Richard Thornton

Richard Thornton's picture
Former Deputy CEO and Research Director

Dr Richard Thornton was Deputy CEO and Research Director of the Bushfire CRC, a role he held since 2004. His responsibilities included leadership and oversight of the research program.

Richard is a highly experienced Research Management Executive with over 15 years in the field, both with the Bushfire CRC and Telstra previously. Richard has a physics background and has worked in science fields including nuclear and semiconductor physics, computational fluid mechanics, IT and telecommunications engineering, and online services, primarily in the private sector. Richard has expertise in IP management, contract negotiation and development, andcommercialisation of research.

Richard is a member of the Board of the International Association of Wildland Fire and the Chair of the Editorial Advisory Committee of the International Journal of Wildland Fire.

Richard also was the Project Director for the extensive research-data collection taskforce project undertaken following the 7 February 2009 bushfires in Victoria.

Blog posts

09-Jul-2013

It has been a while since I last wrote a blog – things have been moving quickly with the development of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, but more on that later.

The Bushfire CRC chairs the annual meeting of the North Australian Fire Manager’s Forum; this year held...

09-May-2013

One of my favourite aspects of the Bushfire CRC and AFAC conference week is the Research Forum, which begins the conference on Monday 2 September. This year’s Research Forum is the third incarnation, and promises to be one of the best yet. The Research Forum provides one of...

19-Apr-2013

It has been quite a while since I wrote a blog, in fact not since December last year. What a busy four months it has been! In February I gave a keynote presentation at the International Association of Wildland Fire’s Fire Behaviour and Fuels Conference in Raleigh, North...

17-Dec-2012

The year comes to a close with 2012 being one of the most rewarding for a long time. We have continued to deliver great science of use to our end users. Our science metrics have improved out of sight over the last few years. We are now seeing the vast majority of our work...

03-Nov-2012

Bushfire CRC research has been on show in various places of late, illustrating that the work being undertaken is meeting, and in many cases, exceeding the expectations of our partners.

Last week we held our 7th Research Advisory Forum at the Headquarters of the NSW...

06-Oct-2012

This week I had the pleasure of spending time with an international visitor, Ron Steffens, from the United States, who is a fellow Board Member of the International Association of Wildland Fire. Ron has a strong interest in education and natural resource management.

I...

11-Sep-2012

Wow, what a week! The Bushfire CRC and AFAC conference was one of the best ever. There were so many highlights. It was great to see so many of our researchers engaged and enjoying the time.

The posters were all great this year, as one of the judging panel members it...

02-Aug-2012

The annual conference is getting close now and final touches are being put in place. Like the Olympics, this is shaping up to be the best ever! We have excellent keynote and invited speakers who, I am sure, will challenge those present. We also have a great selection of...

05-Jul-2012

July already! Not quite sure where this year has gone. Well a number of significant events are now behind us and all seem to be getting better and better. The RAF meeting in Hobart was an ideal opportunity to hear from a number of our researchers, all presentations were of...

03-May-2012

With the DIISRTE review now behind us, it is time to focus once more on the ‘normal’ activities of the Centre. It is indeed a busy few months ahead. The Research Advisory Forum (RAF) is immediately ahead of us on 23-24 May in Hobart. This forum is always a great opportunity...

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