Peter Cullen AO FTSE, MAgrSc, DipEd (Melb), Hon DUniv (Canb), (18 May 1943 – 14 March 2008) was a leading Australian water scientist.
The son of an engineer, Cullen got his start as a water expert very early in life when his father moved to Tallangatta to oversee that town's relocation to accommodate an expanded Hume Dam.
Cullen's major professional work was related to water in the environment, notably nutrient dynamics, freshwater and lake ecology, environmental flows, and catchment management.
"[4] On the first anniversary of Peter Cullen's death, Senator Penny Wong (as Minister for Climate Change and Water) announced $1 million to establish a Peter Cullen Water and Environment Trust, stating[5][6] "The creation of a perpetual legacy in name of Peter Cullen is a fitting tribute to this great Australian on the anniversary of his death a year ago today ..
Professor Cullen made an enormous contribution to the management of natural resources in Australia, most of all around rivers and freshwater ecology .. As a founding National Water Commissioner, a leading member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, and in his many other roles, Professor Cullen was an inspiring and influential leader in the important debate about water in this country" Cullen lived with his wife, Rev.