Professor Charles Warren is a Professor of plant-soil interactions in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, at the University of Sydney. He obtained his bachelor's degree from the University of Tasmania and PhD from the University of Western Australia. After completing his PhD, he spent two years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alberta in Canada. In 2003, he was awarded an Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Melbourne. Since 2006, he has been based at the University of Sydney, holding an ARC Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship followed by an ARC Future Fellowship (FT100100024, valued at $848,833) for a total of nine years of competitive fellowships.

Warren's research centers on plant-soil interactions and biogeochemistry, encompassing limitations to photosynthesis, the soil nitrogen cycle including organic nitrogen uptake by plants, soil carbon cycling with a focus on microbial responses to drying and rewetting events, and microbial phosphorus economics in phosphorus-limited soils. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, amassing more than 10,000 citations on Google Scholar, which positions him in the top 2% of researchers in his subject area from 1996 to 2018. Key publications include 'Quaternary ammonium compounds can be abundant in some soils and are taken up as intact molecules by plants' (New Phytologist, 2013), 'Wheat roots efflux a diverse array of organic N compounds and are highly proficient at their recapture' (Plant and Soil, 2015), 'Intracellular Storage Reduces Stoichiometric Imbalances in Soil Microbes' (Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 2021), and 'Nutrient-Rich Mineral-Associated Organic Matter Limits Carbon Storage Under Elevated Carbon Dioxide in a Low Phosphorus Eucalyptus Woodland Soil' (2025). His contributions address environmental challenges such as climate change, drought, and nutrient limitations, with applications to agriculture and ecosystem management. Warren received the 2007 New South Wales Young Tall Poppy Science Award and leads projects funded by the Australian Research Council, including a recent Discovery Project on stoichiometric flexibility.

Professional Email: charles.warren@sydney.edu.au