Rate My Professor Richard Kingsford

Professor Richard Kingsford is Director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science at the University of New South Wales. He is a river ecologist and conservation biologist who has worked extensively across the wetlands and rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin and Lake Eyre Basin. He earned a BSc and a Diploma in Education in 1980 and a PhD in 1986, all from the University of Sydney. Kingsford worked for the NSW Government Environment agency from 1986 to 2004 before joining UNSW, where he leads research on wetland ecology, waterbirds, river policy, the effects of dams, rewilding projects such as Wild Deserts in Sturt National Park, adaptive management of ecosystems, and community engagement in conservation.

His research has influenced policy and management of rivers in Australia through involvement on state and federal advisory committees. Kingsford has received numerous awards, including the 2021 Gold Medal from the Ecological Society of Australia, multiple Eureka Prizes, Banksia Awards, the Luc Hoffmann International Medal, the D.L. Serventy Medal, the National and International River Prizes for the Lake Eyre Basin Partnership, and appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2025. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW and the Australian Zoological Society. Kingsford has held leadership roles including President of the Society for Conservation Biology Oceania and serves on committees such as the Scientific Advisory Panel for the Lake Eyre Basin and the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists. He has authored or edited books on desert rivers and Lake Eyre Basin rivers and published extensively on freshwater ecosystems and conservation.