Dr Zakaria Solaiman was born in Bangladesh and graduated his PhD from Tokyo, Japan. He is a soil microbiologist with over 27 years’ research and teaching experience in Australia, Bangladesh and Japan. After completing his PhD in Agriculture (soil biology, microbiology and plant nutrition), he held several prestigious postdoctoral positions in Japan before joining The University of Western Australia in 2000. He is currently working as a Senior Research Fellow on soil health, soil carbon sequestration, soil amendments such as compost and biochar, controlled-release fertilisers, nanofertiliser, microbial inoculants, and plant nutrients cycling. He also worked as a Research Associate (2004-2006) at The University of Adelaide on an ARC Discovery Project on “Plant-soil P-microbe interactions at rhizosphere” before returning to UWA in 2006. Since then, he has been working on a range of research projects in collaboration with many industry partners.

March 22, 2021, onwards

Senior Research Fellow 

April 1, 2006 – 31 March 2015

Research Fellow, School of Earth and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Australia.

April 1, 2003 – 31 March 2006
Research Associate, Soil and Land Systems, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Australia.

April 13, 2000 – March 28, 2003
Research Officer, Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Australia.

April 1, 1999 - April 12, 2000
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellow, Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of Bioresources, Mie University, Japan.

October 1, 1995 - March 31, 1999
Japan Science and Technology (JST) Postdoctoral Fellow, National Grassland Research Institute, Japan.

October 1, 1991 - September 30, 1995
Japan Monbushu PhD scholarship, Laboratory of Plant Nutrition, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan.

January 17, 1988 - September 30, 1996
Lecturer & Assistant Professor in Soil Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh

- Regenerative agriculture

- Sustainable agriculture

- Soil carbon sequestration and GHG emissions

- Biostimulants and rock mineral biofertilisers

- Biochar and mineral fertilisers interactions

- Waste recycling and composts

- Herbicides and microbes interactions

- Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis

- Molecular techniques in rhizosphere study

- Provide soil health analytical services

PhD Completion

1. Dr Bede Mickan

2. Dr Ahmed Alsharmani

3. Dr Salmabi Assainar

4. Dr Sangay Tshewang

5. Dr Sajeevee Sarathchandra