Hendy goes to university

FORMER deputy premier Hendy Cowan has been appointed chairman of the Institute of Natural Resource Management at Notre Dame University.

Vice Chancellor Peter Tannock said he expected Mr Cowan would be a very powerful advocate for the recently established Institute.

The University has also appointed 12 scientists and natural resource managers as adjunct professors to the Institute. The group includes Brian O’Brien, the first Environmental Protection Authority chairman, and Philip Playford, a leading WA geologist.

The principal focus of the Institute is to integrate environ-mental management with the development of WA’s natural resources.

Its first policy paper will be a review of the Environmental Protection Authority, currently being written by Institute director Syd Shea and Dr O’Brien.

Professor Shea said WA can sustain economic development while also protecting the en-vironment and the solutions to major environmental problems need to be profitable.

Professor Shea is putting this theory into practice in his capacity as chairman of the Oil Mallee Company, which promotes the planting of oil mallee trees in the eastern wheatbelt to tackle salinity while also providing farmers with a new cash crop.