Overview

Dr Wrigley has been involved in research on cereal grains since 1961. In most of that time he has been with CSIRO, including the Wheat Research Unit (Officer-in-Charge), Plant Industry (a Chief Research Scientist) and Food Research (Research Fellow). His research achievements have earned him international recognition, in the form of several international and Australian research awards.

In 2009, Dr Wrigley was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia “for service to primary industry, particularly to grain science as a researcher.”

Dr Wrigley’s work is described in over 600 research publications, including several patents, a series of eight colour books illustrating Australian cereal varieties, and many edited books and book chapters. Most recently, Dr Wrigley was lead editor of Elsevier’s Encyclopedia of Food Grains (2016) which has been web-published and print-published in four volumes; Dr Wrigley (co-) authored 25 of the 217 chapters. He was also lead editor for the book Cereal Grains: Assessing and Managing Quality, Second Edition, published 2017 by Woodhead Publishing, Oxford, UK.

Research Interests

Dr Wrigley’s research interests have centred on the characterisation of cereal-grain proteins in relation to processing quality. This has involved developing new methods of protein fractionation, including gel isoelectric focusing and its two-dimensional combination with gel electrophoresis, leading into proteomic mapping. Other diagnostic methods developed relate to the evaluation of grain quality in wheat and barley, such as better methods for variety identification and for characterising quality in starch and sprouted grain (as co-patentee of the Rapid ViscoAnalyser). Research involvement also includes elucidation of grain-quality variation due to genetic and environmental factors (heat stress, fertiliser use, atmospheric CO2 levels and storage conditions).

Qualifications

  • Fellow and life member, American Association of Cereal Chemists
  • PhD The Protein composition of wheat leaves...rust, University of Sydney
  • Master of Science, University of Sydney
  • Bachelor of Science (Hon), University of Sydney

Researcher biography

Dr Wrigley has been involved in research on cereal grains since 1961. In most of that time he has been with CSIRO, including the Wheat Research Unit (Officer-in-Charge), Plant Industry (a Chief Research Scientist) and Food Research (Research Fellow). His research achievements have earned him international recognition, in the form of several international and Australian research awards.

In 2009, Dr Wrigley was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia "for service to primary industry, particularly to grain science as a researcher."

Dr Wrigley's work is described in over 600 research publications, including several patents, a series of eight colour books illustrating Australian cereal varieties, and many edited books and book chapters. Most recently, Dr Wrigley was lead editor of Elsevier's Encyclopedia of Food Grains (2016) which has been web-published and print-published in four volumes; Dr Wrigley (co-) authored 25 of the 217 chapters. He was also lead editor for the book Cereal Grains: Assessing and Managing Quality, Second Edition, published 2017 by Woodhead Publishing, Oxford, UK.