— About the Johnstone Centre —

Our Mission:
To assist in conserving and restoring environmental quality in protected and human-dominated landscapes, primarily in the Murray-Darling Basin but also throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific Region. We will seek to do this within a systems-based framework, using inter-disciplinary approaches.

About Us:
The Johnstone Centre is one of five designated research centres at Charles Sturt University (CSU). Centre members with biological and social science expertise undertake research that addresses the conservation and restoration of natural landscapes. Our work facilitates conservation and restoration outcomes that are socially, environmentally and economically desirable. The main themes of our research are:

Ecological processes and biodiversity conservation
Social dimensions of sustainable development
Environmental informatics

We apply an interdisciplinary approach to natural resource management issues on both public and private land. Projects have been completed for a wide range of partners and clients, including government natural resource management agencies, private companies and community groups. Our research has been undertaken in various parts of Australia (particularly the Murray-Darling Basin), as well as across the Indo-Asian-Pacific region. The Centre supports a large number of postgraduate research students.

Mr Donald Aitken Johnstone AO
(27 February 1927 - 12 December 1997)

The Johnstone Centre is named in honour of Don Johnstone. Don was Director of the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service. In the late 1970s, Don recognised the need to improve the professional standing of rangers within the service and he worked to establish a tertiary course to fill the need. This influential course, the first of its kind in Australia, was the beginning of what has now become one of a number of courses in environmental management offered by Charles Sturt University.

With the establishment of Charles Sturt University in 1989 came two additional commitments - research and post-graduate eduction. The university research centre that grew out of the course initiated by Don Johnstone now bears his name.