The Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability, Dr Gillian Sparkes, congratulates Dr Andrea Hinwood on her appointment as Victoria’s first Chief Environmental Scientist.
An Associate Professor at Edith Cowan University and a sessional member of the State Administrative Tribunal of Western Australia, Dr Hinwood has a long-standing career that is uniquely placed at the intersection of understanding environmental and human health.
This is a move which will ensure all Victorians are provided with robust, science-based advice and information about their environment. Dr Hinwood will provide advice to EPA’s leadership team and other senior decision makers, including the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change and Victoria’s Chief Health Officer.
As EPA’s science lead, Dr Hinwood will also work to deepen EPA’s relationships with universities and research organisations, ensuring EPA remains at the forefront of emerging science.
The Commissioner looks forward to collaborating with Dr Hinwood to interpret, collate and deliver key environmental science to the wider Victorian public.
EPA Victoria CEO Nial Finegan supported this sentiment, saying that Dr Hinwood is, ‘an accomplished environmental scientist with specialist expertise in environmental exposures and human health, Dr Hinwood is ideally placed to support Victorians to interpret complex information to make informed decisions about their environment.’
Dr Hinwood said, ‘It’s exciting, as Victoria’s first Chief Environmental Scientist, to be working with EPA Victoria to deliver on the Victorian Government’s vision of an enhanced environmental public health service for Victorians’.
This marks a return to work at EPA Victoria, having been with the organisation early in her career in the areas of contaminated land management, chemicals and emergency response.
Dr Hinwood starts on 1 May 2017.
Dr Andrea Hinwood's career snapshot:
- Associate Professor, School of Science/Natural Sciences, Edith Cowan University (2002-present)
- Head of School, School of Natural Sciences, Edith Cowan University (2012-2013-2015)
- Sessional Member, State Administrative Tribunal of WA (2013-present)
- Deputy Chair and Board Member, Environmental Protection Authority of WA (2003-2009)
- Manager, Air Quality Management and Air Quality Studies, Department of Environment, WA (1998-2002)
- PhD Research Candidate, Department of Social and Preventative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Monash University (1994-1998)
- Manager, Chemical Management and Emergency Response; Project Officer Contaminated Land and Policy, EPA Victoria (1987-1994).
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