Murdoch University has unveiled its vision for a new community meeting place where Western Australians can learn about the natural environment and their role in protecting it.

The Harry Butler Science Centre – which has received Federal Government funding support of $17 million - will bear the name of the famed Australian environmentalist, educator and conservationist Harry Butler AO CBE, who set a world standard for the protection of delicate ecosystems alongside human development.

Architectural designs for the new centre were unveiled by Vice Chancellor Professor Andrew Deeks, who said Harry Butler recognised that humans are part of the environment – not separate from it.

“Harry believed that for human endeavour to flourish, good environmental practices are critical,” Professor Deeks said.

“Harry’s lifetime dedication to Australian biodiversity and environmental conservation has left a remarkable legacy. By shaping the next generation of leaders in conservation and environmental management, his legacy will live on.”

Upon opening – anticipated by the end of 2026 - the Harry Butler Science Centre will operate as a proactive innovation hub where community, industry and academia collaborate to provide scientific solutions, achieving the coexistence of human development and biodiversity.

The Centre, which has been designed with sustainability at the fore, will be located on the southern edge of the Murdoch South St campus, at the gateway to the Beeliar Wetlands - an area of continuing knowledge and culture for the Whadjuk people for thousands of generations. A sod turning ceremony was held yesterday to mark the commencement of building works.

Deputy Vice Chancellor Global Engagement Professor Simon McKirdy said multiple education programs linked to the school curriculum would see thousands of Western Australia school children visit the centre each year.

“Harry Butler’s message to everyone was that human development and biodiversity, the environment around us, must coexist,” he said.

“If we’re going to start new human development – be it mining, farming, or housing – we must make sure we balance it with the need to protect the environment around us. By bringing school children through the Centre and getting them to experience research, and what it means to work with the environment, we look to create that next generation of Harry Butlers."

Murdoch University’s Harry Butler Institute will deliver outreach programs through the Centre, representing its commitment to engaging the community in environmental research.

Institute Executive Director Treena Burgess said students would have the opportunity to contribute to real research projects as citizen scientists.

"We envisage an engaging hub for science outreach that fosters science accessible to all,” she said.

In addition to outstanding environmental research outcomes supported by the Harry Butler Institute, the Centre aims to be the pinnacle of best practice management of wetlands within an urban environment, working proactively with industry, researchers and underpinned by cultural stewardship.

Deputy Vice Chancellor Global Engagement Professor Simon McKirdy talks about the Harry Butler Science Centre

Architectural drawings of the new Harry Butler Science Centre

(Images supplied by Woods Bagot)

Main image: Deputy Vice Chancellor Global Engagement Professor Simon McKirdy (left) and Vice Chancellor Professor Andrew Deeks (right) turn the first sod on the Harry Butler Science Centre.