Dr Munro Mortimer

Munro Mortimer is a former principal investigative scientist with the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency.

His research interests are in the fields of environmental sampling and analysis, and contaminant fate and transport, particularly in respect to persistant organic pollutants.

Although retired from full time employment, he is still active in part time consulting and has been involved in a number of projects with QAEHS.
Munro completed a PhD in ecotoxicology at Griffith University in 1995 on completion of which he joined the Queensland EPA. Previous to that he followed a career as a science and maths teacher after training as a high school teacher at the University of Adelaide. After teaching initially in South Australia he moved to Papua New Guinea, teaching at a number of high schools and was involved in the development of the science education curriculum for schools and in teacher education in the lead up to PNG independence in 1975.

During his career with the Queensland Government, Munro was involved in a number of high-profile incident investigations and prosecutions relating to illegal dumping and discharges of toxicants, sewage spills and marine incidents involving fuel and cargo mishaps. Munro appeared as an expert witness in numerous court cases, including being a key contributor to the first environmental harm prosecution in Queensland that resulted in actual jail time being served. His contributions to environmental protection in Queensland were recognised with an Australia Day Achievement Award in 2007.

He has published widely in peer-reviewed journals and contributed and coauthored several book chapters, the most recent being a series of chapters in Marine Pollution - Monitoring, Management and Mitigation (Editor: Amanda Reichelt-Brushett. Publisher: Springer Textbooks in Earth Sciences, Geography and Environment).

Munro was a founding member of the Australasian Society for Ecotoxicology (ASE) and served as a Council Member since 1997, then continued that role with the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry - Australasia (SETAC AU). Currently he is also a member of the Board of Directors of SETAC Asia-Pacific.

In 2013 Munro was made an Emeritus Member of SETAC in recognition of his significant contributions to ecotoxicology and long service to the society.