Mannum agricultural scientist wins national water award

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Monique White, a name familiar to Murraylands farmers, has been awarded the prestigious Ripple Award.

Managed by the Canberra-based Peter Cullen Trust, it is awarded to outstanding leaders in the water sciences field.

Growing up in a river town helped Ms White cement her love for the river environment and its unique ecology.

“At uni, I completed a Bachelor of Ag Science at Adelaide Uni, where a second year botany subject introduced ecology and the study of interactions in natural systems,” she said.

“For me it was an ‘a-ha’ moment and confirmed my passion for working with farmers to enable them to farm better, leading to a healthier river.”

The Peter Cullen Trust works with scientists, policy makers and political leaders to bridge science, people and the environment through funding and facilitating programs that contribute to improved rural and urban water management in Australia.

The trust was named in honour of the late Professor Peter Cullen AO, a water scientist who made an enormous contribution to the management of water resources in Australia and was instrumental in elevating the need for water reform to a topic of national debate.

First awarded in 2016,the Ripple Award for Fellows Network Leadership recognises graduates who have made an outstanding contribution to the activities and collegiality of the Peter Cullen Trust and the Fellows Network by:

• Creating safe environments for the conversations that matter to take place
• Supporting a network of leaders to think with a collaborative mindset
• Giving of their time and expertise in the pursuit of the goals of the Peter Cullen Trust and the Fellows Network
• Enhancing the reputation of the Trust and the Fellows Network through public presentations and representations
• Connecting people together, people who are thinking and acting with systems approaches to complexity

For anyone interested in working in the field, Ms White had some words of advice and encouragement.

“Professionally, my career may have been limited by not being in a city or Canberra, but the community of irrigators and farmers, particularly dairy farmers that I have worked with, made the choice to stay in the Bridge worthwhile and I wouldn’t change it,” she said.

“More recently, the regionalisation of the Murray Darling Basin Authority provided the opportunity to work for the Commonwealth, based here, and I am grateful for this opportunity.”

Ms White has been working from the Murray Bridge MDBA office for the past seven years in the areas of water ecology and science communication.