Graeme Batley, AM, helped develop regulations to stop pollution of waterways

Dr Batley, of Miranda, was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Australia Day Honours for significant service to environmental toxicology and chemical science.

Dr Batley was a chief research scientist at the Lucas Heights site of CSIRO Land and Water.

He helped establish the Centre for Environmental Contaminants Research, which united expertise on contaminants in waters, sediments and soils, and is a past director.

Dr Batley's career began at a time when the impact of pollution on marine life was starting to be fully understood and the CSIRO team became international leaders in this field.

After some 50 years, he remains active in this area (and in the same building at Lucas Heights).

"I enjoy what I do and people value what I do," Dr Batley said.

"I always say that I am getting paid to do something I like, which is pretty nice."

Dr Batley studied chemistry at the University of NSW and subsequently achieved BSc (Hons1), MSc, PhD and DSc degrees.

He was influenced by a lecturer Gordon Aylward, "who had a unique teaching style and was responsible for stimulating my interest in analytical chemistry research".

This ultimately led to a career in environmental analytical chemistry and a specialised interest in all aspects of the fate and impacts of contaminants in the aquatic environment.

Dr Batley joined the Australian Atomic Energy Commission (now ANSTO) in 1969 as a research scientist after a two-year post doctoral appointment at the University of Illinois.

In 1981, he was transferred to CSIRO Division of Energy Chemistry, which through several name changes, became CSIRO Energy Technology.

He is author of 450 research papers, book chapters, and reports on analytical and environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology, and is author and editor of eight books.

Between 1967-2021, these publications have been cited more than 18,700 times, according to Google Scholar.