Australian Scientist named "Peter Cullen" dies
Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:25 pmThe News Report
One of Australia's most eminent scientists, Peter Cullen, has died in Canberra, aged 65.
Professor Cullen was a commissioner on the National Water Commission.
Longtime friend Paul Perkins said Prof Cullen's health had not been good for a long time.
"Many people have lost a friend. The nation has lost a great man," he told ABC Radio.
Prof Cullen had worked in the field of natural resource management for more than three decades, winning the Prime Minister's Prize for Environmentalist of the Year in 2001 for his work on the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality.
He graduated in Agricultural Science from the University of Melbourne and his major professional work was in the areas of nutrient dynamics, lake ecology and environmental flows.
Prof Cullen, a widely respected freshwater ecologist, was admitted to Canberra Hospital after collapsing at his home last Friday.
Prof Perkins, chairman of the Barton Group on sustainable water use, said his friend had enjoyed a prodigious career in natural resource management.
"We know him most over the last two decades for water, freshwater ecology, but he had a lifetime in natural resource management," he said.
"He made contributions right across the board, recognised of course in the end by being environmentalist of the year some years ago, Order of Australia.
"He towered above everything. He was a big man in intellect, in size, in appetite for new things.
"He wasn't just an environmentalist or an agricultural scientist. He covered the whole spectrum."
Prof Perkins said he spoke to Prof Cullen at the Australian National University on Thursday last week.
He said his health had not been good for a long time.
"Like many people who have such an appetite for doing the things that need to be done, sometimes you don't balance out your life," he said.
There was no doubt Prof Cullen, almost single-handedly, significantly influenced the former Howard government to see the big issues on water management, he said.
"He didn't live to see the results of much of his work, but it will come," he said.
"You could do worse than rename the Murray-Darling after him."
AAP
