Working group

This group of specialists, with expertise across the range of disciplines required to address floods-related issues, carefully formulated key questions and answers pertaining to the 'science and engineering' of floods.

Mr Mark Babister - Managing Director, WMAwater, Sydney

Mark is a flood hydrologist and Chair of the National Committee for Water Engineering and member of the Steering and Technical Committees updating the Australian Rainfall and Runoff guideline for the Institution of Engineers, Australia. Mark is the editor of the national manual on hydrodynamic modelling.

Professor John Handmer - Deputy Head, Mathematical and Geospatial Sciences, RMIT, Melbourne

John is the Director of the Centre for Risk and Community Safety and the Human Security Program at RMIT, and works on the social and economic aspects of emergency management and disasters. He is a member of the National Flood Risk Advisory Group, and is a Senior Scientific Advisor for the Bushfire CRC and convenor of the National Network for Climate Change Adaptation and Emergency Management. John has published 20 books on flood risk management, community bushfire safety, policy and institutions for emergency management.

Mr Tony McAlister - Managing Director, BMT WBM, Brisbane

Tony is a Civil Engineer with over 25 years national and international experience in the fields of catchment hydrology, waterway hydraulics and water quality management. Some of his previous projects have included the SEQ Healthy Waterways and Water by Design Programs. Tony was the co-author of two chapters in the Engineers Australia publication ‘Australian Runoff Quality’.

Mr Toby McGrath - Technical Sector Leader for Water Resources, Infrastructure & Minerals Division, KBR, Brisbane

Toby is a water resources engineer with extensive knowledge of the flooding behaviour and water supply characteristics of Queensland's river systems, having undertaken numerous water resource studies with KBR and with previous employers SunWater and the Department of Natural Resources. He is the Queensland representative on the National Committee for Water Engineering, Engineers Australia's peak representative body for water engineering.

Mr Duncan McLuckie - Principal Flood Specialist, NSW office of Environment and Heritage, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Newcastle and Visiting Fellow at the University of Technology, Sydney

Duncan has extensive experience in hydrology, hydraulics and water resources with local and state government. He is the main author of the NSW Government's Floodplain Development Manual and a range of related guidelines, works on flood risk management issues across government on a range of committees and is the primary driver of industry education in NSW. Duncan has managed the NSW Floodplain Management Program and is the NSW representative on the National Flood Risk Advisory Group where he is leading the update of the National Best Practice Manual Managing the Floodplain.

Professor Kerrie Mengersen - Research Professor of Statistics, Faculty of Science & Technology, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane

Kerrie is a statistician in the Collaborative Centre for Data Analysis, Modelling and Computation at QUT. Her research interests are in complex systems and bayesian modelling, with applications in environment, health and industry. In the past five years Kerrie has published 2 edited books and over 100 refereed articles.

Professor Neville Nicholls - Australian Research Council Professorial Fellow, Monash University, Melbourne

Neville has 35 years experience in climate research with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and joined Monash University 2006. He has published over 110 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, on the nature, causes, predictability and impacts of Australian climate variations and changes. His research has documented how the El Niño - Southern Oscillation and other modes of climate variability affect Australia's climate and he developed systems to predict climate variations such as droughts and seasonal tropical cyclone activity. Neville is also President of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society.

Professor Jon Olley - Professor of Water Science, Griffith University, Brisbane

Jon is the Deputy Director of the Australian Rivers Institute, and is a fluvial geomorphologist. His research interests include the role of land use and climate in changing channel morphology and sediment production in Australian rivers, and targeting river rehabilitation using sediment and nutrient tracing. Jon has published more than 80 papers in scientific journals and 6 book chapters.

Professor Stuart Phinn - Professor of Geography, The University of Queensland, Brisbane

Stuart is the Director of the Centre for Spatial Environmental Research; Director of the Joint Remote Sensing Research Program; and Scientific Director of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network. In the past ten years Stuart has co-authored over 100 scientific papers, 11 book chapters and 1 book on aspects of biophysical remote sensing.

Professor Roger Stone - Director, Australian Centre for Sustainable Catchments, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba

Roger has had a 30 year career in meteorological and climatological research. He specialises in climate variability, climate change and associated agricultural and hydrological management issues. Roger is the Program Leader in the UN World Meteorological Organisation Commission for Agricultural Meteorology.

Dr QJ Wang - Senior Principal Research Scientist and Leader, Water Prediction & Forecasting, Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, CSIRO Land and Water, Melbourne

QJ is a hydrologist with interests in hydrological modelling, uncertainty and risk analysis. In recent years his research has focused on improving water prediction and forecasting in Australia. QJ and his team developed the prediction system that underpins the new seasonal streamflow forecasting service of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM). His research team is also developing the next generation of flood and short-term river flow prediction systems in partnership with the BoM.

Professor Tony Wong - Director, Centre for Water Sensitive Cities, Monash University, Melbourne

Tony is a hydrologist and is internationally recognised for his research and practice in sustainable urban water management, particularly in water sensitive urban design. In 2010 Tony was awarded the prestigious Institution of Engineers, Australia Sir John Holland Civil Engineer of the Year Award.