DECADES spent doing his bit to help feed the world has earned an Adelaide soil scientist one of the highest honours in the scientific world.

CSIRO and University of Adelaide scientist Mike McLaughlin was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science on May 25.

Prof McLaughlin said it was a great feeling, following an Australian Academy of Technology Sciences and Engineering Fellowship in 2009.

"To have both is a real career high," he said.

It coincides with him also being awarded the 2015 International Fertiliser Industry Association's Norman Borlaug Award.

This is given annually to researchers who have led significant advances in crop nutrition.

Prof McLaughlin has spent his career in soil science, specialising in fertiliser technology.

After gaining an environmental science degree in his native Ireland and a Masters in Soil Science in England, Prof McLaughlin started working in South Africa as a contract researcher through its Department of Agriculture.

"I was primarily interested in phosphorus which was a big, limiting factor there," he said.

"I was reading research papers by Australian researchers because they were world leaders on this, which made me decide to do a PhD in Australia."

He completed his PhD - focusing on phosphorus soils in wheat and pasture - through the University of Adelaide.

"(It) really taught me a lot about Australian agriculture," he said.

"I was used to the very intensive pasture and cropping systems of Europe.

"I came to Australia and I'd see bare pastures and think there's nothing there, but (my lecturers) would set me straight."

He then went on to complete a Post Doctoral Fellowship through Canberra University, looking at the efficiency of fertiliser on acid soils, and the interaction of lime, which was funded by the fertiliser industry.

"I was overjoyed at that interaction with industry," he said. "My research over the years has been very applied, which is what I prefer."

He then spent several years working within the fertiliser industry as a technical manager, but still maintained an interest in research.

"We were looking at all sorts of issues, like dust when unloading at docks, worker health, soil acidity and soil environmental issues," he said.

Before long he switched back to research, working with CSIRO before joining the University of Adelaide.

"I started (looking) more at the environmental effects of fertiliser rather than productivity," he said.

Outside his research work Prof McLaughlin was also sharing information with farmers and applying it to environmental concerns.

He was a key researcher during the cadmium scare in the late 1980s and through the 1990s.

Cadmium is a naturally occurring element that can appear in soils as a result of fertiliser use, but when it accumulates it can lead to issues with contamination in the food chain.

A research body was set up with funding from the fertiliser, horticulture and grains industries, and CSIRO, to look into the issue, with Prof McLaughlin the national coordinator, while he still worked within CSIRO and the university.

He said the committee helped set up a quality assurance system within laboratories to ensure testing was accurate, as well as setting down best management practices for farmers to minimise the issue in food.

Eventually this issue died down, in part, he said, because the quality of fertiliser improved.

"I still do get some calls on that," he said.

Prof McLaughlin said a big moment in the industry was when fertiliser prices spiked in 2008, leading to riots.

"I think the world realised we need to feed the world or have social unrest," he said.

He switched his attention back to fertiliser production research, focusing on increasing productivity, or maintaining productivity with lower inputs.

The story Soil scientist's passion honoured first appeared on Farm Online.