Cris Brack

I completed a B.Sc.(for) with 1st class Honours at ANU as a Forestry Commission Trainee in 1981 and then went to work for the NSW government. After 3 years as a field forester, I moved to Sydney where I eventually became the Senior Inventory Officer responsible for quantifying the growth and value of plantations and native forests of NSW.

In 1994, I returned to the ANU to teach and research into forest measurement and management. Since then, my most significant research contributions have been the development of optimal sampling strategies, modelling tools, and decision-support systems for trees and associated biota at stand, landscape and continental scales. This research integrates my knowledge of and innovation in applied statistics (for sampling), data acquisition (from remotely sensed imagery and ground-based surveys), modelling (of tree and stand dynamics), and expert and decision support systems (as integrating methods).

My work was influential in development of the National Carbon Accounting System for Australia (winner of the Eureka Environmental Science Award), and in the development of new approaches by forest and land managers and policy makers nationally and internationally.

In 2009, I took leave to become the inaugural Chair and Professor of Forestry at the Waiariki Institute (Rotorua, New Zealand) and subsequently became the Director of Research with a mandate to increase the research profile and potential of that Institute (in fields from primary industry, Maori development, nursing and health studies, computing and business). After a successful 3 years, I returned to the ANU to take back up my teaching and research roles in the Fenner School of Environment and Society.

In 2020 I accepted a position as Associate Professor (Honorary) at the Australian National University where I continue my research and out reach, and undertake paid research and consultancy work with ANU Enterprise. This position was most recently renewed in 2025.

I am a member of the Institute of Foresters of Australia (IFA).

I am a previous Director of the National Arboretum Canberra Foundation