The Australian Government is today pleased to announce the appointment of two new members to the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development (IESC).
The IESC provides vital independent, expert scientific advice to all levels of government and the community on the potential impacts of coal seam gas and large coal mining proposals on water resources.
This advice ensures that decisions by environmental regulators are based on the best available science.
The IESC also provides expert advice to the Australian Government on research and the bioregional assessment program.
The two new members – Dr Ian Prosser and Dr Glen Walker – both have distinguished research backgrounds in hydrology and will further contribute to the high standard of scientific advice provided by the committee.
Dr Ian Prosser is currently head of Water Information Services in the Bureau of Meteorology and has experience with hydrology research and science covering most of the past 30 years. He is author of scientific publications on a wide range of aspects of hydrology and was lead author of Water: Science and Solutions for Australia.
Dr Prosser has also been responsible for science leadership and quality assurance for a multidisciplinary program of researchers when he was Science Director for the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship at CSIRO.
Dr Glen Walker has over 30 years of hydrology, groundwater and salinity research experience. He is the author of numerous scientific papers and worked at the CSIRO for two decades.
Dr Walker currently operates his own consultancy and over the last few years he has been involved in a range of international projects with a focus on surface water-groundwater interactions.
I congratulate Dr Prosser and Dr Walker on their appointments.
For more information on the IESC go to: www.iesc.environment.gov.au/
(ENDS)