Guest speaker's vision for the ecological future of Australia

Sep 19, 2005

A research scientist who recently chaired the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council’s working group on “Sustaining our natural systems and biodiversity”, Dr Steve Morton, will present the 2005 Allan Sefton Memorial Lecture at the University of Wollongong tomorrow (Tuesday 20 September).

Dr Morton is the Group Executive of CSIRO’s Sustainable Energy and Environment Group. The title of his presentation is “Science, public policy and the media: An exciting, delicate and difficult mixture”.

He has published over 100 papers and more than 30 major consultancy reports, covering topics such as landscape ecology, biodiversity and the ecology of Australian native marsupials and birds.

Allan Sefton, after whom the Lecture is named, was well known to residents of the Illawarra and further afield for his work as a naturalist and conservator of the local environment.

His contributions to environmental science and conservation in the Illawarra were recognised by the University of Wollongong which awarded him an honorary PhD in 1989. Unfortunately, Dr Sefton died a few days before he was due to receive the award.

Just before Dr Morton’s presentation, prizes will be announced for the 2005 Allan Sefton Memorial Prize for the best graduate in the Bachelor of Environmental Science program; the Howard Worner Prize for the best second year performance in the Bachelor of Environmental Science program; and the Environment Institute of Australian and New Zealand (NSW Division) Prize for best performance in Environmental Science.

When: From 6.30pm, Tuesday September 20. The evening starts with a poster display on environmental activities at UOW. The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Gerard Sutton, will welcome guests at 7.15pm and the presentation of prizes will run from 7.20pm to 7.30pm. The Acting Manager of Environment and Health at Wollongong City Council, Dr David Blackmore, will then introduce the speaker, Dr Steve Morton.

Where: UniCentre Function Room 1, UniCentre (Bldg 11), University of Wollongong

For further information contact Sandra Quin on 4221 4134.

For more information, contact:

media@uow.edu.au
University of Wollongong
Ph: (02) 4221 5942; fax (02) 4221 3128