Professor David Stewart Jenkinson FRS (25 February 1928 – 16 February 2011) is described by The Royal Society as, “One of the most influential soil scientists of his generation”. David was born in the unlikely surroundings of Hollywood Hospital, Beverley Hills, Los Angeles on 25 February 1928. His parents had moved to California to pursue his father’s business interests; however, the impact of the Wall Street Crash and the subsequent depression led the family to return to Northern Ireland where they purchased a modest sized farm on the Portadown Road and thus began David’s relationship with the soil.

David attended The Royal School from 1940 to 1946 before leaving to attend Trinity College, Dublin where he was a Sizar and a recipient of a Louis Purser Prize worth £20 per annum! After achieving a PhD he worked for a time in industry for a soap manufacturer in Newcastle Upon Tyne before becoming a lecturer in agricultural chemistry at the University of Reading. He is best known for his work as a soil scientist based at Rothamsted Research, Harpenden where his work included the development of a method to measure the organic carbon content of soil microorganisms, the development of a computer model for soil organic carbon turnover (‘Rothamsted Carbon Model’), and work with nitrogen-15 isotope for investigating the efficiency of nitrogen fertilizer. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1991, and was made an Honorary Member of the Soil Science Society of America in 1995.

(Pictures from The Royal Society)