Associate Professor Bradley Moggridge, a proud Murri from the Kamilaroi nation, has earned his place among the notable names of fifty-two Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People who are Changing the World, as identified by Cosmos Magazine.

Assoc/Prof Moggridge, who is now a PhD candidate with expertise in Indigenous Water Science, came from humble beginnings growing up in Toongabbie, New South Wales (NSW). He developed a love of water after spending most of his childhood playing around in creeks.

"Sometimes the creeks were funny colours and funny smells cause there was an industrial park right above," he laughed.

When asked about his education prior to university, Mr Moggridge advised that he wasn't very academic during his high school years and by the time he got to Year s11 and 12, the teachers had tried to dissuade him from maths and science classes, and sadly he listened.

By the time he got to university, he was then required to complete maths, science and chemistry units for a chosen course.

"I had no idea what they were saying! It was like a different language. So I obviously failed all those three when I did my first semester."

Mr Moggridge said things turned around when he started accessing tutors, available resources and connecting with people and other students.

"I hadn't learned calculus when I went to first year uni."

Persevering through that difficult first year of university paid off, he went on to become the first Indigenous student to undertake a Bachelor of Environmental Science and the first to do a Masters in Hydro-Geology at University of Technology Sydney. He is now at the finish line of a PhD, which has explored how Traditional Knowledge can influence Western Water Management.

Mr Moggridge said he was the first in his immediate and extended family to graduate from university, but was quick to add that he now has plenty who have followed in his footsteps.

When asked if it were his love and curiosity of water, that led him to become an expert in the field of water he said: "The water stuff was always there, I went through school and did well in the sciences at UTS and did geology first round out of highschool and I found myself digging for uranium in a National Park in Western Australia and I thought… that doesn't feel right."

Once he found Hydro-Geology, he said: "I've never looked back and then when I learned more, the ground water aspect kicked in and I found there was a definite strong connection for Kamilaroi People to ground water."

He said Kamilaroi Country sits directly above The Great Artesian Basin (GAB) which is one of the largest and deepest underground freshwater resources in the world. It lies below 22 percent of Australia, extending into Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales and Northern Territory.

"There are many shallow aquifers that sit alongside our fourteen rivers."

Mr Moggridge soon realised that the ground water has a strong connection for Kamilaroi women and soon started navigating the space and adhering to cultural protocol, so that he didn't find himself visiting women's sacred sites. He advised that in those instances, he will send a female colleague.

After many years of working for the New South Wales Government, Mr Moggridge said he felt disillusioned when an Aboriginal Water Unit he managed and was heavily invested in was shut down by what he referred to as "toxic leadership" by the government at the time.

It was through this forced change that he then decided to undertake a PhD with the University of Canberra and commenced research into Traditional Knowledge and values of water and how this can change the way Western society manages water.

"Part of the landscape doesn't get any water anymore and that's because of modern development and it's moving water away from the landscape and it's depriving it of water, when water should be in it."

Associate Professor Bradley Moggridge in his realm (Image: supplied)

Referring to issues surrounding the Murray Darling he said: "It's a million square kilometres, with 40-odd Aboriginal Nations and we don't have a voice in it. There's a national plan and then there's states plans. And you know even when we say "No it's not good enough" with regard to these water plans, we still get overturned. So when you talk about "Voice" our voice is being silenced in water. And no one is batting an eyelid."

On the 'Voice to Parliament' Mr Moggridge shared his thoughts: "It's a tricky one."

"I was on the fence, but you know now from my personal perspective, I probably will vote yes unless something dramatic changes. I see it as once in a generation and if we aren't included and we aren't part of having a voice for policies and legislation that impact us then… we have never had it! ATSIC to a point provided that, but that's gone," he said.

"If the voice gives advice on policy and legislation that impacts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, than I think that's a good thing rather than having no say in it at all, which is where we are at. Everyone says, you have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Senators and Ministers, but they represent their constituents, not me. They only look after their patch that's their job, that's who voted them in.

"You know some non-Aboriginal people see it as a threat to their dominance of the Australian landscape. They use all these other excuses, but it really just comes down to that they don't want Aboriginal people to have a voice."

On the machinery of government, he said: "We wrote a paper on the cycle of Government effecting water, they create all these positions for Aboriginal people and then a new Government comes a long and it gets scrapped. Even now through the cycle I've lived, having run an Aboriginal Water Management unit which ended in 2017, the NSW Government is now looking at setting up an Aboriginal Water Management unit again… you know that cycle."

Mr Moggridge said being nominated as one of the top 50 Indigenous People of the World was a "massive honour".

"There's some big guns in this list, so it was a massive honour seeing my little name in there pop up. Like Tom the Chancellor here at UC, he's number 1 on that list with his links to health and he's a fellow with the Academy of Science and things like that so to be alongside him and Bronwyn Fredricks and Ian Anderson and all these Misty Jenkins and yeah… this little fella Brad Mogridge from Western Sydney it's massive."

Mr Moggridge hopes to encourage future generations to pursue interests in STEM, whilst promoting his ancestors' knowledge of water and will continue to mentor emerging Indigenous scientists.