Neal is the Pro Vice Chancellor (Sciences) and Professor of Soil and Environmental Science at Griffith University.

Neal has a passion for agriculture and the environment and has used his role as a teacher and research leader to bring others into this highly rewarding field. He believes that agricultural and environmental scientists must go further than identifying where human activity is harming the environment, they must also deliver workable solutions to the problems they identify. While his research spans a range of agricultural issues, he considers himself primarily a soil chemist, and sees soil science as a central discipline in the solution of a broad range of problems. Neal’s main research interests are plant mineral nutrition, bio-toxicity of trace metals, and the development of sustainable but highly productive tropical farming systems.

Following his PhD at the University of Queensland, Neal worked at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Cameroon, and then as an academic at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK, before returning to Australia to take a position at the University of Queensland. Neal was Dean of Agriculture in The University of Queensland from 2011 to 2022. He moved to the role of Pro Vice Chancellor (Sciences) at Griffith University in 2022.

Neal has undertaken many leadership roles in his discipline area of soil science and in agriculture more generally. He is a Past President of the Australian Society of Soil Science, Past Vice-President of the International Union of Soil Science, and Past President of the Australian Council of Deans of Agriculture. He currently serves on the New South Wales Planning Commission as Deputy Chair of the Commission, and Chair of the Mining and Petroleum Gateway Panel. Neal’s contribution to Agriculture and Education was recognised in 2024 with the award of and Order of Australia.