Research tackling environmental challenges

Professor Craig Simmons is one of Australia’s foremost experts on groundwater. The Flinders University water scientist and 2015 SA Scientist of the Year is lauded for his work on the Murray-Darling Basin system, water and food security, mining and the nuclear industry, and coal seam gas and fracking.

He almost single-handedly put groundwater on the research agenda, and established the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training. In the process he became the inaugural Schultz Chair in the Environment at Flinders.

The position — the first endowed chair at Flinders — was made possible through the DH Schultz Bequest, a gift to the University by the late Donald Herbert Schultz. Dr Schultz was a distinguished South Australian optometrist and inventor, and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa by Flinders in 1987. He had a vision for advancing our understanding of the nation’s groundwater resources and their importance to the environment.

“Donald Schultz was a remarkable South Australian who was passionate about science and the State. To be appointed to a Chair named after him is a great honour,” Professor Simmons said.

^{Published 2016.}