Lake Eyre Basin Rivers xiv Professor Chris Dickman is co-leader of the Desert Ecology Research Group in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Sydney, and co-leader of the Desert Ecology Plot Network, within the Long-term Ecological Research Network. Chris has long been fascinated by patterns in biodiversity and what drives them. He has worked in a wide range of Australian and overseas environments, including forest, woodland, heathland, urban, alpine and arid desert habitats, and on offshore islands. Angus Emmott is a pastoralist and beef cattle producer, who lives in the top end of the Queensland Channel Country, a major component of the Lake Eyre Basin. He is highly regarded by the general public and government, industry and science communities. He is a keen natural historian with an acute interest in sustainable natural resource management. He recently retired as the Independent Chair of the Lake Eyre Basin Community Advisory Committee, representing pastoral, community and natural resource management interests for 12 years. He is currently a member of the Great Artesian Basin Coordinating Committee and a member of the Australian Floodplain Association. He strongly advocates improved protection of the Channel Country rivers. In 2004, the University of Central Queensland awarded him an honorary Master of Science degree for his exceptional work on arid zone flora and fauna and for his involvement in natural resource management. In 2017, he was awarded an Order of Australia for his contribution to sustainability of the rivers of the Lake Eyre Basin. Ed Fessey was born on Bullabellalie, a sheep and cattle station, which straddles the Culgoa River, where he has lived for more than 50 years. He took over running the station from his father. Bullabellalie lies on the Lower Balonne floodplain of the Condamine-Balonne in the Murray–Darling Basin, an area of more than 1 million ha. Rivers are essential for his livelihood and his environment. As a result, he has been actively engaged in the planning and management of rivers in his region, comprising the northern Murray–Darling Basin, for more than a decade.