The McKell Medal is a prestigious national award that publicly recognises excellence and achievement in natural resource management in Australia. It commemorates the outstanding contribution made in the fields of soil and land conservation by Sir William McKell, Premier of NSW 1941 - 47 and Governor-General of Australia 1947 - 53.

Nominations recently opened for the 2004 McKell Medal which is sponsored by Australian, State and Territory government agencies involved in agriculture and natural resource management.

Nominations are assessed by an independent McKell Medal Advisory Panel and the 2004 Medal. In addition to the actual Medal, the winner will be sponsored to publicise their achievements at a number of field days, meetings and conferences over a 12 month period.

Past winners of the McKell Medal have been pre-eminent practitioners within natural resource management in Australia.

The selection criteria for the Medal include:

• Nominee must demonstrate self-motivation and preferably still be practicing in this field,
• Recognised achievements would relate particularly to changing landuse practices and community attitudes towards more sustainable management of natural resources, and

• The nominee should be able, through receiving the award, to promote the ethic of sound natural resource management.

Nominations for the 2004 Medal will close 19 November 2004 and will be awarded at the Natural Resource Management Community Forum in April 2005.

For more information and the selection criteria visit www.daff.gov.au/mckellmedal or email mckellmedal@daff.gov.au or (02) 6272 4399.