31 October – 4 November 2010
National Convention Centre
Headline Plenary Speakers
Stephen Foster
Stephen Foster has extensive experience in groundwater research, consulting and advisory work - with a wide variety of practical application both in his native Britain and worldwide. His more recent professional posts include World Health Organisation-Groundwater Advisor for Latin America & Caribbean (1986-89), British Geological Survey-Divisional Director Groundwater & Geotechnical Surveys (1990-99) and World Bank-Groundwater Management Team Director (2000-10). He is also a very active member of IAH (the worldwide groundwater association) having been Vice President-Western Europe (2000-04) and President (2004-08). In 1993 he was named Visiting Professor at University of London and a Foreign Member of Spanish Real Academia de Ciencias. He is author of some 160 papers, reports and guides, received a D Sc from University of London in 1983 for published work, numerous awards from British, American and international professional societies: including the British IWES-William Whitaker Medal (1976), IAH Presidents Award (2004) and Geological Society of London-William Smith Medal (2008).
Robert Glennon, Morris K. Udall Professor of Law and Public Policy, Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona
Robert Glennon is the Morris K. Udall Professor of Law and Public Policy in the Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona. A recipient of two National Science Foundation grants, he serves as Water Policy Advisor to Pima County, Arizona; as a member of American Rivers’ Science and Technical Advisory Committee; and as a commentator and analyst for various television and radio programs. He is also a Huffington Post blogger.
Robert Glennon is the author of the highly-acclaimed Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping and the Fate of America’s Fresh Waters (Island Press, 2002). His new book, Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What To Do About It, was published in April 2009. Since then, he has been a guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Diane Rehm Show, C-SPAN2’s Book TV, and National Public Radio shows in New York City, Chicago, Phoenix, and Cleveland. He’s also published pieces in the Washington Post, the Arizona Republic, and the Arizona Daily Star. In 2009-2010, his speaking schedule has taken him to more than 25 states and to Switzerland, Canada, and Singapore.
Robert Glennon received a J.D. from Boston College Law School and an M.A. and Ph.D. in American History from Brandeis University. He is a member of the bars of Arizona and Massachusetts.
Plenary Speakers
Ray Evans, Principal Hydrogeologist, SKM
Ray Evans is a Principal Hydrogeologist with consulting firm Sinclair Knight Merz, and has over 35 years experience in the groundwater discipline in Australia. He has been heavily involved in groundwater and salinity issues in the Murray-Darling Basin for the past 26 years. This involvement ranges across the hydrogeology of regional aquifer systems, sustainable yield determinations, fractured rock hydrogeology, groundwater salinisation processes, hydrochemistry and isotope hydrology, dryland salinity, catchment management and landscape process studies. As well, he has extensive experience at the national groundwater policy level and with project and team management. He has been a driving force behind the development of the Groundwater Flow Systems Framework which now underpins most major salinity strategies across Australia.
He has spent a long period of time in Government research agencies at the senior research and executive levels and has subsequently successfully operated his own consulting company for nine years.
Rob Vertessy, Deputy Director (Water), Bureau of Meteorology
Rob Vertessy was awarded a PhD in fluvial geomorphology from the Australian National University in 1990. He spent the first 20 years of his career as a researcher in CSIRO, specialising in catchment hydrology, and is widely published in that field.
Rob served as Chief Executive of the CRC for Catchment Hydrology (2002-2004) and Chief of CSIRO Land and Water (2004-2007).
In late 2006, Rob was seconded to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to advise on the establishment of a national water information strategy. In mid 2007, Rob joined the Australian Bureau of Meteorology as Deputy Director (Water), to establish a new water information Division, arising out of the Australian Government’s Water for the Future program.
Rob is currently a Board member of eWater CRC Pty Ltd.
Rob Freeman, Chief Executive, Murray-Darling Basin Authority
Rob Freeman was appointed Chief Executive and Member of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority in 2008 and is an experienced senior public servant.
Prior to this appointment, Mr Freeman was Chief Executive of the South Australian Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation from 2002 to 2008 and Deputy Director General of the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines from 1998 to 2002.
He has been involved in many national and interjurisdictional initiatives and negotiations. He was South Australia’s lead Commissioner and Deputy President of the former Murray-Darling Basin Commission and chaired many national committees including the Natural Resource Management Policies and Programs Committee.
Rob’s original professional background was in surveying and he remains a Fellow of the Australian Institution of Surveyors and a Fellow of the Spatial Sciences Institute of Australia.
Craig Simmons, Professor of Hydrogeology, Flinders University and Director, National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training
Craig Simmons is Professor of Hydrogeology at Flinders University and Director, National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training. One of Australia’s foremost groundwater academics, Professor Simmons has been a significant contributor to global advances in the science of hydrogeology for many years and has published widely in areas including variable density groundwater flow, surface water - groundwater interaction, fractured rock hydrogeology, aquifer storage and recovery, and groundwater flow and solute transport modelling. He is a member of the National Water Commission's Groundwater Technical Advisory Committee, which advises on high-level groundwater direction setting and investment strategies in Australia. His work has been recognised by numerous national and international research and teaching awards. Professor Simmons has served as an Editor and Associate Editor for numerous major international journals including Hydrogeology Journal (Editor), Water Resources Research, Journal of Hydrology and Ground Water.
Concurrent Session Speakers
All concurrent session speakers are listed within the conference program