Dr Stephen van Leeuwen was appointed Australia’s first Indigenous chair for Biodiversity and Environmental Science at Curtin University in July 2020, a long-term partnership between Curtin University and BHP which has supported engineering and chemistry studies at the university including through funding for new facilities, and scholarships to help increase female, indigenous and regional student participation. Dr van Leeuwen is a Noongar man with strong links to Country in the Busselton and Margaret River areas of south-west Western Australia. He spent three decades as a senior scientist with the Western Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and is a leading botanical landscape ecologist.
Stephen van Leeuwen
BHP-Curtin Indigenous Professor in Biodiversity & Environmental Science / Curtin University