PROFILE OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST

I grew up in the town of Mannum on the River Murray in South Australia. Our home here overlooked the River and the Reclaimed Dairy Area of Cowirra. I went to school at Mannum High School where due to low numbers of students, I had to complete 3 of my 5 final year subjects by correspondence.

After year 12 I went to Adelaide University to study Agricultural Science at the Waite Institute then studied Freshwater Ecology, Botany and Terrestrial Ecology and Rangelands Ecology through the Science Faculty to get a better grasp of Australia's natural environmental systems as well as our agricultural systems.

I joined the Lower Murray Irrigation Action Group in 1996 to help them to produce a Land and Water Management Plan (LWMP) for the dairy irrigation areas from Mannum to Wellington. The LWMP covers all aspects of change required within the dairy industry in this area to achieve the group's vision of "An Environmentally and Economically Sustainable Irrigation Industry in the Lower Murray"

Before then I had worked with irrigators in the Loxton (SA) irrigation area on water use efficiency improvements in horticulture. This was followed by a role encouraging landholders in the Adelaide hills to implement improved stream management around the tributaries of the River Torrens.

I have travelled extensively throughout the Murray Darling Basin looking at improved irrigation management and irrigation technology that could be applied in the Lower Murray. I have recently been awarded a rotary Group Study Exchange position to travel to Florida USA to look at irrigation and environmental management there.

The aspect I like most about my job is the people that I work for. The farmers are enthusiastic about their future in this area and the future of the industry nationally and this enthusiasm helps me to remain enthusiastic for my work.