Professor Ian Lowe

Professor Lowe was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2001 for services to science and technology, especially in the area of environmental studies. In 2002 he was awarded a Centenary Medal for contributions to environmental science and won the Eureka Prize for promotion of science. His contributions have also been recognised by the Prime Minister's Environment Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement, the Queensland Premier's Millennium Award for Excellence in Science and the University of NSW Alumni Award for achievement in science. Professor Lowe was named Humanist of the Year in 1988. Professor Lowe studied engineering and science at the University of NSW and earned his doctorate in physics from the University of York. He is the author or co-author of 10 Open University books, 6 other books, 40 book chapters and over 500 other publications or conference papers.

From 1983 to 1989 Professor Lowe was a member of the National Energy Research, Development and Demonstration Council, chairing its standing committee on social, economic and environmental issues. He was Director of the Commission for the Future in 1988, and chaired the advisory council that produced the first independent national report on the state of the environment in 1996. He is a member of the Environmental Health Council and the Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council. He is a member of the Sydney Olympic Park advisory committee and chairs the Queensland Government task force implementing the reform of science education. He is deputy chair of the Queensland Sustainable Energy Innovation Group, which advises the State government on energy innovations. He has conducted consultancies for all three levels of government as well as companies and peak organisations in the private sector.

Professor Lowe has been a referee for the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, attended the Geneva and Kyoto conferences of the parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change and was a member of the Australian delegation to the 1999 UNESCO World Conference on Science. He was on the steering group for the UNEP project Global Environmental Outlook, an invited participant in the 2000 workshop on Sustainability Science and a referee for the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program's 2004 book on planetary science.

Professor Lowe has made countless contributions to newspapers, radio, television and periodicals since 1991. He gave the ABC's Boyer Lectures in 1991 and was a member of the advisory group for Brisbane's Ideas at the Powerhouse for the four years of that event. He is a member of the board of Major Brisbane Festivals Ltd and is President of Queensland Academy of the Arts and Sciences.

In his spare time, Professor Lowe plays cricket, as probably the oldest serious outswing bowler in Queensland club cricket, sings tenor in choral groups, walks in the Australian bush and overseas mountains, reads voraciously, watches films and is trying to improve his golf game. He lives on the Sunshine Coast with his partner, Patricia Kelly. Between them they have three adult sons, aged between 20 and 30.

ACF and TNEP present Professor Ian Lowe at the National Press Club on December 14th, 2005. As President of Australian Conservation Foundation and author of Living in the Hothouse: How Global Warming Affects Australia will answer the question; Professor Lowe addressed the question of "Is nuclear power part of Australia’s global warming solutions?" as a live telecast on the ABC.