Dr Daniel Walker, Program Leader, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems

Dr Daniel Walker: leading sustainable natural resource management

Dr Daniel Walker applies his expertise in integration science to leading one of the nation’s largest sustainability science research teams.

• 15 September 2009 | Updated 14 October 2011

Overview

• Current activities
• Background
• Academic qualifications 
• Achievements 

Current activities

Dr Walker is Deputy Chief of the CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences (CES) Division. 

CES's research addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainable production and consumption in Australia's urban centres, agricultural, forestry and rangelands landscapes and our conservation estate as well as internationally.

CES is strongly oriented to interdisciplinary or systems science contributions to sustainability issues in:

• understanding and ameliorating the environmental and social impacts of resource use patterns and change
• understanding and enhancing the role of technologies (in the broadest sense of the term) in reducing the environmental impact per unit of production or consumption.

CES aims to meet national challenges such as increasing food security, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ensuring sustainable use of water and conservation of biodiversity while responding to a range of economic growth scenarios.
 
Dr Daniel Walker plays a lead role in CSIRO's Indigenous Engagement Strategy.

Background

Dr Walker has a background in international research in development, sustainability and human ecology. He joined CSIRO in Townsville, Queensland, as a research scientist in 1994 to work on decision support tools for regional resource use planning. 

Dr Walker's areas of research expertise include:

• systems analysis of regional dynamics
• development and implementation of decision support systems for adaptive natural resource management and capacity building
• participatory research methodologies
• Indigenous and scientific knowledge integration.

Over the last decade Dr Walker has taken on increasing research management and leadership roles in developing research strategy, building research capability and managing research partnerships. 

He became Program Leader of CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystem's Resource Futures Program in 2003. He has held the positions of Theme Leader for Sustainable Regional Development and Deputy Chief in 2007, Acting Chief from July 2008 and is currently Deputy Chief of the new CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences Division.

He was the Regional Planning & Management Theme Leader for the Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) for Tropical Savannas from 2000–03.

Academic qualifications

Dr Walker has been awarded a:

• Bachelor of Science at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom (UK) in 1988
• First Class Honours in agriculture, forestry and rural economy from the same institution in 1989
• Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Wales, UK, in 1994.

His doctoral thesis was titled A knowledge based system approach to agroforestry research and extension.

Dr Walker also graduated from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Achievements

Dr Walker has lead research in the analytical integration of local and formal scientific knowledge in the design of research and development programs in developing countries, decision support tools and methods for regional planning, collaborative resource information centres, and regional resource use dynamics. 

He has published research in journals as diverse as:

• Landscape Ecology
• Journal of Industrial Ecology
• Australian Journal Of Botany
• Journal of Environmental Management
• The Australian Journal of Environmental Management
• Animal Feed Science and Technology
• Agricultural Systems (also a member of its editorial board)
• Agroforestry Systems
• Computers & Electronics in Agriculture
• AI Applications; Environmental Software
• The New Review of Applied Expert Systems.

Dr Walker has received the following awards:

• Stewart McDougall Prize and the Stebbing Medal for Silviculture
• James Anthony More Memorial Prize for Agriculture
• University of Edinburgh Bursary.

Read more about Ecosystem Sciences.