Brian Harrison Walker is a scientist specialized in ecological sustainability and resilience in

socio-ecological system A social-ecological system consists of 'a bio-geo-physical' unit and its associated social actors and institutions. Social-ecological systems are complex and adaptive and delimited by spatial or functional boundaries surrounding particular ecosy ...

Education and academic career

Brian Walker began his scientific career in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where his research was on ecosystem function and dynamics in tropical savannas and rangelands. He earned his Ph.D. in the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

, in Canada in 1968. He was a Lecturer and Senior Lecturer at the

University of Rhodesia The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is a public university in Harare, Zimbabwe. It opened in 1952 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was initially affiliated with the University of London. It was later renamed the University ...

, Rhodesia from 1969 until 1975. After that he was a professor at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

, before moving to Australia in 1985. There he became Chief of the former CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology (now CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems) from 1985-1999. He has also made significant contributions to global change science. Serving as the Chair of the Scientific Steering Committee of the IGBP core project on Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE), from 1990–1997 and Chair of the Board, Beijer International Institute of Ecological Economics, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences from 1999-2002. He is currently a Research Fellow with CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems and is also Program Director and Chair of the Board of the Resilience Alliance, an international research group working on sustainability of social-ecological systems.

Publications

Brian Walker has co-authored two books and published more than 160 scientific papers. He also edited and co-edited nine books. ;Books *2006 with David Salt: ''Resilience thinking: Sustaining ecosystems and people in a changing world'',

Island Press Island Press is a nonprofit, environmental publisher based in Washington, D.C., United States, that specializes in natural history, ecology, conservation, and the built environment. Established in 1984, Island Press generates about half of its r ...

*2012 with David Salt: ''Resilience practice: Building capacity to absorb disturbance and maintain function'', Island Press His most cited papers include: *1981 with D. Ludwig, C. S. Holling and R Peterman. "Stability of semi-arid savanna grazing systems" ''

Journal of Ecology The ''Journal of Ecology'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of the ecology of plants. It was established in 1913 and is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the British Ecological Society. The journal pub ...

'' Vol 69 : 473-498. *1985 with W.T. Knoop "Interactions of woody and herbaceous vegetation in southern African savanna" in ''Journal of Ecology'' Vol 73 : 235-253. *1989 with M. Westoby I. Noy-Meir. "Opportunistic management for rangelands not at equilibrium. in ''Journal of Range Management'' Vol 42(4) : 266-274. *1992 "Biodiversity and ecological redundancy" ''Conservation Biology'' Vol 6: 18-23. *2001 with M. Scheffer, S.R. Carpenter, J. Foley, and C. Folke. "Catastrophic shifts in ecosystems" in ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

'' Vol 413: 591-596.

Awards

In 1999, Brian Walker received the Ecological Society of Australia's Gold Medal for his work on ecology of tropical savannahs and rangelands. In 2018, Brian Walker has been awarded the Blue Planet Prize for 2018, along with Professor Malin Falkenmark. The award goes to individuals or organizations that make "outstanding achievements in scientific research and in so doing help to solve global environmental problems." In 2020 Walker was made an Officer (AO) in the General Division of The Order of Australia for "distinguished service to science, particularly to ecosystem ecology and research, and to professional scientific bodies."

References

External links

Profile on CSIRO webpageResilience Alliance Beijer Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Brian Australian ecologists Living people Zimbabwean people of British descent White Rhodesian people Canadian emigrants to Australia Systems ecologists University of Natal alumni University of Saskatchewan alumni University of Zimbabwe faculty Year of birth missing (living people) Officers of the Order of Australia