The National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training welcomes Professor Peter Cook as its new interim Director, replacing Craig Simmons. Craig Simmons has been seconded to the Australian Research Council as Executive Director, Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences.

Professor Cook worked with CSIRO for more than 20 years, before moving to Flinders University where he was Deputy Director of the NCGRT between 2009 and 2014.

Professor Cook is internationally renowned as a groundwater scientist and was the US National Ground Water Association’s Darcy Lecturer for 2009, the first scientist from outside North America to receive this honour. His research has groundwater flow, estimation of aquifer recharge and discharge, groundwater and land salinization, groundwater-dependent ecosystems, and water resource assessment and management for irrigation, mining, and unconventional gas developments. He has worked in collaboration with government and private water industry in most Australian States and Territories, and in 2018 he was acknowledged as Australia’s Field Leader in Hydrology and Water Resources by Australia’s national newspaper.

“My background with CSIRO instilled in me a strong sense of collaboration and the need to work closely with the water industry” Professor Cook says.

“The NCGRT has developed an excellent reputation for the quality of its research and has been a groundwater leader within Australia. Craig Simmons has done a fantastic job over more than 10 years to get the Centre where it is today. But we still need to bring research and industry closer together, and this will be my main goal over the next few years.”

“I look forward to working with our partners and with the Australian/International groundwater community.”