• Charles Sturt to host a free lecture at the Groundstone Café in Orange
• The lecture will focus on water management and fish deaths in the Murray-Darling Basin
• Leading researcher in the Murray-Darling Dr Lee Baumgartner will lead the lecture

Associate Research Professor in Fisheries and River Management at the Charles Sturt University (Charles Sturt) Institute for Land, Water and Society (ILWS) Dr Lee Baumgartner will present the lecture titled ‘The Menindee Fish Kills – how did it get to this and why it is likely to happen again?’

Dr Baumgartner will explore the findings of a research panel which was commissioned by the federal government to assess the large-scale fish deaths at Menindee in 2018-19 in the lower Darling.

He was a member of the scientific panel and his lecture will focus on the panel’s work, major findings, and recommendations.

The panel was established at the request of the then Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, the Hon. David Littleproud, MP, who in January 2019 wrote to the Prime Minister requesting an investigation into the fish deaths at Menindee.

The lecture is part of the Charles Sturt’s Exploration Series which is part of the Community-University Partnership (CUP) program and aims to engage the University’s rural and regional partners in matters of significance.

Charles Sturt’s Director of External Engagement for Bathurst and Orange, Ms Julia Andrews, said the Exploration Series is a great opportunity for members of the local community to learn more about topical issues and events from leading experts.

“We are delighted to be hosting Dr Baumgartner as part of the Exploration Series lecture and look forward to hearing and learning more from him on the topic of fish ecology and water management,” Ms Andrews said.

“The reason Charles Sturt hosts these lectures is to encourage discussion and debate in regional communities.

“We encourage members of the public to participate in the lecture series as they provide an excellent opportunity to pose questions to leading experts.”

Dr Baumgartner has over 20 years of research expertise on fish passage, fish migration, flow ecology, invasive species, the impact of human disturbance on aquatic ecosystems and, more recently, the effectiveness of native fish stocking.

The lecture by Dr Baumgartner is from 6pm to 8pm on Wednesday 31 July 2019 at the Groundstone Café, 151 Byng Street, Orange NSW.

Registration for the lecture is available on the Charles Sturt website.