CSIROpedia

Explore oral histories

Catherine Money, interviewed by Tom Spurling and Terry Healy, 8 December 2021

Catherine Money was Group Manager of CSIRO Textile and Fibre Technology’s Leather Research Centre at Clayton. In 2001, she was appointed Officer-in-Charge, CSIRO Leather Research Centre.

Enid Plante, interviewed by Tom Spurling and Jean Swift, 17 January 1986

Enid was the first female appointed to the Physical Chemistry Section of the CSIR Division of Industrial Chemistry at the age of 21.

John Stocker, interviewed by Tom Spurling and Terry Healy, 25 May 2018

John Stocker held the position of Chief Executive at CSIRO from 1990 to 1995

Spotlight on....

Research vessel Investigator under construction

RV Investigator skidding time-lapse

The 93.9 metre research vessel, which weighs 6,082 ton, was moved from the wharf to a barge using a hydraulic system, and then towed to a dock, where the barge was submerged, leaving the vessel floating.

The Parkes Control Room, Apollo 11 Mission

Parkes radio telescope and the Apollo 11 Moon landing

In July 1969, the Parkes Observatory played an important role in history, when it received and broadcast the first Moon landing, Apollo 11.

2°C climate target a hot topic

Carbon dioxide emission reductions required to limit global warming to 2°C are becoming a receding goal based on new figures […]

Featured profiles

Mary Ann Augustin

Mary Ann Augustin has had several science leadership and multi-disciplinary project leader roles at CSIRO. Her main area of research is in protein structure and immunoparasitology.

Gerald Lightfoot [1877–1966]

Mr. Lightfoot came to Australia in 1906 and joined the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics where he was responsible for establishing the Bureau's Labour and Industrial Branch and extending it to the main industrial centres of the Commonwealth.

Ruby Payne-Scott [1912-1981]

Ruby Payne-Scott was an Australian pioneer in radio physics and radio astronomy, and is believed to have been the first female radio astronomer.

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A technician working with the CSIR Mk1 Computer

The Computer “CSIRAC” (1965)

Think you’re an early adopter? CSIRAC was an automatic digital computer, the fifth computer of its kind ever built. It weighed 7,000 kg and had a RAM of 768 words.

Numbat mine recovery vehicle being tested.

The NUMBAT (1990)

An explanation, for potential industrial partners, of the virtues of the Numbat mine recovery vehicle.

Published report of the Port Phillip Bay Environmental Study Team.

CSIRO Medals 1996 – Chairman’s Medal – Prof Graham Harris and the Port Phillip Bay Environmental Study Team

Graham Harris and colleagues (CSIRO Project Office, CSIRO Coal and Energy Technology; Mathematics and Statistics; Oceanography; Fisheries). For their work on the $12M four-year Port Phillip Bay environmental study resulting in a model of the Bay system.

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Organisational history

A flask is filled to the mark with distilled water.

Meet our people

Dr Bruce Fraser at work in the CSIRO Parkville laboratory