Professor Rob Vertessy has led a distinguished career in water research, serving as Chief Executive of the Cooperative Research Centre for Catchment Hydrology (2002-2004) and then Chief of CSIRO’s Land and Water Division (2004-2007).

In 2006, Rob was seconded to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to design a national water information strategy. He then joined the Bureau of Meteorology (in 2007) to oversee its implementation as a new Bureau service.

Rob served as CEO of the Bureau of Meteorology (2011-2016) and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE). After retiring from the Australian Public Service in 2016, Rob took up a part-time role at the University of Melbourne as an Enterprise Professor in Water Resources. Rob heads Global Change Advisory, a consulting company focused on environmental intelligence. In this capacity he has recently advised governments from around the world on water reform and information.

Rob holds a number of significant governance roles, including the Murray Darling Water and Environment Research Program (Chair), the MDBA Advisory Committee on Social, Economic and Environmental Sciences (Chair) and the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (Chair).