User:Colin1951c/sandbox/Colin Chartres

Colin Chartres

Career

Dr Colin Chartres has been, since 2017, CEO of the Crawford Fund, a not-for-profit Australian organisation focused on training and promoting the benefits of international agricultural R&D in overcoming global food insecurity. He also holds an honorary Professorship in the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University in Canberra. Colin also Chairs the Expert Review Panel of the Australian Water Partnership.

From 2007-2012 he was Director General of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a member organisation of the CGIAR based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In 2012, IWMI was awarded the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize for its pioneering work on agricultural water management, food security, environmental protection and poverty alleviation in developing countries.

Prior to this, he was Chief Science Advisor to the Australian National Water Commission from 2004-2007 and Chief Scientist in the Bureau of Rural Sciences in the Department of Agriculture, 2000-2002, and a senior manager in the Australian Geological Survey Organisation, 1998-2000. Between 1984-1998 and 2002-2004, Colin worked for the CSIRO in Canberra as a researcher and research manager in the Divisions of Soils and subsequently, Land and Water. During this time he researched soils developed in wind-blown materials, soil acidification, soil-structural decline,developing international partnerships and managing linkages with Cooperative Research organisations.

Colin is a graduate of the University of Bristol. After completing his PhD at the University of Reading on the micromorphological and mineralogical processes of soil development, he worked for Booker Agriculture International based in London, UK, undertaking land resource assessments in Somalia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia before joining the University of New South Wales, in Sydney, in 1978.

Awards

Colin was awarded the Publication Medal of the Australian Society of Soil Science in 1984.

Publications

He has published widely on soil development, soil acidification, and on water and food security. He co-authored with Samyuktha Varma the book, "Out of Water: from abundance to scarcity and how to solve the world's water problems."

Recently, Colin has focused on advocating the benefits of scientifically-based agricultural land management and helps train mid-career managers and researchers in leadership and management. He is also passionate about how science can help with the development of evidence-based policy. He is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Personal

Colin is married to Margaret (neé Preece) and has two sons and, so far, two grandchildren.