Obituaries Australia

The University community mourns the death on 28 September after a brief illness of an esteemed colleague and friend, Professor Ian Donald Moore, Jack Beale Chair of Water Resources at the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies.

Born and educated in Melbourne, Ian took his Bachelor's Degree with Honours and then his Master's Degree in Engineering from Monash University.

He went on to gain a PhD in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1979, after which he became Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural Engineering in the University of Kentucky.

In 1983, Ian was lured back to his homeland as Senior Research Scientist in the then CSIRO Division of Water and Land Resources.

In 1986 Ian returned to Minnesota as Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural Engineering and Adjunct Professor of Forest Resources.

Ian came back to Canberra yet again in 1990 to take up the newly established Jack Beale Chair of Water Resources.

Since taking up the Jack Beale Chair, Ian had been a human dynamo. He attracted more than $1 million in research grants and was a major drawcard for postgraduate students. He was in great demand as a speaker at national and international conferences. He was an active member of six professional societies. His output of high-quality journal papers was prodigious.

With his close friend and colleague Dr Mike Hutchinson, he was awarded the G N Alexander Medal for 1993 for the best paper in hydrology by the Institution of Engineers, Australia.

Ian was an outstanding scientist with a well-established international reputation. He was due to embellish this reputation at the Second International Conference on Integrating Geographic Information Systems and Environmental Modelling in Colorado in September.

He was a plenary speaker at the First International Conference and was to be one at the Second. His paper was delivered by his colleague, John Gallant, and the Plenary Session was given over to a dedication to Ian by Professor David Maidment of the University of Texas.

On his return from Colorado, Ian was to deliver a key-note address on terrain modelling in ecology to the Symposium on Applications of GIS in Ecology at the Ecological Society of Australia Conference at the ANU. The symposium was also dedicated to Ian's memory, and a special publication on this work is planned.

Ian's professional achievements were made without any loss of humanity. He had great personal warmth and generosity, and was ever willing to assist those with lesser ability. There were few discussions with Ian in which his love and concern for his family were not evident. He was a man of great intellect, enthusiasm and industry.

The University community shares with Ian's wife Laura and their children Natalie and Nicholas their sorrow at Ian's death, yet rejoices in his achievement and the privilege of having worked with him.