Rate My Professor Brendan Cullen

Dr. Brendan Cullen is an Associate Professor in Sustainable Agriculture (Pasture Systems) in the School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, at the University of Melbourne. He also serves as the Director of Graduate Research in the school. Cullen holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Science and a PhD focused on pasture plant ecophysiology, both from the University of Melbourne. Over the last 20 years, he has collaborated extensively with farmers, industry partners, government bodies, and fellow researchers to develop practical strategies for adapting agricultural systems to climate variability and ongoing climate change.

Cullen's research expertise encompasses farm systems modelling, climate change impacts and adaptation strategies in agriculture, greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production systems, pasture agronomy, and sustainable grazing practices. His work particularly addresses challenges in pasture-based dairy and livestock industries, including heat stress effects on lactating cows, genetic selection for thermotolerance in ruminants, and pathways to net-zero emissions under future climate scenarios. Key publications include the development of DairyMod and EcoMod, biophysical pasture-simulation models tailored for Australia and New Zealand (2008, Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture); "Climate change effects on pasture systems in south-eastern Australia" (2009, Crop & Pasture Science); "Carbon myopia: The urgent need for integrated social, economic and environmental action in the livestock sector" (2021, Global Change Biology); "Genetic selection for thermotolerance in ruminants" (2019, Animals); "Heat stress impacts on lactating cows grazing Australian summer pastures on an automatic robotic dairy" (2020, Animals); and more recent works such as "Costs of transitioning the livestock sector to net-zero emissions under future climates" (2025). Additionally, he contributes to academic publishing as a member of the editorial board for Crop & Pasture Science.