Emeritus Professor, School of Science, Griffith University
Professor Ian Lowe (BSc, NSW; DPhil, York, UK) is an emeritus professor in the School of Natural Sciences at Griffith University and an adjunct professor at two other Australian universities. He was the president of the Australian Conservation Foundation from 2004 to 2014.
His principal research interests are in policy decisions influencing the use of energy, science and technology; energy use in industrialised countries; large-scale environmental issues and sustainable development.
Professor Lowe has previously been a member of the Australian National Commission for UNESCO and a consultant to the CSIRO Division of Sustainable Ecosystems. In 1988 he was Director of the Commission for the Future, and was named Australian Humanist of the Year.
He chaired an Australian government advisory council that produced the first national report on the state of the environment in 1996, and delivered the ABC Boyer Lectures in 1991.
The author of 20 books and more than 500 other publications, Professor Lowe’s contributions to environmental science have won him a Centenary Medal, the Eureka Prize for promotion of science, the Prime Minister’s Environment Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement, the Queensland Premier’s Millennium Award for Excellence in Science, and the University of NSW Alumni Award for achievement in science.
He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2001 for services to science and technology and for contributing to public understanding of environmental issues.
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