Goen Ho

I joined Murdoch University in 1976 as a Lecturer in Environmental Engineering and assisted with the establishment of the Environmental Science program under the leadership of Foundation Professor of Environmental Science Professor Des O'Connor. It was the first Environmental Science program in Australia and the first few globally. My contribution to the undergraduate program was in waste management & pollution control in land and water environments applied to agricultural, industrial and local government settings. Colleagues were Dr Peter Newman, Lecturer in Synecology and Dr Tom Lyons, Lecturer in Atmospheric Science. Professor O'Connor described the creation of the program in his contribution to "Murdoch Voices- The first 40 years at Murdoch University" (p. 53, see Link below).

In research I established contacts with industry and in 1982 received a significant major funding ($250,000) from Alcoa of Australia and the Metropolitan Water Authority (now Water Corporation) for a project to treat wastewater using the residue from the processing of bauxite into alumina (reported by Professor Geoffrey Bolton in "It had better be a good one- The first ten years of Murdoch University", p. 62, see Link below).

Under my leadership a Remote Area Developments Group (RADG) was established to carry out research into the provision of water & sanitation to remote Aboriginal communities. The research needs were brought to our attention by Professor Des O'Connor, who was then President of the WA Royal Flying Doctor Service. With funding from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs appropriate technologies for water & sanitation were developed. The remote area hygiene facilities were constructed in several communities. A solar powered desalination unit was developed, and patent obtained. It was commercialised by Solco for application in developing countries.

The RADG evolved into the Environmental Technology Centre (ETC) to widen the research scope to include energy, permaculture, sustainable buildings, and to applications in developing countries. Funding was obtained from the State Centre of Excellence Program. With a 2 ha site allocated by Murdoch University at the south eastern part of the campus, sustainable buildings were constructed with permaculture as the landscape. The rammed earth buildings equipped with newly developed amorphous silica photovoltaic cells manufactured as sheets, recycled plastic panels, decorative polished recycled concrete floors, rainwater collection, water recycling, and building energy management, won a State Environment Award and was a finalist in the Australian Environment Award.

Through my international connections, ETC obtained joint funding from the State Government and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and became the Asia Pacific Regional Centre of UNEP International Environmental Technology Centre. The Centre disseminated research results, environmentally sound technologies and management through regional workshops for government decision makers. The Centre organised several international meetings at Murdoch University.

My work for UNEP has resulted in the publication of a significant book published jointly by UNEP and the International Water Association "International Source Book for Environmentally Sound Technologies for Wastewater and Stormwater Management" (613 pp). The Abridged Version of the book has been translated into Indonesian, Korean and Spanish. Training workshops based on the book have been conducted in Brazil, Jamaica, Costa Rica, South Africa and Indonesia.

1980 Senior Lecturer

1982 Fall semester, Visiting Fellow, Agricultural Engineering Department, Cornell University, New York, research collaboration with Professor Bill Jewel and conversion of crop residues to biogas.

1986 Spring semester, Visiting Fellow, Soils & Crop Sciences Department, Texas A&M University, Texas, research collaboration with Professor Lloyd Hossner on rehabilitation of bauxite refining residue storage areas.

1992 Associate Professor

1999 Visiting Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering Department, Imperial College of Science Technology & Medicine, London, working with Professor Cedo Maksimovic on a UNEP project

2000 Visiting Fellow, UNESCO Centre, Australian National University, Canberra

2002 Professor

2003 Australian Academy of Science and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Fellow at Kyoto University, Kyoto, collaboration with Professor Saburo Matsui

1992-2002 Director, Environmental Technology Centre

2002-06 Chair, Board of Management, Environmental Technology Centre

2007-11 Project Leader, Environmental Biotechnology Cooperative Research Centre

2011-13 Program Leader, Environmental Biotechnology Cooperative Research Centre

International Water Association (member since 1990)

2000-04 Chair, Specialist Group on Small Water Systems

2002-10 Member, Strategic Council

2005-07, Co-Chair (with Peter Moore, Water Corporation) Asia Pacific Regional Council ASPIRE

2011 Elected Fellow of International Water Association

2013 I retired in July 2013, but remains academically active, guiding 14 PhD students to completion, 1 MPhil and 6 Honours, and published over 50 papers.

2024 Celebrated with colleagues the completion of my 50th PhD student. One further PhD student graduated since and 1 imminent.