetic loci and develop tools for breeding heat-tolerant varieties. His work has produced numerous peer-reviewed publications on topics including QTL mapping for heat tolerance, floret sterility responses, grain filling under stress, and related cereal traits. Collins contributes to collaborative projects with institutions such as NSW-DPI on agronomic and quality traits affected by heat stress.