Dr. Rosemary Purdie

Rosemary joined the Murray-Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) in May 1998 as Director Natural Resources Evaluation and Communication. Her areas of responsibility include integrated catchment management, the social and institutional aspects of natural resources management, communication and education, geographic and other information systems, and monitoring and evaluation.

Prior to joining the MDBC, she spent 12 years with the Australian Heritage Commission, a statutory authority within the Commonwealth Department of the Environment. Here she managed programs aimed at identifying places of natural, Indigenous and historic significance across Australia, and providing advice on their protection. The latter included helping to develop the first regional forest heritage assessments that paved the way for the Commonwealth’s Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) process.

Rosemary has served on a range of government, academic and other committees. These included chairing the Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage Area Technical and Scientific Advisory Committee from 1993-1999, and chairing the Culture and Heritage Reference Group for the Commonwealth’s 1996 State of the Environment Report. She currently chairs the ACT Flora and Fauna Advisory Committee and is a member of the ACT Environment Advisory Committee.

Rosemary originally trained in plant ecology at the Australian National University. She spent many years on vegetation survey work in arid and semi-arid Australia before succumbing to life as a manager, and still spends as much as time as she can - outside of work hours - in the bush.