World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
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Environmental Sciences
Saudi Arabia
2026
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Plant Science and Agronomy
Saudi Arabia
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Plant Science and Agronomy

D-Index
67
Citations
16694
World Ranking
820
National Ranking
6

Environmental Sciences

D-Index
72
Citations
17919
World Ranking
1499
National Ranking
2

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Environmental Sciences in Saudi Arabia Leader Award
  • 2026 - Research.com Plant Science and Agronomy in Saudi Arabia Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Environmental Sciences in Saudi Arabia Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Environmental Sciences in Australia Leader Award

Overview

Iain M. Young is affiliated with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. Their research primarily spans the fields of Agricultural and Biological Sciences and Environmental Science, with specific attention to subfields such as Plant Science, Soil Science, Ecology, Biomaterials, and Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics.

The scientist's research topics include Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics, Clay minerals and soil interactions, Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology, Remote Sensing in Agriculture, Soil Geostatistics and Mapping, Plant responses to water stress, and Plant nutrient uptake and metabolism.

Recent publications by Iain M. Young showcase contributions to various aspects of soil science and environmental technology. Notable papers include:

  • Ensuring planetary survival: the centrality of organic carbon in balancing the multifunctional nature of soils (2022, Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology)
  • Soil organic carbon is significantly associated with the pore geometry, microbial diversity and enzyme activity of the macro-aggregates under different land uses (2021, The Science of The Total Environment)
  • Greater, but not necessarily better: The influence of biochar on soil hydraulic properties (2021, European Journal of Soil Science)
  • PlantACT! - how to tackle the climate crisis (2023, Trends in Plant Science)
  • Which multispectral indices robustly measure canopy nitrogen across seasons: Lessons from an irrigated pasture crop (2021, Computers and Electronics in Agriculture)

The scientist publishes frequently in journals such as Geoderma, European Journal of Soil Science, Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, The Science of The Total Environment, and Trends in Plant Science.

Collaboration is a notable aspect of their work. Frequent co-authors include Sheikh M. F. Rabbi, Alex B. McBratney, Budiman Minasny, Charles R. Warren, and Paul Collinson, contributing to joint research efforts across multiple projects.

Best Publications

  • Rhizosphere: biophysics, biogeochemistry and ecological relevance

    Philippe Hinsinger;A. Glyn Bengough;Doris Vetterlein;Iain M. Young

  • Interactions and self-organization in the soil-microbe complex.

    Iain M. Young;John W. Crawford

  • Modeling Soil Processes: Review, Key Challenges, and New Perspectives

    H. Vereecken;A. Schnepf;J. W. Hopmans;M. Javaux

  • Root‐ and microbial‐derived mucilages affect soil structure and water transport

    S. Czarnes;P. D. Hallett;A. G. Bengough;I. M. Young

  • Spatial distribution of bacterial communities and their relationships with the micro-architecture of soil

    Naoise Nunan;Kejian Wu;Iain M Young;John W Crawford

  • Soil Security: Solving the Global Soil Crisis

    Andrea Koch;Alex McBratney;Mark Adams;Damien Field

  • Interactions between soil structure and fungi

    Karl Ritz;Iain M Young

  • Tillage, habitat space and function of soil microbes

    I.M Young;K Ritz

  • Changes to water repellence of soil aggregates caused by substrate-induced microbial activity

    P. D. Hallett;I. M. Young

  • Plant roots release phospholipid surfactants that modify the physical and chemical properties of soil

    D. B. Read;A. G. Bengough;P. J. Gregory;J. W. Crawford

  • Hardsetting Soils: Behavior, Occurrence, and Management

    C. E. Mullins;D. A. MacLeod;K. H. Northcote;J. M. Tisdall

  • Three-dimensional Microorganization of the Soil–Root–Microbe System

    Debbie S. Feeney;John W. Crawford;Timothy J. Daniell;Paul D. Hallett

  • 3D stochastic modelling of heterogeneous porous media - applications to reservoir rocks

    Kejian Wu;Marinus I. J. Van Dijke;Gary D. Couples;Zeyun Jiang

  • Root hairs improve root penetration, root–soil contact, and phosphorus acquisition in soils of different strength

    Rebecca E. Haling;Lawrie K. Brown;A. Glyn Bengough;A. Glyn Bengough;Iain M. Young

  • New methods and models for characterising structural heterogeneity of soil

    I.M Young;J.W Crawford;C Rappoldt

  • Subcritical water repellency of aggregates from a range of soil management practices

    Paul D. Hallett;T. Baumgartl;Iain M. Young

  • Microbial distribution in soils: physics and scaling

    Iain M. Young;John W. Crawford;Naoise Nunan;Wilfred Otten

  • In situ spatial patterns of soil bacterial populations, mapped at multiple scales, in an arable soil.

    N. Nunan;K. Wu;Iain M. Young;John W. Crawford

  • Additional carbon sequestration benefits of grassland diversity restoration

    Gerlinde B. De Deyn;Robert S. Shiel;Nick J. Ostle;Niall P. McNamara

  • Applications of X‐ray computed tomography for examining biophysical interactions and structural development in soil systems: a review

    Jonathan R Helliwell;Craig J Sturrock;Kathryn M Grayling;Saoirse R Tracy

  • Root phenomics of crops: opportunities and challenges

    Peter J. Gregory;A. Glyn Bengough;Dmitri V. Grinev;Sonja Schmidt

  • The fractal structure of soil aggregates: its measurement and interpretation

    I. M. Young;J. W. Crawford

  • Variation in moisture contents between bulk soil and the rhizosheath of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Wembley)

    I. M. Young

Frequent Co-Authors

Karl Ritz
Karl Ritz University of Nottingham
A. G. Bengough
A. G. Bengough University of Dundee
Paul D. Hallett
Paul D. Hallett University of Aberdeen
Naoise Nunan
Naoise Nunan Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS
Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson University of New England
Bryan S. Griffiths
Bryan S. Griffiths Scotland's Rural College
Wilfred Otten
Wilfred Otten Cranfield University
Nigel Pitts
Nigel Pitts King's College London
Christopher A. Gilligan
Christopher A. Gilligan University of Cambridge
Alex B. McBratney
Alex B. McBratney University of Sydney

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