Mark Diesendorf

Mark Diesendorf teaches Environmental Studies at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He was formerly Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Technology, Sydney and a principal research scientist with CSIRO where he was involved in early research on integrating wind power into electricity grids.

Diesendorf currently serves on the editorial boards of several international scholarly journals. His most recent book is Climate Action: a campaign manual for greenhouse solutions.

Biography

Mark Diesendorf is the son of an engineer and a poet. His PhD research was focused on applied mathematics, but his postdoctoral research was on practical applications of mathematics and the natural sciences, including the analysis of ground and satellite data, mechanisms of insect smell and vision, and biological catalysts. From 1975 to 1985 he worked in the CSIRO Division of Mathematics, the Australian national research organization, on topics such as electricity grids and wind power.^[1] For a few years around 1980 he was the Principal Research Scientist and leader of the Applied Mathematics group in CSIRO.^[2] He has also been a Professor of Environmental Science at UTS and the Vice-President of the Australia New Zealand Society for Ecological Economics.

Since 2004, Diesendorf has been a Senior Lecturer in the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of NSW. He teaches, researches and consults in the interdisciplinary fields of sustainable energy, sustainable urban transport, theory of sustainability, ecological economics, and practical processes by which government, business and other organisations can achieve ecologically sustainable and socially just development.^[3]

Currently Dr Diesendorf serves on the editorial boards of several international scholarly journals.^[3] Previously he was the Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), a Based on his belief that science, technology and economics should serve the community at large, Dr Diesendorf has been at various times the Secretary of the Society for Social Responsibility in Science (Canberra), co-founder and Vice-President of the Sustainable Energy Industries Council of Australia, and co-founder and President of the Australasian Wind Energy Association.^[3]

Mark Diesendorf has been one of the leading proponents calling for the ethical, scientific debate over public water fluoridation. Diesendorf has authored several papers, including a 1986 article entitled "The mystery of declining tooth decay" in the journal Nature, examining the need for a scientific re-evaluation of fluoridation and has highlighted some of the contrary evidence.^[1][4]

Recent peer-reviewed publications

• Diesendorf M 2007, Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy, UNSW Press, Sydney, ISBN/0868409731

• Saddler H, Diesendorf M, Denniss R 2007, 'Clean energy scenarios for Australia', Energy Policy 35 (2): 1245-56.

• Diesendorf M 2006, 'Wind power in Australia', Int J Environ Stud. 63 (6): 765-776.

• Diesendorf, M., 2006, 'Can geosequestration save the coal industry?', in J. Byrne, L. Glover and N. Toly (eds), Transforming Power: Energy as a Social Project, Vol. 9, Energy and Environmental Policy Series, Transaction Press, pp. 223-248.

• Diesendorf M 2005, 'Governance of municipalities: a snapshot of sustainable development in China', in Hargroves KC and Smith MH (eds), The Natural Advantage of Nations: Business opportunities, innovation and governance in the 21st century, Earthscan, London & Sterling VA, pp.303-305.

Other articles

• Can nuclear energy reduce CO₂ emissions
• Muzzling the greenhouse debate
• How to reduce CO₂ emissions by 50%
• Sustainable energy has a powerful future
• The base-load fallacy
• Myths, Fallacies and 'Spin' About Greenhouse Solutions
• Are proponents of water fluoridation suppressing scientific evidence and debate?
• New evidence on fluoridation

See also

Australia portal

Energy portal

• Andrew Blakers
• Hugh Saddler
• Wind power in Australia
• Wind power in South Australia
• Renewable energy commercialization
• Renewable energy commercialisation in Australia
• International Renewable Energy Agency
• Jim Green (activist)
• Anti-nuclear movement in Australia
• Ian Lowe
• Water fluoridation controversy
• Human Ecology, Human Economy: Ideas for an Ecologically Sustainable Future

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Diesendorf M. (1996). Fluoridation: breaking the silence barrier. In: Martin B (ed.). Confronting the experts. New York: State University of New York Press, pp.45-75.
2. ^ Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy -- Free symposium
3. ^ ^{a b c} UNSW Institute of Environmental Studies
4. ^ R. Allen Freeze and Jay H. Lehr. The Fluoride Wars, John Wiley, 2009, p. 184.

External links

• Power to the People : ABC television program Difference of Opinion
• Books by Mark Diesendorf

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