Prof Ian Lowe AO

Professor Ian Lowe AO is one of Australia’s most respected environmental scientists and a leading voice on sustainable futures, science policy, and technology. Emeritus Professor of Science, Technology and Society at Griffith University, he has also served as Head of the School of Science at Griffith and as an adjunct professor at Flinders University and the University of the Sunshine Coast. He holds earned degrees from the University of NSW and the University of York, and honorary doctorates from Griffith University and the University of the Sunshine Coast.

Professor Lowe has authored or co-authored over 60 books and book chapters and more than 500 other publications, with research focusing on policy decisions influencing science and technology, particularly in energy and environmental sustainability. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and has received numerous honours, including Officer of the Order of Australia (2001), the Centenary Medal (2002), the Eureka Prize for Promotion of Science, the Prime Minister’s Environment Award, and the Konrad Lorenz Gold Medal for outstanding contributions to sustainable futures.

He has served on numerous national advisory councils and government bodies, including the National Energy Research, Development and Demonstration Council, the Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council, and Brisbane’s Urban Environment Advisory Committee. He chaired the Commission for the Future, contributed to Australia’s first independent national State of the Environment report, and has advised on sustainable development through the Wakefield Futures Group.

Professor Lowe has been an influential science communicator, contributing to radio and television, writing columns for New Scientist, The Weekend Australian, and Australasian Science, and delivering the ABC Boyer Lectures in 1991.

Outside his professional work, Ian enjoys cricket, choral singing, bushwalking, reading, film, and improving his golf game.