Professor David Hamilton
Position: formerly Professor, University of Waikato, currently Deputy Director, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University. Field: Fresh water systems.
David studied science at Otago University. In his third year, he went on a field trip where students had to do a stream study. David was intrigued by the abundance of invertebrates in the stream. He was so amazed by the wealth of life he observed in the water that he decided that this was an area he wanted to learn more about.
David Hamilton
Fresh water scientist Professor David Hamilton holds the Environment Bay of Plenty Chair in Lakes Management and Restoration, based in Biological Sciences at the University of Waikato, where he studies the 12 lakes in the Rotorua region.
David finished his studies in Dunedin, which led him to doing a PhD investigating shallow lake ecology, particularly how wind influences lake ecosystems. This project required intense fieldwork, spending many hours on boats – work that not only interested him a lot but that he also enjoyed doing.
After finishing his PhD, David accepted a post-doctoral position at the University of Western Australia in Perth. Interestingly enough, he was studying Sydney’s water quality using computer models rather than conducting the fieldwork himself. The team he was working with in Perth was of such high standing that they conducted water quality studies all over the world, which also brought him to places like Malaysia, Israel and other countries.
One of David’s achievements was the development of models that predict water quality – one of these models is now used in over 80 countries around the world.
Lake catchments
David Hamilton of Waikato University works in a field of science called limnology – he studies inland waters such as lakes. Scientists have come to realise that the area around a lake (called a catchment) is extremely important to the health of the lake.
For example, before 1991, wastewater was discharged into Lake Rotorua. When people realised that the lake developed algal blooms, it was decided that pumping wastewater into the lake should be stopped. However, the algal bloom did not stop, and scientists realised that the groundwater that feeds into Lake Rotorua was becoming enriched with nutrient-rich water from what had infiltrated in the Rotorua catchment over many years.
After spending 12 years in Perth, a position became available back in New Zealand that was a dream come true for David, because it combined his passion for lake studies, water quality and modelling, with coming back to New Zealand. David took up the position of Environment Bay of Plenty Chair in Lakes Management and Restoration, based in Biological Sciences at the University of Waikato, where he studied the 12 lakes in the Rotorua region.
In 2017 David took up the position of Deputy Director at the Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane. His research interests are in lake water quality modelling, cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms and sensors for measuring lake parameters.
Useful link
This useful website tells you about the work that is being done in lake restoration. LERNZ stands for Lake Ecosystem Restoration New Zealand.
This article is based on information current in 2009 and updated in 2018.
