Dr Ian Webster: researching lakes, rivers, and estuaries

Dr Ian Webster's research is being used to support the development of water quality improvement plans.

• 14 September 2009 | Updated 14 October 2011

• Current activities
• Background
• Academic qualifications
• Achievements

Current activities

Dr Ian Webster research topics of special interest have included:

• investigation and modelling of the interactions between the physical, chemical and biological processes in lakes, rivers, and estuaries leading to algal blooms and water quality degradation
• examination of how catchment loads to the Great Barrier Reef are dispersed in estuaries and in the coastal zone
• hydrodynamic modelling of natural water bodies for assessing the effectiveness of management options
• modelling evaporation and thermodynamics of small water bodies
• modelling transport and reaction processes in sediments.

Background

Dr Webster started his career with The Pollution Control Branch of the Province of British Columbia, Canada, advising on oceanographic aspects of marine discharges.

He spent the next five years with an environmental consulting company where he was in charge of physical oceanographic operations, providing studies and advice on domestic and industrial waste discharges. 

Following his Doctorate, Dr Webster became a teacher and researcher in physical oceanography at Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Since joining CSIRO, Dr Webster has become known for his leadership of multidisciplinary projects that support the management of lakes, rivers and estuaries.

The results of three of the largest projects in the Murrumbidgee River, Gippsland Lakes, and the Fitzroy River have been and are being used to support the development of water quality improvement plans (New South Wales Algal Management Strategy, Future Directions - Gippsland Lakes, Reef Water Quality Protection Plan).

Dr Webster is known internationally for his contributions to the scientific understanding of phytoplankton dynamics, sediment-water column exchange processes, and for the use of naturally occurring radionuclides for calculating water column and pore-water exchange rates.

Academic qualifications

Dr Webster has been awarded a:

• Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Physics from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, 1969
• Master of Science in Physical Oceanography from the University of British Columbia, 1972
• Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering from the University of Western Australia, Perth, 1985.

Achievements

Dr Webster is the author of 63 journal articles, 85 reports, two book chapters and five conference papers.

Dr Webster was the leader of the Agricultural Contaminants Project team, which was awarded prizes by the Coastal Cooperative Research Centre for:

• Excellence in Science, 2003
• Best Project, 2004
• Teamwork Award, 2005.

Dr Webster is a member of the Australian Marine Science Association.

Find out more about CSIRO Land and Water.