Dr Oliver Knox said he was "thrilled" to be nominated in the Cotton Seed Distributors Researcher of the Year category, and to be "in such good company".

He is honoured to join Iain Wilson of CSIRO, Canberra and Mick Bange, formerly of CSIRO, Narrabri as a finalist.

"Iain's work on cotton genetics is world leading and Mick and his team were kind enough to teach me cotton physiology when I first started working in cotton back in 2003," Dr Knox said.

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"Coming from Aberdeen in Scotland I needed all the help I could get in coming to grips with a crop I had never seen before, growing in a heavy clay soil, which behaves like nothing I had ever worked with.

"I had moved continents and swapped grey and wet Aberdeen for hot and dry Narrabri, with my wife and eight-week-old baby in tow and we needed all the help we could get.

"However, the industry was then, as it is now, incredibly supportive and I quickly found my feet and got into looking at the soil biology that is associated with cotton," he said.

Working on this biology and discussing its implications for plant and soil health has been the backbone of Dr Knox's research, of which he said, it was great to be recognised for.

He said the nomination could also be for the fact that the engagement tool he has turned to, in order to engage farmers with this challenging and microscopic subject matter, is to ask them if they have 'soiled their undies'?

"In 2018 I was made aware of a Canadian engagement tool to observe soil health, which basically involves burying a pair of cotton undies five centimetres deep for eight weeks.

"When you dig them up the more degraded they are, the healthier your soil is," Dr Knox explained.

"I've been fortunate enough to lead this campaign for CottonInfo, the industry's research and extension service for the past three years, but in 2020 CottonInfo collaborated with UNE Discovery and UNE SMART Farms to launch soil your undies as a citizen science challenge.

"The event was huge, with 207 entrants of which 161 were school groups. In April 2021 two stories on the challenge aired on the ABC, and these really captured people's imagination.

"What followed were numerous radio, newspaper and TV interviews on why I have been asking people to soil their undies.

"The answer being that, 2021 is the International Year of Soil Biodiversity and soil your undies is an easy and accessible experiment that anyone can do to investigate their soil health.

"All too often we take our soils for granted, so if I can get you to soil your undies, develop a better understanding of your soil health and the incredible biology that lives in it, then I am doing my job as a soil scientist and microbiologist," Dr Knox said.

The nomination is great exposure for the lecturer's work at UNE and with CottonInfo.

"Whilst winning would be nice, I think it is important to recognise the achievements of all the nominees, across all categories," he said.

"They are all incredible and get to work for an incredible industry. No matter what the outcome, I've no plans to stop soiling my undies and jumping into soil pits at every given opportunity in the pursuit of promoting our amazing soil biology."

The researcher award is judged on 40 per cent impact, and 30 per cent each innovation and commitment. The winner will receive a trophy and join the Industry Honour Role. The winner will also join next year's judging panel nominated and be nominated for the International Cotton Researcher of the Year award.

Other finalists in the 2021 Australian Cotton Industry Awards are:

Bayer Grower of the Year and AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year:

ADAMA Chris Lehmann Trust Young Cotton Achiever of the Year:

The award recipients will be announced at the 2021 Australian Cotton Collective in Toowoomba in August.

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