Sue Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of the Water Corporation of Western Australia, will return to her alma mater this week to deliver the annual George Seddon lecture.

Ms Murphy, listed in the top 100 most influential engineers in Australia by Engineers Australia in 2009, will give an insight into the Water Corporation's 50-year plan to respond to the challenge of ensuring a continued, sustainable water supply for the state's future.

Her lecture will reference the continuing relevance of Professor George Seddon's book Sense of Place (1972), which examines what constitutes a ‘sense of place' in Perth and the Swan Coastal Plain from the perspective of our unique environment. 

She will discuss the need to preserve this sense of place while rising to the challenges posed by rapid economic growth, population and dramatically changing environmental and climatic conditions.

"Perth ranks as one of the highest per capita water users of all Australian capital cities," Ms Murphy says.  "We need to reassess our lifestyle expectations."

The annual George Seddon Lecture is sponsored by the Institute of Advanced Studies and UWA's Friends of the Grounds and honours the life and work late Professor George Seddon AM.

WHAT:                    2010 George Seddon Lecture:  Water, Fundamental to a Sense of Place

WHEN:                    Wednesday 16 June 2010, 6-7pm

WHERE:                University Club Theatre Auditorium, UWA. The nearest car park is P3 off Hackett Entrance 1.

The lecture is free and open to the public, no RSVP required.

Media references

Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 5563  /  (+61 4) 32 637 716