Dr Keith Bristow: managing integrated water resources

• Current activities
• Background
• Academic qualifications
• Achievements
• Professional activities

Current activities

Dr Keith Bristow is a Senior Principal Research Scientist, leader of the Tropical Irrigation Systems research team, and Program Leader of the System Harmonisation Program in the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Irrigation Futures.

Current research topics include:

• impacts of soil amelioration on vadose zone hydrology
• tropical groundwater systems, including groundwater salinisation and impacts of groundwater geochemistry on the transport and fate of solutes
• tropical irrigation systems
• integrated water resources management.

Background

Dr Bristow is a soil physicist/hydrologist with more than 20 years experience in scientific research and leadership.

He has been involved in:

• planning and management of strategic and tactical research activities in tropical northern Australia
• building partnerships with communities, industries and government agencies
• leading major national research projects
• conducting research nationally and internationally in soil physics, vadose zone hydrology, groundwater hydrology, irrigated systems and integrated water management.

He has extensive research experience in the tropics and is an expert in tropical water systems.

Academic qualifications

Dr Keith Bristow has been awarded a:

• Bachelor of Science Honours in Physics from the University of Natal, South Africa in 1977
• Master of Science in Agrometeorology awarded cum laude from the University of the Orange Free State, South Africa in 1980
• Doctor of Philosophy in Soil Physics/Hydrology from Washington State University, USA in 1983.

Achievements

Dr Bristow is the author/co-author of three monograph/journal volumes, 74 journal papers, 18 book chapters, 172 conference papers, and more than 100 reports and other technical papers.

Dr Bristow’s achievements have been recognised through his election as:

• Honorary Professor at the University of Pretoria, South Africa
• Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America
• Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy.

Dr Bristow has won several awards including:

• Don and Betty Kirkham Soil Physics Award, 2009
• Strategic Excellence Award – Partnerships, CSIRO Land and Water, 2008
• Award for Leadership and Excellence: CRC for Irrigation Futures, 2008
• Award for Team Work and Collaboration: CRC for Irrigation Futures, 2006
• Award for Excellence in Team Performance: CRC Sugar Chairman’s Award, 2001
• Award for Best Instrumentation Paper at the second Australian Conference on Agricultural Meteorology, 1996
• Award of Excellence: Townsville Central Rotary Pride of Workmanship, 1992
• Washington State University Foundation Fellowship, 1983

Professional activities

Dr Bristow is a member of the:

• American Geophysical Union
• Australian Water Association
• International Union of Soil Science
• Australian Soil Science Society Incorporated
• Soil Science Society of America
• American Society of Agronomy.

Dr Bristow is also:

• Member of the Editorial Board of Soil Science
• Associate Editor of Vadose Zone Journal
• Guest Editor of a special issue of Irrigation Science, 2003
• Co-Editor of Irrigation Science, 1998–2001
• Member of the Editorial Board of Agricultural Water Management, 1993–2006.

Read more about Hydrology: improving water practices and systems.

Publishing history [Hosted by CSIRO Land and Water]

Contact Information

Location

Related Links

• CSIRO Land and Water
• Water
• Water for a Healthy Country Flagship

• Hydrology: improving water practices and systems
• Groundwater hydrology: modelling surface water and groundwater interaction
• CRC for Irrigation Futures [external link]
• Northern Australia Irrigation Futures [external link]