“The Cultural Value of Water and the Importance of Understanding Water Quality and Climate Change for Aboriginal People”

Professor Bradley Moggridge FRSN FTSE
Associate Dean (Indigenous Leadership and Engagement)
Faculty of Science
University of Technology Sydney

Date and Time: Wednesday, 5 August 2026, 6.00–7.30 pm AEST
Venue: Michael Crouch Room, Mitchell Building, State Library of NSW
Pre-meeting drinks: A cash bar will operate from 5.30 pm
Registration: Please register before 2.00 pm AEST on Wednesday, 5 August 2026
Entry: OGM: Members, $20; Non-members, $30; Students, $0
Enquiries: via email to RSNSW Events
All are welcome

Please click here to register before
2.00 pm AEST on Wednesday, 5 August 2026

Business of the Meeting

The Agenda for the Ordinary General Meeting will be made available on the Meetings page of the website.

Summary: Australia is the driest inhabited continent on Earth, yet it has been the traditional land of its original inhabitants, Australia’s First Peoples (its Indigenous people), for thousands of generations—65,000 years, plus. Protecting water landscapes (surface and groundwater) in a dry place like Australia, along with the protection of cultural values, has always been a high priority for Aboriginal people, and protecting water remains a cultural obligation. Water connects people to Country, carries songs, dances and language through the generations. This connection and understanding of climate are no different; observations, adaptation and lived experience (already having survived sea level rise) put First Peoples of Australia in a place to provide solutions for a modern issue like climate change. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are adapting now to a changed climate. Seasonal changes, culturally significant species are also adapting and evolving. Through my research and experience, I am very privileged to work towards solutions combining both my ancestral Traditional Knowledge and qualifications in Western science for water and climate.

Bradley Moggridge is a proud Murri from the Kamilaroi Nation living on Ngunnawal Country in Canberra and a Professor of Science and Associate Dean (Indigenous Leadership and Engagement) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). He has a PhD in Science from the University of Canberra, an MSc in Hydrogeology from UTS, and a BSc in Environmental Science from the Australian Catholic University.

Professor Moggridge is the Immediate Past President of the Australian Freshwater Science Society (President, 2022–2024), a current Board member with the NSW Environmental Protection Authority, and previously was a member of the Biodiversity Council and the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF). He was appointed as Lead Author for IPCC AR7 Chapter 10, and was accepted as a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Science and Engineering (ATSE) in 2025 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW (FRSN) in 2026. He is a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists and is a Governor of WWF Australia. He is an alumnus of the International Water Centre.

Professor Moggridge has won several awards, including the 2026 RSNSW Aboriginal Scholar Medal, and has presented widely, including at the 2023 UN Water Conference (New York) and at the 2022, 2023 and 2025 SIWI World Water Week (Stockholm), and COP29 in Baku. He has published in his area of expertise in  Indigenous Water Knowledge and Climate Change, also finding himself on many committees (local, national to international), adding to his 25 years in water and environmental science, cultural knowledge, regulation, water planning and management. He hopes to encourage Indigenous generations to pursue interests in science and promote his ancestors’ knowledge.

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